The culmination
You know what's funny? I took a shower several hours ago and had my contacts on the whole time, not realizing it until I was well in the middle of washing. I guess it's pretty safe to wear my lenses through such things as long as I'm careful; it's not like I'm gonna go swimming or anything with them on. :P
It's been a while since I've last posted here. Been going through some stuff during the away time, some good, some bad, but right now I'll focus on the main reason for my absence, especially since it's on a fairly "normal" note.
I remember back in high school my first experiences with Super Mario 64. At the time it was a very revolutionary game, as it was one of the first mainstream games to provide well-executed free form 3-D movement in a platform game. The ability and freedom to move anywhere and do many things was a huge selling point that ensured critical and financial success, especially with the many challenges tacked onto the game. The transition into the future had begun.
Within the next several years I came across many notable games that carried features that stood out as selling points for me. Star Fox 64 gave me pretty much what I wanted in a flying game; Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark provided a well-crafted system that fed my craving for guns and shooting people endlessly; WWF Warzone and WWF No Mercy touted fairly intensive fighter customization; the Metroid Prime series blended 3-D shooting and platforming/exploration very smoothly; Dance Dance Revolution exhibited a ridiculous but interesting way of turning music into physically intensive arcade workout; NBA Street 2 combined my love for basketball and video games with my love for hip-hop music and culture; Need for speed Underground 2 not only amplified my interests in import mods and semi-realistic racing but also gave it that lovely sense of freedom and exploration with a complete city to explore. All great games in their own right, but each simply kept me wanting more.
Enter Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a game that I swear was made with me in mind. While the previous two GTA games have done a great job in summoning the spirit of most of the games listed above, this latest title pretty much covers all the bases at some level. The blocky, low-polygon graphics are reminiscent of an N64 game; the guns and weapons (as well as certain missions) look like they were inspired by Goldeneye/PD, with a lock-on system that is very Metroid Prime-esque; the main character's appearance can be customized with various clothes, hair styles and tatoos; the many streets and modifiable cars available certainly fulfill my need for speed, on top of providing a few air and sea vehicles to fly around with; the soundtrack includes a good dose of hip-hop and "urban" music...and all of it can be found in a living, breathing world of varying environments. And of course, there are also a few minigames that revolve around basketball and musical timing. So many things I can ask for in a video game, rolled up into one quality package.
But the attack on my personal experiences doesn't stop there. The vast world of San Andreas is based on my home state of California, and distorts and condenses my two favorite cities (San Francisco and Los Angeles) into more GTA-friendly versions. The storyline setting takes place in 1992--far from a good year for me personally, but serves as a way to harken the spirit of the late 80's and early 90's, an era that I consider my own period of childhood nostalgia; this also means that the soundtrack revolves around music that I grew up with. And seeing how I spent the latter half of my childhood listening to west coast gangsta rap, the game's thugged-out inner city theme and primary characters give even more reason why this is such a personally appealing game for me. To put the icing on the cake, the entire plot is focused on revenge, redemption and setting things right against those bent on disrupting the way things should be...a type of story that almost always wins me over (as well as an interesting deviation from the criminal empire focus found in the last two GTA games).
Of course, the game isn't perfect. Aside from the usual AI bugs and design flaws, the game didn't bother or barely tried to touch on a few other game types and interests I've enjoyed such as football or hand-to-hand/grappling combat (the non-gun fighting system is fairly minimal), and the graphical style is clearly realistic in contrast to a blended and balanced cartoonish realism that I would've preferred...plus the developers decided to be assholes and not produce for a Nintendo system. But hey, the pros undeniably outweigh the cons, and by forcing me to purchase the game for PC they've pretty much opened me to a different realm of gaming. In a way it's as if the game's getting me to look back while moving me forward...something that doesn't surprise me in this very strange year of 2005. Funny how this is happening at the halfway point of the year.
Well, that went on longer than I originally envisioned. Now that the "honeymoon" period is finally starting to slow down with this game I can get back to my original summer plans. The summer's pretty much half done already! Argh!
