Growing up, I spent alot of my time playing video games. Even at the age of 3, I would waddle in place with an original nintendo controller in my hand jumping on goombas, and slipping through green warp pipes. I spent alot of my childhood, after school at my babysitter’s house, where I spent countless hours watching Power Rangers, Gargoyles, Digimon, Pokemon, between the hours I spent playing the 20+ original Nintendo (NES) games my babysitter owned. It became a part of my life, no matter how bad my day was, the Mushroom Kingdom was still be there to save, and Dracula’s castle still needed to be explored. It was such a departure from reality, despite it being 8-bit, it was something else. I would have to say it is a privilege to have been born when I was. I was born just about a month after the original Gameboy hit shelves in the States. I grew up during the transition from 8-bit to 16-bit, in retrospect it was a big time in video game history. The introduction of handheld gaming, including the Gameboy, and Sega Gamegear really changed how and when people played games. First person shooters began to catch on with the introduction of classics such as Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM. and Real-time-strategies became increasingly popular with the introduction of Blizzard’s Starcraft and Warcraft franchises. Game companies became more and more courageous trying to expand and explore new and innovative ways to game such as the short lived flop that was the Nintendo’s Virtual Boy. Alot of these titles listed prior were unknown to me at the time. I went on playing on the NES and Sega Genesis for the first 8 years of my life, whenever I was given the opportunity to play a new system, or new game my mind was usually always blown. I’m sure someone reading this has seen the famous “N64 kids” video on youtube, and that was a similar reaction to what me and my brother had when we opened our N64 on Christmas morning 1998. The 1990s were certainly an explosion of creativity and innovation in video gaming. I recall seeing gaming catalogs with new and exciting accessories and add-ons which usually turned out to be over-priced gimmicky shit (i.e. Sega Activator Ring), but as an eager kid that stuff was rad. But to divert away from the sappy nostalgia, the whole purpose of this blog is to sort of describe my feelings of the video game industry now-a-days. Up until a few years ago, playing video games was a pretty pure, un-jaded experience for me. I really didn’t think too much about it, it wasn’t a part of my life I ever really scrutinized. And it’s hard to say when my perception of the video game industry changed. I guess it would probably be around 2004 when I first started playing games online. The time i spent playing games really started to escalate as I now had the option to play with other people around the world, I remember playing Top Spin tennis against another player in France, it blew my mind. Also alot of my friends I made in Middle and High School would often play games with me on the weekends. (Good Times…) After I started playing online, I started paying more attention to upcoming games, reading previews and peer comments online. This was a nice concept at first, but as it went on, I started to see the cynicism alot of fellow gamers had. It seemed like if one aspect of the final game wasn’t absolutely flawless, people would shun it. This seemed really strange to me because growing up, when I would go to rent games for my NES or Genesis I would have no idea if the game was “good” or not. I would have to figure it out for myself, and usually i had fun with games people would consider “crappy” today. Another problem I have with the current industry is the introduction of Downloadable Content (DLC). DLC in essence is/are a new levels, weapons, game modes, items etc.. that a player can download onto their system to use on their existing game. DLC has been around since the days of the SEGA Dreamcast and later incorporated more popularly on Microsoft’s Xbox system. Early on alot of the DLC available was free, but as online play became more popular, DLC became a popular micro transaction. My issue with this is the fact that alot of the content publishers and developers offer are things they could have easily incorporated into the final version of the game. Some companies seem to dangle these new tantalizing add-ons in front of players, and make them cough up their money for stuff that should already be in the game. In this market I don’t really see how its fair to charge a consumer more money than what they originally paid for a game. Most new games for most systems cost between $50-60 on the home consoles. And often companies will offer free DLC on day one just to get gamers to hop on the bandwagon and lure them in. Case in point the Madden Football Franchise has released a game each year for the last 20 years or so. My Grandpa bought me Madden ’96 way back when, and I had alot of fun with that game. The current games are alot of fun too, but EA has DLC available that gives the player “full” access to the game once purchased. Alot of this shit should be free, considering most of it is pretty trivial. On a favorite gaming site of mine, one user tallied up that if you purchased all the DLC in Madden 10 it would cost $76.50 JUST for the DLC which should be included in the game as is. Such as the ability to play a franchise online. THAT should be free and available to anyone. With all the DLC and a physical copy of the game that will run you a good $130. Thats alot of money for a game that should be a flat rate. This isn’t always the case, some respectable companies release free DLC for fans, and I think this is a great motivation for players to keep playing their games and stay put. Working at a game store, I see dozens of games come and go day in day out. With used