30 Days of Video Games Day 16

Game with the Best Cut Scenes

This is a troubling question because I have a million answers due to the lack of an answer to the question, "What makes a cut scene?"  So what better way to solve this dilemma than to answer all of my hypothetical solutions?

Cut Scenes that Involve a Lot of Gameplay: Chrono Trigger.  Before the final fight with Lavos, you have the option of taking on like twelve side quests, and they have really deep story elements for the backgrounds of some characters.  You can even change the events of the "present" on one particularly emotional cut scene.

Cut Scenes with Minimal Gameplay: God of War 3: Killing the gods of Olympus is a spectacular experience.

This particular scene, ripping the head off Helios, was really cool.  Killing Poseidon was a very close second place.  And if you count quick-time events as Minimal Gameplay cut scenes, then you really can't go wrong with God of War 3.

Straight-Up Movie Cut Scenes: Okay, I personally guarantee that I will think of another game eventually, but I have been having trouble all day with this one. At the moment, the game that comes to mind is Super Smash Bros Brawl.  It's not that the game has particularly wonderful story-telling, but it's the reason the Smash Bros games are wonderful: it's a bunch of awesome characters crossing over into a single universe.

Pardon the low-res, but Samus's ship, the Blue Falcon, an Arwing, and a pink thing I can't really recognize: awesome.

Also, I find it hilarious that Diddy Kong has to fight Rayquaza.

30 Days of Videogames Day 15

Post a screenshot from a game you're playing right now.

I could do this for a lot of games.  CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

Game One: Team Fortress 2 -

I love TF2, but that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone reading this.

Game Two: Osmos -

A still screenshot does not do this game justice.



Osmos is a really neat game that came with my Humble Indie Bundle.  It's a really neat (and occasionally frustrating) time-waster.

Game Three: Spiral Knights -

Spiral Knights seems like a free MMO-Lite.  You get set up in a party with three other people you don't know (unless you actually have friends) and kill monsters for greater wealth and therefore, weapons.  Even when I think I'm not going to play, though, I use all my energy (think along the lines of a Facebook or Twitter-based game that only allows a certain number of actions a day) to post weapons on the auction house.  I'm rich, beyotch!

Game Four: Tropico 3 - 

It's kind of like a politically-twisted Sim City.  You're a small island in the Caribbean in the middle of the Cold War.  Both superpowers want your alliances, and give you financial aid.  The main objective is to stay in power and accomplish any objectives you may have in that time frame.  The key is balancing development with the environment, and capitalism with communism.  You also have to make sure your army can take on any rebels that might rise against you.

Game Five: Amnesia: The Dark Descent -

Goddammit this game is scary.  This game is freaking scary.  I have made so little progress into this game because the atmosphere is so damn scary.  Easily one of the best videogame gifts I have ever been given, maybe the best.

Seriously, it's so freaking scary.

30 Days of Video Games Day 14

Current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper:

This one isn't really fair.  I have so damn many, and they're rotating every half-hour.  I took a screencap from pretty much every Meet the Team video and made them wallpapers.  I think I took four of them from Meet the Medic. But for the sake of the technical name, I have this as my current wallpaper:

I have a lot more as well.

30 Days of Video Games Day 13

A Game I Have Played More Than Five Times:

I have to start with the game I would have played five times over if I still had it: Metroid Fusion.  Actually, pretty much any Metroid game.  It's this strangely perfect balance of exploration, action, and puzzle-solving.  Plus, the aheer amount of skill it takes to get to some secrets can drive you crazy.  Until you actually succeed, of course, and then it's awesome.  But yeah, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Metroid Prime each are awesome games.  Maybe the only exception I hold could be the original Metroid, because I need at least a little prodding in the right direction.  Plus, by the time you have a ton of upgrades, you feel like The Juggernaut.

I could do this fight all day.

Much the same thing could probably be said about Portal in the next few years.  It's short, it's wonderful, and I think I've put the count up to at least three play-throughs.

But the winner has to go to Chrono Trigger.  I found it on a large emulator collection I was given.  I thought, "Hmmm... Chrono Trigger.  This could either be retarded, or it could be pretty cool."  So I started playing, and IT WAS AWESOME.  The story was sooo much cooler when I didn't even know what would be on the back of the box.  Ugh, it was too damn cool.

