Video Game Meme, Day 2
Day 1 - Very first video game.
Day 2 - Your favorite character.
Like Veira, I'm not going to do a tie on this one no matter how much I want to. Although, hard. So hard.
My first instinct was to go the cheap route and say Condor Joe!
Because in an all time favorite character list, he's number 1. And hey, he's in a game now. Kinda sorta. But no, he started as an anime character for me, and so an anime character he will stay. Sorry, pretty.
(Art by Akemi Takada, one of the artists of the original series.)
And then there's Leon who by god makes the finalists for this question. But since I only discovered him a couple of years ago now, I have to bump him in favor for the older ones with staying power.
When then dropped me into a tie between two of them. A tie which was so hard to break because they each were and are so important to me. They both have their own individual strengths which made it so difficult to choose. But in the end there was one clear winner.
Runner up was Sarah Kerrigan.
(Ho sit, she actually has a big red ponytail? I wasn't that far off at all. O_o )
In the categories of Stronger Character, Development, and Biggest Role in the Story, Kerrigan wins hands down, no contest. And she's from an RTS. They didn't have to give her a story or a personality, but they did and she became the most important character in that universe.
She manages to walk that line of strong female that doesn't have to be a bitch, which is a very delicate chalk line. She believes in the cause she's fighting for and is loyal to a fault, which really resonates with me. She's more than capable of handling herself and her fall stands out to me as one of the top video game moments I have ever played.
(Some spoilers for Starcraft 2, unfortunately. Not in the video itself, but on the related ones on the side. I just spoiled myself. Damnit.)
Exact same dialogue as the original, and the original did the whole thing on little screens.
And then she becomes Queen Bitch of the Universe and the single most important character for the rest of the game, and Brood War.
And on a personal note, I credit her with getting me through a major depressive episode in High School.
But unfortunately, she loses out to the sheer history and my unabashed fangirlism of my pick for Favorite Character. Which is probably the wrong choice, but I can't look past the 20 year history I have with him.
Christopher "Maverick" Blair from the Wing Commander series.
Whereas Kerrigan is an actual full, rounded character, Blair started as an unnamed, no face Player that had no personality or even dialogue beyond what the player chose for him. (I think they chose dialogue. I can't honestly remember.)
In Wing Commander II he got a face, and became known as "Bluehair."
I remember the first time I saw Bluehair, it was a big case of WTF. XD Not what I had pictured at all, and it took me a long time to get used to it. He earned a little bit of personality: reckless, hot headed, Tom Cruise as Maverick in a computer game format. But largely he was still the Player, even side characters such as Spirit and Jazz were more developed than he was.
It wasn't until Wing Commander III that he got a name and a personality.
Heart of the Tiger had a lot of issues. Giant Cat muppets for instance. Being one of the first Full Motion Video games out there, it had a lot of hilarious little issues and it was pretty much like playing a movie, apparently one of my favorite "genres." XD
It also had Mark Hamill as Blair.
Mark Hamill is why I love this character so much. He took the Top Gun aspect of Bluehair and made him real, made him believable with quirks, faults and a smart mouth. He took a character who could have easily become one of those obnoxious Mary Sue "I am awesome, everyone loves/hates me because I am just that cool" and brought him down to earth and made him real.
Finding videos for him sucks by the way. So here's a couple really random ones:
Heart of the Tiger trailer:
Good cutscenes from IV:
(I don't think I ever mentioned this before, but it was this DRT virus and the fact that I was learning genetics in biology at the time that made we want to pursue that career. Honest to god: DRT is what made me want to be a geneticist.)
One of Blair's cameos in Prophecy. Go to 4:59:
It's hard to pinpoint what exactly it is I love about Blair, partially because as his beginning as a Player Character you inevitably have the ability to add things to his personality that might not be there and kind of custom fit him to what you want. Still I would say that it's the fact that he's a Good Guy without coming across as an obnoxious jerk, a la Cyclops from X-Men. He's also not afraid to go against his commanders and friends to do what he believes is right. He's not afraid to take risks, but he has the utmost compassion for others no matter what.
So even though Kerrigan is the better character, I still have to pick Blair as favorite overall. It may just be unabashed fangirlism, or the fact that he is in/represents one of my oldest game obsessions, but he's my fav.
Here's a blooper reel for WCIII. Bad quality video, and I might be the only one who thinks it's funny, but here you go anyway. XD
Day 3 - A game that is underrated.
Day 4 - Your guilty pleasure game.
Day 5 - Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 6 - Most annoying character.
Day 7 - Favorite game couple.
Day 8 - Best soundtrack.
Day 9 - Saddest game scene.
Day 10 - Best gameplay.
Day 11 - Gaming system of choice.
Day 12 - A game everyone should play.
Day 13 - A game you’ve played more than five times.
Day 14 - Current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper.
Day 15 - Post a screenshot from the game you're playing right now.
Day 16 - Game with the best cut scenes.
Day 17 - Favorite antagonist.
Day 18 - Favorite protagonist.
Day 19 - Picture of a game setting you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite genre.
Day 21 - Game with the best story.
Day 22 - A game sequel which disappointed you.
Day 23 - Game you think had the best graphics or art style.
Day 24 - Favorite classic game.
Day 25 - A game you plan on playing.
Day 26 - Best voice acting.
Day 27 - Most epic scene ever.
Day 28 - Favorite game developer.
