Happy 4th, everyone. Elbow deep into editing, I give you this:

 

Every form of entertainment has its own clichés. From films where the bad guy is the hero's dad/brother/hamster to books where it turns out to be all a dream, clichés are often found in the place of creativity. For a variety of reasons, video games are particularly prone to the same clichés being repeated over and over again, often being extremetly annoying to gamers. So here my list of the top five most annoying video game clichés.

1. Exploding Barrels

Yes, it's a good feeling when you manage to shoot a barrel from a distance, causing a huge fireball that takes out a lot of enemies. More often though, an enemy will shoot a barrel you though you weren't in the way of, killing your character and frustrating you endlessly.

What's actually inside those things away? Petrol? Napalm? Fat from liposuction clinics? Seriously, the explosions these things usually cause is huge. If even the slightest knock creates a huge fireball, why are they left out in the open, where anything could accidently damage them? I can even remember a game that had exploding crates, which is beyond ridiculous.

 2. Collecting Coins

Whlist platform games are the most gulity of this, alot of games force you to collect coins/stars/dog tags with OCD like precision. Whlist some games give you a reward for collecting enough objects, such as an extra life, some of the rewards simply make the player feel like they've wasted their time. For example, concept art is nice to look at, but it's not that good a reward for all that effort.

Destroy all Humans! for the Playstation 2 had the right idea, with the player being able to unlock an indepth making of feature with commentary from the developers, as well as an entire 1950's B-Movie for their efforts. Then there are the games which give you no real reward for collecting things, or make you unlock things that shouldn't be locked in the first place  (like Sypro the Dragon 3's final level), making the whole concept completely worthless.

3. Terrible Voice Acting and Scripts

Although jokes about the dialogue in the first Resident Evil have become a staple of gamer culture ("You were almost a Jill sandwich!"), in the 12 years since,  the majority of video game scripts haven't improved much since then.

Due to their interactive nature, it's understandable why games focus less on story telling than other types of media. However, the same generic plots (Aliens have invaded! Some youth must defeat a world destroying evil! Soldiers have captured some nuclear missles!) repeated over and over again do get a bit tiresome. One of the main reasons I praised Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was due to its strong story telling and characterisation, proving that telling a compelling story in a game is possible.

Although the problem of engrish in game scripts has decreased over recent years, most scripts are fairly lifeless. Poor voice acting doesn't help ethier, with a lot of voice overs sounding like they were done by the developer's receptionist. As for movie tie-ins, if they even manage to get the original actors at all, it sounds like they were recorded at gun point. However, there are alot of talented voice actors out there, and performances such as Malcom Macdowell in Fallout 3 and David Hayter in the Metal Gear Solid series prove that quality voice overs in games are possible.

4. Invisible Walls

We've all been there. You've got to a new area in the game, and you're running about, exploring. You see a place that looks interesting, so you run over, only to find your character stuck, running on the spot. Invisible wall syndrome has struck again.

This reminds me of the "fogging" from the first Playstation, where areas the consoles couldn't render were blurred to help create the illusion that the area was bigger than it really was. However, now the pracite of blurring has been dropped, and the developers aren't covering up areas they haven't created. It's annoying when you see something interesting in the distance, only to find that it's simply a backdrop and you are stuck against an invisible wall. Why couldn't the spot have been covered up with a wall or a cliff, rather than an invisble boundary? The worst is when the object blocking you is something your character should be logically be able to get past, or a poorly rendered boundary blocking you. Invisible walls are a source of much frustration in gaming.

5. Stupid AI

Here's one for you. Imagine that you are a soldier and a one man army has been tearing through your ranks like a knife through hot butter. Now he's in the same room as you. Do you:

A: Take cover and fire back?

B: Organise your fellow soldiers into a formation so you can attack in safety?

C: Stand out in the open and shoot blindly, hoping to hit him before he hits you?

If you answered C, you may be a video game enemy!

Although video game AI has improved over the years, I've still played lots of games where the enemies are eithier incredibly stupid, or outright suicidal. The AI in many games seems perfectly happy to simply stand out in the open, or run into your line of fire.

This isn't just limited to enemy AI eithier. As any Spoony fan knows, AI controlled team mates can be very obstructive and unhelpful ("You're in my spot sir"). I've seen games in which your allies will attack random objects, or even worse, get stuck on things and be unable to move.

Escort missions are the bane of most gamer's existance. Who actually likes these missions where you have to protect slow, bumbling idiots from harm? Why are they still put into games? Remember the missions in Metal Gear Solid 2 where you have to protect Emma? Those where some of the most irritating parts of any game I've ever played. If we have to suffer through escort missions, the AI controlled character we have to protect should at least have some common sense and a way to protect themselves. In Metal Gear Solid 3, when you had to protect an injured EVA, she was slow, but at least she was able to shoot enemies and have enough sense to stay hidden. It's just annoying that we are given such stupid allies in modern games.

In short, whlist  no form of media will ever be completely free from clichés, it would be nice if video game developers could cut down on some of the most annoying ones. Thanks for reading!

Long ago and far away, in a galaxy where gravity makes you it's bitch....

 

link ^

 

This is actually Episode 2. The first episode was Amagon for NES, but I thought this episode was the better one to debut, first. It was generally better than the other one, I thought, in several ways.

16-Bit Gems looks back at games from the Super Nintendo and Genesis era and reviews those that were great in their own right, but mostly lost in the hype of the time.

EVO: Search for Eden was an adventure game distributed by Enix for the Super Nintendo. Released in North America in 1993, it has some of the most unique gameplay of the time, as well as a plethora of options to upgrade your creature as you travel through Earth's history.

 

Visit the Clan of the Gray Wolf's YouTube Channel for more videos and watch for future content.

Let us now stray a bit from my usual updates. This time Id like to take a close look at a game franchise, perhaps the most popular game franchise of all time,

Super Mario Bros. , in my opinion not so super anymore.

Since 1981s Donkey Kong, Mario has remained essentially the same,

short, pudgy, and Italian.

He's the most recognizable and prolific video game character ever, he's appeared in more the 200 games, and is more popular worldwide than even Mickey Mouse yet...has anyone ever questioned why?

Now going on more two and a half decades later ( that's 25 years in case your wondering ) what has Nintendo done with the character besides whore him to every type of game genre and merchandise opportunity?

Nothin,Mario is just Mario, in fact Nintendo has done everything to keep his character boring bland and basic, even going so far as to make an official comment about Mario ( and Luigi ) not even having a last name.

What kind of cop out is that other than pathetic? Mario's character is so shallow and simple that he makes Pacman seem like a politician.

Have you ever considered the plot to any Mario game? Any game out of the 500 million that they've produced. There so flat and uninspired I can sum it up in 3 words , Bowser kidnaps Peach. There you go...that's the entire 25 year history of supposedly "Super" Mario. Seriously how creative is that? Can you believe they actually pay a team of professionals to come up with that and list them in the credits using a fancy title like development senior analyst, and how much do they get paid? A helluva lot more than your average college grad makes working at the local box factory.

My point is not just Mario but the entire series and its characters of Mario games and spin offs are so grossly overrated, its sickening. Just the main games in the series have out sold every other series in the history of gaming. May I ask why?

Because parents will buy anything Nintendo stamps with that overweight plumber's face. Nintendo has a grip on every youths mind this side of the moon. They see Mario and it's like an instant hypnotism and the parents buy it cuz its certified friendly.

With Mario,Nintendo has a formula that is so cut and paste unoriginal, that it even makes a vcr manual seem like poetry.

Now all things considered, the plot of a video game has never really been the biggest focus but in the past 10 years we've come to respect games as a truely creative work of entertainment, gaming storylines have taken on a whole new depth and variety. Nintendo refuses to evolve the series into what could be a unique experience. I'm not saying that Mario shouldn't be strictly for kids, but a fairy tale story can still be well written and intelligent.

Mario throws everything out the window in favor of Game play. Granted game play is the most important factor of a game but, in order to be regarded as "Super" meaning superior or superb, it has to embrace all aspects of design including story, and character development.

With this years E3, yet again more Mario games have been introduced which will no doubt sell up the wazoo, but they are the same cookie cuter, crap.

S Mario Galaxy became game of the year in 2008, as voted upon by Gamespot.com. Yes the Wii is an innovate console and game play seems to be living up to that reputation, and the art direction is wonderful, but a little more story wouldn't kill it.

After the 1993 release of Mario World the series has been neglecting two player capability.

Mario is such a blatant stereotype. The original design of Mario was based on graphical limitations, they couldn't design a mouth so they gave him what looked like a mustache, they couldn't define his body parts so they used a strong contrast of red and blue overalls and shirt and added a cap to avoid designing a hair**** and white gloves to show arm movements.

As a further cover up they included a large nose to depict him as being human, and if you don't believe all that just look it up. Well all of that worked out conveniently but what about when the graphics were no longer a limiting factor? Did they choose to redesign the character? No, instead they kept him in the same ridiculous clothing. Mario was without a voice or even dialogue until SM 64 when they decided making him say stereotypical catch phrases with a bad accent would be a good idea.

