20 posts tagged “video games”
L and I hit the Mall yesterday to do a little shopping. While she was busy getting some cute shirts, I trekked over to GameStop to hit up their video games. Normally I avoid GameStop (and all their other differently named franchises) like the plague, since I hate constantly being asked to purchase their customer loyalty card and to pre-order games I have no interest in, but this time I was a man on a mission. I'd noticed on Cheap Ass Gamer that they were offering a $10 trade-in bonus for trading in two games, which meant I could get rid of two subpar games and pick up a case for my PSP and maybe even a little extra.
After turning down their customer loyalty card half-a-dozen times and refusing to pre-order any games, I jettisoned Ass Defect (aka Mass Effect) and Wii Play to pick up a simple GameStop-branded PSP case and the full version of the Spore Creature Creator. You see, L and I had played around with the Spore Creature Creator demo a little last week and we'd had a great time making freaky creatures with the limited number of parts, so we were itching to try the whole enchilada.
L tooled around with the full version we purchased last night, cranking out a dragon-gryphon-creature and a fugly goblin. I gave it a spin this morning and tried my hand at spinning out one of my favorite iconic D&D creatures, a displacer beast. The tools are amazingly versatile and I can't wait to see what else our careless hands will wrought.
I've been meaning to get around to this post for awhile now, so you'll just have to forgive me that I'm announcing my own personal video game of the year for last year a few weeks late.
The year two-thousand-and-seven was an amazing year for gaming. I've posted about many of my favorite games this year, including Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, The Legends of Zelda and Spyro: Phantom Night, Pokemon Diamond, and Wario Ware: Twisted! I also didn't post about some game I really enjoyed, like Super Paper Mario and Halo 3.
But although all those games rocked my socks, my personal pick for video game of the year can go to only one game: Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings for the Nintendo DS. My wife gave it to me in the middle of December as an early Christmas present and as soon as she did, I was hooked. Although it's both a sequel to a game I hadn't ever played AND in a series that I swore off after terminal frustration with random battles, this game captivated me completely.
What's not to love? The art and visual design of the game is gorgeous (with cute, retro sprites for the characters you control); the music is amazing for a portable game, the story has surprising twists and turns (and was far more compelling to me than the much-lauded Mass Effect, which I consider to be an Ass Defect); and the gameplay, though repetitive, was fun throughout (the difficulty did vary widely throughout the game, as the final missions were insanely tough, but even that didn't damper my spirits). Honestly, I can't think of a better game I've played in a long, long while. My highest praise is that I'm looking forward to playing through it again soon and I never ever play through games twice.
But now I'm curious, my video game playing friends, as to what your personal Game of the Year would be? I know that L's involves assassination, and the Pants might go with one that involves rocketing around as a slime, but I'd love to see a blog post or two about them. What game of 2007, in your opinion, was super special awesome?
Two "legendary" games have been simultaneously occupying my greatest video game console for the past month. I picked up The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass primarily on Matt's recommendation in a comment on one of my earlier posts, though if I hadn't have bought it then, I definitely would have after Jay's positive review. Though I didn't like the Twilight Princess installment on the Wii (and hadn't experienced any other Zelda incarnations), the Phantom Hourglass has quickly become one of my favorite DS games of all time. Hardcore gamers might complain that it is too easy or too short, but those are both aspects I appreciate. I still haven't quite finished the game after playing it on and off for the past several weeks, but I'm still loving it. (If only I could get all the Demon Ship parts, my heart would be filled with joy.)
The other "legendary" game I picked up was The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night at the urging of one my favorite gaming blogs, DS Fanboy. I steered clear of the purported crap that was the DS version of the game and went straight for the super special awesomeness that was the Gameboy Advance version. This game has been touted as possibly the "last great GBA game" and I find nothing lacking in the game's greatness. The gameplay is just awesome fun, with a cleverly designed one-button combo attack system that is gorgeous to see and enjoyable to play. I beat the game on "normal" difficulty with a little bit of a challenge and now I've gotten myself stuck on "hard" difficulty, but I haven't thrown in the towel yet. Definitely some of the best thirteen dollars I ever spent for a game.
I need to follow in Matt's footsteps and post my own autobiographical retrospective on (video) gaming, so look for that when I have time to take 20. In the meantime, let me share my recent good news: a video game grant I wrote for my library was accepted. This means I get to buy SIX more Wiis for my library (along with six digital projectors) along with SIX copies of Mario Party 8, Super Smash Bros Brawl, and Mario Kart Wii. We'll also be giving away a Wii and DS (among other things) next year for this program. Gametastic, right?
So apparently word of my library's video game programs somehow filtered back to top men at Nintendo of America.
While setting up for my school-age video game program last Tuesday, my coworker Jessica grabbed me and told me that I had a call from Nintendo of America. I shot her a look of disbelief and asked her if she was messing with me. She assured me she wasn't, so I picked up the phone in the office and sure enough it was frickin' Nintendo!
