Flashback: Never Changes

Whenever I have to think back to why I love Bethesda, two series come to mind—The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. I’ve talked about both numerous times on the Workshop, namely Skyrim, Oblivion and New Vegas, but I think that it’s time to champion the one that I feels stands out the most from the 7^th generation of gaming: Fallout 3. This is something I had to put a lot of thinking into. I loved Oblivion, and even spent more time on it then I did on Fallout 3, but as I’m about to get into, there’s a strong reason why I gave Fallout 3 the best of the 4 choices.

Most people would expect when comparing Skyrim, New Vegas, Oblivion and Fallout 3 for greatness, you’d end up with an order like the one I just listed. After all, TES is debatably one of the biggest franchises in all of gaming right now, and although Fallout is big, TES is considered Bethesda’s crowning achievement. However, I think that in this case, Fallout 3 reigns supreme, even over one of my all-time favorites, Oblivion, giving my overall ranking system as:

1.      Fallout 3

2.      The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

3.      The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

4.      Fallout: New Vegas

Now comes the hard part of justification. Starting out with why the two older games got the top two slots takes a bit of referencing back. Even though there are some nice improvements in New Vegas from 3, it doesn’t feel the same. I don’t know if this may be because Obsidian was the lead in making the game, and Bethesda was on Fallout 3, but it is a let-down.

 Oblivion, on the other hand is beaten in a large amount of ways by Skyrim; better graphics, better voice-acting, heavily superior combat system, new and improved items, and more. But, there are two things missing from Skyrim that Oblivion did have—a good central story, and huge amounts of charm. Now, I will admit that of the charm of Oblivion comes from the quirks: being able to jump for 5 seconds, wearing the gray cowl around town and taking it off just before guards come up to attack you so they angrily say “How are you today, Citizen?”, the fantastic effects of Skooma and of course, the fantastic voice acting by all of the guards. I played more than 1000+ hours of Oblivion before I got bored on 3 different characters. I played for just over 400 hours on 2 characters of Skyrim before I got bored of it.

So, how did I decide between the two games in the end? I looked at how I felt playing the two of them. Fallout 3 has a fantastic storyline, and the two games have completely different combat systems, magic and medieval weaponry vs. limited guns and ingenuity. I enjoyed the 2-toned system of Fallout 3’s Enclave and Brotherhood more than the huge amount of sprawling quests of Cyrodil. Although there may be more to do in the bigger world of Tamriel, the wastelands of D.C. truly are alive and unforgettable, giving them my top spot. Deciding 3^rd and 4^th wasn’t hard after that, I love Skyrim, just not as much as Oblivion. Obsidian, although not quite as magical as Bethesda still did a good job, and 4^th place is not a bad spot—they were up against impeccable competition.

Bethesda is a powerful producer and idea maker, but I think the next direction they may want to consider moving in, is one step back. The games, although more resourceful, are missing on what made them great in the first place. They took a chance on the “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” idea, and fixed good systems and made them better, but lost something on the way. Fallout 3 is a prime example of a game that wasn’t perfect, but came damn near close to it. We don’t expect games to be 100% perfect and accurate all of the time. Fallout 3 is a game that gets closer to that bar than any other Bethesda game I’ve played.

--Santa

Flashback: FLY MY PRETTIES

All right Ladies and Gentlemen! Guess what we're talking about today!

No seriously, guess.

Oh fine, I'll tell you. Its Spore. You know, that one game where you made everything? Yeah, turns out that Spore is 4 years old now, and I think that qualifies it to be flashbacked at. Its pretty hard to find a requirement for PC games, since they never really change, just require better components to play. 

Spore is, for whatever reason, one of the few games my computer can run without crashing. Team Fortress 2, no. Sims 3, no. Minesweeper in HD, no. Sopre, yes. I remember it like the day I bought it 4 years ago. I remember playing it at my friend's house, remembering how cool it was (especially since his computer could run Minesweeper HD)  and the free feeling of creation in the air. Yes, Spore was the Minecraft before Minecraft, like Legos were the Minecraft before Minecraft, ntil they started making Minecraft Lego sets.

Spore has 5 stages, at each stage you do more customization.

