Posts Tagged ‘video games’
Gaming blogs roundup
March 2nd, 2009 • 1 comment
Tags: blogs, game blogs, games, Gaming, gaming blogs, video games
I’m on a major gaming binge right now. As a result, I’m looking around for some cool blogs to add to my reader. I’ve found quite a bit of good stuff. Gaming is really so much more mainstream than it was ten years ago. Its audience has also matured tremendously. The media and the moral police of this great nation have had to accept the maturity of the content. The blogosphere reflects these sweeping changes in the medium. The blogging medium is even newer than gaming so as gaming has matured, blogging has matured into respected citizen journalism. These are the blogs that stand out right now. I’m skipping right over the Joystiqs and Kotakus—the juggernauts. You probably already know those. These are the blogs that, although they are a little harder to find, are well worth the effort.
Catchy Name News (RSS feed)- I first have to mention a friend’s blog. Justin is a long-time gamer with a lot of insight, a sense of humor, and an intense hatred of space marines and “art games.” His articles are always hilarious and often cover the dark corners of gaming many fear to tread. He just won the local SFIV tournament so head over to his blog and comment your congrats.
Sexy Videogame Land (RSS feed)- Leigh Alexander is all over the ‘net at major sites like Gamasutra and Kotaku. This is her personal gaming blog. There are some very cool posts. She’s currently playing RapeLay, the rape game that Amazon got into hot water for selling. I thought that might get your attention.
Magical Wasteland (RSS feed)- The design of the Magical Wasteland is complementary to the content. The entire site is black and white with no images getting in the way of the content which is insightful and well-written. This won’t clog up your reader either as updates come about once a week.
Arcade Heroes (RSS feed)- If you want to follow the dead and/or dying arcade scene, this is one great place. One thing you’ll learn from reading the site is that the arcade scene is much more vibrant in Japan than it is here in the US.
Dusty Pixels (RSS feed)- Is retro your game? Dusty Pixels covers game not in this generation (and I don’t see anything from the previous one), but even younger gamers may still be able to get “retro” as they seem to cover games for the original Playstation. There is a post with cool tips for acquiring older games to help get your collection going.
There are probably more blogs than there are people on earth so you probably have a few favorites I have missed. Maybe you have a gaming blog of your own you’d like to plug. Post a link in the comments. I’m always game for more cool game blogs!
Video: Building an arcade cabinet
February 6th, 2009 • 2 comments
Tags: arcade, arcade cabinet, emulation, games, Gaming, MAME, MAME cabinet, video games
It’s nice to have friends in high places. Failing that, it’s nice to have friends who can build you a sweet arcade cabinet! Brandon Haynes is a Rubik’s Cube virtuoso. He’s also pretty good with power tools. In this episode of the raddevon video podcast, we discuss his experience building a MAME cabinet.
The plans Brandon used to construct the cabinet were obtained for free from ArcadeCab.com. The only modifications made were to accomodate for the HotRod joystick as the original plan assumes a homemade control panel.
The monitor was found through an ad on the Freecycle Network which allows users to post giveaway items to be claimed by other users. BYOAC (Build Your Own Arcade Controls) has a video section which explains the ins and outs of different types of monitors.
The cabinet is not currently done (We will revisit it when it’s complete.), but the build cost is going to be less than $300 for the materials, monitor, and hardware necessary. I’m lucky enough to have an old Dell Pentium 4 lying around I can use as the brains of the cabinet. I also have some computer speakers. Check out the price list for details on the prices and sources of our components.
For more information, questions, or advice on this project, contact Brandon via e-mail (rcubeman [at] comcast [dot] net).
Download the podcast
Resources
Coming up on raddevon video for February 20th, I have an interview with a musician who distributes music online using equipment and software you probably already have. Check back in two weeks at 8pm Eastern.
If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to the podcast using the links in the sidebar on the right. You might also want to subscribe to the blog!
Earthbound: A profession of love
January 29th, 2009 • 1 comment
Tags: Earthbound, Final Fantasy, Game, Mother, Ness, Nintendo, Nintendo of America, SNES, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Video game, video games
Once upon a time, Nintendo released a game called Earthbound for the Super NES. Unless you were gaming back in the 16-bit era, you may never have heard of the game. It stars you as a young boy called Ness who has been chosen to save the future from the mighty villain Giygas.
Let’s back up a bit. My awakening to the RPG genre was Final Fantasy II for the Super NES—in its own right a pretty fantastic game. This was the fourth game in the series but the second released here in the States. I completely enjoyed it, and this really was an awakening. For the console gamer at this time, there was no such thing as a “Western RPG.” RPGs were all from Japan. Unfortunately, Japanese RPGs all tend to be very… derivative. I would estimate at least 90% of JRPGs still today are swords and sorcery. This was even more so in the olden days. Despite all this, I fell in love with the genre and followed in closely throughout the console life of the SNES and beyond.
