Destiny Video

One of the features I was excited for on the PS4 is the Share button, and all the things that it could enable on the system. Specifically, I liked that it was going to record the last fifteen minutes of gameplay and allow me to save that with a touch of a button. It works, and it works well. So far, I've recorded a few gaming sessions and saved them locally, but haven't done anything with it, because the options are limited: Facebook or Twitter (I think). With the latest update we can now upload to YouTube, which is ideal. So this past weekend I decided to upload a video I took of me playing my very first Salvage match in Destiny. Here's how it went.

1. Figure out that I can't just upload the raw video to YouTube.
2. Download and install Sharefactory on the PS4
3. A week later, remember that I installed it.
4. Open Sharefactory, become somewhat confused by the lack of options in it.
5. Start a Project in Sharefactory.
6. Choose my opening bumper video.
7. Try to figure out which video has my gameplay in it (it's been over a month).
8. Spent a weird amount of time trimming the video.
9. Figure out how to export the project.
10. See that Sharefactory was going to take 30 minutes to render the video.
11. Come back hours later.
12. Connect PS4 account to YouTube
13. Enter my 30 character random password manually into PS4 interface. Twice. This took a long time.
14. Start upload to YouTube.
15. Uploading takes just over an hour.
16. Play Destiny for a few hours.
17. Receive confirmation of video upload from YouTube.

It seems like a lot of steps and in all honesty, it was. It was also the first run through, which is a learning experience: future endeavors will go by with a buttery smoothness, I'm sure. Now I just have to fight with my Ryebone YouTube account, which is attached to my Google+ account, which forces me to use a first and last name, so it shows up like "Rye Bone" which just kind of sucks.

As for the video itself, you can see it below. It was my first Salvage match, and it's a bit rough. I don't even know what weapons to use because I'm pretty new to the Crucible. But I make it through. My team is all-star. Then I see that the other team had some dropped players, making it infinitely easier for us. It gets a bit more interesting near the end, where somebody else joins the competition and we have to do a bit more fighting. Most importantly, I never die - until just moments after the match is finished. Really, it was a good experience and I'm encouraged to upload more later on. After intense matches of Star Craft, my friends and I would spend just as much time watching the replay together and making commentary.

Destiny

It pains me almost - but not completely - by how much I was dismayed and on the fence about Bungie's latest epic, Destiny, just a short two weeks ago. The game didn't sell me initially, but I persevered. Persevered mainly by my friends who were well advanced into the game: they confirmed some of my complaints, but they also intrigued me to continue onward. So I did, putting a few hours in over the course of a few days, then the flood gates opened and I was pouring myself in - all the way in.

First off, is the story, or lack thereof. Yes, I know that it's not necessarily the focus here, but I've quite enjoyed playing through the campaign mode of these first person shooters, especially the Halo series. The story is here, but it feels like it's officially in the backseat here, with the focus being on the "open world" concept that they've built here. The world is impressive, and I'll talk about it more later. It just doesn't feel like anything is happening on the main story campaigns, perhaps because I'm encouraged to go into the overworld and do side-missions and patrols to help level my character so that I can, in fact, progress through the story without it being overly difficult. In those patrols, I would revisit areas over and over, then again (or previously) in story missions. The big open world feels a bit smaller when I've gone there a few times already. This is exactly what happened on the Moon, where I performed the first mission, then did a dozen or so patrol missions with my friend. We went all over the place and yes, it was great fun. The next day I would start a story mission that took me into the exact places I had just explored, but they were now filled with different enemies, narrative and cut scenes. The oomph of the story - of the reveal - was diminished.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

The setup of the game is simple, but don't let that deceive you: we open on a small boy mourning
over a grave, then a cut scene that tells us the grave belongs to his mother, who was lost at sea. He was there: he tried to help, but couldn't save her. The boy is interrupted by his older brother, who is with their father. The father has fallen ill, and now it's your first task to bring him home in a cart that requires the two brothers to work together to operate. This is where you're introduced to the game's core, innovative control scheme. The left side of the controller (that is, the left stick and left shoulder trigger button) control the older brother, and the right side of the controller belongs to the little brother. Your viewpoint is akin to a bird's eye view, but will zoom in and out as necessary and to always display the two brothers on screen at once.

I must say, I don't think I ever fully got used to the controls. There were many, many moments though when the control scheme synergized and felt incredibly natural and fluid, allowing me to solve puzzles and claim a sense of accomplishment. Other times, I was acutely aware that my brain wouldn't allow the little brother to run left unless he was behind the big brother - like the left stick had to be "first" on the screen. The opposite holds true: when moving the two brothers right, the little brother (the right control stick) had to be on the right of the screen. But you could move them completely independently, and often times I would. There are many moments - many puzzles - that has one of the brothers staying put while the other throws a switch. The puzzles get more complex, and involve timely use of the action triggers. Swinging the two from point to point in later levels required concentration and thought.

As a result, I became conscious of how careful I would become with various puzzles. This is in stark contrast to other games, where typically you're rewarded with going through things as quickly as possible, or you just feel the need to do so on your own anyway. Patience was abundant while playing this game. You're rewarded with beautiful vistas, incredible environments and wonderful small touches throughout. As the brothers begin their journey for medicine, you run through the town and can interact with people and things, including a small girl with a ball. You can throw the ball around, play "monkey in the middle" and even throw that ball down a well, if you're so inclined. There are benches all over the world, representing an opportunity to view the world you're about to enter, or give you a break from adventuring to appreciate the beauty of the landscape.

All the characters speak in gibberish, so it's up to you to identify the subtleties in their mannerisms and their interactions with the environment to progress. It's not a difficult game by any means: clocking in at around three hours, the game is more of an experience than anything else, one which I highly recommend. And from here, there will be spoilers. If you plan on playing, I recommend leaving the article now.

PlayStation 4

The other day, I bought a PS4. It seemed initially to be a result of the perfect combination of peer pressure, (too much) disposable income, peer pressure and finally, peer pressure. While I'm eager and always willing to blame my friends for my seemingly absurd purchases, I have nobody to blame but myself. This allows me to step back and look at the long, storied history of factors that put myself in a Wal-Mart at 7:20am on a Thursday morning, asking for - and subsequently - purchasing the latest iteration of Sony's home video game console.

XBox One

A memorable moment in my gaming career has been watching the live unvieling of the XBox 360 on television with my friend. We had worked ourselves up into an excitement that neither of us have seen before, and there is no doubt that the viral marketing and hype that Microsoft put out there was to blame. The event came and went, and a few short months after launch, we both picked up 360s.

For the past seven years, we have enjoyed them immensely, but our gaming interests and habits have changed a bit, his more than my own (re: bachelor lifestyle). The rumour mill started up and we were looking at the announcement of new systems coming up pretty soon, and I found myself quite excited. May 2013 couldn't come soon enough, and when the day came, I was relatively glued to my monitor at work, watching the presentation and refreshing the live blog at the same time.

Disappointment.

