Linky for those of you who haven't seen it.
BTW is Necros the only person reading this blog? :P
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3rWKU85MrJo
Friday, September 28, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Heavenly Sword
Have you guys seen this commercial? I keep seeing it oooover and ooooover.
All I can think of, hey, this babe's hair is down to her ankles, and she's spinning around swinging these giant knives all over the place. They don't get tangled up in her hair? She never screws up? Like, fuck, hair that long you're going cut if off eventually.
Strange character design IMO.
All I can think of, hey, this babe's hair is down to her ankles, and she's spinning around swinging these giant knives all over the place. They don't get tangled up in her hair? She never screws up? Like, fuck, hair that long you're going cut if off eventually.
Strange character design IMO.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Evolution or Devolution in Game Franchises?
Yes Necros, you can read this. No spoilers ;)
It's come to my attention that, after a lengthy rant on my opinion of Metroid Prime 3, that this notion of "evolving" franchises can be seriously mislead.
Franchise evolution often happens in big, giant steps, or at least, to this point that is what we have witnessed. A core idea/concept, turned into a game, create a fanbase or a cult, then in one shot, evolve the franchise and turn it into something so amazing that it turns everybody's heads.
For example, the Mario franchise. The basic idea (Mario Bros) and the subsequent improvements on that general idea led to Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario World, two of the most well-known games in the history of the industry. It wasn't until Mario 64 that the franchise took that big leap, or "evolved." Remarkeable 3D environments and an expansive levels to explore, plus control via joystick paved the way for all future Mario games.
Zelda also did not experience an "evolution" until 1998, with Ocarina of Time. After a handful of games that built up a loyal fanbase, and one of the most popular games on the SNES, OoT benefited from many of the same things Mario 64 did. It also marked the beginning of the control setup that would come in all future Zelda games, and the one we are familiar with in post-OoT Zelda games and still use today.
But how about Metroid?! Hasn't it gone through an evolution?
YES! It DID go through one. It was called Metroid Prime 1. And there hasn't been another since.
Prime 1 had three very major benefits:
1) Was the first 3D Metroid game
2) Had come after an 8-year Metroid abscence.
3) Retained all of the gameplay elements that made Metroid a unique game.
After this, Metroid remained a cult franchise. Prime 2 was released to Metroid fans' mixed feelings. Still a cult. I suppose somewhere after Prime 2, "they" decided that being a cult franchise wasn't good enough, so they crafted Metroid Hunters, which was, the first ever multiplayer game in the history of the franchise (excluding Prime2)
With newfound popularity, we went from having an evolved franchise, and started dissasembling it and ripping it apart in favour of being more mainstream.
Over my years at Nsider as well with game store employees and various friends, have had countless arguments and discussions about why Metroid should remain a single player experience, and why adding multiplayer ruins the experience, and most of all, why an FPS-style of control or experience is detrimental to the franchise.
Like I said, dissasembling what you have and ripping it apart, this is what Hunters and Prime 3 represent. They have been stripped down...where, instead of becoming better games in the franchise following an evolution, have become something else entirely. We came from a game that flawlessly transformed every element of gameplay into a 3D environment (Prime 1, Ocarina of Time, Mario 64) to having a lesser game, one devoid of such elements, one that makes way for "new" elements that are all too often taken as welcome additions to the series.
Turning Metroid into an FPS is not welcome...it's detrimental and backwards. It makes no sense, ESPECIALLY if you're talking about evolving a franchise. To do away with many elements of Metroid in favour of linearity and simplicity, not using your brain and blasting everything in your path, is devolution in this case.
What I mean by devolution is instead of "evolving," you are reverting back to a carnal, barbaric state. Prime 3, like all of it's other peers (which would include games like Twilight Priness, Mario Sunshine/Galaxies) should have improved on the existing infastructure. Adding more of what makes the game so good, refining control and puzzles or weapons, adding new items and making phenomenal new worlds for us to explore.
Twilight Princess improved in every way on top of it's OoT predecessor. Expansive, new weapons items/combinations, new but familiar landscapes, and still made use of the new control scheme. Mario Sunshine (despite popular opinion) had interesting level design, the tightest control ever seen in a Mario game, and I won't even mention the physics and interaction in this game.
Prime 3 should have those kind of attributes but instead we see different things happening. We see what would be awesome puzzles, ruined by your scan visor telling you blatantly what to do to solve it. We see epic environments, their epicness tragically lost by a lack of atmosphere typically seen in a Metroid game and instead placed with a "Panic! Urgent! NOW NOW NOW!" atmosphere typical of an FPS. Furthermore the epicness is trumped by an almost extreme linearity and lack of backtracking, which was previously a raw staple and foundation of a Metroid game. We see a lack of difficulty and challenge, something the Metroid franchise had, over the course of 5 previous titles, built a generous reputation for having. We see new weapons and suit upgrades, which I, at long last, have nothing bad to say about.