Day 29 - A game you thought you wouldn't like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite game of all time
Day 2 - Your favorite character.
Like Veira, I'm not going to do a tie on this one no matter how much I want to. Although, hard. So hard.
My first instinct was to go the cheap route and say Condor Joe!
Because in an all time favorite character list, he's number 1. And hey, he's in a game now. Kinda sorta. But no, he started as an anime character for me, and so an anime character he will stay. Sorry, pretty.
(Art by Akemi Takada, one of the artists of the original series.)
And then there's Leon who by god makes the finalists for this question. But since I only discovered him a couple of years ago now, I have to bump him in favor for the older ones with staying power.
When then dropped me into a tie between two of them. A tie which was so hard to break because they each were and are so important to me. They both have their own individual strengths which made it so difficult to choose. But in the end there was one clear winner.
Runner up was Sarah Kerrigan.
(Ho sit, she actually has a big red ponytail? I wasn't that far off at all. O_o )
In the categories of Stronger Character, Development, and Biggest Role in the Story, Kerrigan wins hands down, no contest. And she's from an RTS. They didn't have to give her a story or a personality, but they did and she became the most important character in that universe.
She manages to walk that line of strong female that doesn't have to be a bitch, which is a very delicate chalk line. She believes in the cause she's fighting for and is loyal to a fault, which really resonates with me. She's more than capable of handling herself and her fall stands out to me as one of the top video game moments I have ever played.
Click to view(Some spoilers for Starcraft 2, unfortunately. Not in the video itself, but on the related ones on the side. I just spoiled myself. Damnit.)
Exact same dialogue as the original, and the original did the whole thing on little screens.
And then she becomes Queen Bitch of the Universe and the single most important character for the rest of the game, and Brood War.
And on a personal note, I credit her with getting me through a major depressive episode in High School.
But unfortunately, she loses out to the sheer history and my unabashed fangirlism of my pick for Favorite Character. Which is probably the wrong choice, but I can't look past the 20 year history I have with him.
Christopher "Maverick" Blair from the Wing Commander series.
Whereas Kerrigan is an actual full, rounded character, Blair started as an unnamed, no face Player that had no personality or even dialogue beyond what the player chose for him. (I think they chose dialogue. I can't honestly remember.)
In Wing Commander II he got a face, and became known as "Bluehair."
I remember the first time I saw Bluehair, it was a big case of WTF. XD Not what I had pictured at all, and it took me a long time to get used to it. He earned a little bit of personality: reckless, hot headed, Tom Cruise as Maverick in a computer game format. But largely he was still the Player, even side characters such as Spirit and Jazz were more developed than he was.
It wasn't until Wing Commander III that he got a name and a personality.
Heart of the Tiger had a lot of issues. Giant Cat muppets for instance. Being one of the first Full Motion Video games out there, it had a lot of hilarious little issues and it was pretty much like playing a movie, apparently one of my favorite "genres." XD
It also had Mark Hamill as Blair.
Mark Hamill is why I love this character so much. He took the Top Gun aspect of Bluehair and made him real, made him believable with quirks, faults and a smart mouth. He took a character who could have easily become one of those obnoxious Mary Sue "I am awesome, everyone loves/hates me because I am just that cool" and brought him down to earth and made him real.
Finding videos for him sucks by the way. So here's a couple really random ones:
Heart of the Tiger trailer:
Good cutscenes from IV:
(I don't think I ever mentioned this before, but it was this DRT virus and the fact that I was learning genetics in biology at the time that made we want to pursue that career. Honest to god: DRT is what made me want to be a geneticist.)
One of Blair's cameos in Prophecy. Go to 4:59:
It's hard to pinpoint what exactly it is I love about Blair, partially because as his beginning as a Player Character you inevitably have the ability to add things to his personality that might not be there and kind of custom fit him to what you want. Still I would say that it's the fact that he's a Good Guy without coming across as an obnoxious jerk, a la Cyclops from X-Men. He's also not afraid to go against his commanders and friends to do what he believes is right. He's not afraid to take risks, but he has the utmost compassion for others no matter what.
So even though Kerrigan is the better character, I still have to pick Blair as favorite overall. It may just be unabashed fangirlism, or the fact that he is in/represents one of my oldest game obsessions, but he's my fav.
Here's a blooper reel for WCIII. Bad quality video, and I might be the only one who thinks it's funny, but here you go anyway. XD
Day 3 - A game that is underrated.
Day 4 - Your guilty pleasure game.
Day 5 - Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 6 - Most annoying character.
Day 7 - Favorite game couple.
Day 8 - Best soundtrack.
Day 9 - Saddest game scene.
Day 10 - Best gameplay.
Day 11 - Gaming system of choice.
Day 12 - A game everyone should play.
Day 13 - A game you’ve played more than five times.
Day 14 - Current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper.
Day 15 - Post a screenshot from the game you're playing right now.
Day 16 - Game with the best cut scenes.
Day 17 - Favorite antagonist.
Day 18 - Favorite protagonist.
Day 19 - Picture of a game setting you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite genre.
Day 21 - Game with the best story.
Day 22 - A game sequel which disappointed you.
Day 23 - Game you think had the best graphics or art style.
Day 24 - Favorite classic game.
Day 25 - A game you plan on playing.
Day 26 - Best voice acting.
Day 27 - Most epic scene ever.
Day 28 - Favorite game developer.
Day 29 - A game you thought you wouldn't like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite game of all time