The XBox One - as the name was announced that day - was something else; it was no 360, and it wasn't the natural evolution that I (and many more) were hoping for. The hour long presentation showcased how the One would take over your cable box and allow instant swapping between games, movies and live television. It talked about sports and the new Kinect. They talked about just a couple of games, with a major focus on the next Call of Duty. All of which, I had little interest in.

We quickly determined that this XBox was not meant for us, or at the very least, Microsoft has told me that I am not their primary target market anymore.

I cut cable years ago.
I avoided the Kinect and dislike motion gaming.
I don't buy sports games, or watch sports.
I don't buy or play Call of Duty (unless it's really cheap).

Fast forward a bit to the next Microsoft press conference (pre-E3 one) in the beginning of June and we get into the real juice of the next generation.

It's not good.

DRM all over. It's confusing. You have to install every game. You must keep Kinect connected at all times. Kinect is always listening. Privacy? You can't lend games - or you can, but it's restricted and complicated. You can't really buy used games - you can but you'll pay a fee. It's always online.

Everything. Has. Changed.

And it sucks.

The One was no longer a gaming console: it was an always listening mass-media consumption device that just so happened to play games, and the restrictions that were put on playing games was ridiculous (especially for us casual gamers). Always on internet connection? Seriously? The problem with it all is that it bore little relevance to myself: I rarely have internet problems, and I'm always online.

But it's the principle of it all, right? The worst offender is the Kinect, and why am I being forced to buy hardware that I don't have any interest in using. I listened to a great comment that noted that the new Kinect is an amazing piece of hardware, that eclipses the previous version. But there is no reason why this new hardware is being included, or how it's going to make our games better. We're just told it is, and we have to roll with it. If you're ever looking for an example of something being shoved down the throats of consumers, take this new Kinect as the prime. Judging by the number of titles on the shelves and the amount that people talk about the Kinect, it's safe for me to say it was a relative failure, and hasn't added much to gaming. So the bundle is going to drive up the price, which is sitting at $499.

$499 for the One, while the PS4 slides in at $399. That's just killer. Supposedly Sony removed their camera/Kinect from the bundle to get it down that low, so please Microsoft, do the same thing.

A couple of short weeks after all this nonsense, Microsoft pulled a one eighty and removed all the lending, used game and online requirements from the system. The backlash was that high, the consumer has spoken.

This is good news for everyone, but it doesn't heal the massive wound that Microsoft dealt out. It will take time for this to heal, and I'm not convinced that they are in a position to fully recover. And an important thing to note is that there is nothing to stop them from slowly rolling this stuff out over the course of the system's life.

A few people have spoken out to say that the reversal is going to deny us some neat new functionality. Like "family sharing" where you could actually share one game license to others as long as you don't play at the same time. It sounds like you will also need the disc in the tray while playing now as well. Basically it's back to where the 360 functions right now. Microsoft had some cool ideas, but didn't communicate these well: these new features may have been killer, but they didn't talk about how they would work. Instead, they left the hivemind to spin everything out of control and the internet being what it is, spun it into an abyss.

After all this time, I had much more faith that MS would do the "right" thing, and we would get a nice console that played games and had a similar controller to the 360. I just want some new graphics, really.

Sony is here to fill the void. They have been taking notes on every misstep they took with the PS3 (and there were lots) and worked to correct all of them. At least, from what we can see so far. The PS4 looks like a pure gaming machine, which is exactly what I'm looking for.

In the end, it's all white noise. I've always been of the mind to wait until the system launches and we see how things turn out. The good and bad of it, is that the system can dramatically change in a short period of time. The industry can react: sending out new firmware can open up or close down your system. When the dust settles, in time, I will own all of them. Or perhaps I'll move to PC? My 360 has lots of life in it, and there is a huge stack of games waiting to be played. After all, it's the games that matter, and the games that make or break it.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

There was some hesitation before playing Brotherhood. One day, I took the plunge. And I'm not sure I came
up for air again until two weeks later.

Hesitation because Assassin's Creed II was one of the best games I've played in quite some time. It improved upon the first in every way imaginable, and surpassed my expectations greatly. So fantastic, in fact, that I was only a few "sequences" into the game when I bought nearly all available downloadable content. Now, my memory is hazy but I think the main DLC was composed of a few sequences between the main game: for instance, the game may have went from 12 to 16, where the DLC was composed of 13, 14 and 15. Those downloaded sequences weren't quite up to par with the rest of the game, but it didn't sully my experience. I played all that I could.

Then, Brotherhood came out and I was unsure: mainly because the game looked like an expansion of II. Some sources were citing that it was more of the same, which in my books has never been a bad thing. Brotherhood also only takes place in one city: Rome, and by that would seem like a shorter title.

I was relatively wrong.

Rome in Brotherhood is filled to the absolute brim with gameplay and exploration. There is no shortage of activity to undertake and people to assassinate. I was looking for a game to play and upon hearing that my friend had taken up the challenge of Assassin's Creed II, I had to jump in. If anything, it would be a short game, but I was dead wrong about that.

The completionist in me came out, and I had to do as much as possible in the game before finishing the next main sequence. This involved rebuilding Rome, discovering ancient shrines and taking on the Borgia on any front that I could. And every bit of it was brilliant.

The gameplay is pretty smooth; there are moments of frustration as you accidentally run up a wall but generally, the fighting is fluid and the acrobatics are good. There are lots of ways to kill, many of which I didn't even bother with throughout most of the game. When it was all over I continued to play in order to score a couple of achievements but mainly because I couldn't let Rome go. During this time I undertook a few of the guild challenges that I didn't pay attention to before, of which many had me performing some interesting tasks. I couldn't help think though that the main game wasn't much of a challenge in regard of variety: for the most part you keep spamming the attack button and you'll breezing through the game in no time.

Only in the end did the game seem to falter. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that the last portion has you in control of the controller, just as you have in previous games. I've seen comments saying that this unique aspect of the series - the big reveal in the first game - is also the weakest part. There are some relatively straightforward ways of stringing together the characters (they are ancestors of one another, after all). In any event, we have the series and so far, each game is getting better and better, although apparently that's coming to and end (if some sources are correct). The question quickly becomes, do I play Revelations now? I have to, of course. I need to see what happens to Ezio and his crew of assassins. Which makes me wonder why we don't get more Altair. Was his story really complete? Perhaps with some better gameplay we could revisit that period. I want more...I need more.

Brotherhood was brilliant.

Batman: Arkham City

It looks from my initial write-up of Arkham Asylum that I was quick to get the post out there, without talking about the game that much. And what else is there to say? I've recommended it to friends over the years without much description aside from the simple command: just play it. Because that’s what I did, and fell in love, so I figured others should do the same thing. And it seems they have enjoyed it, although not to the extent that I did (which was perhaps too much), but only in terms of wanting to stay in the Asylum to do as many challenges and to find ALL the Riddler's clues. Sometimes, the gaming stars align in such a way that you can do those things, and others, they simply pass by one another without much notice. Upon completion in Arkham City, I felt absolutely zero need to go around collecting all the Riddler's trophies and puzzles, and even less about doing all the challenges.