1. Cell Stage- beginning design of creatures, depending on whether you eat meat or plants, you decide whether or not to be an omnivore, carnivore or herbivore.
2. Creature Stage- Main design of creature. This will be the final design of your creature. You go around killing, making allies, etc to evolve, finding genetic traits from those who you conquer.
3. Tribal Stage- Decides the traits of your race, you can be aggressive and kill the other tribes of your race, or you can choose piece through  singing. Your call.
4. Civilization Stage- Depending on your feelings towards other members of your race you end up as either Religious, Economic or Military. These are all self-explanatory. As other city-states like your own pop up, then you have to change them into your own way of thinking, to unite your planet.
5. Space Stage- The big leagues. Kill everything Pull moons out of orbits, colonize the world, accelerate the learning of races. Whatever you please.

Spore promised a bit more than I believe it could handle. It ended up being some sort of space oddesy, but never truly reached its full potential. Its just missing something, and I'm just not quite sure as to what that may be. Spore is a fantastic game, and the customization is great. I spent probably 200 hours playing it back when it was first released, but its a game I haven't gone back to since. Although its makers are Maxis, the geniuses behind the Sims series, it just isn't good enough to be called a perfect game.

--Santa

Flashback: Vacuums Suck

Yes. Oh yes. I have been waiting for this one for a long time now. All I have to say is that this game right here is probably the only reason I still have my Gamecube, because I'd feel like I was cheating if I played it on the Wii. This game's series is the only reason I'd ever get a 3DS, since its sequel was announced at E3 2011. This is the first game I had ever completely beaten, and it is probably the best Mario Bros. game to come out for the Gamecube, (I may have loved Sunshine, but this blew it out of the water.) What I'm talking about is the immortal Luigi's Mansion.

I may have mentioned before my opinion about Nintendo's 3DS-- I'm not a big fan. Ever since the DSi came along and tried to take away my precious Gameboy slot, I haven't forgiven Nintendo, to the point that I didn't even buy Black or White, as my own little form of Protesting. But what I didn't know until about a week ago is that at E3 '11 (while I was too busy watching out for Valve to hopefully announce Half Life 3: Rise of the Hats) I completely missed out on seeing Luigi's Mansion 2 being announced. Luigi's Mansion was, to be completely honest, the best game released on the Gamecube. I may have spent more time on MKDD or SSB Melee in the long run, but my real gaming hours went into Luigi's Mansion. Hunting Boos and yelling 'Mario' until I was sure Luigi was just plain stop. It didn't matter that Luigi knew that Mario had been kidnapped by King boo, he was going to yell his brother's name 'till the end of time, and nobody would stop him!

Armed with a Gameboy Horror, flashlight, and his magical little vacuum given to him by the renowned inventor E. Gadd (who also created FLUDD from Sunshine, made smoothies in Superstar Saga, and has appeared in many other Mario games over time) which allows for Ghostbuster-esque adventures through the Mansion you have somehow won, probably from a Nigerian Prince or something.

Later on into the intense adventure, finding the ability to shoot fire from your vacuum, sucking up giant rubies, sapphires, gold bars and 100 dollar bills which are randomly stuffed into corners throughout your new 'mansion' and enough frights that little 10-year-old-me had nightmares for a good couple of months gave me reason to respect this masterpiece of gaming. To this day, I still refuse to play Deadspace or Doom or Resident Evil, and I do believe its because I got so afraid from when little smug ghosts who would decided it'd be a great laugh to just wait underneath a chair or something, and then pop out and ruin my day, thanks for killing the survival horror game series for me.

--Santa

Flashback: Flash Games and Destruction

I may have grown up a hard-core Nintendo fan, but that didn't stop me from going out and trying other systems. I had played on the other competition's best games (keep in mind this was the 6th generation of gaming, so it was back when graphics like Halo 2's were supreme) I had my first taste of Halo, one play of GTA, and didn't think a computer was a gaming device, it was just the internet, which back then was only a series of tubes, and didn't even have any LOL cats on them just yet. I was young, and so was my appreciation of gaming, but I soon found out about one of the internet's many secrets, and one that is the chagrin to many computer teachers everywhere: Flash Games.

Many of you probably know what I'm talking about, I mean really. You ARE on the internet. Sites like AddictingGames, Kongregate, notdoppler and many others were fantastic for idly wasting time while you were supposed to be doing some big project. We've all been there. Games like The Impossible Quiz, Kitten Cannon, Sunny,  SCGMD (Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe series) have made me stop doing some reading assignments in favor of chucking kittens out of cannons to playing crazy guitar riffs. But, lets narrow our focus. There is one series of games that still makes me check these websites, even though I've got games like TF2 and Terraria to play instead. I am of course referring to one to monkey, and their balloons.

