Archives
One of the better things about having a journal is that you can log music in it. This normally sends me on quests to find out songs that I have long forgotten, but thankfully there are several songs that I have rediscovered tonight that are proving peaceful. They all come from the Xenogears OST. Alex used to play it quite a bit back in the day, and I suppose that I had listened to it while posting back in 2003. Recently, I have found few songs that have been satisfying. None of it seems to appeal to my mood, though honestly I have no idea what mood that is. (I'm including the Lunar OST in this as well for things found that I love)
I have realized that all of my friends here love to drink. Maybe I unconsciously chose them that way years ago; but I can assure you it is a large inconvenience now. In fact, we share very little in common at all. None of them like video games. None of them watch anime. None of them like comics. I would say that we have D&D in common, which we do now, but I am the one who introduced them to it in the first place. They have come over to my house a few times recently. Last Thursday we were supposed to have a strategy session for the upcoming game, but that eventually turned into the three of them drinking, while I played various games on the PS3. The same thing basically happened again on Saturday.
At the very least, they seem to have learned this week that I do not want to be around them while they are drinking. At worst, they have realized that we share nothing in common except for drinking and have begun actively shunning me from gatherings. In part, this is what I had hoped for because I wish not to take part. I should have spent more time finding people here with which I had things in common. I think next year I should move to a larger city.
In the meantime, my enrollment adviser finally returned an email to me today. As far as what I need to finish before enrollment, I have several papers I need to fill out and mail. Then I have the business of the enrollment fee, which is of little concern. Otherwise, once I get things straightened out, I must apply for financial aid. That is the final hurdle on this new direction. I have begun the relentless pursuit of playing games that I think were the pinnacle of design for their given generations in preparation for taking classes. I started playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night two days ago, though I am sad to say that it is completed already. Well in truth, I only managed 198.8% of the 200.6% possible, but I'm really not that patient. For a system that was supposed to separate itself from 2D games, it ironically proved to be the perfect format for one. Was it the best game on the PSone? Maybe, maybe not. Metal Gear Solid is quite a contender for that title. It'd be hard to argue which was the overall better game, and even harder to argue which had the better design. The first time I played SotN, I was not floored. Besides the level design, what makes it stand out for me is the RPG/Action/Adventure element. While Metroid had set the stage for accessing new areas based on gear, many years earlier, Castlevania took that idea and added an expansive library of loot AND leveling system. It is hard not to become addicted to that game. That said, the first time that I played MGS, I was dumbfounded. The store was still called Babbages, and I was playing a demo version around the Holidays. While MGS was not the first 3D game, it was definitely the first to implement stealth. It's hard to go back to the first Metal Gear games without being astounded by the amount of vision it must have taken for Hideo Kojima and his team to translate something like that into the format that they did. There are too many elements that were taken in absolute seriousness. When you walk into the first puddle and you see the exclamation mark light up above the Genome soldier, your initial reaction was "Holy shit! They heard that!?" The game only continued to impress from those opening 30 seconds onward.
And there are many other games on the PSOne that were superbly designed. I can narrow the list of the times in games that I was floored to a very select number. I will put them in the order of importance as I see them now, though the list is apt to change at any moment given nostalgia.
1. Tomb Raider: Holy shit, I can walk in every direction! I ran to get my parents so that they could see me break out of 2D space for the very first time as a character model. They didn't care very much. This game lead me to discover many things about the world of gaming, including anti-aliasing, texture-mapping, and so on. But the single moment, the very first second of the game in which you move Lara, I can't really compare that to anything I've ever experienced in gaming up until now. It was what we had always dreamed would happen. Now we take the third dimension for granted-- but there was a time when one single step changed the fate of gaming as we know it.