Perhaps a reason for the lack of interest in those extras was the other extras throughout the game, specifically: the side missions. There were quite a few of them, and I don’t recall these types of side missions in Asylum.  I didn't complete all of them though, as doing a few made me quickly realize there was a lot of work for not much return – I much preferred to stick to the main storyline. But here, the main storyline felt quite a bit shorter, no doubt pared down a bit in order to make room for all the extra missions found throughout the city. That’s not to say the story wasn't excellent, because it was really, very good. All the voice acting is spot on of course, and the game carries on that feel of the nineties Animated Series with a darker skew. And for a fan of those original cartoons (like myself) these games are the bees knees.

I also wanted to make a comment on the Catwoman content, which is extra from the main game, but is tightly integrated: after certain scenes playing as Batman, you’ll cut over to play as Catwoman on her own little mission against Two-Face and of course, you’ll interact with Batman throughout his story too. It fleshed out the game and added some depth to it, but what I ended up focusing on (aside from the character model herself) was how much differently she played than Batman. She is smaller, faster and not as tough, and it was an absolute dream to take control and beat up some bad guys using the same combat system (minus Batman’s gadgets).

The Catwoman content is actually DLC that comes with the game when you buy it new. This format of
incentive is increasing in popularity; as publishers try to prevent people from buying used games where they see no profit, they offer “incentives” like this. The practice is a turn off for many gamers, but it’s inevitable: if you buy the game used you can always buy the content for the regular DLC price, otherwise, buy the game new and just punch in the code. Personally, I want to wait for the game of the year edition which is going to be discounted and full of all the content. In any event, for Arkham City I would have really liked to see this practice removed and have the Catwoman content present right from the beginning, as I really do feel that it offers valued gameplay and story to the game.

If I had to lodge a complaint against the game it could be tied directly to one of the best aspects of it: the combat. Here it is: they give you a ton of gadgets, and in City you get many more that you can “quickfire” in combat. I want to use them all, all the time: you get more experience and higher scores, and it’s just straight up fun. The problem: I can’t remember all the button combinations. Yeah, most of the time I’m just mashing the attack button and doing counter attacks. Every so often I remember to use a gadget and it throws me completely off to a point in where I lose my combination and I have to see Batman getting punched in the back of the neck. He doesn't like that.

The final battle was good, and I didn't feel as frustrated there or anywhere else in the game like I did in Asylum. A bit of the magic that was present was lost here, probably because of the novelty of your first play through on becoming The Batman himself. I was scared initially when I read about City: thinking the play area was just going to be too big. It’s the opposite problem I anticipated with Asylum, but fear not: the city is an appropriate size as the core game remains essentially the same as you travel from one building to another, wherein all the main action takes place.  

So just in time as I write this little review, I see news of the next game in the series being announced. It’s a prequel that takes place when Batman was just getting started, which is always a classic time frame for him. It won’t be developed by Rocksteady, who helmed both of these games. It also won’t feature the writing talents of Paul Dini, and presumably none of the voice talent. It kind of spells doom and gloom, but we can remain hopeful: it will run the same “engine” so to speak, which means identical combat with new and different gadgets as well as fairly similar graphics. It’s going to hit this fall, which means I’ll probably end up playing it by the end of 2014. I look forward to it! 

Fan Expo 2012

A fear washed over me. My forehead broke into a cold sweat. I checked blind spots repeatedly, made verbalization that made no sense that would confuse linguists. Indeed, I had made a left turn into a streetcar lane, which quickly became elevated. The street below felt like miles. Partially, I was in awe: I was driving where no man had gone before, where only streetcars had traversed before. Then reality hit as I checked my rear view mirror and saw a car directly behind me. Probably another tourist, who had followed me onto this railed path of madness. I wasn't entirely sure what to do, although there were very few options. The car following took the lead and leaped off the track onto the civilian road below. The only option had presented itself. I yelled for Cale to hold on, that this was going to happen and it played out just as expected. We hit the road below, bottoming out the car and hearing awful noises from below. But we were safe now. I can only imagine what the locals were thinking, and the only thing to do now was to drive past the shame.

Cale has done a good job of writing up the car incident, as well as the day we attended Fan Expo in 2011. He's right - although he throws in some fiction (I'll leave the what up to you to decide) - that I was flustered throughout the day. Something was off, but I couldn't quite pin what it was. Perhaps it was the crowds. 2012's Fan Expo this past weekend was no different. You have to fight your way through aisles of people to get anywhere; if you stand still for any period of time you were going to be knocked about and lost. And perhaps it was the mass consumerism that was taking place. In years gone by the crowds were less and the items more unique. Now, in today's market, you can find anything online and cheaper than anywhere on the show floor. All the colourful and unique merchandise fails to impress as its mass-produced and high availability reminds me of being in a supersized warehouse store of geek items that flashed the horror of going to Wal-Mart during the weekend across my face. The smell of many of the patrons certainly doesn't help the nauseating experience.

The show is changing; Cale and I have been going for quite a while now and quite frankly, it's becoming a big deal. They didn't used to have a lot of support from major companies, but now it's not uncommon to see a massive, official, DC Comics footprint and media extravaganzas for movies, television shows and video games. At this year's Expo, there was a gigantic Halo 4 area and major representation from Ubisoft. We saw the Wii U in play (and was floored by how big that controller was). The artist alley has shrunk, as has the celebrity signing area. All your favourite vendors are there peddling their goods, and even that becomes tired. Year after year they bring the same things, and the discounts do not run nearly as deep. Indeed, most can only offer "US cover price" which is not a deal at all. I can imagine the cost for them to be there is increasing, and less people would be buying as they spend more time at celebrity Q&A sessions, movie premieres and costume parties. Physically, space wise, the Fan Expo needs more. That could help the experience of browsing the floor that much better, I think.

Last year I bought a few comics (the Knightfall series) and practically had to force myself to make it happen. 2011 was the year that Fan Expo broke me, but 2012 I was better prepared. Actually I wasn't, in some respect. I wanted to go in with a list of comics to get - because there are still deals for comics - but just couldn't get around to it. I wanted to work towards a collection (for instance Amazing Spider-Man #300 to #400) but just didn't prepare myself beforehand. Having the list in the cloud on my Google Drive didn't help as we could barely get a cell signal - too many in a small area, I suppose. So it's my own fault, really. But this year I was mentally prepared for that, although the crowds still wore me down very quickly. I wanted more comic book vendors, but instead we got bombarded with large, corporate driven displays. I imagine "the" Comic-Con is very similar to this, where major things are being announced for Hollywood, and the day of the individual comic book draws near.

So I bought one thing: V for Vendetta (collected trade paperback of course) for less than anywhere I've seen before. I got excited, and am excited to read it, as it's been on "the list" for quite some time. But that's it, and I'm completely satisfied. Next year, perhaps, I will be better prepared and be able to pick up some comics to flesh out my collection. I'm sure you're thinking that I'm insane, as I've pretty much been slamming this event and just doing an about-face now to say I enjoyed it, but it's true. Last year I was caught off guard and was flustered, but this year I enjoyed taking in the madness. There was lots to see and experience, and the event has transcended the actual Expo itself. It's about the time before and after, the drive, the conversation and the time spent with a good friend. Where once it was just a day trip, it has turned into a weekend event (Cale and I no longer live in the same city).