To be more precise, Bloons, in the form of the original "Bloons" where you played as a monkey with an intense hatred for balloons, and an immense love for the sound of their popping, and would go on genocidal bloon-killing rampages. But there was another version which turned your monkeys into towers, and made my all-time favorite tower defense game, the Bloon Tower Defense series.

Its as simple as it seems. Elements shown throughout the series of the original Bloons would be used for the destruction of side-scrolling Bloons on their path to destruction. You build the tower you so desire, update it, and watch the mayhem unfold. It really was a very amazing idea if I do say so myself. Recently Ninja Kiwi (the developer of  this all-mighty game) released the 5th version, with new towers, upgrades, and maps that I care to explain. Just click and try it out for yourself. Its a fantastic way to spend a couple of hours (which can very quickly turn into a whole day escapade)

Other than this, I think I have my weekend all planned out. TF2, Terraria, and Bloons TD 5, oh my! But, before I leave for this weekend, have you seen the new comic for the Big Daddy-esque champion entering the League soon? I'm not quite sure what to think just yet, but I want more AD champions. The last new champion released that was AD was Graves, I think he could use some company.

--Santa

Flashback: No Title Needed

Every time I get on Blogger to write a post, I always check my Stats, mostly to see how mavy views I've gotten. Since my last post yesterday I've got another 15 views. Whats wrong with you people? I know Jax is a pretty cool guy, he doesn't afraid of anything in the league or anything, but come on.
But lets get down to business. I'll be honest, I haven't been playing as many games as I have been (not to say that I haven't wanted, though) I've been busy with all sorts of things (and nobody has bought my Unusual One Man Army or Sola Topi, either.) But, one game did catch my eye last night when I was busy procrastinating on a major project thats due on Friday, and that would just so happen to be the only reason I still take out my Gamecube every now and then: Custom Robo.

Custom Robo really was one of those games thats hard to not play if you own, or have owned, a Gamecube. Think of lego meets star wars meets Power Rangers meets the Truman show (fantastic combination, eh?) You take the part of a young man who lost his father a long time ago. You live in a dome. And everyone in this depressing little world plays with tiny baby robots to escape from the depressing reality that they have no lives.

You somehow come across one of the more powerful robo's every made, and keep him (Finders keeprs) and continue to play across your small town while you try to find out the reason behind a group of thieves who have been ransacking your town. Interesting right? Its the same ethical of problems, only with more customization! (Think boxing meets lazers.) The robos themselves are tiny itty-bitty boxes that you launch at the beginning of each match, and then you control their flying/jumping around the arena. You can get all sorts of weapons reanging from a shotgun to shooting the face of a dragon. The only thing Custom robo was missing hadn't been invented yet: Hats.

With a campaign that lasts around 6-8 hours (unless you're horrible at the fighting, after which you may just ragequit) and then a free-from fighting game (where you can challenge whoever) and the ability to fight 4v4 or 2v2 or 1v3 this was one of the earliest party games that I owned (Better than every Mario Part ever mad,e except 5) If you find yourself with an impossible need to fight tiny robots who can shoot dragons out of their fists, or just want a good game for about $10 used, Custom Robo is really worth getting into. It was technically the first FPS I ever owned, and its a good one to bring little kids into the new exciting world of guns with. And with te only other exception being Portal, I c
 ant think of many other games with minimal violence that involves guns (Well, at least towards humans)

--Santa

Flashback: In the Future, All Men Will Be Flowers

So I realize that it’s been about a month or so since I last did a Flashback. I’ll be honest; I was running out of ideas.  But, I was thinking about old titles and one debate over who had the most OP final smash in SSBB had led me to my next game of the hour: Pikmin 2. Ah yes, nothing like reminiscing about the old days. Back when Gas was $1.50 a gallon, Spaghetti was the best food, and I was still that naggy Nintendo fan boy.  I went through many stages of Obsession, (Luigi’s mansion, Animal Crossing, and SSBM all had their run) but one game that has always struck me as special was one of the longest running games I played. Even though I may have never played the original Pikmin, I knew the basics: There were three types (Red was fire resistant, Blue could breathe underwater, Yellow was shockproof,) you grew Pikmin by  getting Pikmin pods, and by using little numbered pellets, and of course, if you stayed on the planet overnight, you would be eaten. Yes, those were the good old days, watching your time tick away and waiting for monsters to eat you.