How about the infamous S Mario Bros 2? Boy did they screw that up. Yeah the game play is great, but it wasn't even supposed to be a Mario game. In fact is was based off of a concept from Fuji television.That's right Mario had nothing to do with the games theme and setting, instead they took a previously developed game,( Doki Doki Panic )and edited the sprites to make it look like the characters were from the Mario universe. Can you say rip off? and to top it all off they came up with the lamest excuse to explain the story, the whole thing was a gawd dam dream. Yep everything that happened, forget it cuz it never really happened, Mario just dreamt it. Ha ha the jokes on you.

Thanks a lot Nintendo, way to ruin things for us. Well that plot would have made since considering the game was originally titled dream factory, but in this case it's totally unecessary. The real story is that SMB 2 was deemed as being too difficult for American audiences so they decided to scrap it. Oops oh well.

Now before you get all worked up ( or maybe its too late ) I don't hate the Mario games,( In fact I think Mario 1-4 are great I only hate Nintendo's lack of production effort and lazy approach to using the characters, when it comes to the Mario series. Mario had such potential for expansion and development.

Now some will argue, why fix something that's not broken? It's simple everything good deserves to be made better, and everything great can still be improved upon, that's what development is all about, but Nintendo seems to ignore this.

I'm sure they aimed to achieve greater heights but, failed in the writing department. For instance,how incredibly weak and insignificant was the ending of SM 64 ?

How many times are they going to recycle the same ideas, Mario has to find X amount of Stars / Shines /Magic wands before he can rescue Peach or Daisy or is it Toadstool...whatever the hell her name is, since they cant quite seem to decide.

How many more times are they going to say they were on a vacation when the Princess gets kidnapped? Honestly I give SM Sunshine some credit for at least including the imposter Mario, but they quickly ruined that by revealing his true identity.

And another thing why is it Nintendo refuses to explain the origin of Princess? How is it that she's royalty of a kingdom of species that have mushroom heads yet she is clearly human? Any explanation? Of course not Nintendo just expects you to by their product, regardless of plot holes.

Another problem I have, is that the Mario franchise spawns characters that they end up dropping such as the Koopa Kids. What the hell happened to them after SMW ? ,and why are they suddenly being included in "Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Back Door"?

Speaking of Koopas, where did Bowser Jr. pop out of? How is Bowser reproducing? Is there a female Bowser that we're not aware of, or is Bowser hiding something from us?

Don't even get me started on how they've outcasted Luigi.

You may say I'm over thinking a franchise intended for children but once more I tell ya theres no excuse for redundancy.

My intention is not to hate but merly to point out what is inexcusably poor. Please share your thoughts on both the future of the Mario franchise and its past.

 

 

The first episode of The Top 5, Braeden takes a look at some of the worst controllers ever released. But, these aren't your average bad controllers. These were ones actually BUNDLED with home consoles. After watching this, you're going to wonder, what were they thinking?

   A little introduction, my name is Sephias; the sentient lurker around the site who spends most of his time yelling out random off hand comments and pestering Aussie to make videos. Which he should, however over the past millenia; I've gotten to witness first hand many pieces of media... Some of which are unknown to the casual crowd. It is with this that I introduce to the oblivious (and the well informed) the great game known as... Clock Tower.

 The Sephias Connection

Clock Tower Review

Clock Tower was released in Japan on the Super Famicom (SNES) in 1995 by Human Entertainment. While the idea to bring the game to the States was in the works, due to our uptight society when the censors pitched a fit Human basically said "Fuck it." and opted not to release the game stateside. But the question you're most likely asking is "What was so bad about this game that it wasn't released here?"

The game to describe it briefly is possibly the first real "Survival Horror" video game; there might be earliar examples, but I find Clock Tower puts you in an atmosphere of being in a horror movie. The game is essentially a point-and-click adventure game though re-tailored to play easier on a gamepad.

An arrow on the screen is used to select items, examine or use objects in the environment, and go through doorways. However movement is done through various buttons which confer direction; being as you can be attacked at any time. As such, pressing L will make the main character (Jennifer) run left, R will have her run right. It's a fairly intuitive system, combining point-and-click elements and fast gameplay.

The game starts as you and three of your friends are adopted by a rich family from an Orphanage, so you may live with them. A woman named Mary escorts you into the house and leaves soon thereafter to inform the others; after some conversation with the other girls, the power goes out, and everyone in typical "I am nosy" fashion; decide to investigate.

It is from here that Jennifer is free to explore the large mansion by herself. At this point you have three options of what will occur next depending on which rooms you investigate, but the outcome is always the same, one of your friends is gonna die.

And with this, you're introduced to your opposition, and figurative Jason Voorhees. This chap goes by the name of Bobby Barrows, though better known as Scissorman because he WIELDS A PAIR OF SCISSORS THAT ARE BIGGER THAN HIM. Scissorman would love nothing more to kill you and all your friends, and considering he just downed one, he's looking pretty good already.

 At this point you cannot continue investigating or mystery solving cause Scissorman is now gunning for you. He will chase you down until you lose him. In otherwords, he's a boogeyman you're gonna deal with every now and again. You can use the objects in your environment to hide from Bobby, however the genius of this game is that all these hiding spots and tricks are amazingly easy to figure out, though you have NO IDEA how reliable they'll be when using them.

For example... You can opt to hide in the bathroom and lock the door behind you. You will see Bobby enter, stare at the door, and he'll do one of two things... Either he'll break the door down with his scissors (inwhich case you're fucked), or he'll shrug and move onto something else, as if to say "Are you serious? Fine I'll kill you later."

So basically, as you've guessed. You've got to find a way out of this place, while avoiding Scissorman. However what you do and how you do it in the game directly affects the ending. For example, Jennifer can be a complete chicken shit after seeing one of her friends die, run to a garage, find the keys to the car that is parked, and then just run away. Pretty much allowing you to technically beat the game in about 10 minutes. Ofcourse, while she's driving off, Bobby manages to sneak into the backseat and cut her head off mid-drive. This is why the censors stateside got uptight, among other things.

There are a total of 8 endings in this game, making it one of the most open-ended games not only on the SNES, but for it's time. While the game can be beaten in 10 minutes, the idea is to investigate further, learn the history of the mansion and the family that live there, witness a few more deaths, THEN escape. But what this game does best of all is the atmosphere that it creates.

Bobby isn't your only problem, certain things in the environment when examined can be hazardous to your health as well. Think of a common everyday vanity mirror. Nothing bad about that right? Well, when examined, Jennifer will fuss with her hair. Cause apparently being chased by a psycho killer gives you split ends. If you do it enough times (maybe even the first time); a pair of hands will come out of the mirror and strangle you, and if you don't resist (which requires mashing the panic button fast enough), you're pretty much dead.

In the same room, is a caged parrot. Harmless enough. When examined, Jennifer lets it out of it's cage, to which it decides it has nothing better to do than peck you to death, which it will. Unless you figure out you can use the comforter on the nearby bed to strangle the damn thing. So you may ask "But Sephias, why not just leave the bird in the cage?" Which is a valid point, however: The beds previously mentioned serve as a hiding spot in case Bobby is chasing you, which always works. But if the bird is in the cage, the feathered asshole will actually TELL Bobby you're under the bed unless ofcourse you strangled it beforehand!

This is the reason I love this game, there's always one more thing you're not expecting, and it shows to just how genius the Scissorman character is. In the many chases with him, you'll start to realize that the developers did not package him with a dime-a-dozen AI, no; Bobby actually will surprise you on quite a few occasions, EVEN when you think your hiding place is bullet proof.

The game uses a health system that is rather unique. The portrait of Jennifer on the screen is a measure of her current fear. When it's blue, she's calm; but when it's red she's scared shitless. What does this affect? Everything. If your fear is red, and Bobby is chasing you, while you're running there's a chance you'll trip over your own feat in typical slasher movie fashion. If you get into a struggle with Bobby, you're less likely to overpower him if you're pissing yourself. The only way to recover is to stand still so Jennifer falls to her knees and tries to relax. However this can't be done while Bobby is chasing you, so you have to lose him fast. 

Bobby is also a strange character cause he's not necessarily a man, he's actually a 9 year old kid... who happens to be a demon. And there's something about that boarding school well-to-do uniform that he's sporting that's just insanely creepy. But he has surprised me on numorous occasions, and i'll leave you with one of those moments as well as a little video with several different ways that you can die in this game.

Dead Ends

In one of the many chases I had with Bobby, I ended up at a garage. This garage has a ladder in the back that leads up to a sort of shelf that you can stand on. It's really the only hiding place here. So I climbed the ladder, I figured he's holding a large pair of scissors and I've never seen him climb anything so I am good. WRONG. While there is a chance he'll be bored with you and opt to move on, he'll ACTUALLY CLIMB THE LADDER in whichcase again... You're fucked.

But that's not where the surprise comes in. Since the game saves as you enter each room, upon continuing I was right back at the garage. I eventually figured out you can climb the ladder, then kick it down. Which works as Bobby never picks it back up. I figured "Now I've got him" and as luck would have it, I breathed a sigh of relief and witnessed him leaving the room. VICTORY. Well it wasn't even 3 seconds that Bobby had been offscreen that he somehow manages to CRASH THROUGH THE ROOF BEHIND ME ONTO THE SHELF I AM STANDING ON. In which case... once again... I'm fucked.