This is annual pilgrimage that I've always been after; the tradition was not forced, it just happened. And I look forward to it every time.

The King of Kong

A fistful of quarters. I remember the days well: I went to the bank, armed with loonies and a five dollar bill, and requested, literally, a fistful of quarters. Ten dollars worth, in fact. The next step was going to the mall, where a multiplayer X-Men arcade cabinet sat, and by all means, I was going to beat that game. Unfortunately, I don't recall what happened next, aside that the dream never came true. I played the game a few more times, but there was no marathon. This was when I was around twelve or thirteen years old, where the industry was in a state of decline. There were a couple of arcades around, but they weren't proper places for kids - at least, in my town.

One thing that I never tried to do was get high scores, and I think this is in due part to me not being overly competitive (or at least, trying to avoid competition) and that arcade games in the early nineties weren't focused on scores. The majority of titles were fighters, like Virtua Fighter, Mortal Kombat and of course, the Street Fighter II series. Arcade games in the eighties were focused on scores, and difficulties. Donkey Kong is noted as being one of the toughest ever made, and only a few get to see the final screen. The King of Kong documentary focuses on two players who are, arguebly, the best there is at the game. Billy Mitchell would set the record (in the eighties) that would stand for decades, only to be beaten (in a way) by Steve Wiebe. It's a story of these two, locked in eternal competition in a game that's over thirty years old.

The film focuses on the celebrity that these two achieved, which seems crazy and foreign. These days, the only gaming competition you hear about are the big Starcraft tournaments and professional players in Korea. But there does exist competition here, although this film doesn't exactly depict it in a great light. It's very amateur - the world of gaming competition - and somewhat unofficial. But it is, and we move on. The film also focuses on Billy and Steve, and basically paints Billy as an arrogant jerk who is deathly afraid of losing. He doesn't show up to competitions, and controversially mails in his winning videos at convenient times. Steve, on the other hand is the hero, who goes out of his way to play in public, and is generally the all-round nice guy.

It's almost unbelievable how fierce their competition is for one another, and how they basically hate the other. Apparently the movie is skewed, which makes sense, and that they are not entirely on unfriendly terms. Which is nice to hear, because in the end, it's just a game. I wish they had focused on the game itself a bit more; they make comments about the mechanics and certain strategies, but I don't think "Nintendo" is said even once. It's really saying something that these titles are still being played - and I'm not just referring to Donkey Kong either - and that people are improving upon one another's scores still. These games are timeless; they are difficult, and they are purely score driven. This movie acts as a good introduction to the competitive game world, and frankly, I want to see more of it. Billy and Steve are characters upon themselves, as are many of the supporting players - most notably the official referee of competitive games.

The documentary takes some dramatic license, which adds to the story of these two points champions. But I would recommend checking out the trivia section of the IMDB for this movie. They mention another player who set the record, and gives you the most up to date scores and who holds them. Who knew such an old game could be so intriguing.

Skyrim

One does not simply...beat Skyrim.

But you can certainly try; I am not one of those brave souls though. However, I have nearly hit one hundred hours of gameplay, with very little left to do. The main quest became my primary goal after a while, and it was conquered quickly, and easily. The other "guilds" in the game have been completed, save for the Thieves Guild. The reason I left it behind is because it was so terrible, time consuming and uninteresting. In fact, you could say that about most the game, but the main storyline brought things back to focus for me. The quests were mixed up a bit - they varied - and was actually interesting. But the main story line only accounts for a fraction of the total hours you spend in the game.

In reading that, you may think I have nothing to say but negative things for Skyrim, and to a degree it's easier to focus on those negatives. But while you read this, keep in mind that I just sunk one hundred hours into this game. Over the past few years I've learned to put things down that I'm not enjoying, which all started with Lost Planet. Decent concept, poor execution and I just wasn't up to it. Fast forward to Fable III, which was difficult to put down but I haven't missed it; I've become at peace knowing that I wasn't getting enjoyment from it, and there's no reason to grind away at these games while there are others to try (and enjoy). It's all about maximizing your enjoyment per hour, right?

Skyrim is an interesting beast. There are many negatives that would lead you to conclude that it's not a good game, but here you (or I) are, playing it every day, for hours at a time. They've managed to pull it all together and appeal directly to our senses, and in the end I can say I had a good run. What happens is that you burn yourself out. For me, there is so much I want to do - and it doesn't help that I lean slightly towards completionism, a task that is not really possible in Elder Scrolls games. There is not enough time to do it all, and when I step back I have to realize there is no real point in doing it, it's not completely necessary. The developers have filled the world with so many little nuggets of creativity and neat things that you want to experience them all - but you can't, and probably shouldn't. Which is why I approached the game differently after a bit.

At first, I wanted to collect everything, keep every item I found for future display and enjoyment. But therein lies a problem, and one of the reasons I burnt out. When I came back to the game I took a different approach - or role, you could say - by only keeping the things that I really found interesting. What happened is my enjoyment increased, as I didn't have to search every bookshelf, or every chest for loot. I was happy just getting the special items from the big chests at the end of a dungeon, or the various rewards for completing quests. Doing this sped things up quickly, and maximized my enjoyment out of each hour of the game. I also turned on subtitles, so I could read ahead and skip dialogue. Listening to someone speak takes too long, and when you realize most of what they have to say is useless, it's easy to jump ahead. But when something interesting struck me, I would spend more time with it.

It's all about your attitude, and you realize that you are indeed playing a role playing game. It's meant to be played in any number of ways, and that no one is watching. Yes, it's great to show off your character to someone else, but it's more about sharing stories of your experience and your journey than having a chest full of wolf pelts or two hundred soul gems that will never be used. My attitude changed around fifty hours into the game, so that the last half was more enjoyable than the first. Although, there was quite a bit of grinding, and less actual role-playing. See, I discovered some dwarven armour fairly early on in the game, and was very eager to learn more about the culture and species. I raided all sorts of their ancient cities, and I would say for the majority of the game, I was in that armour. But I wanted better stuff, so I grinded away until I got the best, and was let down. Looking back, it went against my character, which may explain why it just didn't feel right.

All that being said, I enjoyed Oblivion much more. Perhaps it's because it was the first of it's kind that I played. Perhaps I just enjoyed the world more. Perhaps it's because I just came off Fallout 3 (another seventy hour game) and not enough time had passed before tackling Skyrim. Perhaps Oblivion was a bit of a surprise, and Skyrim wasn't: you know exactly what you're getting into when you start your journey here. The only thing left now are various achievements, something that I'll be a sucker for I'm sure, and will truly test my resolve.

Portal 2

When my friend gave me a copy of Portal 2, did he realize then, that it was like taking away one of my weekends and replacing it with hours upon hours of Portal gaming? Did he realize, when he was receiving the game from the dealer, that I would wake up on Saturday morning, begin playing the game and then awaken from my Portal hibernation late Sunday night? This is indeed what happened, although I'm not convinced of any maliciousness, but instead: the complete opposite.