Pikmin 2 was set up similarly to the original—you return to your home planet to find that the company that has employed you (a shipping company) is on the edge of bankruptcy. Since you brought home a Bottlecap as a present for your son, you come to find out that it is actually a sacred treasure, and that you can money from stealing—recovering these artifacts from this old word. You play as Olimar, the brave ship captain who commands the Pikmin perilously, or as Louie, the ship’s chef and co-pilot. Going back to this old world (which is basically a giant version of earth, or maybe a deserted version being scavenged by smaller versions of people) to try to get enough money to pull your poor business out of Bankruptcy. You use Pikmin to help carry riches back to the ship, or can clear dungeons and get bigger and better prizes. But, there could be monsters down there, just as a FYI.

New Earth is inhabited by many odd creatures, and you can use your army of little plant men to help beat them up. Some creatures will drop treasure, or maybe Pikmin pellets (used to make more Pikmin.) you can also upgrade your Pikmin. When Pikmin are born, they are little seeds popped into the ground, pulling them out gives you control of their tiny meager lives, letting you fulfill the true power of capitalism—letting other people do dangerous work to make you rich. But, leaving them in the ground for ye much time allows them to bud, replacing their leaf on the top of their head with a bud. This allows them to do more damage, be faster, etc. Feeding your Pikmin dew will grant them flower power. This is basically letting them become the greatest warriors on New Earth.

Pikmin 2 brings in two new types of workers---Pikmin to use at your disposal, purple and white.  Purple can carry 10 grams worth of weight, comparable to any other pikmin’s one. They also do more damage, but have no resistance. White Pikmin are tiny, fast, poisonous to eaters, and also immune to poison. There is no greater joy in the world than to watch some stupid snake-bird hybrid accidentally take a bite of your white Pikmin (who I lovingly call my little pikkies) and watch it die. YES! YES YOU STUPID BIRD! THOSE ARE MY BABIES! THAT’LL TEACH YOU TO EAT MY BABIES.

The entirety of Pikmin 2, although repetitive is very addicting. The cute dialog to funny storyline will keep you enthralled for hours. Although I may no longer own a copy, the thoughts of their quite possibly being a Pikmin 3 (and 4^th Super Smash Bros) keeps me from selling my Wii. Until I find a used copy floating around my local GameStop, I have no idea of when I’ll next see my little pikkies. I can only hope that it will be sooner, than later.

--Santa

Only 31 Hours Now!

I promised myself I wouldn't make a post about this.

Not yet.

I lied.

Skyrim

Only 31 hours from now.

Why do I keep making new paragraphs?

I'm not sure, but still. Skyrim. I per-ordered about 3 hours ago and got a root canal at the dentists. Didn't hurt. I was thinking about Skyrim. Guess what this blogs about?

Bioshock.

Thats right! Its the 3rd post of the week! You thought I would forget? NO. I always post a flashback or debate on the last post on the week.

Don't be so silly.

Today, Bioshock.

Yes, this game isn't old, but, well, yes it is old. But not like old-old. Like epic game old.

I got Bioshock in the Oblivion-Bioshock bundle. It was two layers of happiness. Did I mention Skyrim comes out in 31 hours?

Bioshock is what convinced me to like plot based games. It revolves around Jack, your very own sweater wearing protagonist. You have had the unfortunate luck to have crashed into the ocean. But, fear not! For you have crashed right next to an island that leads right into the dystopia of Rapture. Inside you find some of the greatest minds in the world.

They have been genetically altered and want to kill you.

sad truth, isn't it? They have stumbled upon this extract called ADAM that allows you to play with your own DNA like it was made of Lego's. And now, to survive you must enter into the same dangerous region they have, and use the greatest weapon you have available, yourself.

Yes, shooting fire bolts, bees, and lighting bolts from your wrist. Dangerous business. A scary shoot-em-up adventure. It has a great explosive plot, and a fantastic ending.

So, for all of you reading this post to kill those last 30 hours, good luck.

I'll be back on Tuesday

--Santa

Flashback: The Only Good RPG for the GBA

Ladies and gentlemen, I was never really into RPGs, except for on the internet. But even then, I didn't play too many. But, there is one game that I have played through. This is the only game I have replayed more than 5 times. Guess. Ill give you a hint. It isn't Fire Emblem. It's the Greatest embodiment of Mario ever. The Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga series. That's right, put on those stripedy socks, and lets get rolling!