When this happened to me for the first time, I didn't realize you could jump down from the shelf and keep running. In fact... I didn't want to. I let myself get killed. Why? Cause I SO was not expecting that, and just this once, I'll let the bad guy win. Great game, worth a play. And if you're interested, a Google search will yield you a patched rom of the Japanese version with translated subtitles. So give it a shot sometime!

Killatia's impression of nintendo's and sony's e3 press conference. This time hes joined by his friend huskobon!

Yes the video quality isn't all that good but i didn;t want to bring the good camera with me.

Click Here to watch the conference so you can follow along:

Conference begins

Am I the only person in the world who HATES Cammy Dunaway? Goddamn, nothing says ‘Nintendo' than and old broad blabbing on and on about Nintendo's achievements and goals. Sweet bitter fuck I feel like I'm back in Junior High history class, being forced to listen to something I could care less about by a woman who is old enough that she probably witnessed it all first hand.

Mario on the Wii: "Miyamoto wanted to find a way to play Mario like never before." So presenting Mario on the Wii (again), WITH 4 PLAYER! Fucking whoop. Super Mario Bros 1 with 4 players: Mario, Luigi, Toad and.... Toad. And of course Cammy-saurus Rex is faking fun on the game like a goddamned orgasm.

"Nintendo: Your mom will love it!"

"Players will be lining up to play Miyamoto's latest masterpiece."

‘Masterpiece?!' It's not a goddamn masterpiece when you REHASH an original. It would be like baking an award winning cake, then letting four people actually eat it. Fuck that.

Damn, this bitch can lie with a straight face... though I have yet to see any more emotion out of her than a sea sponge. She's like the opposite of Hiliary Clinton's Botox-enduced rigor-mortis smile.

Wii-Fit, same shit as last year and the year before, but now with a locker room...

Reggie: "Here to kick ass and ... show charts!!" Rehash, rehash, rehash...

Reggie: "Whoa... Déjà vu? This shit all looks the same as last year."

I feel it too, Reggie...

Click Here for the full review + Microsoft and Sony's conference impressions

  

 

 *Due to some computer problems this was delayed here at TGWTG, hope this comes out better than my first attempt.

The Nintendo Entertainment System: A Look Back

 

 

If there's anything that dominates retro gaming sites, video blogs and memories of 25-35 year olds, it's the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Simply put, videogames wouldn't be where they are today if this little Japanese device didn't emerge from Japan upon the desolate wasteland that was America's videogame culture in 1985. 

The 1980s were the best of times and the worst of times of videogames. Arcades were popular and, at the time, were the one thing that was scraping along but offering new and fun things to play. Home consoles, however, were dead by 1985 thanks to the "videogame crash" in 1983/84 which put everything back to square-one.

Yet, in 1987, nobody knew that kind of stuff and by then didn't remember. There weren't game magazines just yet, those were a few years off, and stuff like videogame companies going bankrupt and the consumer market falling weren't making headlines. It was far from the multi-billion dollar industry it would eventually become. So, when I asked my parents for an NES in 1987, their response was like many: don't you already have one?

You see, the late 80s is when Nintendo really started to kick it into high-gear. Ad campaigns, TV shows, toys, various Nintendo products and Nintendo Power magazine made it a part of every child's life.

Every child's life.

There was not a single kid that did not play Nintendo or didn't knew who Mario was, and the big surge wouldn't hit until a year or two later with new Mario games, Zelda games and all the massive media bombardment from Nintendo I just mentioned from cereal to toys to happy meals. As someone still playing Atari at the time, I was feeling left out in 1987. The NES had already been out for a little over a year and its popularity was slowly building. Playing games the likes of Tecmo Bowl, The Legend of Zelda and Contra at other kids' houses only caused me to salivate about the thoughts of it sitting there in my bedroom and hooked up to the little TV I had.

As we all know, explaining to your parents why you need (kids always needed these things) a new videogame system is like explaining to the Pope why he should give Islam a try. "We're fine with what we have, thank you, move along." 

Then Christmas rolled around, and alas, without expectation, there was a present awaiting me. My family had a tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve, so I went with the box that looked like it had clothes in it so I don't have to worry about pretending I'm excited about clothes Christmas morning. 

To my parents, it was just more videogames. To me, it was a new world. Colors and graphics (yes, people loved better graphics back then too), sound and music (Atari games rarely had music) and a cool new controller...one even looked like a gun. The leap from the Atari to the NES was astronomical back then, but not necessarily because of the technology and games, but because of what Nintendo made their brand.That brand is what people were sold into, not the games themselves. By owning an NES, you were a part of the group, and as we all know, acceptance is the most important part of childhood because kids are superficial little punks that would point and laugh if you were still playing Dig-Dug on the Atari 2600. 

While the brand made it popular, it was also Nintendo and their third party developers (Capcom and Konami especially) that gave us new ways to play and put games into history of iconic pop-culture.

 

 

 A Brief History of the Nintendo Entertainment System

-In 1983, the "videogame crash of North America" occurred due to companies flooding the marketplace with numerous consoles and a high amount poor quality games from start-up developers. The industry, still young, was not prepared for this massive surge and thus caused many companies filing for bankruptcy, unable to sustain themselves, and many consumers turning away due to lack of quality and game improvement. The effects were most notable in 1984 (1984 especially) and 1985 where most companies collapsed and few, if any, games were even released. By that time, it was simply believed videogames were a passing fad. 

-In Japan, where the crash was not relevant, the Famicom (Family Computer) had been gaining in popularity since 1983, following Nintendo's success with arcade games, and was the best selling console in 1984. The Famicom was designed by Masayuki Uemara (whose R&D2 team also went on to create the Zapper light gun and little thing called the Super Nintendo

-Nintendo had planned on releasing the Famicom in North America in a joint venture with Atari, however the videogame crash put much of that on hold. Despite the risks of introducing yet another console in a flooded (and bankrupt) North American market, Nintendo felt their quality and design would over come it. They were right.

-On October 18, 1985, Nintendo released their Famicom in North America, named the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in limited release in select markets. This is considered the legitimate launch date, however the rest of the country wouldn't be able to purchase it locally until February 1986.There was the"deluxe set" for $249 (which came with two controllers, the zapper light gun, ROB the robot, and the games Duckhunt and Gyromite), and the far more popular "action set" for $199 (which came with two controllers, the zapper and a Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridge).

 -Their advertising and marketing strategy with Worlds of Wonder allowed the NES to be the leader of the videogame market for the next six years before Nintendo's release of the Super Nintendo in 1991. Even then, games would continue to be released on the NES until 1995 and Nintendo discontinued their repairs of NES consoles in 2007.  

-Launch titles were mediocre, with the best games being Mario Bros. Duck Hunt and Ice Climbers, however  developers slowly began to emerge, such as Konami (Castlevania, Contra), Capcom (Mega Man, Bionic Commando) and of course Nintendo themselves (Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid). 

-The NES introduced the biggest influence on videogames: the controller. No longer sticks or knobs, the NES boasted a four way direction pad on the left, two "action" buttons on the right and a select and start button. This basic design has remained unchanged since. Numerous other peripherals would arise, from the NES and on, but the basic controller and layout would remain the top design, even to today.

-Nintendo's licensing and infamous "Seal of Quality" had both good and bad consequences. Although it helped limit who could and could not develop on the NES, allowing for better quality software from high-quality their party developers (notably in Japan). However, due to Nintendo being the manufacturer of consoles, their parties had to have agreement with them on game content and sign contracts that obligate them to make games only for the Famicom/NES. Small companies could not thrive and Nintendo held a monopoly over the entire game industry. This caused numerous antitrust lawsuits in later years from competitors such as Atari.

-The NES's design also ran into numerous problems, notably connectivity of the game cartridge and the console "pins" inside. This caused many flashing power lights, blank screens and repairs to ensue. Eventually, Nintendo released a "top loading" version in 1993 that corrected these problems but by then the NES was on its last legs. 

 -The NES's run ended in 1995 with console manufacturing  fully discontinuing in 1996 (2003 for the Famicom). The final result: 60 million units sold. Until Wii Sports was released in 2006, the original Super Mario Bros. was the highest selling game of all time at 40.24 million copies.

 

 

 Top 10 NES Games

How can you limit the massive NES library to only 10 titles? Well, you can't. So instead I put in the 10 games I remember most fondly. So sit back and enjoy the trip:

 

10: Batman

(Sunsoft, 1990)

Sunsoft is one unappreciated NES game developer. Sure, they might run the gamut on quality, but the good ones are considered some of the best games released. For the NES, they gave us Blaster Master, Spy Hunter, Lemmings, Journey to Silius and two Batman games. The first Batman, though, is by far their best. 

This game is also a perfect example of how NES games were just brutal to the player. Games today like to coddle you, hold your hand and give you as many tires as you want. Games back then were simple: you're dead, start over. If you're lucky you might get one with a continue code, or at least continue options, but even then you have to start the level all over again. It had great graphics, dark and moody like the movie, and...It's friggin' Batman.