So I played it again and again on my emulator when I found out there were multiple endings.  Then, I got the game for Christmas on my DS, and the number of times I've played it has been increasing somewhat steadily.

30 Days of Video Games Day 12

A Game Everyone Should Play - Any Warioware Game

The fact that there are people out there who have not played any Warioware games upsets me.  First and foremost, it is the ultimate handheld game: short blasts of wtf and "gameplay" that leaves you wanting more and ohmygod brbanothergame.  It's just stupid, mindless fun and weird.

Pictured: Standard Gaming

And the thing is, whenever I try to explain how fun the game is, the common response tends to be disbelief.  But I'm going to just say this: if you have not played Warioware, play it.  Any of the games will do: the Gamecube version, the GBA version, or the DS/Wii versions.  They're all good times and you'll have a lovely conversation piece when  someone asks what you're playing.

30 Days of Video Games Day 11

Gaming System of Choice: Nintendo DS.  In my case, specifically a red-and-black DS Lite.  

Why yes, internet.  That is correct.

I used to have the original DS.  It was a tank, definitely made of pure Nintendium.  There were some superficial scratches on it, and even though I had bought it used, it was a great machine.  I did, though, upgrade to a DS Lite about a year later.  Some people have said that the DS Lite is made of impure Nintendium, and I have started to see signs of age in my DS Lite; the top screen goes blank occasionally due to a pinched wire or something.  However, the years of play I have in that machine are a testimony to how strongly built these little Nintendo machines are; my DS Lite has lasted me four years, and any electronic device that lasts me four years deserves a medal.

Pic related.

But the entire DS series has been great.  Even though it has more variations  than some games have sequels, the DS has had a pretty spectacular run.  It paved the way for strange video games that many would never consider, like Phoenix Wright and Trauma Center: Under the Knife.  It sells better than proverbial hotcakes, and showed that you can run an entire adventure game like Zelda or Metroid on a touchscreen.  But even more prolific than the DS's successes is the third-party support that it received.  Unlike its console cousins, some of the best DS games came from non-Nintendo companies.  Sure, it also had Mario titles all over the place, but some of the aforementioned weird games and creative ones like Scribblenauts and Drawn to Life had moderate to great success on the DS.  It really is one of the better successes to come out of Nintendo.  If for some reason Nintendo ever goes out of the console market, I hope that they can stay in the handheld one.  Either way, I hope that Nintendo's handheld systems continue to do their great history justice.

30 Days of Video Games Day 10

Best Gameplay - Team Fortress 2

The damn game's just too much fun to not get this award.  Its gameplay is a very weird story, though, because when the game came out, it was pretty simple.  You have 9 classes to play as, each with 3 weapons.  The Engineer could build sentry guns, and the spy could disable them.  Heavy Weapons Guy had all of the HP, and the Medic was the most important class no one wanted to play as.

Then Valve started adding weapons.  Suddenly the Medic has a gun that heals him when he gets successful hits.  The Pyro gets an Air Blast that reflects projectiles.  The Sniper gets a bow-and-arrow.  All of a sudden the game changed a lot, and it was awesome.  The game actually got so unbalanced as weapons were added to counteract new weapons that it re-balanced itself.

They even added Middle Eastern-themed weapons because why not?

It's pretty neat, though, to see so many varied styles of play in one game where so many skills offset other skills.  And in general, it's just really damn fun.

30 Days of Video Games Day 9

Saddest Game Scene - Midna dying in Twilight Princess.

This sucked to play through.  Part of the draw to me was that I didn't know if she was going to be saved.  I mean, she was important, but I wasn't sure about how much so to the game.  She could have been disposable, for all I knew.  So when I was trying to save Midna, I was actually going as fast as I could.  If she died, it wouldn't have mattered that there was a game over and I get to try again; it was about the character.  I wasn't playing to not lose, I was playing to save the character.  So good job with that one, programmers at Nintendo.

This is Midna not dying.  The internet has failed me.