2. Super Mario Bros. 3: It was only the most anticipated game of the entire decade. The movie, "The Wizard" was basically a giant marketing campaign specifically made for this game. I didn't know anyone who did not have this on a Christmas or Hanukkah list. Not only did I receive this game and play it constantly, but I went to other friend's houses to watch them play it as well. It was infectious. Suits!? Mario has f****** suits!? It's hard not to throw it in the NES right now, even though I should be going to bed soon. How much more childlike does it get than that? I'm almost 28 and I'm willing to forgo bedtime to play Super Mario 3 RIGHT NOW! I feel like I should call home and ask for permission. (I used to have to write short letters to my parents to prove that I sincerely wanted to play games at night...they all boiled down to simple begging.) Back to the game, it let you CHOOSE what level to play next. You didn't even have to play them all. Better yet, you didn't even have to play all the levels! I saw an ABC newscast one night that shed the "Secrets" of beating the game. I'm serious. ABC picked up a small news segment showing adults how to beat the game. Tell me that wasn't groundbreaking?
3. Sonic the Hedgehog: I didn't even know that SEGA was a company for those first 5 years of gaming. I assumed Nintendo was it (except for the rich kids who got Neo-Geo). I had played Altered Beast one time at a Whiz up on Long Island once, but I thought it was a special Nintendo. The term had become as ubiquitous as Coke. If it played games, then it was a Nintendo. (Except for Dragon's Lair at the arcade, that was punishment) Sonic was fast. That was it. It was colorful, it was fast, and it sounded awesome. Yes, it was only a jump in generations, but 16 bit was an epic jump, not to mention that the Genesis was much more affordable than the SuperNes.
4. Red Dead Redemption: The game is not what astounds me. Rockstar did a fantastic Western and stayed true to it for the entire game. The vision was pure and executed well. Where the game was truly groundbreaking was in the Art Direction. Not since Tomb Raider has my jaw literally dropped and remained that way for an extended amount of time. When you first enter Mexico after the battle on the raft, you will hear the song "Compass" while riding under the moonlight across the desert. Yes, you are playing a game, but you are also watching a movie. You are playing a movie at that point. I wanted the scene to last forever. It was that moving. All games should strive to make the player feel this way. Your on the horse, galloping, on this mission trying to save your family and make amends for your past. The music is playing. If you don't own the game, try to find someone who is just making it to Mexico for the first time...or erase their game and demand that they start over just to see this scene.
And that is all for now...I will continue this list at a later date. For more excellent design decision, I will have to also reference Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Super Mario 64, Diablo II, and too many more to even begin mentioning right now.
I love gaming. I will make a life of it yet.
I have realized that all of my friends here love to drink. Maybe I unconsciously chose them that way years ago; but I can assure you it is a large inconvenience now. In fact, we share very little in common at all. None of them like video games. None of them watch anime. None of them like comics. I would say that we have D&D in common, which we do now, but I am the one who introduced them to it in the first place. They have come over to my house a few times recently. Last Thursday we were supposed to have a strategy session for the upcoming game, but that eventually turned into the three of them drinking, while I played various games on the PS3. The same thing basically happened again on Saturday.
At the very least, they seem to have learned this week that I do not want to be around them while they are drinking. At worst, they have realized that we share nothing in common except for drinking and have begun actively shunning me from gatherings. In part, this is what I had hoped for because I wish not to take part. I should have spent more time finding people here with which I had things in common. I think next year I should move to a larger city.
In the meantime, my enrollment adviser finally returned an email to me today. As far as what I need to finish before enrollment, I have several papers I need to fill out and mail. Then I have the business of the enrollment fee, which is of little concern. Otherwise, once I get things straightened out, I must apply for financial aid. That is the final hurdle on this new direction. I have begun the relentless pursuit of playing games that I think were the pinnacle of design for their given generations in preparation for taking classes. I started playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night two days ago, though I am sad to say that it is completed already. Well in truth, I only managed 198.8% of the 200.6% possible, but I'm really not that patient. For a system that was supposed to separate itself from 2D games, it ironically proved to be the perfect format for one. Was it the best game on the PSone? Maybe, maybe not. Metal Gear Solid is quite a contender for that title. It'd be hard to argue which was the overall better game, and even harder to argue which had the better design. The first time I played SotN, I was not floored. Besides the level design, what makes it stand out for me is the RPG/Action/Adventure element. While Metroid had set the stage for accessing new areas based on gear, many years earlier, Castlevania took that idea and added an expansive library of loot AND leveling system. It is hard not to become addicted to that game. That said, the first time that I played MGS, I was dumbfounded. The store was still called Babbages, and I was playing a demo version around the Holidays. While MGS was not the first 3D game, it was definitely the first to implement stealth. It's hard to go back to the first Metal Gear games without being astounded by the amount of vision it must have taken for Hideo Kojima and his team to translate something like that into the format that they did. There are too many elements that were taken in absolute seriousness. When you walk into the first puddle and you see the exclamation mark light up above the Genome soldier, your initial reaction was "Holy shit! They heard that!?" The game only continued to impress from those opening 30 seconds onward.