Actually, it was someone from a PR firm working for Nintendo, who told me that he'd heard about my library's video game programs. He was collating data in order to put together some sort of package (possibly including product) to send to a few libraries that had been these sorts of programs. He asked what sort of video game programs we've had, how many people have attended, and what games we played.
He didn't have a whole lot of information to give me at the time, but he assured me he'd call back in a week or two with more information. So now I'm anxiously awaiting another call from Nintendo like a kid impatiently waiting for Christmas. I pretty much share T-Rex's sentiment: "NINTENDO. I guess they got me when I was young and uncritical, but I really LIKE them, you know?"
More updates when I have them!
So it's really a talented young actress playing a character for a commercial for a band called The Bastard Fairies, but that doesn't diminish the truthiness of it. Blaming video games and music for societal problems is an easy cop-out and a tactic that shouldn't be worth the credibility it usually receives from society at large.
Unfortunately, we're all looking for easy targets. (Including some rather cheap shots at mainstream religion in this very commercial.) Admitting that society is fucked up because of other more complicated and less easily pinpointed factors just doesn't get you any airtime. The easy answer trumps the right one any day of the week.
(Via StumbleVideo on the Nintendo Wii.)
If you're mean to noobs, you'll end up in this special video gamer hell, playing this Super Mario Bros. mod for all eternity. Sure, it looks funny here, but just wait until you're the one playing it in the fiery pits of gamer hell.
Brought to you by the Council of Noob-Friendly Gamers, reminding you to be kind to your noobs.
(Via StumbleVideo on the Nintendo Wii.)
L recently observed that her and I have more or less swapped the standard gaming stereotypes. She likes first-person shooters (like Halo) and "adult" RPGs (like Oblivion, Jade Empire, KOTOR) more than I do, which are traditionally thought of as "male" games. On the other hand, I prefer cutesy, simpler "E" rated titles (like Pokemon) far more than she does.
In that vein, I recently picked up a new game so sugar-coated and sickeningly cute that Ernie and L couldn't help but make cooing noises when I showed it to them. I'm talking about Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, which has all the trappings of a real winner for me:
- Minigames? Check!
- Microgames? Check!
- Trading Card Game? Check!
- Final Fantasy themed? Check!
- A splash of humor and plot? Check!
In related news, I gave in further to my weakness for cute, addictive games and placed an order for the brand spankin' new Pokemon Diamond. (Ernie's already insisted that she'll disown me for as long as the game's in my DS.) I haven't played a true Pokemon game since Pokemon Blue, so I'm already anticipating that 350+ of the poke-critters will be completely unfamiliar. At least I might finally be able to keep up with the kids at work!
So who cares if I'm not playing a bunch of traditionally macho games? I'm secure enough in my masculinity to love the cutesy games and not be ashamed. (Besides, my wife kicks my ass at any of the shooters, so I've got to have at least one niche, right?)
The interactive trivia show where high culture and pop culture is back on the Internet tubes! That's right -- You Don't Know Jack! is once again heating up the web scene. If you've missed the clever, witty humor of this crazy trivia game, you just might want to take a look. (I still blame/thank Eclipse for introducing me to this crack in the first place!)
(Via All My Faves.)
What are your three favorite snacks?
Submitted by Sunscreem.
Here are my three of my favorite snacks, of the non-edible variety. (Even though we all know that Everything is Edible.)
- WarioWare: Twisted! for the Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS. Topsy-turvy fun on my handheld system doesn't get any more crazy delicious than this.
- StumbleVideo for the Opera Internet Browser on the Nintendo Wii. Who needs cable television when L and I can "surf" the best of YouTube and Google Video from our couch?
- Lazy Sunday on Saturday Night Live. It's an old favorite clip that I recently revisited. I don't take 15-minute "breaks" at work anymore, instead I take 15-minute "snack attacks, mother fucker!"
As a bonus, I really enjoyed Wired's cover feature this month: Snack Attack!
Sure, we might all have dangerously short attention spans, but at least -- what I was I talking about again?Movies, TV, songs, games. Pop culture now comes packaged like cookies or chips, in bite-size bits for high-speed munching. It's instant entertainment - and boy, is it tasty.
Yes, after stealing (er, I mean kidnapping) the library's Wii the past two weekends, we finally couldn't resist having one of our own. So after raiding a local Target that had a litter in stock, I surprised L with one for a Valentine's Day gift. (Who needs frickin' Hallmark? I know what my woman wants!)
I nabbed a copy of Wii Play for a second wiimote (isn't that just the cutest word?) and Zelda: Twilight Princess (of course). Not sure yet whether I'll invest in WarioWare or Excite Truck, since I can just keep borrowing the library's copies when the urge strikes me. (There are a few super nice kickbacks to my job.)
For those with Wiis of their own, feel free to friend us. (Wii Code is 8299-6897-4183-5931.) For those of you without a Wii, what's stopping you? Or, just come over and play with our newest addition some time. (L is looking for a boxing rematch with Anthony, I've heard.)