My Experience: This is a game that I put the most effort towards and probably gotnowhere in. I was at least able to get pretty far in another brutal series, Ninja Gaiden, even Castlevania was something I could handle (Medusa heads...you know what I'm talking about) but Batman was a whole new level for me. Yet, it's a masterpiece of game design. The platforming was far more complicated than what Mario had done and it was an art to utilize your fists and weapons simultaneously. An art, sadly, I never quite mastered. Batman was the biggest thing since, well, Nintendo. Movie-licensed games were often hit or miss, I'd learned my lesson by the time this came out, yet I could not resist and I'm glad I succumbed. It's friggin' Batman.

 

 

9: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game

(Konami, 1990)

Why is there a "2" in the title? In case you don't remember, Ultra games (which was actually Konami) releaesd a Ninja Turtles title before publishing this one, which is universally accepted as god-awful. Then they gave us this one which was developed by Konami and based on Konami's arcade game...of course that wasn't called "The Arcade Game." So to prevent confusion (too late) it was dubbed a sequel.

While graphically inferior, and only allowing two players at once, the basic gameplay was still there in all its beat-em-up glory. For an 8-bit rendition of a superior arcade machine that ate millions of kids' quarters, it was a fair trade off to have it in your home. Plus you had levels added, which lengthened the gameplay. The music was solid, the controls arcade-perfect and...it was the Ninja Turtles!....and you get a free personal pizza from Pizza Hut when you buy it! 

My Experience: Two things will be remembered from the 1980s for kids: Nintendo and Ninja Turtles. Who didn't like Ninjas back then? After failing with the first game on the NES, which I've concluded was made by a special needs kid in Jersey, we got the game that pretty much every single child owned at some point. Playing it with your friends was always the best. I originally played it at a friends house, I had no idea it was even out, and we stayed up late on Saturday just chugging through it, eating pizza and fumbling the greasy controllers. At the time, I was in heaven. 

 

 

8: The Mega Man Series

(Capcom, 1987-1994)

It's hard to choose just one of the Mega Man games to say was the best. They're all pretty similar, however, offering some of the best platforming on the system, but most will attribute Mega Man 2 and 3 as the pinnacle of the series. Perfect and tight control, easy to pick-up and play but hard to master. The series is entirely based on a trial-and-error format. You keep trying until you reach the next area until, finally, you can make it all the way to the boss without dying. It was a talent few could master. 

Of course, the one thing that Mega Man is best known for isn't thefantastic game design, but the music. It's easier to think of Capcom games that had great soundtracks than those that didn't and Mega Man is the perfect example of that. The music was complex for 8-bit cartridges, catchy, memorable and influential. Mega Man would go on to become an icon.

My Experience: I would love (and I mean LOVE) to hand a kid today and say "so...you think you're great at games?...let me give you something I used to play." Yet another example of the brutality and masochistic nature of game developers during the NES era, the Mega Man games were hard, frustrating and would make you break many controllers. Yet, we loved it. It was a challenge, not "oops, you died, try again." Once you die, you're done. End of story. Better write down those insane long continue passwords, or you're screwed. The jumps, man...the jumps. 

I would play Mega Man in spurts. Usually until I died which was often in rapid-fire after school and I'd stop after 15 minutes or so. Then usually just give up. As a result, I've actually only beaten two Mega Man games despite there being a dozen or so of them.

 

 

7: Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt

(Nintendo, 1986)

Packed in with most new Nintendo Entertainment Systems was this cart: Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt. Mario was something new. A sidescroller with an actual goal and fun controls, something you didn't see too often. You had various enemies, power ups and, man did that Italian plumber like to jump. This was all pretty new as most games worked on the player trying for the highest score in something. Mario took elements of other games and more or less streamlined and structured it into something that was actually fun to play. 

Duck Hunt was something many played as well, if anything for the novelty of the light gun, the Nintendo Zapper. Lightguns were pretty new at the time. Consoles had variations before but nothing that really caught on. Nintendo, though, pretty much forced it on the market and, as a result, it became popular even though few games utilized it. Duck Hunt did what it needed to do. It was simple and easy for anyone to play: a philosophy Nintendo still holds true today. This one cart is the groundwork for everything Nintendo was, is now and will always be. 

My Experience: While not necessarily one of my favorites, Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt was an incredibly memorable experience. It was most peoples' first game for the NES and I'm willing to bet most can recall the first time they hooked it up and the screen came up. Better games came and went, but nothing was quite like your first time playing Mario for hours, sometimes neglecting breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Oh, and screw you dog.  You laughing little bitch. Who didn't point their Zapper at that thing and pull the trigger?

 

 

6: Ducktales/Rescue Rangers

(Capcom, 1989/1990)

The Disney Afternoons were perfect example of everything right about childhood. At the same time, so was Nintendo. Capcom and Disney then formed a partnership to create games for Nintendo platforms and gave birth to two of the best games on the NES: Ducktales and Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers. (I know you're humming the songs right now).

Both were produced by one of Capcom's top producers, no doubt the reason why both are so well-crafted, Tokuro Fujiwara (Mega Man series, Commando, Ghosts N' Goblins). As a result, we have two distinctly different games. One a Mega Man style platformer with open ended quests and multiple endings (DuckTales) and another that

is a fast, albeit easy, run through platformer that allowed two-players. Both had beautiful 2D graphics, fantastic music and were just fun to pick up and play, something Fujiwara was best at making. Both were also must-owns.

My Experience: These games are listed together for the sole reason I received both on the same Christmas. Both are synonymous with each other: the TV shows aired everyday back to back, both games are on the NES, both developed by Capcom and both relatively easy and just fun to play. For Ducktales, I remember taking forever to get the pogostick controls down, then it was easily sailing.

For Rescue Rangers, though, the best attribute was the co-op two-player mode which was a rarity in those days. The trick was to work together, but usually it all ended up the same. You throw a box. It hits your partner knocking him out. He then gets hit by an enemy. Your partner gets pissed, picks up your character and goes to an area where you die if you touch the bottom (games back then did it all the time, Contra most notably). More often then not you toss aside your controllers and start throwing down only to have your parents come in and break it up due to a bloody nose. Ah, memories. 

 

 

 5: Metroid

(Nintendo, 1986)

Metroid was a one of a kind game, there was really nothing quite like it. To someone merely watching, it seems to be a basic sidescroller with shooting elements and platforming. It was so much more than that. You had a sprawling world where you could go anywhere and the more items and upgrades you got, the more areas you could explore. It was a dark game as well, far from the more light-hearted Mario games. It gave the player such a sense of isolation with the black backgrounds and little to no music. Just you, your gun and a goal that was somewhere, you just had to search for it. 

My Experience: I was probably too young to really "get" Metroid, much less play all the way through it, but once I saw a friend playing it, I had to give it a shot.

Despite owning it, I actually barely touched it until years after its release. Only then did I finally understand what it was all about. It wasn't a game that was going to give you instant gratification. It was about patience and pacing yourself, not defeating enemies and killing bosses (although that was there too). Similar games would emerge, such as Kid Icarus, but Metroid just did it better.

I would come to become a bigger fan with Super Metroid, which perfected everything Metroid set up, but those quiet nights at home with the odd sense of dread that Metroid was able to present actually made it one of the more frightening game experiences I went through, there was this sense of anxiety with the game, and that stuck with me.

 

4: Mike Tyson's Punch Out

(Nintendo, 1984/1985/1987)

A huge hit in arcades years before, Punch Out was finally released on the NES, now with the endorsement and appearance by "Iron" Mike Tyson. Tyson was huge by 1987 and having the champion of the world to take down at the end of Punch Out was a huge event. This wasn't just an endorsement, he was in the actual game as a fighter.

The game gave you well-animated and large sprites, something pretty unique at the time, with various gags and humorous personalities. It retains the arcade feel and ease of a player to pick up and play. You observe your opponent, scan for weaknesses, and exploit. It was a trial and error style, but if you were good you could eventually get through without even taking a hit (and in the arcades, on just one quarter)

My Experience: Goddamn you Tyson, you cheap bastard!

There is no worse feeling than slugging through bout after bout with King Hippo, Soda Popkinski, Super Macho Man and Piston Honda only to to fall in one friggin' punch by the final boss, Mike Tyson. I only got to him a handful of times- each time I thought I was ready, and each time he repeatedly knocked me down like a little bitch. Why show all those training montages only to fall in less than 10 seconds to Iron Mike? Yet, I kept going back for more. I never learn...

 

 

3: Contra

(Konami, 1987/1988)

Known for it's outlandish difficulty, the only way anyone could get anywhere is inputing the "Konami Code" (quick, what it is!?....yeah, you just thought of it in your head, didn't you?) Contra was a fast-paced action game for one or two players that basically had generic Rambo's shooting everything in sight, killing everything in sight, then shooting and killing a boss at the end of the level. You're granted three lives (the code allows more) and various powerups for your gun, the most popular being the Spreadwhich would do exactly as its name implies and take up a good portion of the screen.

My Experience: This is two-player gaming at its finest. Very few games had both players on the screen at the same time, but Contra (and it's equally great sequal, Super C), was the game most friends played together and, most likely, caused the end of those friendships.