About six months prior to the release of the original PlayStation, Earthbound was released in North America. The game shipped in an oversized box with a strategy guide included. It came on the scene to a fair bit of critical acclaim, but it ultimately failed. Many claim this was due to miss-marketing by Nintendo. The marketing was rather strange. They seemed very interested in playing up how gross the game was. The game itself didn’t really feature this prominently, and this is certainly not what it is remembered for.
Regardless of the reason, Earthbound was a failure for Nintendo in the States. It has come to light since its release that the first game in the series (Earthbound was localized from the Japanese title Mother 2.) was completely localized for the US by Nintendo but never released. A collector actually purchased a prototype and made the Nintendo localization available to players via the magic of emulation. It seems Nintendo has never forgiven the failure of the original. A number of Mother releases have been shunned by the company for localization: the Gameboy Advance saw the release of Mother 1+2, a single cart containing the first two titles in the series, as well as Mother 3.
The release of Mother 3 ushered in something of a firestorm of fan activity here in the United States. Starmen.net is the home of Earthbound fans. Its founder Reid Young and the community have organized a number of stunts to attempt to gain the attention of Nintendo of America and to alert them of the interest in more US releases from the series. None of these stunts has been successful in achieving their ultimate goal. As a result, members of the Starmen.net community decided to end-run Nintendo by releasing a fan-made translation of the latest game in the series. This translation is now complete and available. It is also fantastically authentic!
Now that you have a quick history of Earthbound, you may wonder, “What could cause a game released nearly 15 years ago to still have such an active and rabid fanbase?” The possible answers are many. These are the aspects of the game that make it so enduring for me:
Its setting is different from most JRPGs- Earthbound is set in the modern world we all know albeit with some extras thrown into the mix. It is a fantastical re-imagining of our modern world.- People can identify with what’s happening- This setting allows for the game to feature concepts we all know as part of our culture. You’ll find arcades, vending machines, shopping malls, ATMs, telephones, baseball bats, and a plethora of other everyday objects.
- It gives players a sandbox world- Since the setting is very similar to modern life, the fantastical elements are much more satisfying. In reality, a young boy would never wander off on his own to embark on an epic adventure, but it happens in Earthbound. He is parented from afar; he calls his mom for comfort; and his dad deposits money in his bank account when he levels up. Players are given a world much like their own but much more freedom than reality allows.
- The game is light-hearted and fun- Excellent and tasteful humor abounds in the game. The actual in-game humor is nothing like the gross-out stuff played up by the marketing campaign.
- Great music- Earthbound’s score is nothing like that of the Final Fantasy series, but it really conveys the whimsical charm of the game. It’s also quite catchy.
- Innovative storytelling methods- The best example I can recall is the silly font used for Mr. Saturn to convey he is speaking another language.
This article may seem a bit more reverent than many I write. There are few games that really hold a special place in my heart; Earthbound is among these. In general, I tend to cheer for the underdog. Maybe that is another reason I still love and remember Earthbound to this day. It cast off many of the tropes of the genre opting instead to go its own way. It may have failed, but it is definitely a failure I can admire.
This is the joystick dreams are made of
January 27th, 2009 • 2 comments
Tags: Hori, Joystick, video games, Xbox 360
I have owned a couple of Hori joysticks in the past (back in the PSOne days). They are beasts. You won’t break them; they break you. They are the most fantastic console joysticks I have ever used. They laugh at kryptonite and eat Hattori Hanzo katanas for breakfast. This new joystick for the Xbox 360 looks to have the same build quality as those old Hori sticks I remember fondly, but it also has some style. Forget MadCatzzzzzzzz. This is the joystick for your 360 fighting enjoyment. Thanks to Kotaku for pointing this one out.
Badass 360 Arcade Stick, Made From The Bones Of Real Arcade Sticks
Jonathan Blow working on a 2D RPG
January 24th, 2009 •
Tags: Braid, games, Gaming, Jonathan Blow, RPG, video games
I was happily cruising through my feed reader at typical breakneck speeds when a Kotaku post latched onto my eyeballs and forcibly sent them to a Gamasutra interview (That’s right. If you’re reading it on my blog, you’re now three levels deep.) with Jonathan Blow of Braid fame. Apparently, his current project is a 2D RPG. I hope he can breathe new life into this genre as he did the 2D platformer. Once upon a time, I loved RPGs unequivocally. Now, I don’t think I could stomach another $60 animated choose-your-own-adventure book. Having played Braid, I’m confident it won’t be just a skin on top of those old RPG tropes.