30 Days of Video Games Day 8

Short Article today.  Day 8 - Best soundtrack

Has to go to Super Smash Bros. Brawl.  I love all of the things they have done for the soundtrack to this game: the remixes, the straight ports, the half-and-halves... all of it was wonderful.  This was one of the games I followed through its development, looking for releases on new characters and stages.  Super Smash Bros. is one of my favorite franchises, and I am stoked that they have a new one coming to Wii U.  If they released this soundtrack on a CD set or MP3 download, I would go and get it.  Taking music from Pokemon, F-Zero, Mario, Kirby, and so many more games and adding orchestral sounds makes a happy Freddie.

30 Days of Video Games Day 7

Best Gaming Couple:

Just kidding.  Kind of.  They do make a great team.

I dunno much on this one.  I do like the idea of Mario and Peach, but only when Peach actually does something to further her getting out of the situation, like in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.  It's kind of the same with Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey; Maya's a fun character, but Phoenix carries most of the investigation.

I guess I'd go with Crono and Lucca.  Crono isn't a particularly great character, what with him hailing from the silent-protagonist tradition, but he's very offset by the awesome characters around him.  Lucca is definitely my favorite for a couple with Crono, which is saying something considering most of the teams you make end up with Crono looking like a pimp.

 A 32-bit pimp.

But Lucca was a machinist, and she complained a lot less than Marle.  She also spoke regular damn English, something Ayla could never comprehend.  Also, judging by all of the fanart and cosplay on the internet, I'm not the only one with this opinion.

This is notable because Lucca isn't naked in this picture.

30 Days of Video Games Day 6

Most Annoying Character

Before I go into the real answer, I have to give a shout out to Larry Butz from Phoenix Wright. It's fun that he's a recurring character and that none of the other characters really like him, but damn it, he can even make Phoenix want to beat the crap out of him.

But no, this award goes to someone who really deserves it.  I've been playing a lot of Tropico 3 lately, and it really is a wonderfully fun game.  It's kind of a messed-up Sim City, where you're a small island nation in the Caribbean in the middle of the Cold War.  The events are just as wrong in the campaign mode, too; I've had to choose between people's lives and taking money out of the treasury for my own personal gain.  It's a hilarious game.  But even in the first mission, you get to meet Betty Boom, the revolutionary DJ on every damn island you go to.  Her entire job is to complain about everything you do.  I have played a mode easy enough where I could just govern like a nice guy, giving tax breaks and generally keeping the peace.  She complains about EVERYTHING.

The world as seen by Betty Boom

This is a true story: in one of my games, my island was so prosperous that I issued a tax cut and I gave the islanders free housing.  I was trying to please the capitalists and the communists.  Betty Boom complained about BOTH EDICTS.  How the hell can you complain about free housing?  And whenever I build an army to defend myself from rebels (I've lost because the destroyed my palace), she condemns my trying to protect myself and my citizens.

30 Days of Video Games Day 5

Day 5 – Game character you feel you are most like.

I've thought about this one since I've been on the list, and even though whenever I think about this answer my brain immediately says, "No, no, think of someone else," I always come back to this character.  So, bleh, it has to be Dick Gumshoe.

He's the nicest guy in the world, and he believes in people to a fault.  He's often described as "this big lug," which is pretty much the way my mind refers to myself.  And his pay will always get cut because of the little errors he makes, regardless of whether or not those errors are within his own control.  

So.  Dependable (kind of). Loyal to even those that treat him poorly.  Broke like a joke. A big son of a gun.  And when he was dealt his hand in life, it turned out the dealer left the joker in his hand and now everyone has to get a new hand.  Yeeeaaaaaahhhh.  Sounds pretty accurate.

30 Days of Video Games Day 4

Arg only 25 minutes until midnight!
My Guilty Pleasure Game - Definitely Warioware for the Gamecube.

It is almost the exact same game as the Game Boy Advance version, and that's what makes it guilty.  Another reason for guilt is the fact that I sold my GBA game, which gives me the sads.  The graphics look awful when blown up on the big screen, and the fact that I already know all of the games makes me playing against new opponents very unfair.

Ew.

