murfSTUFF

I talk about video games quite a bit. Understandable, I enjoy them. I’m not hard-core by any means, nor am I casual. I’m just your run-of-the-mill person who has spent a life time playing and enjoying the interactive medium. I’ve watched the industry grow and expand, and begrudgingly reach some modicum acceptance by the general public.

At one point, I was introduced to a online video games video review series called Zero Punctuation. Each week, Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw rambles at incredible pace with colorful (read: really NSFW) speech in which he eviscerates the industry’s latest and greatest. The series runs on a site called The Escapist. Eventually, they started another series called Escape to the Movies in which MovieBob, more tactfully than Yahtzee, reviews the movie industry’s latest and greatest.

Then one day came a new series: Extra Credits. The lead member behind this originally posted some videos on YouTube that I had seen previously. The series basically discusses games, the industry and the community through a looking glass. It covers a wide berth of topics ranging from writing, to controversy, to music and more. It is masterfully written and fun to watch, even if Daniel’s sped up voice gets a little annoying at times. It takes games seriously, and constantly challenges players and developers to push the medium forward. I can’t think of a single time I’ve disagreed with what is said on this show. If you care about games, you really need to check it out.

I’ll leave episode one here for your enjoyment, but you can catch Extra Credits every Thursday over at The Escapist.

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Filed under:Soap Box Tags: extra credits, video games

The Legend of Zelda

If there is any one franchise in gaming that I will flock to without question, it is Zelda. Even at their worst (barring the CD-i games), no Zelda game has ever been horrible. Each one is enjoyable to some degree. To me, the quintessential Zelda is A Link to the Past, but that is its own entry into this series. This entry is about the original gold-cartridge goodness.

The brain-child of Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, The Legend of Zelda places you in the role of Link in his quest to defeat Ganon, save Hyrule and rescue Princess Zelda. A fantastic journey of trials and tribulations await our hero. Persevering through a fantastically open world, and through a myriad of maze-like labyrinths brought forth one of gaming’s earliest epics.

I remember picking the game up from the local video rental shop, entranced by its gold cartridge. I started the game and heard that iconic tune for the first time. Soon, I was off to Hyrule on an adventure of getting really lost. I mean super lost. I’m talking ‘how the hell do I get out of the Lost Woods’ lost. For all my annoyance, I was entranced. Though that was probably the awesome music. I finally found my way to the first dungeon, and scurried my way through that as well. Soon enough, I had the first piece of the Triforce and my adventure continued. News flash: I got lost again.

If there’s one thing a lot of the NES games of that day lack, it is helping you. I remember trying Metroid. Talk about being blind. Being about 6 didn’t help much either. There was no internet, there wasn’t even a strategy guide at that point either. No NES Atlas, no nothing. Yet, for what little time I had at first with Zelda was a blast. I didn’t understand the point of the game. This wasn’t like Mario where I had a clear goal and a way to achieve it. I was in the dark and I was confused. That first though was enough. Eventually, The Legend of Zelda came to be in my ownership. It came that handy-dandy map and instruction manual to help me out too.

Zelda was the first game that I feel truly offered me a challenge that I enjoyed. More so than any other NES game that I didn’t beat (which was most of them), I WANTED to beat it. Through thick and thin I soldiered on. Then came the Dark Nuts and the adventure reached a frustrating conclusion thre. I don’t recall ever getting past Level 4 in my initial play through. Likely a mix of that plus other games to play stole me away from Hyrule, but I would occasionally return to try my luck again.

Eventually though, my subscription to Nintendo Power netted me the almighty NES Atlas. With renewed vigor, I set forth and conquered Quest 1. I even took my stab at Quest 2, but I didn’t make it. I beat Quest 1, and I felt good about myself. I rose to the occasion. I gave in the short term, but never in the long term. Ganon got the ass-whooping he deserved. Zelda made me face up to what seemed an insurmountable challenge, and eventually reach the summit. It gave me a sense of tenacity and accomplishment. I don’t remember much in the way of specifics of my attempts, but I remember that each new level brought a sense of foreboding, toil and triumph. It made me feel good about myself, and that with effort I could achieve almost anything. Every so often I go back to this first outing, if only to relive the adventure for a short while. At least until I get to the Dark Nuts.

The Short and Sweet of It

The Game: The Legend of Zelda
Platform: NES
Why it was important: In a fantastical land, I learned to face up to my challenges and triumph over adversity.

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Filed under:My History with Gaming, Personal Tags: gaming, nes, nintendo, Zelda

Have you read the news today? Oh boy!

Yesterday, Apple but up the enigmatic message of “Tomorrow is just another day that you’ll never forget.” on their website. A surprise announcement was on the way and speculation was rampant. I totally called it.

Without reading any speculations or articles, by just seeing this message I somehow instinctively knew it was going to be. I told it to my girlfriend. She didn’t even see the page, and she guessed what it was. Talk about an unsurprising surprise.

If you haven’t heard by now. The Beatles, after years of legal to-and-fro between Apple Corp and Apple Computers, have finally made their way onto iTunes for sale. Was it necessary to shut down part of the Apple website? No. Is this huge news? Sort of.

The point is that any minimally computer savvy person already has a digital version of The Beatles by some means. Some have ripped their physical CD collection into digital format. Others have obtained them through less legal means. But this isn’t about sales. It is about momentum.

The fact that The Beatles catalog has not been available for digital download is an reminder that the major record label system is broken and outdated. The hold-outs haven’t been The Beatles themselves, but the recording labels. I’m certain Paul and Ringo don’t care one way or the other. Hell, George’s son was the main person responsible for promoting The Beatles Rock Band to the gang. Yoko may have the hold-out, but she signed off on Rock Band as well leading me to believe that digitally distributed Beatles wasn’t too far off.

Apple Computers and Apple Corp haven’t had the best of relationships, starting off with issues of brand recognition. In one suit, Apple Corp told Apple Computers: ‘You can keep the name, but you can’t do audio production.’ In your default Mac sounds, you’ll see ‘Sosumi,’ which was made in-house at Apple Computers, and so named ‘So sue me’ off that very suit. This is an indication that even the staunchest of hold-outs in the recording business need to adapt to the trending changes. Physical media is still the top-selling method for getting music, but digital downloads aren’t slowing down by any means. It represents a victory for Apple Computers not only in terms of finally getting one of the best selling music catalogs in history, but also that the company that popularized digital music downloads still has the gusto to bring down giants to their playing field and showing the recording industry that their antiquated system isn’t going to cut it anymore.

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Filed under:Soap Box Tags: Apple, Beatles

I voted! Did you?

Well. It’s that old first Tuesday after the first Monday of November. In the ol’ United States of America that can mean only one thing. Politicians are scrambling to get you to push a button with their name on it.

Whether you count yourself a Democrat, Republic, Moderate or even a member of the Rent is too Damn High party (yes, it is real), many consider it your civil obligation to go out and push a button. Maybe even 2. The point of the matter is no matter your leanings, short of running for office, it is the easiest and best way to make your voice heard. Before 2008, my voice went unheard as an apathetic youth voter. Say what you will about our current President, but at least he got me off my butt and out to the polls along with a strong number of youths disillusioned with the current nature of politics in this country. I vote now, and shall continue to vote. I urge you to do the same.

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Filed under:Soap Box Tags: america, voting