See, we really enjoy games like these. After you come off a bender of Skyrim, you need a more casual game to become reacquanted with what gaming actually is. I could lose numerous weekends to Skyrim, or any other giant open world game, and come away with practically nothing. With Portal 2, I would spend quite a few hours becoming immersed in the game world, and at the end of the weekend, I had a finished game. I experienced much of what the game had to offer, at least, on the surface. The story is beat, the final boss taken care of and I got to watch the credits go by. There may not be a lot of achievement points handed out, but the biggest achievement was had, and that was the thorough and complete enjoyment of the game. And the icing on the cake [perhaps a pun for those in the know] is that I get to go onto another game.

My friend and I have spoken for quite a while on the subject of how - as gamers - we have evolved our interests. And it all deals with getting older, of course, and having more responsibilities that supercede gaming. Unfortunately, I don't experience many of them, but the pressure is certainly there, and I know the reality of the situation. No longer do we have two hundred spare hours to invest in a game. No, we have to divide that time up, and quite simply, the fewer hours you do have to game are more valuable. That's where titles like Portal come in. These games are short, very short. To me, this means around five to seven hours. Although I dedicated much of my weekend to it, I probably only put in six hours overall, and that's perfect. It's akin to a television series going on for a few seasons past it's prime. Whereas the US version of The Office is going to end on a sour note, the UK version called it quits on the peak, and for that we remember it as being a seriously good show. Portal 2 never had a chance to become "bad" so to speak; it never had a low point and because of that, we'll always remember it as being seriously good.

Perhaps the only negative I can spin onto the title are some of the puzzles, but I have no one to blame but myself. In most cases it's just a matter of not being able to find a surface that I can throw a portal onto, or that I'm blind and have missed a button that has been inset in a wall just a touch. They are minor, and when you finish those tough puzzles, the sense of accomplishment and pride is high. The game thrives on this: each "level" is another test, and when you solve this test you go on. The sequel rewards you with humour, as you're being insulted and forced onto the next test in line. The constant puzzle solving and short duration of those puzzles is a big motivator as you move through the story. There are times when you just sit there and have no clue how to advance, and you begin to experiment. There are other times when you walk into a puzzle and everything just clicks: you go through the motions and feel like a genius.

Everything comes together perfectly, and Valve pulls it off in what seems like effortlessness, but when you being to look closely, you see how polished things really are. The controls are tight, the puzzles are mind-bending, and the story adequate. You don't want the game to end because you're having so much fun with it, but deep down you know it has to. In these cases I can definitely see myself playing through it again.

Sonic CD

A short while ago (we're talking weeks here, perhaps) Sonic CD was released all over the place. Often touted as one of the best Sonic games, it also seems be one of the more rare titles. You have to understand that any Sonic game on the Genesis has been released on every conceivable platform numerous times, while Sonic CD, for the Sega CD system, has not seen release very often. The only time I can think of off-hand is in the Sonic Gems Collection for the Gamecube and PS2. The previous Mega Collection Plus consisted of about a dozen games but was sorely lacking CD, while the Gems Collection included the fabled game and a few more.  Earlier this year I stumbled across the Gems version, so I had to buy it immediately. The purchase was fueled entirely by nostalgia, as are any other Sonic purchases, for that matter.

Back in 1992 or so, I was getting a Genesis for Christmas, with Sonic packed in. I played it like crazy: who didn't? I never did go on to own any other Sonic Genesis title, but I rented fairly often (my primary way of playing games in the early nineties). I must have rented Sonic CD at one point, as I did make that purchase. The memory is clear though: my friend Paul and I were scouting about town in the middle of summer, with not much to do. We walked downtown Belleville and went into a used CD shop - which also dealt in games - and we saw Sonic CD standing there on the shelf. In those days, the jewel cases were large: thick and tall, and about twice the depth of a standard CD case. The price tag read $40. I must have had around $30 or $35, as we walked out of the store and to Paul's bank. For some reason he remembered one of his bank accounts has being somewhat defunct. I can't make this stuff up: he closed his account that day, extracting seven dollars and change. I never did ask what happened there, because there was one thing on our mind that day: acquiring Sonic CD. And we did; walking back to the store and plunking down our cash.

The deal between us was never discussed: it was my game, but he paid for a percentage of it. Perhaps I paid him back, but that seems unlikely. He came over quite often and we would play it - along with other games - frequently. Perhaps it was bit of a friend tax. Whenever a friend comes over often and drinks a lot of your soda, don't ever feel bad about not returning seven dollars you borrowed from him, as chances are he owes you much more. Regardless of how it went down, it was clearly not the focus. We loved playing Sonic CD. It really is the best 2D Sonic out there; with brilliant music, sharp graphics and tight controls. You could time travel, there was no Tails following you around constantly, and did I mention the music? It was a blast, really.

Years later I would sell all my Sega stuff, and I'm sure Sonic CD was a casualty of a cheap yard sale death.

When I picked up the Gems Collection, I went through the hassle of getting it going. It really was a hassle: get the Wavebird connected to the Wii, find a Gamecube memory card and slap that in. Find out the Wavebird needs batteries, and of course all mine are dead. Sacrifice a remote for it. Get the Wii going because it hasn't been turned on in eight months, and find out it's not even connected to the new television set (which is barely new anymore as half a year has past). It's finally on screen and I'm exhausted; I play for a few minutes and validate the facts of my childhood experience, but I can't relive them. I turn the system off and shelve my collectible.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and I find myself spending extra Microsoft Credits on Sonic CD (only 400 points, right?) for the Xbox 360. The actions are practically autonomous, with no memory of my experience just a few months before on the Wii. Do I really need to buy this? No. Why is it happening? To relive that summer memory, laughing to myself as I think about the expression on the teller's face at the bank, the excitement of putting the disc into the system back in ~1994 and watching the animated, FMV intro. I quickly relive those again, but not with the same wonderment that I expect; I'm all alone and too much time has passed. I begin playing the game and immediately dig the music, but now I find myself playing it for the sake of playing it. None of the levels are familiar; the time travelling is loose and happening too often. The game only lasts a half hour before I die, and with that death, goes my interest. Don't get me wrong: the game is still solid, a tightly controlled side scrolling game that deserves the credit. But my time is past; more than 15 years, in fact, and I think that I've emotionally moved on. Those times are behind me now, and I'm a different kind of gamer, for better or worse. I may never play this particular title again, but it's not leaving a bitter taste as it goes. It's amicable; two friends who haven't met in ages passing by one another casually, each understanding the passage of time and how relationships work. We'll continue to miss one another, but not in the same way. This replay of Sonic CD was the exact closure I needed.

Bastion

I had a bunch of garbage typed up about this game Bastion, but was never satisfied about it. How do I convey my pure joy and love for this game to you? I tried and failed, and now you won't see the result. What you get is this: Bastion is my pick for game of the year. Lo and behold, just a few days ago I was telling you how I couldn't effectively choose a favourite movie (nay, anything) of the year, but I've since doubled back and taken my mighty hammer to the back of your collective heads. There is no doubt - as I revisit the absurd idea of choosing a winner - that this game deserves it.