The M&L series has 3 installments, the original Saga, Partners in Time, and Bowser's Inside Story. The first of which starts out with Princess Peach's voice being stolen by the evil Cackletta. So, to get it back, you must travel over to the Bean Kingdom, in hopes of restoring your princess's once oh so sumptuous voice. But, with many plot twists, and memorable villains, there's plenty a story to go around.

Gameplay involves jumping (never would have guessed, would ya?) using hammers, Fire, electricity, and Bro moves. Where Mario and Luigi tag up and use specialized moves that deal massive damage to enemies weak points, but you only have so many bro points to do them. But, you can eat syrup to replenish these much needed points. Game play is smooth, and you always get the chance to dodge moves, which is a nice touch. the music is ingrained in my mind, and still gives me goosebumps whenever I listen to the final boss music. But overall, I love the humor and wit to the game. Mario and Luigi's fake Italian speaking to each other to interactions with Bowser. It completes the Mario universe for me, making my inner fan boy scream in delight.

The second game puts the mustached twin back through time, allowing you to pair up with the younger versions of the Italian duo: babies Mario and Luigi. Looking adorable in their little hats and diapers, they must save the world from evil aliens. The idea of having two teams with different, interesting powers was a fantastic plan, and was the first game I ever played on the DS, actually, it was the reason I bought it. I spent many hours playing it, although not as many as the original, I still loved its permise.

Finally, I come to Bowser's Inside Story. When a horrible disease strikes the Mushroom Kingdom, the last thing the plumbers need is Bowser kidnapping the Princess. Oh, then he eats them. A fun-filled adventure, with just as many twists and turns as the original. I loved the score so much, I downloaded the music, impressive for someone as lazy as myself, and the gameplay flowed better than the second one does. Although the story may be a bit cheezy in parts, it still is very humorous. 

Although I still wonder if Nintendo went to the trouble of actually getting Italian speakers to voice the twins, I still find their antics to be hilarious. I find that Luigi's part makes him feel like more of a character, and not just a green Mario, as I usually think of him. Playing through these games makes me want to get out my old games, and see if my NES still works. I still have my original Super Mario Brothers 3, and I would love to play the original again.

Flashback Special: MMO's and You- What you Need To Know About 2 Big Titles

So, I’m not much of an MMO guy, at least, I wasn’t when I had written my Animal Crossing blog last week. But, I was needed more material, so I though and thought. And thought. So, I went out, and looked for some new games, and almost bought a N64, but because of a lack of money, and one car crash, it didn’t end up happening.  So, on Saturday, I was talking to my friend and lo and behold, he was playing Runescape. That old game.  So I thought, well, maybe this could be fun. Bad idea, it brought me back in, not soon after, I came back to the other game that was the epitome of my childhood, but that’s for Friday. For now, I’m going to talk about Runescape, its history for me, and what it can do for you.

RS is the best free MMORPG ever. Seriously. Just about out of anything ever made.  It allows you to make a cute little character and train them in a medieval  setting. For there, it’s up to you for making money, training your combat, or completing quests. But, when you find life to be a bit too boring, you can throw $5.95* (per month) and do everything you could literally imagine. I have been playing Runescape for about 7 years now, on and off, and I have had my account hacked 3 times, been a member 4 times, and have committed genocide on trees by selling them for profit. I still enjoy every moment of it.

Let’s get into the finer things of RS: Money. Currently resting in my bank is 500k, full rune, and various other tools that I have acquired over time, like a snow globe that spawns infinite snowballs and a chicken suit.  Runescape, although not always serious, has many features that I have always loved. One is pest control, where you kill interestly themed monsters to fitting music, the point of which is to protect your shaman, who is keeping you in the fight. You win by destroying all of the portals that are letting the pests in.

So, believe me, Runescape is a fun game, and is one of the major parts of my own childhood. I put many, many hours into this game, but coming up, I’m going to talk about the most influential game to me of all time, and I’ll give you a few hints, it’s an MMO, and it’s not WoW.

Flashback: Why Am I Doing This?