But the game has one very redeeming factor: it's freaking Warioware.  And that makes it wonderful.  It's weird, and  it's random in about the closest way something can actually be "random."  Warioware is and always will be one of the best stupid guilty pleasures around.

30 Days of Video Games Day 3

Day 3 - A game that is underrated.

I can't think of an underrated game without thinking of Killer 7.  It's a weird game by just about every definition: the story is very off-beat, the main characters (or character?) are strange, the supporting cast is just as odd and the gameplay isn't what anyone expected to happen on a Gamecube.

Are there 8 people in this picture? 2? 1? Twenty? I can't answer wholeheartedly.

Unfortunately, that last part is what gave Killer 7 its shaky ratings.  It's an on-rails shooter, like House of the Dead with the ability to turn around and choose routes, but little else in the way of exploration.  One of the most 'apologetic' reviews I read said that Killer 7 would have made an amazing anime, but not as good of a video game.  Half of the points he gave (I think he gave it about a 6 out of 10) were for style.  And that's pretty damn accurate: the game oozes style in all of the right ways.  In the interest of keeping this short, I have this to say about Killer 7: good characters in an offbeat but interesting story can make up for some *airquotes* bad gameplay.

I never found the gameplay bad; I thought it was kind of captivating.  Plus, you get to play as a Luchador in a suit with twin grenade launchers.

30 Days of Video Games Day 2

My favorite character... This one's kinda tough.  There's a lot of characters that I really like, in games that I will probably touch on later in this series of blogs.  Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth, for example, are two awesome characters in their games, and no one has popularized screaming OBJECTION! like Phoenix.

As if you needed a picture.

And Team Fortress 2 has a lot of characters that are fun to watch and play as, especially the Heavy, Demoman, Pyro, and Medic.  But I think if I'm going to choose one character from every video game I've ever played to be my favorite, I have to ask the question: "Who absolutely delights me when he/she shows up in a game?"  And even though I'll have a million different answers tomorrow, I'm going to choose one now: Fawful, from Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.

A strange choice? Yes. But awesome.  It's the writing that sets Fawful apart from the other villains in, well, pretty much any game I've ever played.  So in the first game of the series, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, the villain, Cackletta, wants to steal Princess Peach's voice.  But during the first "level" of the game, Fawful ambushes you aboard Bowser's airship.  He then busts out with this monologue:  

"I am the great Cackletta's most best pupil, who is named Fawful! I am here, laughing at you! If you are giving us the chase, just to get your silly princess's voice, then you are idiots of foolishness! Princess Peach's sweet voice will soon be the bread that makes the sandwich of Cackletta's desires! And this battle shall be the delicious mustard on that bread! The mustard of your doom!"

Fawful is full of "lolwut" sayings like this through out the series.  When Bowser asks him what his beef is, Fawful responds confusedly with, "Beef? I am lacking in beef. Fawful is beefless."  Engrish is at its best with Fawful, and that's why I'm choosing him for my favorite character from all video games forever (probably not, but still.)

30 Days of Video Games Day 1

For anyone who doesn't know, this meme has been kind of going around the internet.  I'm not 100% on why it was made or why other people do it, but I'm writing this because video games are fascinating to me for many reasons, one of which being that popularized gaming has been around for all of a few decades.  For anyone who accidentally stumbled on this and had some compulsion to read this and therefore doesn't know me, I am less than a few decades old; two and a fifth (rounded down) to be exact.  Being almost as young as an industry is kind of weird, and it makes a totally legitimate sounding excuse to really like video games and treat them halfway seriously.


So here goes.


Day 1: My Very First Video Game


Okay, so I'm not sure what my first game is, because I started playing reeeeaaaally early.  I'm pretty sure, though, that the first thing I played video games on was the original Game Boy.  And as any red-blooded American who played games on that brick, I played the most American game around:

I remember playing this before I even knew what I was doing.  I played multiplayer Tetris with my brother before I even really recognized Mario and Luigi as the characters on the side of the screen.  

Since then, I've seen Tetris grow into probably the biggest game franchise ever.  Tetris on the Game Boy in 1989 accomplished what the Wii set out to do in 2007: it captured every gaming market around.  Do you know someone who hasn't played Tetris?  If they haven't, they're in the minority.