games coming in daily and new games weekly its really hard to stay on top of things. I don’t mean to come off as pretentious by any means, and seem like an old-timer. But…back in my day you played what was there and usually you enjoyed it, if you didn’t you just pop in another one and see what happens. Like I mentioned before, people are generally way to critical of games now-a-days nothing is seemingly good enough for people, if one thing is off, the games automatically sucks. They don’t take into consideration the thousands of hours the programmers put into making the game. Its pretty sad. I understand the want for the next big thing, I just think people need to be more reasonable and forgiving. Personally its difficult for me to connect to alot of new games. I don’t really know the reason, I guess that spark just is not as bright as it used to be, whether its from the constant onslaught of new games released or over-hyping, its hard for me to get attached to a game, and enjoy it as much as the games of my childhood. I was recently musing to my brother that I would rather play the older generation of systems than any new one. Thats what I grew up with, and thats what I like. Just recently I started playing one of the old Zelda games, and while this game came out nearly 20 years ago, the mechanics, and aesthetics still seem fresh and fun to me. Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of new games that I absolutely love such as the Elder Scrolls series, the Mass Effect series etc, it seems that my heart still beats to an 8-bit tune. There is just something about playing the classics that I truly enjoy, it’s hard to define, its like describing color to the blind, or why you like something. Its something sacred, something that many others experience but each of which is completely individual and unique. I have alot more I could talk about, and I probably will later on, so I guess, consider this a part 1, but its getting late, and there are games to play.
looking back
Skyrim
Wow, well this is certainly exciting news
Tonight at the 2010 Video Game Awards (VGAs) Bethesda officially announced The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Rumors of this game have been floating around the internet for a while now and I am extremely excited that the game is actually coming out.
TES IV: Oblivion is one of my favorite games of all time, and that is saying a lot considering I have yet to actually beat the game. Well that is neither here nor there, I am just writing this post to sort of spread some of my jubilation around.
There have been a lot of rumored games that I have gotten excited about in the past that never got announced, or got canceled in the process.
What surprises me to is that in the reveal trailer Bethesda has already determine the release date of the game. The trailer ends with the date 11-11-11. That is a pretty bold statement considering there is no gameplay footage in the trailer.
I really really hope this date sticks, I am more than excited for this game. This is a great surprise and the nerd in me is jumping up and down.
So my question for you guys is, Has there been any game you were really excited for that got cancelled? Or was there any game you got really excited for once you saw the trailer? Let me know what you think
I really can’t wait for 11-11-11
Take care folks
Here is the TES V: Skyrim Reveal Trailer
CIS final
Hello folks, well i have decided on a final topic for my CIS project and it is…
Farmville
Yes the social networking phenom, I have never played the game however I hear more and more about it. Apparently it has its own brand of icecream, it has lead to a few relationship breakups, and unfortunately a catalyst in the death of a toddler. So I think it is important to look at this game and try and figure out its appeal, and why 60+ people play this game.
What draws people in? What are some of the fundamental game mechanics?
I hope to start my own “farm” and report in an objective point of view to try and understand the allure of this immensely popular game.
Stay tuned as I progress with this project
~Cheers
Hey folks, sorry i have not been updating this, I have been very busy with school and work. But I figured I would post this up as I found it very fascinating. You never really think about this facet of video gaming, and that is why I love checking up on this site. Enjoy, and let me know what you guys think.
http://www.gamesradar.com/f/an-extremely-interesting-history-of-game-packaging/a-20101117141344290050
(P.S. sorry for whatever reason wordpress wont let me directly link the article)
Busy Busy
Hey folks, sorry I have not been updating this blog as much as I would have liked.
I have been tremendously busy with school. I now literally have an exam every single week. So in hopes of doing well on them, I do alot of studying in both the SP library and the Public library in Wausau. It has been an on and off week of gaming for me personally which is sad because I have a few games in mind which I would really like to play. The new Castlevania is out, and I loved the demo, so I hope to pick up a copy of that sometime. And I just picked up “Civilization Revolution” which is a fantastic game, however I must limit myself quite alot in these mid-term weeks.
Just a few gaming things to make note of:
-The creators of Gran Turismo 5 have once again, pushed back the release date of their highly anticipated racing sim. This really does not come as much of a surprise to alot of the gaming community. However, at some point the hype and anticipation for this game just begins to sag, and the whole situation becomes a bit laughable. People have been waiting for this game for right around 4 years. Regardless, I hope it is released relatively soon, the customization looks stunning and I hope to give it a whirl whenever it does ultimately come out.