The summer was hot, but I didn't mind; the heat didn't last long and I was consuming a steady stream of Iced Cappuccino's. I purchased the game almost on a whim, or as close as a whim as I can do: I read about the game on Joystiq and other gaming sites a couple of times. I couldn't comprehend what made it so special but people were talking about it. Arriving at home, I downloaded the trial on the Xbox, and proceeded to play. It was everything and more. You see, the hook of the game is the narration. A perfect voice, the narrator will chime in with words of wisdom, commenting on your actions and offering anecdotes that progress the story in an entirely unique manner. Yes, the narration was there, implemented perfectly and it was awesome. After playing the first level, I chose to "unlock" the game: just shut up and take my money.

I continued playing, sipping the cool beverage as I lay spread out on the couch, sweating slightly but consistently. Hours would go by and I was still playing; the music kept pulling me in. The next level awaited. New weapons unlocked, new characters to talk to, new challenges. For an inexpensive, online title, this game was deep. The gameplay was right up my alley: isometric view, without any ridiculous camera tricks. You can move with one stick and attack with a few buttons. Keep it simple, they say, and they say it for a reason. Before each level you can select your favourite two weapons, and mix in a special attack. Your combination will bring out a quip from the narrator, making you proud for choosing what you did. A wide variety of weapons makes sure you don't get bored, although that's never a factor.

The story is engrossing, and weighty. There are moments that make you think, near the end of the game. There is certainly commentary to be made, statements about fate, about choosing, sacrifice and everything else. That's practically all besides the point. You see, when I was playing I wasn't considering all that; I was just have an absolute blast. Then the ending came, and I realized how far in I was invested. I stared the screen down, my cool, iced drink melted and forgotten. There is an option to play again, keeping all your progress with weapons intact. The second playthrough, the narration changes slightly, as the narrator comments on deja vu, wondering if we had done this all before. How many times have we gone through it now? At what point do you stop caring about the past and look onward to the future?

This is an experience that must be done; I haven't played in a few months and wanted to write about it but had to wait until the right moment. To let you know that this is the best game of the year was the moment. Months after the game release, the publisher opened an online store and began selling the soundtrack (amazing) but they had other items. I bought them all, in one fanboy-driven package: an art print with signatures from the game developers; a shirt, a cloth flag and the audio CD, which I'm listening to as I write this.

When you think about all the mega-franchises that do nothing to innovate, or when you think about how you tire of gaming in general, you look towards games like these. This is what I'm in it for.

Super Gold Controller Club

Does anyone else remember the Nintendo Super Power Club? The way you got in was buying issues of Nintendo Power; I had a subscription to the magazine from around 1990 through 1997. After a while you were kind of enrolled in this club - or cult, which is more like Nintendo's style - and through this, you were able to spend even more money on Nintendo products. Now, it's not the same as the current Club Nintendo, where you register your purchases and get rewards (at least, I don't believe so. There were proof of purchase tags on games and things, I think?). In any event, there are two elements to the inevitable story:

1. You would receive "Power Stamps" every so often in your subscription to the magazine;
2. You could redeem those stamps towards goods in a catalogue of neat products that would arrive periodically.

I'm a collector by nature, so I held onto these stamps for ages. I cut them out and had them in a drawer in my bedroom, safely sealed away and remembered their location to a higher degree than any GPS could offer now. I believe it was 1996, or 1997, that Goldeneye was coming out on the Nintendo 64. Around this time the magazine offered a special, limited edition N64 controller: it was all gold (coloured, mind you). I believe it was a celebration of some anniversary (100th issue of Nintendo Power), and it coincided nicely into the Goldeneye game that had taken over our lives at the time. This was the moment I had been waiting for. I saved up around forty of these precious stamps, which was enough to cover the cost of this precious controller entirely.

Filling out all the forms, and putting the pile of stamps together, I sent away for the controller. I was beaming: this was exciting. There were never very many opportunities back then to get a hold of limited edition video game stuff. I eagerly awaited by the mailbox for weeks, until one day, a wild envelope from Nintendo appears. It was an envelope, a small rectangular, carefully folded piece of paper, containing nothing but more paper. There were no electronics inside.

Running upstairs, I ripped the "package" open and read the letter inside. It was grim. I didn't include enough power stamps to cover the cost of the controller. The details escape me, but I swear I was only two or three short. Was it the taxes that killed me? Did I miscount the stamps? These things allude me to this day, but the fact was: I had to give them more money. I don't remember how, exactly - perhaps my parents wrote a cheque for the difference, perhaps I tumbled a bunch of quarters in) - but I sent it off again, and waited through more weeks of anguished excitement.

Another envelope appears. They are out of stock.

There was nothing more crushing at the time. This limited edition was limited and I missed the boat. They sent me brand new power stamps, but they were worthless to me. A short time later I think the Power Club or whatever it was, was dissolved and any opportunity to use them vanished. They still exist in a box somewhere, I'm sure, but I couldn't tell you exactly.

Fast forward more than a dozen years later and Nintendo is releasing a gold Classic Controller for the Wii, bundled with the Goldeneye remake. Of course, I buy it immediately, but it's not satisfying. I'm not sure obtaining the original N64 gold controller would make me happy anymore. I got over the loss, right? What reminds me of this is doing the pre-order for Skyward Sword, that includes the gold Wii-mote. My younger self momentarily took control in the games shop and with access to disposable income - something missing when I was a teenager - I was able to secure the newest gold controller without any doubt. I picked it up on release day, opened the package and held it in my hand. I flipped it around, looked at the decals on the front, then returned the controller to its box. That box was closed up and put on the shelf. I'm unsure at this point if I'll ever play the game, or even use that gold controller. But I can rest easy knowing it's there, and knowing that that gold N64 is out there too: for the right price.

Skyrim: Immersion

I did not put any consideration into my character before starting the game. In fact, the character creation in Oblivion happened so long ago and was completely forgotten. I forgot that you even choose your name, so when I was prompted in Skyrim to do so, I put in my typical handle: Ryebone. I didn't realize until half a dozen hours later that this was not ideal. For the most part it has no influence over the game, but there are moments where it blares itself: say you are being assassinated, and kill the assassin. Read the note on their body and find out there is a contract on your head, naming you specifically. It's a bit odd jarring to see Ryebone in there: it's not very Elder Scrolls-esque. But such as it is.

Redguard was my race of choice in Oblivion, as it is in this game as well. I feel like they are well rounded fighters, good at using all weapons, and able to capably wield magic. They fit my play style perfectly. However, in Skyrim, the skills and leveling are handled - in my opinion - much better. If you chose a race that excels in magic, you simply get a head start in the skill tree. If I keep casting destruction skills, but destruction levels up and when you're at the max level, everybody is the same. Sure, there are other benefits here and there, like Nord's being more resistant to cold, but whatever. Perhaps my dragon-born character is a descendant of my redguard champion from Oblivion. 