And there are many other games on the PSOne that were superbly designed. I can narrow the list of the times in games that I was floored to a very select number. I will put them in the order of importance as I see them now, though the list is apt to change at any moment given nostalgia.
1. Tomb Raider: Holy shit, I can walk in every direction! I ran to get my parents so that they could see me break out of 2D space for the very first time as a character model. They didn't care very much. This game lead me to discover many things about the world of gaming, including anti-aliasing, texture-mapping, and so on. But the single moment, the very first second of the game in which you move Lara, I can't really compare that to anything I've ever experienced in gaming up until now. It was what we had always dreamed would happen. Now we take the third dimension for granted-- but there was a time when one single step changed the fate of gaming as we know it.
2. Super Mario Bros. 3: It was only the most anticipated game of the entire decade. The movie, "The Wizard" was basically a giant marketing campaign specifically made for this game. I didn't know anyone who did not have this on a Christmas or Hanukkah list. Not only did I receive this game and play it constantly, but I went to other friend's houses to watch them play it as well. It was infectious. Suits!? Mario has f****** suits!? It's hard not to throw it in the NES right now, even though I should be going to bed soon. How much more childlike does it get than that? I'm almost 28 and I'm willing to forgo bedtime to play Super Mario 3 RIGHT NOW! I feel like I should call home and ask for permission. (I used to have to write short letters to my parents to prove that I sincerely wanted to play games at night...they all boiled down to simple begging.) Back to the game, it let you CHOOSE what level to play next. You didn't even have to play them all. Better yet, you didn't even have to play all the levels! I saw an ABC newscast one night that shed the "Secrets" of beating the game. I'm serious. ABC picked up a small news segment showing adults how to beat the game. Tell me that wasn't groundbreaking?
3. Sonic the Hedgehog: I didn't even know that SEGA was a company for those first 5 years of gaming. I assumed Nintendo was it (except for the rich kids who got Neo-Geo). I had played Altered Beast one time at a Whiz up on Long Island once, but I thought it was a special Nintendo. The term had become as ubiquitous as Coke. If it played games, then it was a Nintendo. (Except for Dragon's Lair at the arcade, that was punishment) Sonic was fast. That was it. It was colorful, it was fast, and it sounded awesome. Yes, it was only a jump in generations, but 16 bit was an epic jump, not to mention that the Genesis was much more affordable than the SuperNes.
4. Red Dead Redemption: The game is not what astounds me. Rockstar did a fantastic Western and stayed true to it for the entire game. The vision was pure and executed well. Where the game was truly groundbreaking was in the Art Direction. Not since Tomb Raider has my jaw literally dropped and remained that way for an extended amount of time. When you first enter Mexico after the battle on the raft, you will hear the song "Compass" while riding under the moonlight across the desert. Yes, you are playing a game, but you are also watching a movie. You are playing a movie at that point. I wanted the scene to last forever. It was that moving. All games should strive to make the player feel this way. Your on the horse, galloping, on this mission trying to save your family and make amends for your past. The music is playing. If you don't own the game, try to find someone who is just making it to Mexico for the first time...or erase their game and demand that they start over just to see this scene.
And that is all for now...I will continue this list at a later date. For more excellent design decision, I will have to also reference Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Super Mario 64, Diablo II, and too many more to even begin mentioning right now.
I love gaming. I will make a life of it yet.