-It was announced at New York’s Comic-Con that Konami is re-releasing the X-men arcade game from 1992! I absolutely adored this game as a kid and hope this current trend of re-releasing classic games continues, as I would also love to see a new port of the old Simpsons arcade game. I can dream right?
Take care guys,
Reid J
Favorite Gaming Sites
Hey folks
With this post I would like to share with you some of my favorite gaming websites which I frequent.
1.) First and foremost is Kotaku, Kotaku is a subdivision of the Gawker media group specializing in video game news and reviews. The editors and authors post new information daily most predominantly on the weekdays. They post about new and upcoming games, info on gaming publishers, developers and creators and gaming rumors. They have a very active albeit opinionated community of posters who have various ranging thoughts and reactions to the subject in question. This is one of my most checked websites, along with my routine of checking Facebook, and my campus email, Kotaku is usually high on my list of sites checked on a daily basis and highly recommend it to people who have a history and keen interest in videogames. But, many casual “farmville-bejeweled-esque” gamers may find their opinions too “high-brow”. But it is a very entertaining site, with many well written, well recieved articles. Link can be found here
2.) My second favorite gaming website is the British gamesradar.com, They do alot of the same things as Kotaku does, reviews, news, but what I like most about gamesradar is their humor and gaming “features” which usually counts down an obscure list of themed aspects of video games. For instance, around Mother’s day they had an article about the top 8 (I think) worst mothers in video game history. They post these sort of articles weekly and are often worth your time and make more sense if you have a history of the games mentioned.
3.) One of my other top gaming sites is gamespot.com, now gamespot is more of a cut and paste review site, but they do get interesting exclusive interviews with game developers, hands-on demonstrations of up coming games etc… They are a great site to keep track of upcoming games. And the thing I like most about gamespot is their community and forums. Once you register you can post on articles and even join unions based on your favorite game, character, or franchise, and said unions will email you updates on your chosen game etc.. within your gamespot account. Plus the more you post and comment and write reviews you “level-up” so to speak on the forums which allows you to customize your profile and sort of have a meta-reputation on the site. i highly reccomend this site for any gamer who wants to meet fans who have similar interests in videogames and just generally wants to be in the loop of the gaming industry.
This final site I will throw in as a bonus, It is “Cheap Ass Gamer” and its whole purpose is to find good deals on games offered both through online sites and retail stores, plus there is an active community of users who constantly update seeing deals online and clearance games at stores in a particular area. They also do reviews, as well as offer a forum dedicated to just trading games between members of the community, all you need to do is register which is free, and you can stay informed on deals happening all over. I figured this would be a good site to post because alot of us college students don’t always have a ton of money of games, and I figure if this site can help them land a deal on a game they wanted.
Other notable sites if interested
www.dorkly.com (more of a video game humor site)
I hope you guys check out some of these, and if you do please tell me what you think.
Until next time, take care and keep gaming
-Reid J
Kudos!
This is just a post to give major props to Jenna Pope, who took the awesome photo of the N64 controller in my header.
You can check out the rest of her stellar photography @ http://www.jennapopephotography.com/
~Cheers
-RJ
In Opening
Hello, my name is Reid and this is my gaming blog.
I plan to include my personal thoughts and ideas on current topics in gaming, and gaming culture. And I plan to throw in a review or two.
As a sort of of-the-bat “mission statement” I wish to say that I encourage your input on the topics I bring up, and If I come across as too cocksure or pretentious, please let me know! I will try not to ramble (no guarantees) on long posts, and hope to keep the topics I bring up fresh and relevant to you the reader.
My passion and interest in video games has existed since I was a toddler. I was raised with easy access to games; Both my family and childhood babysitter owned NES systems which I would play all the time with my siblings. My parents also habitually took us to “Shakeys” every other sunday, after church where me and my brother would spend most of our time playing Mortal Kombat.
I fell in love with the various worlds and characters all contained in those games. I often emulated many of my favorite game characters on the playground, my imagination turned the swings into Mario’s Raccoon tail power up, and the slides into his warp pipes etc. I would often doodle pictures of Pac-Man chasing ghosts in my notebooks and sketches of my favorite Street Fighter characters. Needless to say video games did have a profound effect on my childhood, which I will probably talk about in my forthcoming posts. But before I get too far off track my question for you is.
What are some of your earliest/favorite childhood gaming memories? And, did you ever “play-out” you favorite game characters? And for those who didn’t perhaps play or have active contact with video games as a child, were there any favorite TV, cartoon, or Movie characters you emulated?