There are many posts about people getting immersed in the game, and I realize that this is a role playing game and that's how people approach it. They create characters and their own backstories, and what amazes me most is how they create artificial rules for themselves while playing the game. It could be something as absurd as being a vegetarian. It's certainly possible: you find lots of fruits and different foods: simply avoid meats and perhaps avoid killing the cute little foxes and rabbits running around. I guess this is a sandbox game that allows you to do quite a bit. I never really looked at it like that: I play the game as I do subconsciously: I use basic magic, and specializing in one-handed blades. I like to keep a tidy house, and collect one of every item I get my hands on. I sell the rest. 

A few difference exist between the two characters. The major difference between my character in Oblivion and Skyrim is that I never sneak, unless the opportunity is too grand to pass up. Oblivion's Varrus (my character) was a devious bastard, who would sneak up to everyone and smash them across the room with his sword. He wore light armour exclusively - another different from my heavy armour loving Redguard in Skyrim.Finally, I am not a thief (not yet - I haven't tackled the thieve's guild storyline yet). I stole everything in Oblivion, and I did it primarily for money, so I can buy better gear. This does not seem to be necessary in Skyrim, as I haven't stolen a single thing yet for profit.

But I never really immerse myself like a traditional role play. I guess, I am playing the game as the game allows me: I'm not doing anything wrong. There's a beauty in that, and it's a big part in what makes this game so great and why it's so universally accepted by a variety of gamers. Be a mage, be a stealth archer, be a tank: it's all up to you. And for the first time in one of these giant games, I'm looking forward to trying a second character.

Skyrim

I'm not sure where to even begin. How do you? That's part of the obstacle: the mental hurdle of knowing - simply being aware - that you are going to have this game spinning at home, and you are going to lose dozens of hours of your life. It's inevitable. Since playing Oblivion I've feared the sequel; I put over 120 hours into the fourth Elder Scrolls game, and I anticipate spending even more with Skyrim, the fifth in the series.

So far, I'm easily on track. In fact, if you look at my "epic" run of Fallout 3 hovering around 80 hours over five or six weeks, the 32 hours I've invested in the first seven days since release I'm quite on track to hit some number that I don't care to calculate. Quite simply I should surpass Fallout 3 within the week or two, and most likely Oblivion a few weeks after that. It's scary: how is this possible? What makes it all click? It doesn't matter, and I'm not going to explore this. Just accept the fact that this happens, and if you choose to play, it will happen to you to. For all of us non-drug users, I would imagine this is as close to chemical addiction that we're going to get to.

Indeed, I pre-ordered the game, picked it up and began playing almost immediately. My sister asked if I would babysit my niece Friday night. I told her it was Skyrim release day, like that should mean something. She responds by asking when the movie starts, thinking that perhaps I could just go to a later showing. Little did she know the weight of the situation. I would pick up my niece from daycare, go to EB and pick up my copy of the collector's edition. My niece didn't care that the box was so gigantic, and that it contained a foot-tall dragon "statue" inside. She wanted to see me play it, but I knew how futile something like that would be: I knew the intro would be long, dramatic and boring to a five year old. It would have to wait. My sister would get home, then I head home after and just around midnight, I have the game unboxed and installing on the drive. I would begin playing.

For the remainder of the weekend, I couldn't stop. It was exactly what I expected to happen, but even then, I'm not sure I was prepared. How could you be? How can anyone? It's practically unfair what they do to us. Infinite quests? Are you serious? I enjoy going through a list of quests to do, completing them and moving on. In this game when you return from a quest, that same person has another waiting for you. Most of the time I'm not sure if these are "main" quests or not, although after so many hours it's fairly evident that any mundane fetch quests are part of this "radiant quest" system. There's so much to do and so much to explore it's overwhelming, and the only way to approach things is systematically. So that's where I go from there: find an entry point, quest it out, get some achievements and move on. Stop talking to random strangers because everybody has something they want you to do.

Has it been fun? It has, for the most part. Playing for extended periods of time is physically exhausting. You get tired of the repetition and when you want to quit, that's when you find yourself in a dungeon that never ends. You have to take breaks, or else you will go mad. When I originally played Oblivion I don't recall having so much free time. It took months to do what I anticipate will only take weeks here.

The Fall of Tiny Tower

As you may recall, I was hardcore into Tiny Tower. One of the aspects of the game is shutting your bitizens up the tower to their requested floor; the more floors you have the longer this could take, as the elevator only moves so fast. So, you can upgrade your elevator by using tower bux. You can spend real money to buy bux, or you can earn them throughout the game: by delivering people and getting tips, fully stocking floors and fulfilling people's dream jobs.

I upgraded my elevators to a point where the next was the infini-lift, which was crazy fast, but also crazy expensive at 499 tower bux. It would take a long time to accumulate that many, but it was a goal I wanted to head towards.

Over the weeks I would take many opportunities to "play" the game. When I'm visiting my parents, when I'm watching television or movies, etc. Two weekends ago I hit 400. And I decided to go for it. I started around nine with a movie, and continued playing continuously until I hit 499, then I bought the elevator. By this time it was nearly one in the morning, and I was exhausted. The elevator was just as fast as promised, and suprisingly controllable.

The next day I had no urge to play the game: you see, there are no faster elevators. I have no urge to save up and accumulate tower bux, as the only thing I can really do with them is move floors around and buyout product to make quick cash. I don't want to find people anymore, as it's time consuming and a waste of time now. So my playing of the game has slowed considerably, and I just think to myself how thankful I am that I didn't invest any real money in the title - although it wouldn't be such a terrible thing as I spent so much time in the game.

Also of note is that I discovered there is a limit to your tower: around 130 floors. I guess they can add more floors with updates - more businesses. Will I reach it? There is no doubt, over time that I will, but my gusto to do this has fallen considerably. With no clear goal, and the time required to build floors, it's just not happening. It was fun while it lasted!

So Long Blockbuster...

Sometimes I can measure the success of various things - such as television shows, movies and rental chains - by my interest in me. That is to say: if I lose interest in it, then all of society has lost interest in it. Perhaps that's a bit self-centered and absorbed. Either way you shake it, my interest in Blockbuster started it's decline about six years ago, and I'm going to make the leap and say this is around the time that Blockbuster began it's decline into irrelevance. It's also around the time Netflix was picking up in business.

Of course, Netflix with it's mail order business was not available in Canada, however, Zip was. I tried it out, but when people began stealing DVDs out of my mailbox and my account was frozen/investigated - I lost interest. This is rare case where the rest of society disagreed with me, but I knew the service just wasn't for me.  In this case I was ahead of the curve: I knew digital media and distribution thereof was the future. My physical movie purchases declined rapidly. In 2005 they stopped altogether: the announcement and release of HD-DVD and Bluray nailed it. At that point I sold off the vast majority of my collection in order to begin the high definition indulgence. Unfortunately we still had a ways to go. I digress though, let's focus on Blockbuster again.

My first memory of Blockbuster was in the early 90s, when it replaced the Major Video me and my family had frequented for years. Nothing much changed from Major, just different colours. Around the same time we got into Rogers Video, which had gnarly deals on classic films. Blockbuster would be relegated to the new release wall, and some video games - Microplay across the street couldn't be beat for prices and classic games. Blockbuster was also home of video game competitions and a healthy dose of used titles available for purchase. It just did the job, and it did it well.