Why, you ask? Let me tell you: vertical levels. It was always the same story: one guys knows the level, knows where to jump and keeps moving up while the other guy is stuck scrambling, dodging bullets and soldiers, trying to jump but usually getting stuck at the bottom. The result: death. Then arguments begin. "You should have waited!" "You should just jump faster!" Then you steal one of the other character's lives or take a powerup they needed, then you might as well dig your own grave.

 

 

2: The Legend of Zelda

(Nintendo, 1987)

A brand new era of videogames emerged with the Legend of Zelda. There were adventure games before, sure, but most were muddy little blocks flickering and items that didn't look anything like what they were supposed to represent. The Legend of Zelda offered exactly what the adventure/puzzle solving genre needed: polish. The controls were spot-on, sword and shield play easy to grasp, it was non-linear but structured to where it sent you out in the world with your wits and your sword and it's up to you to figure out where to go, what to do first and where to find items to continue on your journey. It set the foundation that would later be perfected in numerous sequels and copycats. 

The music, too, was legendary. Koji Kondo, the composer, would go on to do the rest of the series as well as every Mario game known to man. The Zelda series is his pinnacle and the first little 8-bit melody probably the most famous videogame composition of all time.

My Experience: I first encountered the Legend of Zelda at my Cousin's house when visiting family in Kansas City. It had just been released and man, did he love to show it off. This is what cousins do: find something you don't have and flaunt it in front of you. It's an innate ability that is only observable in the wild during childhood. This game pretty much solidified my need, not want, to get an NES (which I would get in a few months that year) and to play the hell of Zelda. Up to that point I got by fine with just playing the NES at friends' houses while I got by on Atari, but this was an entirely new level with a new gameplay stytle and depth. With Punch Out, Castlevania, Spy Hunter, RC Pro Am, Ikari Warriors, Kid Icarus, Metroid, Mega Man, and Rygar, it's safe to say that 1987 was a good year...

 

 

 1: Super Mario Bros 3

(Nintendo, 1990)

Nintendo had already done so much for gamers by 1990. New styles of games, getting better and better as the years went by, and a steady supply on top of that. Add in all the third party titles, and you have a library that would make any kid happy, I was pretty damn satisfied with Mario 2 (although it technically wasn't a Mario game). They could have stopped there, I would have been happy. Then they decide to give us a perfect game. There's no denying it: Super Mario Bros. 3 is a perfect game. Everything that came before it was obsolete. Other platformers, even other Mario games, paled in comparison. The graphics were rich and vibrant, animation more detailed and smooth that before. The music was Kenji Kondo at the top of his game. It had secrets, depth, gameplay variations thanks to the suits you could wear while in the game and thus gaining new powers, the classic "collect everything you see" element and just...hell, what else could be said about it other than that it's a perfect game? 

My Experience: If this isn't your number one, then you simply didn't grow up with Nintendo. Much of its pop-culture infiltration and overall success can be credited to one little thing. One little thing starring Fred Savage.

The Wizard isn't a particularly good film, but it's a memorable one because of what Nintendo represented to kids back then. It's really just one long advertisement for Nintendo, plot and character are secondary and as useless as someone minoring in "art appreciation." It was all a build up to the climatic reveal of Super Mario Bros. 3. A movie today could never get away with this type of thing, and that shows how big Nintendo and its NES was at the time.  It's hard to explain to a person who wasn't around at the time just how epic it was.

Oh, yeah, and then there was the game. I'm proud to say I was the first out of my friends to own it. I knew from the movie it was going to be coming out, so I already had my money saved. Then, on a trip back from Oklahoma City (the comprehensive behemoth of capitalism it was to where everyone in the state would go there on weekends), my excitement through the roof after finding it at a Toys R Us with only one or two of them left. I got home that night and I played...and played...and played. 

Friends were jealous. The title hadn't made it to our town yet. I had finally achieved what Nintendo set out to make me achieve: be accepted and have people bow before me for acquiring their game weeks before anyone else could in my class. So take that, Josh Wilson, you little bitch. You can take your goddamn copy of Super C and shove it right up your ass...oh, if only I had such colorful vocabulary when I was ten.

 

 

Consoles today, and gamers for that matter, are nowhere near to the height the NES and Nintendo reached during its era. There was one console - that's it. Some might have had a Master System alongside it, maybe a few tried their hand at a Commodore 64, but everyone had a Nintendo. The Nintendo Entertainment System was to my generation what Star Wars or Merrie Melodies (Loony Tunes for those who don't know) was for theirs.

There are games I still recall fondly, cheats i can still punch in and music I will get stuck in my head. Consoles and games are taken for granted today. Gaming has now moved into "cool" and "accepted by adults." Back when it was for kids, it struggled to be recognized as viable entertainment. Now developers work to wow the player, putting in as much profanity and blood as the polygons will allow and as a result, I don't think we get nearly as charming, well-designed games with effort. The struggle isn't there anymore for developers, now they can just throw in pretty graphics and a few F-bombs.When games were simple and not as accepted was when you saw the most creativity and imagination. Now, it's all "wash-rinse-repeat."

While I can recall all the good things about the NES, you have to recall the bad as well. No game reviews were really around, the only publication of real note being Nintendo Power, which was published by Nintendo so it, too, was just a marketing tool. You really didn't know much about developers and quality, only now in hindsight can we appreciate the works of Capcom or Konami, so a lot of what we would play was based entirely on what was on the box: the art and screenshots. Many times we would just buy a game because it's based on a movie or was something familiar, like Back to the Future or Ninja Turtles. The quality was always hit or miss. It was a gamble, like playing roulette at Caesar's Palace.

Despite Nintendo's "Seal of Quality," only now do we know that it didn't necessarily mean it was a good game, just that Nintendo approved it to be made for the NES. Everyone had their selection of bad titles sitting in the back of their shelves collecting dust. Usually the first Ninja Turtles game by Ultra was among them.Throw the endless amount of accessories on top of it, and it was sensory overload for most kids...we had to have all of it. Even that Nintendo beanbag chair that the Nintendo merchandise catalog showcased (if you had a Nintendo Power subscription, you probably got the catalog).

Despite the problems, the Nintendo Entertainment System molded the foundation of what we consider gaming today and will go down as one of the best products to ever be created. We can go back a good decade before it to other consoles and games, sure, but the industry just wasn't built yet. Only until the complete destruction of it and the rise from the ashes did videogames emerge to what we know today, all thanks to a little Japanese game company taking a chance with us poor little gameless Americans.

 

 Signing Off

-JC

 Thanks for reading! For more of my articles, you can read here at TGWTG or at my site: DigitalPolyphony.com where I also have blogs and movie reviews.

 

Hi, its currently 1:36am and im just bored so I figured why not try a blog for once? So if this kinda goes well ill just kind of keep writing about what matters to me in the world. More then likely this will suck but hey it could be good for a few laughs right? Alright so I guess the big headlining geek news right now is E3 which just ended today and im one of those guys who gets a 12 pack of red bull and stays up for 3 days strait analyzing all the data and watching all the live feeds  of the press conferances. Now I want to make it very clear that I take no side on the console wars I own almost everything except a PS3 and thats just because I havent purchesed one yet, if its a game system im probally gonna play it... even the leap frog ones... dont ask so if somebody does actually read this and I do go a bit negitive please dont label me a fanboy, its just because what ever im talking about has failed at life so lets get started shall we?

Microsoft

I was really impressed with microsoft this year, im glad they took a much diffrent approach by skipping all of the charts and graphs and talking about sales figures because by this point we all know what they are. Nintendo is 1st in console sales, microsoft is second and sony is last big surprise. The show started out great with alot of 3rd party titles and some great guest stars [who dosent like the beatles?] but I do have to say they were pushing alot of the 3rd party titles like Rockband Beatles, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, and the new Metal Gear solid instead of focusing on exclusive titles like Forza 3 which im really excited about and Halo ODST which I think it might be nice to see halo go on without Master Chief. But obviously the big sell was Natal the new motion tracking hardware for the 360. In my personal opinion I LOVE the idea of having no controller and voice activation especially for menus and DVDs but I do have to admit I can kind of see the limitations with games in the future. Without a forward button how can you walk forward in a game? and I do agree with most people going negitive with this that a trigger IS really nice for First person shooters but overall I was really impressed with Milo as a technical experiment, imagine interacting with NPCs like that in the future? Now thats what I call immersion! I just hope they dont go the nintendo way and just use it for mini games, id love to play forza with it. So overall pretty impressive with alot of great titles im looking forward to if I had to give it a grade i would give the it overal a 8/10 