It's the third post of the week, so you know what that means, ladies and gentlemen! It's time for another random game out of my "of old and forgotten pile of nostalgia." Today's feature is from the Gamecube. I probably played this game as much as I did MKDD or Smash Bros. Melee. I had the cheat codes for this game memorized before I knew my entire alphabet. If you guessed Animal Crossing, then you would be correct! Animal Crossing is like the version of Sims that everyone has played, but you are ashamed to admit. Playing Animal Crossing was like joining AA; you had to admit at one point that you had a problem. Animal Crossing was the epitome of me doing stupid things as a child, until I got onto the computer and started play Runescape and some other games of course, but that is a completely different story. Today, I dive into the past of my childhood, and decide on whether or not I could have actually done anything worthwhile with my time.

Animal Crossing starts out on a cute little train, as you are moving to a new town; this is where various things happen, like meeting an annoying little cat who asks you your name, the town you’re moving to, and most importantly, where you’re going to live. Since you have no house, he hooks you up with Tom Nook, the insane shopkeeper who gives you the smallest, dirtiest house in the entire world. Oh yeah, you got to pay him for it too. And how do you receive money? You do random tasks for the villagers living with you; dig random holes to find money, catch flies, fish, find fossils, or cheat. When you pay him off, you can re-model your house. Like make it bigger, get a basement, or even an upstairs, all of which you must pay for. After 500 hours, and you may have paid him off, he erects a giant gold statue of your character in front of your house, and since he is now a multi-millionaire, he doesn’t charge you this time. From this point on, you can do what you’ve been doing, socializing with your virtual friends, buy things for your house, fish, etc… when you place objects in your house, your house rating goes up, if it is fashionable. From this point on the game is just a slurry of nothing but pointless gameplay hours. But, you could just start a new house. Each town has room for 4 people. And if you want to get adventurous, grab another memory card, start a new world, and bring your old guy over via the train you came to town on. Yeah, you can visit a friend’s town, or just build one yourself, whichever way you like to spend your hours.

            Animal Crossing is legitimately one of those games I would look at when I was trying to decide to play either Luigi’s Mansion, or Mario Sunshine, or Melee, and just to Animal Crossing. It was effortless, like the Sims before I got Sims III. But, why did I do it? I had more fun on every other game I played. Even Shark Tale for the GBA, which was a game I randomly found on the bus in 4^th grade. But, I think it was simply because I had nothing else to do. I mean, really, if they had put all the man-hours of Animal Crossing into something like curing AIDs, we would have found the cure years ago. Animal Crossing was the greatest waste of time since watching paint dry on a wall, and then realizing that you were staring at the wrong wall the entire time. But, you can try for yourself. When you find yourself waking up at age 32, playing AC on your Wii with your Wavebird’s batteries dead again, you have been warned. This game could teach WoW a thing or two on addictivity. Although I did have fun (and I still can’t remember how) I will admit, there are some games not worth playing, now if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish the pool for my Sims on Sims 3.




'

Flashback Special: A look into the Greatest Generation of Handhelds

So, after my LoL binge, I decided to pull out my old DS. For the record, I've gone through two before getting to this current one. My first DS was an old DS, which I simply called “FatS” because they're so much bigger than the DS Lite, it was Electric Blue, giving it the name Big Blue, and I swear I could hear thunder in the background every time I turned it on. I spent probably as much time on that DS as I spent on my entire time on the Gamecube. But, tragedy struck one day about 4 years ago. When I was giving it to my brother, he didn't have a strong enough grasp on it, and he dropped it, cracking the screen. There was a large disturbance in the force, as I could feel a small portion of my soul dying out, and so I ran to the nearest Super Target, receipt in hand, and claimed that my warranty covered it. Luckily, the man behind the counter was either stupid, or just had pity for me, as I had tear stains on my cheek. As any true gamer can tell you, you can get very attached to your handhelds.



What was besieged to me wasn’t quite what I expected, as I had originally owned an electric blue DS, that’s what I wanted back. But, this was when the DS Lite had made its first appearance, and the FatS were starting to disappear of store shelves. DS Lite’s at the time cost more than my FatS, and since I had no money on me at the time (And I was just about to beat the Elite 4 in Ruby version, again) I settled on the plain-Jane version, just silver. Now, don’t get me wrong, silver is fine, but it just didn’t have the power to make angels sing every time I flipped my DS open like Big Blue could, but I had him longer than I had most other things. I eventually gave him the name “Old Silver” since I was playing him no later than last June, but, of course, nothing good lasts forever.