I'll talk about other shit a little later. Time for more rampaging.
It's been a while since I've last posted here. Been going through some stuff during the away time, some good, some bad, but right now I'll focus on the main reason for my absence, especially since it's on a fairly "normal" note.
I remember back in high school my first experiences with Super Mario 64. At the time it was a very revolutionary game, as it was one of the first mainstream games to provide well-executed free form 3-D movement in a platform game. The ability and freedom to move anywhere and do many things was a huge selling point that ensured critical and financial success, especially with the many challenges tacked onto the game. The transition into the future had begun.
Within the next several years I came across many notable games that carried features that stood out as selling points for me. Star Fox 64 gave me pretty much what I wanted in a flying game; Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark provided a well-crafted system that fed my craving for guns and shooting people endlessly; WWF Warzone and WWF No Mercy touted fairly intensive fighter customization; the Metroid Prime series blended 3-D shooting and platforming/exploration very smoothly; Dance Dance Revolution exhibited a ridiculous but interesting way of turning music into physically intensive arcade workout; NBA Street 2 combined my love for basketball and video games with my love for hip-hop music and culture; Need for speed Underground 2 not only amplified my interests in import mods and semi-realistic racing but also gave it that lovely sense of freedom and exploration with a complete city to explore. All great games in their own right, but each simply kept me wanting more.
Enter Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a game that I swear was made with me in mind. While the previous two GTA games have done a great job in summoning the spirit of most of the games listed above, this latest title pretty much covers all the bases at some level. The blocky, low-polygon graphics are reminiscent of an N64 game; the guns and weapons (as well as certain missions) look like they were inspired by Goldeneye/PD, with a lock-on system that is very Metroid Prime-esque; the main character's appearance can be customized with various clothes, hair styles and tatoos; the many streets and modifiable cars available certainly fulfill my need for speed, on top of providing a few air and sea vehicles to fly around with; the soundtrack includes a good dose of hip-hop and "urban" music...and all of it can be found in a living, breathing world of varying environments. And of course, there are also a few minigames that revolve around basketball and musical timing. So many things I can ask for in a video game, rolled up into one quality package.
But the attack on my personal experiences doesn't stop there. The vast world of San Andreas is based on my home state of California, and distorts and condenses my two favorite cities (San Francisco and Los Angeles) into more GTA-friendly versions. The storyline setting takes place in 1992--far from a good year for me personally, but serves as a way to harken the spirit of the late 80's and early 90's, an era that I consider my own period of childhood nostalgia; this also means that the soundtrack revolves around music that I grew up with. And seeing how I spent the latter half of my childhood listening to west coast gangsta rap, the game's thugged-out inner city theme and primary characters give even more reason why this is such a personally appealing game for me. To put the icing on the cake, the entire plot is focused on revenge, redemption and setting things right against those bent on disrupting the way things should be...a type of story that almost always wins me over (as well as an interesting deviation from the criminal empire focus found in the last two GTA games).
Of course, the game isn't perfect. Aside from the usual AI bugs and design flaws, the game didn't bother or barely tried to touch on a few other game types and interests I've enjoyed such as football or hand-to-hand/grappling combat (the non-gun fighting system is fairly minimal), and the graphical style is clearly realistic in contrast to a blended and balanced cartoonish realism that I would've preferred...plus the developers decided to be assholes and not produce for a Nintendo system. But hey, the pros undeniably outweigh the cons, and by forcing me to purchase the game for PC they've pretty much opened me to a different realm of gaming. In a way it's as if the game's getting me to look back while moving me forward...something that doesn't surprise me in this very strange year of 2005. Funny how this is happening at the halfway point of the year.
Well, that went on longer than I originally envisioned. Now that the "honeymoon" period is finally starting to slow down with this game I can get back to my original summer plans. The summer's pretty much half done already! Argh!
I'll talk about other shit a little later. Time for more rampaging.