The fact that this game controls like an FPS is not as big an improvement as many may seem. Underneath there are issues upon issues that layer themselves and downright plague this game, and now this very franchise.
The FPS-style control is a welcomed improvement, but has nowhere near the impact people think it has. It is a natural step forward, in a game where everything else is a clumsy three or four steps back to the chalkboard.
And that folks, is the follow-up conclusion to my vulgar rant on Metroid Prime 3, which few people seemed to understand or appreciate.
It's come to my attention that, after a lengthy rant on my opinion of Metroid Prime 3, that this notion of "evolving" franchises can be seriously mislead.
Franchise evolution often happens in big, giant steps, or at least, to this point that is what we have witnessed. A core idea/concept, turned into a game, create a fanbase or a cult, then in one shot, evolve the franchise and turn it into something so amazing that it turns everybody's heads.
For example, the Mario franchise. The basic idea (Mario Bros) and the subsequent improvements on that general idea led to Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario World, two of the most well-known games in the history of the industry. It wasn't until Mario 64 that the franchise took that big leap, or "evolved." Remarkeable 3D environments and an expansive levels to explore, plus control via joystick paved the way for all future Mario games.
Zelda also did not experience an "evolution" until 1998, with Ocarina of Time. After a handful of games that built up a loyal fanbase, and one of the most popular games on the SNES, OoT benefited from many of the same things Mario 64 did. It also marked the beginning of the control setup that would come in all future Zelda games, and the one we are familiar with in post-OoT Zelda games and still use today.
But how about Metroid?! Hasn't it gone through an evolution?
YES! It DID go through one. It was called Metroid Prime 1. And there hasn't been another since.
Prime 1 had three very major benefits:
1) Was the first 3D Metroid game
2) Had come after an 8-year Metroid abscence.
3) Retained all of the gameplay elements that made Metroid a unique game.
After this, Metroid remained a cult franchise. Prime 2 was released to Metroid fans' mixed feelings. Still a cult. I suppose somewhere after Prime 2, "they" decided that being a cult franchise wasn't good enough, so they crafted Metroid Hunters, which was, the first ever multiplayer game in the history of the franchise (excluding Prime2)
With newfound popularity, we went from having an evolved franchise, and started dissasembling it and ripping it apart in favour of being more mainstream.
Over my years at Nsider as well with game store employees and various friends, have had countless arguments and discussions about why Metroid should remain a single player experience, and why adding multiplayer ruins the experience, and most of all, why an FPS-style of control or experience is detrimental to the franchise.
Like I said, dissasembling what you have and ripping it apart, this is what Hunters and Prime 3 represent. They have been stripped down...where, instead of becoming better games in the franchise following an evolution, have become something else entirely. We came from a game that flawlessly transformed every element of gameplay into a 3D environment (Prime 1, Ocarina of Time, Mario 64) to having a lesser game, one devoid of such elements, one that makes way for "new" elements that are all too often taken as welcome additions to the series.
Turning Metroid into an FPS is not welcome...it's detrimental and backwards. It makes no sense, ESPECIALLY if you're talking about evolving a franchise. To do away with many elements of Metroid in favour of linearity and simplicity, not using your brain and blasting everything in your path, is devolution in this case.
What I mean by devolution is instead of "evolving," you are reverting back to a carnal, barbaric state. Prime 3, like all of it's other peers (which would include games like Twilight Priness, Mario Sunshine/Galaxies) should have improved on the existing infastructure. Adding more of what makes the game so good, refining control and puzzles or weapons, adding new items and making phenomenal new worlds for us to explore.
Twilight Princess improved in every way on top of it's OoT predecessor. Expansive, new weapons items/combinations, new but familiar landscapes, and still made use of the new control scheme. Mario Sunshine (despite popular opinion) had interesting level design, the tightest control ever seen in a Mario game, and I won't even mention the physics and interaction in this game.
Prime 3 should have those kind of attributes but instead we see different things happening. We see what would be awesome puzzles, ruined by your scan visor telling you blatantly what to do to solve it. We see epic environments, their epicness tragically lost by a lack of atmosphere typically seen in a Metroid game and instead placed with a "Panic! Urgent! NOW NOW NOW!" atmosphere typical of an FPS. Furthermore the epicness is trumped by an almost extreme linearity and lack of backtracking, which was previously a raw staple and foundation of a Metroid game. We see a lack of difficulty and challenge, something the Metroid franchise had, over the course of 5 previous titles, built a generous reputation for having. We see new weapons and suit upgrades, which I, at long last, have nothing bad to say about.