I went through many games on Old Silver, from Phantom Hourglass to Diamond Version of Pokémon. I had him in my pocket for so long that his original bar code had fallen off from ware-and-tear. I even got him a cute little carrying case that had Mario and Luigi on the front from their greatest RPG “Superstar Saga.” It didn’t matter to me that it was made for the DS Lite; it still fit (even if it did put a good deal of strain on the zipper.) But, when I was out traveling, I gave it to my brother. And he dropped it. If you’ve ever had a pet die, and your parents have to break the bad news to you, this was the equivalence. I came into the room we were staying in, and he said, “Santa, we need to talk.” What proceeded was him sighing, and holding up Old Silver, now in two pieces, top screen in his left hand, and touch screen in his right. I was despondent for about a month.



I hadn’t used a handheld in about 5 months, and I had been on the Xbox ever since, this was about the time I started transitioning to PC gaming. But, I could feel the excitement of this box, and while I unwrapped it, I could feel a small rumble. It was a DS, Electric Blue. But, there was one difference, it was a DS Lite. I could feel the beginning of a new era. I went downstairs, pushed myself up next to my desk in my La-Z-Boy, and started charging. While I waited for it to charge, I opened up TF2, and traded for a few hours, (that was my obsession at the time) and when I turned it on, I gave it a new name, my new name, Santa, as a way of thanking this Christmas miracle. I started back up Ruby Version, and started a new game. Although I don’t play handhelds very much, I still love the DS; I can still play my GBA games, and get a tough of the future. Maybe I’ll get a 3DS in the future, but I’m not counting on it. I like holding onto the old days, and who knows? Maybe I’ll find my Gameboy Advanced in my storage room sometime soon.

Flashback: Making Friends With Learned Words

So, today I woke up with a dry mouth, and wasn't in a very good mood. So, I do what I always do when the weekend's coming closer: find a classic video game. I have a box filled with my old Game Cube stuff, and a small selection of Gameboy Advanced games. I saw some great titles, which I will come to eventually in this segment, but, one really caught my eye, it was a Gameboy Color game. Now, some of you may not have been around for the Color, but I was, at least for its later years, played a lot of games for it on my GBA. For some of you, this may be a controversial title, but it still remains one of my most played games of all times: Hamtaro: Ham-Ham's Unite!
Now, some of you may say "SANTA! THIS IS A GAME BASED ON AN ANIME! ALL GAMES BASED ON MOVIES, BOOKS, AND ANIMES ARE HORRIBLE! THE MAIN CHARACTER IS A HAMSTER!" And you would be right on the last issue, Hamtaro was an orange and white hamster, but he was adorable, and had to help find his friends who were scattered about this adorable world, and bring them back to your clubhouse. It took me 7 years to complete this game. 7 Years. As a small child, I thought this game would perplex me until the day I died, but, after a while, I figured I could cheat, and looked up how to beat this confounded game. As stated before, you have to retrieve all your friends, but, to do this, you must first find, and convince them to come back. How, you may ask, as you do not speak Hamster. The entire point of the game was to learn words that have special meanings pertaining to their club, and had special abilities, seriously, one word made you quintuple in size; it described 'big.' Hamsters are magic.
After finding this creation beyond its years again, my next challenge was to find a way to play it, as my DS doesn't play Color games (much to my dismay) and my GBA was nowhere to be found. But, never fear, I had the greatest piece of gaming technology ever invented: the Gamecube GBA player. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I got out my old Gamecube (which was covered in a layer of dust about 3/8 of an inch thick) and found the player still plugged in, this cute little thing plugs into the bottom of your Gamecube, then you put in the included disc, and pop your favorite retro game into the slot on the converter, you get to play your old games on the big screen, and use your favorite controller from this seat of your couch. Now, I can't say that I played more hours on the adapter than I did on my GBA (god rest its used soul, wherever it may be) but I can say that it is by far the best 60 dollars I ever spent on anything.
So, to all of you old game fans out there, if you get a chance at one of these amazing devices, I'd take a swing at it, I haven't seen one in a long time, and I can safely say that although it may not change the overall quality of the game, (It will look a bit blocky, depending on your screen) it will give new life to your overall gaming experience. To everyone else who still owns a Gameboy Color, hold onto it, I know that I have countless memories from my days of handheld gaming, and I can only hope that yours are just as magical. Although the handheld industry may be a bit undersold at times, I still have 2 of my top 5 games of all time in the handheld game spot. Who knows, next Friday, I might be back on a Pokémon binge, as anybody who grew up in the 90's can tell you, handhelds may not give you the greatest storyline of all times, but they can kill an entire evening worth of time.