Nintendo 

Now at E3 08 I think I wasnt the only one who was extremely dissapointed with nintendo. They pretty much had nothing and really didnt seem to have a direction that supported there original fanbase taking a more casual gamer stance with its products once again introducing bits of plastic that have one use and cost a lot in the end. Sadly 09 they really didnt improve, we got New Super mario brothers for the wii, which looks pretty close to its DS brother but now its multiplayer! Which sounds great! except there is no online play from what I can understand So its pretty much just like Zelda 4 swords or Final Fanasty Crystal Chronicals. Both of which are great games as long as you always have 3 buddies [and a bunch of game boys with link cables] hanging around your place ready to play, but have you played these on single player? Fucking pointless, The wii has online play sure it sucks but atleast let us use it.  We got wii fit plus, oh boy even more mini games that tell me im a fatass! I cant wait! Wii sports resort which I will admit Wii sports is a great game but it was great because it was free and fun but with this new version you need the new add on Wii motion plus, which does come with the game but that only gives you one... which means you have to go out and get 3 more.... which im sure wont be freaking cheap so the game may only be $50 but you'll probally end up spending close to $100 just to get the ammount of fun a simple game of Drunk wii sports will give you. We are getting mario Galaxy 2, again Galaxy was a great game but this is just going to be the same game with diffrent puzzles... Nintendo is getting lazy, but I have to say the weirdest thing by far was the vitality sensor which measures pulse and other body functions, which the only way I can see this thing having a use is for more workout games or according to nintendo helping fall asleep, which is generally what there games do anyway nowadays. There were a few interesting titles comming like the new metroid but overall I think nintendo has givin up on its original fan base and this presentation just cemented that. 4/10 

 Sony 

Now sony went oldschool and started out with a bunch of charts and stats about sales and install bases and what not which I really dont think anybody cares about... except for hardcore fanboys who love flame wars... But as soon as they shut up with that the show was amazing. I loved the PSP go even though I dont think its worth the $250 price tag personally. I loved seeing alot of great sony franchises comming back bigger then ever like Uncharted and ontop of that juicy layer you got games like MAG with a 256 online player capacity is just sexy. They too had a motion tracking system but this one involved actually holding a controller, which has its advantages and disadvantages to me it just sort of seems like a wii mote WITH the wii motion plus built it which is really cool, but I think the demo was kind of last second and felt a bit rushed and nowhere near as impressive as the Natal live demos but I can see its major potential like... a hardcore Wii... oh man I can dream cant i? Ontop of that we got a live demo of God of war III which was just mind blowing but sadly almost NOTHING for gran turismo, they flashed a PSP playing it which we couldnt actually see and then showed a new trailer for it. How long have they been working on that game? I remember seeing clips of it when they first announced the PS3 you'd think they could show us somthing more. Ontop of that we got final Fantasy XIV which is a new MMORPG from SquareEnix which im assuming will just try and be a WoW clone and make up for XI. But overall even though I dont own a PS3 im excited for all the PSP titles like the new metal gear, gran turismo and the new Jack and daxter and im now sold on the PS3 and will now be working the corners inorder to actually afford one [wink wink] Overall Sony impressed me just as much as microsoft so I will give it an 8/10 

 Thanks for reading I hope somebody actually enjoyed this if not oh well im gonna try this a few more times with diffrent things, next I think ill do an anime review, I got Porcco Rosso comming soon so untill then Peace out cubscout. 

 

 

What have they done to you, Jim?

I'm sure that right after reading that last line you immediately thought of our old blue buddy Sonic The Hedgehog. I used to stay up all night with my genesis trying to collect as many rings and chaos emeralds while going as fast as possible. Then after 3 1/2 amazing games using the same formula, out of left field comes Sonic 3D Blast. This is where the whole series went downhill for me.

Now with a name like Sonic, I expect some fast paced action. I got none of it from 3D blast. I wanted to go fast not solve some stupid puzzle and collect birds for whatever reason. When I finally got my hands on Sonic CD, I was saying to myself "Now this is what a Sonic game should be". Seems that Sonic Team doesn't share my sentiment. They'd rather add more and more characters and some cheesy gimmick that's been done in other way better games that came out before it.

You don't need a sword to be cool dude

Look, Sega. We know you're trying. You want to make an enjoyable game and branch out into new demographics. But you're missing out on what made your game so much fun to play in the first place. You guys could take a cue from Capcom. The Mega Man games had gone through a lot of changes themselves. Some would say on a downward slope too. But they saw that there were fans of the original games that weren't too keen on the new ones.

If you were to cut away all the filler you've jam packed into the series, and get back to the fast paced, story free, 2D, ring collecting fun of your glory days, you could really breath new life into the series.

You don't have to go back to 16-bit graphics (although Sonic 4 on Virtual Console would be pretty sweet). You can still use 3D graphics and elements. Look at the latest revival from Nintendo, Punch-Out. Just the announcement of the game alone got the retro gamers salivating. They took a classic, polished it up and that's it. they didn't add what didn't need to be added.

Stick to what you know. You start to stray, you lose your way. It's not to late to turn back though. There's still those out there that loved you the way your were. Run to them game makers. Run back to the warm embrace of the ones who loved you from the start.

Hello Friends,

I'd like to take you back for a while, if you please. About 11 years into the past. Not to play some shitty games that suck ass, though. Quite the opposite. Though, enough pussyfooting around. I'm sure anyone reading this article had these magical, little, red or blue boxes under their Christmas Trees or amongst their birthday presents.(For me, it was Red with a matching Gameboy Pocket. The first gaming device that was 100% mine.)

Oh what fun we had, right? It was "Look out, world! For I'm gonna be the very best!" The game itself had the most simple of concepts: Rock, Paper, Scissors on the grandest scale.

                                                                    Pokemon: Yeah... its kinda like that.

Pokemon Red & Blue was a textbook example of a Nintendo Game: A simple concept + endearing characters + memorable music + challenging bosses + explosions. Now then, I ask you: How do you mess this up!?

Fast Forward to the present, Nintendo proceeds to milk this series for all they can. Gold and Silver were respectable sequels and, to an extent, Yellow too. Anything after these proceeded to only complicate the game. What started with a Pokemon with 5 stats (Attack, Defence, Special Atk, Special Defence, and Speed) became a Pokemon with 5 stats, a special ability, a nature which gave it stat bonuses, Individual Values, Dynamic Values, Effort Values, 5 sub-stats and the sheen of their coat for Pokemon Beauty Contest, and a Favorite Food.( Yes, the later games actually told you what kinds of food your Pokemon like.) It's almost maddening to see what lengths Game Freak and Nintendo went to in attempts to make this once simple concept into a more deep and competitive game. The best example of this is right here: http://www.serebii.net/games/hidden-power.shtml

It's the equation for determining the Element and Power of the attack Hidden Power. I repeat: THE EQUATION! I don't know about you, Friends, but I don't want to play Pokemon to do fucking calculus! I want to pit monsters against each other in bloody, bombastic, battles to the bitter end. 'Cause that's the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like it.

Of course, what rant about Pokemon is complete without a commentary on the designs of the little rascals themselves?  Personally, I believe the Ruby and Sapphire games (Otherwise known as the 3rd Generation) had the absolute worst designs. Just take a look at these two Pokemon side-by-side and disagree that the designer has gotten out of hand.

                                                          I freakin' dare you...

Just look at Seviper. It looks like The Phantom of the Snake Opera. Sure, Ekans is pretty DURRRRRRRRRR-looking, but at least it looks like a Snake. Another thing I can't stand about the later generations is the overabundance of Legendary Pokemon. Back in the first generation, there were 5 Legends: The three birds, Mew, and Mewtwo. Simple, right? Also made you feel like you accomplished something when you caught them (safe for Mew). Gold and Silver included 6 more, which is still relatively acceptable. (Though; Entei, Suicune, and Raikou can all freaking die... Lousy runners...) Then the 3rd Generation came along and introduced another 10. One of which, Deoxys, could shift into 4 different forms, so it was more like 13 Legends. Now, in the latest games, there's 14 additional Legends, including two with alternate forms, and God. That's right, in Pokemon Land, God is a Pokemon AND YOU CAN CATCH IT!

Speaking of God, isn't it amazing that the Catholic Church hasn't  jumped all over Pokemon yet? Evolution, subjugating God to your will, magic, and whatnot. It's something that I've always found hilarious about these games. I'd like to see a bunch of religious Wackadoos picketting outside a Gamestop, burning Pikachus and singing Hymns. Imagine that for a bit and try to not crack a smile.

I don't know, I just needed to get something off my chest. Sound off on the subject if you feel like it. I can't be the only one who's frustrated by this.

Good day,

Lybra

When people think of Namco, they usually think of one character: Pac-Man. But when I think of Namco, I think of Klonoa, the black-and-white furred...... I'm not quite sure what he is actually. He's had several games, some not even released here, but today I'll be talking about the newly released game simply called Klonoa.

This Wii title is actually a remake of the original Klonoa: Door to Phantomile for the PSX. The game stars our hero Klonoa, and his friend Huepow on a quest to stop the Lord Ghadius from destroying the world. Pretty basic stuff.

 

The gameplay might actually be familiar to some people who've played any kind of Kirby game. Both Kirby and Klonoa require enemies as weapons, but unlike Kirby, Klonoa can't fly, and must rely on captured enemies for a boost.  You use what's called the "Bullet Ring," which allows you to capture enemies in a balloon state and use them as mentioned before.

 

The game is a hybrid platformer, in the sense that you're in a 3D world, but on a 2D plain. The graphics are very colourful, with absolutely no gray in site, albeit walls and such. It is actually far superior than the PS2 release Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil.

 

I only have two minor complaints with the game. One is voice acting. The voice acting itself is actually very competent, and suitable for a game aimed at a younger audience. Previous veterans of the original games might get bugged out by the fact that Klonoa no longer speaks in gibberish. Instead, every character speaks in English or Japanese, depending on the language setting. This doesn't seem like an issue, but if you were to here the noises Klonoa made in Klonoa 2, it starts to sound odd coming out of a normal-sounding voice actor.