The fact that this game controls like an FPS is not as big an improvement as many may seem. Underneath there are issues upon issues that layer themselves and downright plague this game, and now this very franchise.
The FPS-style control is a welcomed improvement, but has nowhere near the impact people think it has. It is a natural step forward, in a game where everything else is a clumsy three or four steps back to the chalkboard.
And that folks, is the follow-up conclusion to my vulgar rant on Metroid Prime 3, which few people seemed to understand or appreciate.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Chillin'
Late last week I was listening to a CD I don't normally listen to..however one of my favourite songs is on it, and it really struck a nerve.
I mean like, it gave me chills.
Now, Ahead by a Century is a song (by Tragically Hip) that I've heard hundreds of times before. It touches on a lot of issues but the first verse gave me chills, and it just heightened my favourite part of the song.
first thing we'd climb a tree
and maybe then we'd talk
or sit silently
and listen to our thoughts,
of illusions of someday
casting a golden light
theres no dress rehersal,
this is our life
No matter where you are or where you come from, this relates to everybody. First love? That special someone that you looked up to so much and thought the world of him/her. Puppy love! It's such a dreamy verse too...has an almost imaginative feel to it.
It gave me cold chills, I don't know why either. Maybe cause I was paying a lot of attention to it that day, or maybe I was just in that mood? I have no idea.
But the best part of the song comes after the second verse, where after this very soft, sweet and melodic acoustic tune, enters in a rockin, fully distorted rythym guitar to backbone the rest of the tune.
Damn, I wish all music sounded this awesome all the time.
I mean like, it gave me chills.
Now, Ahead by a Century is a song (by Tragically Hip) that I've heard hundreds of times before. It touches on a lot of issues but the first verse gave me chills, and it just heightened my favourite part of the song.
first thing we'd climb a tree
and maybe then we'd talk
or sit silently
and listen to our thoughts,
of illusions of someday
casting a golden light
theres no dress rehersal,
this is our life
No matter where you are or where you come from, this relates to everybody. First love? That special someone that you looked up to so much and thought the world of him/her. Puppy love! It's such a dreamy verse too...has an almost imaginative feel to it.
It gave me cold chills, I don't know why either. Maybe cause I was paying a lot of attention to it that day, or maybe I was just in that mood? I have no idea.
But the best part of the song comes after the second verse, where after this very soft, sweet and melodic acoustic tune, enters in a rockin, fully distorted rythym guitar to backbone the rest of the tune.
Damn, I wish all music sounded this awesome all the time.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Coffee Much
Today I kinda had a bit of a panic attack.
Well not really, but it was weird. Not that I'm addicted to coffee...I can and do occasionally walk out of the house without it and don't buy any during my daily outings to school and whatnot.
The setup: I was late for my bus/chasing it down today. I had brought coffee with me, but in my rush I forgot to take it out of the car. I didn't even notice until I was walking to my class almost 40 minutes later.
It wasn't an addiction panic, it was more of a "oh shit, I forgot my coffee," and all of a sudden I needed to get some. This compounded when, there was only 15 minutes before my class started. I checked out a student-run restaurant which, at lunch time, would have taken 15 minutes to stand in line just to get their coffee. I avoided two Tim Horton's restaurants cause their coffee absolutely licks nuts, as well as equally ridiculous lineups. A fourth, Robins Donuts, located right outside my lecture hall, also had a line I could not afford to wait in.
I ended up at a small cafe where you can buy premade food items, buffet style, and pay as you leave. Their coffee is similar to that found at the University of Winnipeg, and I knew from previous experiences there that everything sucks horribly unless you get the darkest roast they have, which of course is always full because nobody takes it.
As you can tell I'm a bit of a coffee buff. Satisfied now that I actually had the beverage in my hand, I went to class very calmly.
It's actually more of a sipping and listening thing than the coffee itself. I could have just as easily settled for tea or some other warm beverage. Actually now that I think about it, I take coffee to class habitually...I don't drink it on the 45 minute bus ride to school...only when I get to class.
Anyone else have strange habits?
Well not really, but it was weird. Not that I'm addicted to coffee...I can and do occasionally walk out of the house without it and don't buy any during my daily outings to school and whatnot.
The setup: I was late for my bus/chasing it down today. I had brought coffee with me, but in my rush I forgot to take it out of the car. I didn't even notice until I was walking to my class almost 40 minutes later.