Flashback: Building the Future

As a child, there were very few games I played, most of which were on my GameCube. I lead a very protected video game life, not playing any games with guns until 12. But, before any of these events, I was a hardcore Nintendo fan. My favorite game was anything that had a Pokémon in it, and I thought a computer was something that had the internet on it. This changed when I turned seven, and I got an unexpected gift, Rollercoaster Tycoon 2.

Chris Sawyer, one of my all-time greatest  heroes, created the successful series about building your own Amusement park, and as any kid can tell you, they would die to own one. As I had never left the confines of the local ‘Adventureland’ I was amazed to see such rides from the Six Flags Park. I still remembering the shivers of excitement build the Great American Scream Machine in my first park. The entire point to the game was to build the greatest thrill park of all time, in different locations with different challenges. RCT 2 has a tiered system for challenges, starting with the easy parks going up to the EXTREME parks. There are also the options to control pre-made Six Flags parks, or even build your own Six Flags Park, with a very large amount of control: from placement of rides, to building them from scratch, many types of food stalls, and the ability to check with your park guests, seeing how they think of your park. Your park is given a rating, from 0 to 999, based on the happiness, amount, and overall build of your park.

You can get awards for best food, best rollercoasters, or dirtiest park in the country. While you run your park, you hire Employees (paid a monthly salary) to do your bidding, there are Handymen (the ones who clean, mow, and clean up the eventual spew from everyone riding your intense rides too much) Engineers (who fix your rides, and can check up on them to keep them in top condition) Entertainers (who keep your park guests happy by wearing humiliating costumes) and Security Guards (who make sure the snot nosed brats in your park don’t break the benches you just put in.) The next point of the game is all about layout, and debt management. As most rides cost millions of dollars, Sawyer lowered the costs of rides from multi-millions to multi- thousands. For example, you can build a giant, looping rollercoaster, built with thousands of tons of steel and stretches over two miles for around $45,000. You can either charger per ride, or charge a flat fee for entrance. You also get money from your sales of food, souvenirs, and various other objects. You can also choose to take out a loan, set to a pre-determined amount, and use that to build your offering to the amusement gods, but remember, you’ll owe a certain percentage of that back per month.

RCT 2 is the perfect example of how you can get sucked into a game for an entire day, and then wonders why you haven’t blinked in 4 hours. Its playability is similar to the Sims, where you just keep going and going, not knowing where to stop, and what to do next.  And when the tens of thousands of dollars in your pocket, and just can’t think of where to put your next great hit, you can just start anew, coming up with new designs, and coming up with new ways to entertain yourself for hours. In the end, I’ve found myself keeping this disc safe for almost a decade now, installing it onto 4 different computers, and probably logging more hours on it that I have spent all my time combined on the Wii. If your ever in the mood for a retro-feeling bit of building nostalgia, try this one on for size, and download it off most sites for about ten bucks.

Flashback: Dash To the Finish

I got up a bit late today since it was Sunday and did something I didn't think was possible: I wanted to use my Wii. Unfortunately, my only good game, Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, was missing, but I had something even better, GameCube controllers, my brother, and Mario Kart: Double Dash. Before I played FPS games, I played Pokémon games, and before that, GameCube games. The amount of time I put into Double Dash was only rivaled to Super Smash Brothers: Melee, but that was somewhere in the catacombs of my storage room.

Double Dash, (Which I will now refer to as MKDD) is one of the games in the Mario Kart franchise, it features the idea of a two-tiered driving system, one controlling the car, the other one handling power ups, and helping to drift. My brother and I used to come home from school, and race for hours, this is one of the reasons I wanted to be a race car driver when I grew up until I was in 6th grade. MKDD has characters like Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, Waluigi, Baby Mario, and more. The game became famous for its antics and its power-ups, from a mushroom that would make you go faster, to a blue shell, which targeted the first place driver and blew them up into the air. With MKDD, you got your fix for racing in a less serious tone. Where else can you be a giant monkey with a baby on the back of a go-kart, racing around a mountain? If you get the chance to play a classic GameCube game, keep this in your top list of choices, this is one I’ll keep with me for awhile.