 

The second is the difficulty. This game is not exactly made for hardcore gamers. Seasonal gamers will beat this in about a weekend. Although there is some replayability in the form of collecting the various extras in the levels, and the hard-to-get-to areas may suck up at least an hour or two of your game time.

 

In conclusion, if you're a fan of the previous Klonoa series of games, then I recommend it, since you'll be able to jump right in. If you're not a fan, but merely looking for a decent platformer, I say rent it first,  as it might not be your taste. In addition, I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a game for their younger sibling or even their child, as it's not too hard for them to pick up and play.

 

Thank you for reading this little review of mine. I hope you liked it. 

Let's try something a bit different for part 2: 

 

 

A Time to Reminisce

The Changing of the Guard

The Second Part

 

For a quick recap, in part 1, I took a look back at the games industry from the 8-bit and 16-bit era. As I said then, this time is generally agreed and thought of as the golden years for video games. Video gaming wasn't the business power house it is today and developers seemed to spend more time on the gameplay rather than how the games looked, choosing to keep games behind closed doors and unveil them only when they were ready. Even movie tie-ins had more effort put into them and the great games of that era seemed to be fun, challenging and engaging and always involved you being in control.  

With the end of the 16-bit era, the industry saw its first big chance since cartridges and control pads had become common with the NES. Sony entered the fray, bringing with them the powerhouse that was the Playstation. It feels almost laughable now to remember that when the Playstation was first unveiled Sony had a hard time getting developers to make games for it. The CD based console wasn't a proven commodity at the time, having had a number of attempts with other less established consoles, so it was a gamble for a developer. Sony were smart in that they established working relationships with the big developers (Namco, Capcom) and that CDs were cheaper and easier to develop for when compared to cartridges. CDs also had much more space than cartridges, which meant things like video clips could be imported in and used, as opposed to generating the games footage, thus saving time and money. This was a big change at the time and, in a way, it shaped the industry into what we have today.

The games industry always needs to evolve and the first big evolution into how the industry works today happened once Sony had started firing on all cylinders. It was almost like history repeating itself, such as when Sega had entered the 16-bit fray. Sega had started to turn the industry in a new direction with their approach to gaming. When the NES first arrived there was nothing that could compete in the hip factor. Everyone wanted a Nintendo and with games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons being released, it was the console to own. Towards the end of the NES lifespan Sega were smart enough to realise that the public who had welcomed the NES with open arms were now starting to grow up. Thus, the Mega Drive was marketed as the cooler, hipper console. With the 16-bit era over, Sega released the 32-big Sega Saturn and it was here Sega seemed to miss a trip. Apart from pricing it incredibly high; they still aimed to market it at the younger crowd, a younger crowd which had, once again, grown up. Nintendo, as they've always done (until the Wii) simply focused on the younger audience and concentrated on good games, not really caring about their image. This is something that would hurt them financially, but thanks to the juggernaut that is/was the Gameboy and the Pokémon franchise, they were never in danger of disappearing. Sony meanwhile, targeted their Playstation at the older teenager, the young adults. It was a matter of Sony building on what Sega had started and it paid off for them, just like it had the Mega Drive. The difference now was Sony had a hip factor that propelled them and its Playstation into popular culture and garnered the Playstation huge mainstream attention. This lined Sony's pockets with cash and put Sony at the top of the video game ladder. The change here though was, very slowly, the focus seemed to be pulling away from how good the games were and instead, focus on how good the games looked.

This was always a problem for me because as good at business as Sony are, they don't know anything about making good video games. With Sony dominating the industry, as they were at the time, good games seemed to be forgotten and instead it all became about how good a game looked and how much power a console could generate. What that did for gameplay was never explained and Sony never seemed to address it. The other players, Nintendo and Sega, seemed completely caught off guard by Sony's rise and unsure of how to deal with it. Sega's main problem seemed to come from arrogance. The Mega Drive had been a huge success and thanks to the three Sonic games and then, at the end of its life, games like Vector Man, Sega were untouchable in some areas of the world and this did seem to give Sega a big head. When the SNES started to cut into and eventually overtake the Mega Drive sales, Sega, instead of creating new and better games, opted to increase the power of their 16-bit console, in a way, tried to make their games look prettier. Their credibility took a nose dive with the release of the Mega CD and 32X and Sega practically limped into the 32-bit era, but with not seeing Sony as competition and having a head start on Nintendo, they were confident of success. The Saturn was released with huge fan fair and being able to play both cartridges and CDs, it seemed Sega had chosen to strike a balance, rather than choose a format. This meant the Saturn was incredibly large and bulky and when released in the UK was priced at £400.00. This was where Sega's arrogance reared its head, where Sega directors claimed it was a bargain to have the console at the price it was. They simply seemed to think the console would sell simply because it had Sega written on the box. What people forget about the Saturn is it did have a number of great games on its system, including Virtual Cop and (of course) the Virtual Fighter series.

Nintendo meanwhile, had stuck with cartridges, which was a move that alienated them from many developers, including Square which meant they lost the Final Fantasy series. Sony were quick to snatch this up and Final Fantasy became (until last year) exclusive to Sony. As it was, 3^rd party support for the Nintendo 64 was severely lacking and it was Nintendo's own arrogance in refusing to move on to the CD format that caused this. That being said, many of the games released on the Nintendo 64 were true classics and are still being reviewed and played today by online gaming reviewers. Such games include Super Mario 64, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Conkers BFD, Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, Lylat Wars (Starfox 64), Wave Race, Hybrid Heaven and Jet Force Gemini to name but a few yet despite having some of the best games available at that time, the N64 was mostly ignored and this down to Sony.

Sony had tapped into an area of the public not yet explored. It wasn't just the kids who were playing the games now. Those kids Nintendo had once targeted and those older kids Sega had targeted had now grown up into teenagers and young adults. Sony made the smart decision of focusing their marketing campaign on them. It worked,  and Sony's console played host to the new style Final Fantasy series, gritty, darker and ... if you're Spoony, a hell of a lot more annoying. It birthed the Resident Evil franchise, it gave Grand Theft Auto extra exposure (before the series became a money making powerhouse) Sony took risks with games that not only felt adult but were adult. Swearing started featuring in games, the image of the console became important, games characters started appearing in spreads and adverts that had nothing to do with the game they were in. Sex starting featuring in games and Lara Croft brought this to a whole new level as she became, almost the figure head for the 32-bit era. What Sonic was to the 16-bit era, Lara was for the 32 and interestingly, neither have been able to reach those dizzying heights since. It should be noted that a number of the games listed were also released on the Saturn but people just didn't seem to have the same effect because people wanted a Playstation. Sony came out of the 32-bit era the clear market leader, but for me, the 32-bit era was the end of the true gaming era as it had started a switch in focus that is still happening today. What followed this tweener era, where good games were balanced with good graphics, came the Playstation 2 and the X-Box, two incredibly powerful consoles, but the industry was starting to care more about what the games looked like, rather than how they played.

 

Next Week's Article

A Time to Reminisce

History repeats

The Final Part

A Time to Reminisce

The Golden Age of Video Games

The First Part

 

Nostalgia can be a powerful thing. The sites very own Nostalgia Critic comes under attack whenever he tackles a movie a certain viewer might like or might have enjoyed during their childhood. The funny thing is we're all guilty of it and have all looking back on past events through rose tinted specs, remembering how much fun it was watching a film or picking up a video game for the first time, choosing to forget or ignore the faults or annoyances we felt during the time. It generally comes from being younger, less cynical and, to put it frankly, far less spoilt. While it occurs in all forms of entertainment, it really occurs with video games and the industries growth over the last 20 years has been an incredible thing to watch. It's strange to look back on what was seen as the golden age of the video games and to see where we are now. Obviously, this is from my own point of view and everyone, both younger and older, will have a different view point. You can agree with me, disagree, accuse me of being too nostalgic; it's your own opinion, which is why this is mine. With that in mind, this will be a trilogy of articles reminiscing about the consoles, from the golden age to where we are today.

Today the words "Console Wars" are thrown around all the time, what with Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all vying for the top spot. These days, if you buy a console, immediately you're involved in the "war", even if you yourself don't see it like that. You can't go online without seeing arguments, flaming, spamming and debates ranging from calm organised discussion around a table to all out shouting and swearing, with remarks about peoples mothers and families thrown about in an attempt to give a point more weight, How that works in regards to what console you own I've never understood. Back in the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master System I wasn't aware of any Console war. In fact, I remember the first time I ever realised there WAS a console war going on. The only players were Nintendo and Sega. There was no internet, so you didn't have message boards filled with people swearing and shouting at each other. There wasn't a YouTube or an X-Box live with people hurling obscenities at total strangers, safe in the knowledge that there was a TV screen and in some cases, an entire ocean between the people they were talking too. There was only the school yard, where you and your friends would say which console was the best. To begin with, thanks to Nintendo having dominated the 8-bit market and begun their strangle hold on the handheld market there was never a contest. Far more people owned a NES. The NES was cool and had all the top games so Sega upped the stakes with the release of the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive (Genesis in the States). Suddenly, Nintendo weren't number one to some people, they weren't the cool cats in town and suddenly they had a fight on their hands. This led to the first major split in terms of what was your favourite console. Yes, before there was the Commodore 64 and the Spectrum but this was the first time I noticed a passionate difference of opinion on whose console was the best. As I said, the first time I was aware of any console war was when I opened a friends Sega magazine and saw a picture someone had drawn of Sonic taking a dump in Mario's mouth. I was outraged, I was furious, but I still laughed, because the picture was funny. It was here that I started taking notice of the Mega Drive and had to admit, the thing was cool.