It wasn't an addiction panic, it was more of a "oh shit, I forgot my coffee," and all of a sudden I needed to get some. This compounded when, there was only 15 minutes before my class started. I checked out a student-run restaurant which, at lunch time, would have taken 15 minutes to stand in line just to get their coffee. I avoided two Tim Horton's restaurants cause their coffee absolutely licks nuts, as well as equally ridiculous lineups. A fourth, Robins Donuts, located right outside my lecture hall, also had a line I could not afford to wait in.
I ended up at a small cafe where you can buy premade food items, buffet style, and pay as you leave. Their coffee is similar to that found at the University of Winnipeg, and I knew from previous experiences there that everything sucks horribly unless you get the darkest roast they have, which of course is always full because nobody takes it.
As you can tell I'm a bit of a coffee buff. Satisfied now that I actually had the beverage in my hand, I went to class very calmly.
It's actually more of a sipping and listening thing than the coffee itself. I could have just as easily settled for tea or some other warm beverage. Actually now that I think about it, I take coffee to class habitually...I don't drink it on the 45 minute bus ride to school...only when I get to class.
Anyone else have strange habits?
Back....New Pornos
Well...I'm going to mark my return to this neglected blog today.
I'll make the post nice and simple, no big world issues or crazy stuff. Just a simple post about a new record by a band called the New Pornographers.
Their previous record from 2005, Twin Cinema is really what put these guys on the map. And rightfully so, this is the best indie-pop-rock out there. And I will be honest, I admit that after listening to this I had the post-success fear: maybe this was the bottom of the well for these guys, maybe AC Newman didn't have another one in him.
Thus I was very skeptical about their new disc, Challengers. I still bought it (kind of a leap of faith) and after 4 or 5 listens I'm really diggin it.
There's a few tracks that epsecially grip me, "All the Old Showstoppers", which I haven't quite figured out the meaning of yet. "Unguided," the chorus still leaves me elated.
"Mutiny" is one that really sticks out to me, as the album is winding down, where so many ablums start to lack interesting songs, this sticks out like a sore thumb. And the lyrics to the chorus, What's the weight of the world worth to ya, kid? Go write down what you see, see how far it can go. Really I think AC has hit a lyrical peak here. Or at least, it's a fantastic, poetic improvement.
Most surprising to me is "Adventures in Solitude." Surprising because the lyrics are so personal. They draw me to the band. They make me want to learn more, to go see them live and experience songs like this with them. When you first listen to this song, it really strikes a nerve. It's something you don't expect...We thought we lost you, we thought we lost you. Then you listen far more closely, and discover a very personal song. Something atypical from this band yet, something I would definitely love to hear more of.
I'm really enjoying this overall softer approach to a very upbeat happy-pop sound. The lyrics are something else, often cryptic but, the kind of lyrics that aren't just great to sing along to or think about, but the kind of lyrics that are easy on the eyes and actually enjoyable to read.
Of course they just HAD to kaibosh the Winnipeg show...tsk tsk. Well I'm hoping they'll be nice enough to come pay us a visit in December.
I'll make the post nice and simple, no big world issues or crazy stuff. Just a simple post about a new record by a band called the New Pornographers.
Their previous record from 2005, Twin Cinema is really what put these guys on the map. And rightfully so, this is the best indie-pop-rock out there. And I will be honest, I admit that after listening to this I had the post-success fear: maybe this was the bottom of the well for these guys, maybe AC Newman didn't have another one in him.
Thus I was very skeptical about their new disc, Challengers. I still bought it (kind of a leap of faith) and after 4 or 5 listens I'm really diggin it.
There's a few tracks that epsecially grip me, "All the Old Showstoppers", which I haven't quite figured out the meaning of yet. "Unguided," the chorus still leaves me elated.
"Mutiny" is one that really sticks out to me, as the album is winding down, where so many ablums start to lack interesting songs, this sticks out like a sore thumb. And the lyrics to the chorus, What's the weight of the world worth to ya, kid? Go write down what you see, see how far it can go. Really I think AC has hit a lyrical peak here. Or at least, it's a fantastic, poetic improvement.
Most surprising to me is "Adventures in Solitude." Surprising because the lyrics are so personal. They draw me to the band. They make me want to learn more, to go see them live and experience songs like this with them. When you first listen to this song, it really strikes a nerve. It's something you don't expect...We thought we lost you, we thought we lost you. Then you listen far more closely, and discover a very personal song. Something atypical from this band yet, something I would definitely love to hear more of.
I'm really enjoying this overall softer approach to a very upbeat happy-pop sound. The lyrics are something else, often cryptic but, the kind of lyrics that aren't just great to sing along to or think about, but the kind of lyrics that are easy on the eyes and actually enjoyable to read.
Of course they just HAD to kaibosh the Winnipeg show...tsk tsk. Well I'm hoping they'll be nice enough to come pay us a visit in December.
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