The Mega Drive WAS cool. If the NES had been cool on its release, and back then it really was, the Mega Drive was the next step up. It was sleek, it was dark, it pumped out 16-bit arcade style graphics and it had games like Streets of Rage, Golden Axe and more importantly, it had Sonic. Back in the 16-bit days Sonic was everywhere. He was cool, he was fast, he had attitude. He was everything Mario wasn't. He also, which may seem strange today, was staring in a really great and fun game. The release of Sonic 2 was the first time I had ever seen a game hyped before its release. Today it's common and expected, but back then I had never seen anything like it. The day of its release, a Tuesday, was changed to Sonic 2uesday and the game was everywhere, from TV, to newspapers and magazines. Sonic was plain and simply, just cool and was the flavour of the month. Being left behind, Nintendo had released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This is when it became the greatest time to be a video game player. With the release of the SNES, gamers had a choice again. Both consoles were of equal power, although the SNES had the advantage in the sound department, and developers let their imaginations run wild. If the attitude era of wrestling is seen as the glory days to the older fans of today, the 16bit era was the glory days to the older gamers of today. It just didn't matter about graphics and how many polygons or colours a machine could pump out. All that mattered were the games and how well they played. These days when you have guys like the Angry Video Game Nerd and Irate Gamer pull out games from your childhood and tear them apart it's easy to forget what it was like to play those games with an open mind. There was no internet for cheats, no game guides.  You had to play and beat the games yourself and they were HARD. You experienced the ultimate feeling of accomplishment when you finally defeated that end boss and, if you were like me, scream and throw the controller when you failed. Games seemed to come out of nowhere. There were no marketing campaigns or years of hype following the games development from beginnings to release, games were developed behind closed doors and then released when they were ready. We didn't have to sit through videos showing cut scenes featuring graphics that looked cool but didn't let you play. We had games like Sonic 1, 2 and 3, Super Mario World, F-Zero, Streets of Rage 1 and 2, Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past, Mickey Mouse - Castle of Illusion, Super Metroid, Super Castlevania, Mickey and Donald - World of Illusion, Street Fighter 2, Mega Man X, Earthworm Jim, Super Mario Kart, Starfox, Dynamite Headdy, The Bomberman games and that's just naming a few and not even counting the end of the run where you had games like Donkey Kong Country and Yoshi's Island. These games were not only great then, but they're still great today. They sell on Console Networks and Virtual Consoles because, regardless of how they look, they're still damn fun to play.  It truly was a golden age for video games because we were experiencing the games for the first time, not having been spoilt or blinded by pretty cut scenes, PR launches or game guides. What you saw is what you got and had to rely only on yourself to complete them. Is it any wonder why so many people found Mega Man 9 so hard? It was a time when developers allowed their imaginations run wild, but were still grounded by the cartridge based format, so you had games that were true games.

In looking back, the one thing I do resent about the Mega Drive was the direction it had started to take the games industry. In moving it forward slightly in terms of image and coolness, it had left the door open for the next step to be taken. Enter Sony, who again upped the stakes in terms of image and coolness

 

 

Next Week's Article

A Time to Reminisce

The Changing of the Guard

The Second Part

 

a shoot'em up game that never takes it self seriously, featuring bomber man and ballons of mass destruction! if your a fan of shoot'em ups give this game a shot

Wow, you know I've been a member of this site for four months now and only have I just realised that I can (for lack of a better term) blog on this site... well just shows how perceptive I am I suppose. Anyway I like reviewing video games so I thought my first blog should be video game related, and what a better place to start than those b******** that prevent your progress in the video game world the villians. Now just remember before we start this is only my personal opinion and if your favourite villian doesn't get as high as you want you can just say that I have terrible taste.Now onto the list...

25. Doctor Ivo Robotnik (a.k.a. Doctor Eggman)

Game Series: Sonic the Hedgehog

First Apperance: Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) - Sega Mega Drive\Genesis

Other Apperances: Pretty much every Sonic game to date, main series and spin-offs. (1991-Current)

A classic to start with. With Robotnik you couldn't ask for a more dedicate villian to his cause. He appeared at the end of every act of the old 2D Sonic games piloting a new machine of death all in the name to squash that blue hedgehog in his tracks. His main goal is the basic, take over the world plan, and of course his flaw is the basic idea that the hero is just too much for him. 

 This really is the reason why Robotnik is scrapping in at the bottom, although he has evolved over the years to come in line with more regular bosses in video games his plan have remained ultimately basic. Take over the world and get stopped by the hero. Maybe I'm being a bit demanding of the good Doctor after all he is in a game series primarly aimed for a younger audience and should be kept basic but that doesn't get you any points in my book.

 

 

24. Bowser (a.k.a King Koopa)

Game Series: Super Mario

First Apperance:  Super Mario Bros (1985) - Nintendo Entertainment System

Other Apperances: Almost every Mario game since (1985-Current)

So another Old-School Legend makes it into the list and once again only makes it into the bottom five. Bowser was the opposite to Robotnik in his tactics in figitng the hero. At the end of every World he would send his cronies to deal with Mario and Luigi, even at the end of the first game (throw a few fireballs and you'll understand). Reserving himself for the final confrontation.

 But like Robotnik he is just the basic emphasis of a villian, although in recent times he has gained a more comical approach to his workand taken on various henchmen (or as we would call them children). So why does Bowser make it above Robotnik if essentially their problems are the same. In all honesty it's because Bowser got their first. Sure he wasn't the first every villain in a video game (heck Donkey Kong beat him to being Mario's nemesis) but he has to be one of the founding fathers of video game evil.

 

 

 23. Manfred Von Karma

Game Series: Ace Attorney

First Apperance: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (2001) - Game Boy Advance

Other Apperance: None

 

This devious lawyer... what? Yes that's right I said lawyer. What do you mean he can't be a decent villian? Have you ever met a lawyer, they are trained by the devil himself and sent forth to prepare for the apocalypse. Okay you want to hear his plan that makes him so evil that he got above Bowser and Robotink? Okay so here we go. Manfred is an attorney with a perfect record, well almost, in one case he was noted for using forged evidens, destroying the perfect record and driving the man insane. Now years later your main antagonist through out the game Miles Edgeworth becomes your ally after he is accused of murder and guess who is charged as his prosecutor. Now the thing is Manfed killed the guy and it is revealed that Miles' father caused the blemish on the recordand killed him aswell. Not only that but after killing Miles' father he adopted him and trained him as a prosecutor just to destroy his father's defensive legacy before framing him for the murder as well. If that doesn't qualify as evil I don't know what does.

 Manfred is cold and calculating he is the sort of man that would in a real life situation make an excellent lawyer. However it's strange that after keeping the plan perfect for nearly decades it just collapses on him (Karma by name, Karma by nature). The way he goes down fighting is awsome but in the end he causes his own downfall which is why he places in the bottom five of my list.

 

 

22. Shang Tsung

Game Series: Mortal Kombat

First Apperance: Mortal Kombat (1992) - Arcade

Other Apperances : Multiple Mortal Kombt games and Spin-offs (1992-Current)

Reigning from Outworld Shang Tsung was there for one reason and one reason only,to take your soul. There may have been other motives guiding him such as not getting killed by his own master but Shang's plans were always the same, steal souls of warriors to stay young and become the greatest warrior alive, which in turn would help him take over the multiverse.  Shang started out as boss in the first Mortal Kombat who could take the form of any of the fighters you had felled before you. Afterwards that power became available to the user when he became playable in Mortal Kombat II. 

 What places Shang in the bottom five however is that he never seems to lose with dignity. For all the power this guy posses he always come off as a sniviling little bitch after being defeated. Always begging for mercy and second chances, which are miracuasly granted despite his track record for stabbing people in the back. It is unknown if he will continue to appear now that Mortal Kombat is due for a re-boot, but his apperance in Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is a sign of hope for this character.

 

 21. Lou

Game Series: Guitar Hero

First Apperance: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2007) - Multi-Console

Other Apperances: None

Lou is the Devil, simply put. Although apparently he like to pose as a manager for rock bands, get them to sign contracts that they don't read and when they decideto break the contract take their souls down to hell. Being that he is a villian in Guitar Hero III means he doesn't really have much more to him but he plays an awsome rift. 

 

As mentioned he is merely there for the back story of Guitar Hero III and therefor doesn't get developed much and gets defeated when out played on his contemporary fiddle. It doesn't really make him a bad ass boss, but he sure is fun to face off against.

 

Well that does it for the first five on my list. Hope you enjoyed it and I'll be back with the next five later on.

 

Regards,

 Jabbawocky.