Throughout the years Blockbuster would become more expensive, but we didn't have much choice: they basically drove other video rental places out of business. My friends and I - during university - would frequent Blockbuster all the time for movie and game rentals, and very rarely purchases (it was incredibly overpriced). It was always a stop in our outings, but the frequency at which we used the store diminished. When I moved back to Kingston Blockbuster all but ceased to be in the rotation. We had other, more convenient and less expensive options to explore. That, and we just didn't need to rent anymore.

From 2005 onwards Blockbuster would become a joke: in Canada, they stopped charging late fees. This was great, as I could rent a game, spend a month or so on it and return it when I was done. This is how playing the Call of Duty series was for me. They charged a restocking fee if you were incredibly late, but the fee was a joke, seriously. Then digital distribution took over very quickly, and as of last year, Netflix offered it's online variant in Canada. I hadn't used my Blockbuster card in ages, and now I'm not even sure where it went. For the cost of a single new release rental, you could get access (through Netflix) to hundreds of films (although their relevance is questionable) and television shows (again, poor shows). If you watch a movie or two on Netflix, it's considered "worth it" and you move on. You don't even miss new releases that much, especially if you frequent the movie theatre and have seen them all beforehand.

Over the past year the chain has been in the news, as they close down stores in the US and file for protection. We didn't really feel it in Canada until fairly recently, then all of a sudden, a couple of weeks ago, the announcement that all stores would be closing. A bit sad, sure (for the employees) but everyone knew why. They just didn't innovate or keep with the times. It was a slow roll into oblivion, but once it got rolling it rolled hard and fast. I went to the local stores to see if they were having closeout sales. Not yet. A week later they did. I arrived in the middle of the afternoon and found a lineup outside. The busiest the store has ever been, I'm sure. I waited, and when I was granted access I wanted to leave right away. 25% off just about everything, and not a thing I had an interest in buying. Another week would pass and they upped the deal to 40% off, which made things interesting. I ended up buying a few used games, but no movies. Another few days pass and I receive an e-mail saying it's 50% off, then the next day 70% off. As I drive by the stores today, the lights are out. Cleared out and empty. Demure brick and mortar stores that will lay empty for a time. New stores will move in and we'll describe their location to people as "the place Blockbuster used to be."

It was never really my favourite chain, or rental store. There have always been better ones, but it had its place. I'm sure, one day while cleaning out a random drawer, my Blockbuster card will show up. I'll pick it up fondly and be reminded of the good old days, while I look onwards to the future. So long, Blockbuster, it was a decent run.

Mortal Kombat

It's no secret I've been heavily into gaming my entire life, and continue to be without shame. I embrace new games and appreciate the older ones. I feel like I grew up with the modern gaming industry; that is to say, my first console was the Atari 2600, then the NES and so on and so forth through all the iterations. I have clear memories of all of these, and experience with a huge number of games for these systems. But I grew up in parallel to the "growing up" of the industry. What I mean there is that every generation of console and games has been aimed directly at me (well, my demographic). The NES was a kids system, and so was I. When the SNES and Genesis came out, we were all entering the double digits and our teens. When Mortal Kombat was coming out I was eleven years old. The ensuing years would be a battle for maturing gamers, and some games like Mortal Kombat were using blood and violence as weapons.

They drew the line in their arcade titles, and both Nintendo and Sega took a side. The SNES (my favourite) would be technically superior but was lacking in blood, whereas the Genesis was a bit faster and most of the blood was intact. The Mortal Kombat II port would blur the line a bit more, as Nintendo gave in a bit. At the same time Night Trap ensured we ushered in a solid voluntary ratings system for games that's still around today. The MK series definitely had it's part in the ratings system as it upset parents all over. I don't think my parents knew what was going on, or they recognized that I was mature enough to understand the difference between video game violence and the real deal. Either way, I don't think the blood in MK really affected me one way or another: I just really enjoyed following the news in the industry.

So as we matured - or at least, grew older - the games were being marketed to older crowds and we were there to receive them. I wasn't completely impervious: I played MK in the arcade, and rented the titles when they were released for home. I just didn't get what the big deal was about: the stop-motion photographs you were playing were slow and clunky to me; the moves were awkward and the combat was uninspired. I tried, even buying MK3 for the PC (of all platforms) but was disappointed by every title. My favourite (perhaps because it was most memorable for me) was MKII, but I never did own it.

However, the Mortal Kombat series always had a place in my own and my friends' hearts. When 1995 rolled around and the movie came out, there was no doubt: we were going. By this time I had moved back to Kingston; my best friend at the time was coming up for a few days to visit, conveniently timed with the release of the movie. We would walk over to the theatre, throw down our allowance and be taken in awe. Right from the beginning of the movie you are blasted with the insane soundtrack, a soundtrack that I would immediately buy and would see more play than I care to mention. There would be many times that I'm sure the neighbours would hear the Mortal Kombat yell, followed by a thumping bass, and roll their eyes. But we were young, impressionable young men. The electronica soundtrack was crucial in opening my eyes to bands and artists that produced music that reminded me of quality 8-bit tunes from the NES.

Watching the movie again last night, and I was warped back to the mid-nineties and memories of rocking out to some of the wacky tunes on that soundtrack. I was also reminded of sitting in the theatre and being excited about it all: this was a video game movie done right. It didn't try and get too complicated: a simple story of warriors gathering together for a tournament, then systematically fighting their way from battle to battle. The foes keep getting tougher, and more interesting, and the action never really slows down.

I couldn't tell you the last time I saw this movie; for all I know it was fourteen or fifteen years ago. But the one thing that glares out at you is the CG. I really wish they didn't use it. It must have been groundbreaking at the time, but it hasn't aged well whatsoever. In fact it was quite terrible. So terrible I got a real kick out of it now: this movie was actually pretty damn entertaining. Is it safe to say it's reached a cult status? Apparently this movie was at the top of the box office for three full weeks upon release - perhaps a testament to how terrible other movies were at the time, but still pretty impressive anyway. For a moment, at least, I was transported back to being fourteen years old again, watching this movie in the theatre. I was in awe of the special effects, the girls and the fighting back then, and now, I can appreciate it on a whole new level.

Alan Wake

There was quite a bit of hype to Alan Wake in the months before release; it was the type of hype that I was barely paying attention to but yet, was the forefront of my gaming conscience. It would be like trying to watch a movie with a giant pillar of glowing blue light coming from your closet: you want to ignore it, and you can ignore it, but curiosity catches up quickly and you have no choice but to throw open the doors. In this case I only opened the doors a crack, and understood at once that I was staring at a different kind of gaming beast. This beast, I knew at that time, would be mine in due time - not upon release, of course - and I would eventually be playing it. Weird how that works, as I barely knew what the game was, how it played or why anyone cared. But they did care, and I picked up on the aura: when the game hit $20 before it should have, I snatched it up, put it in it's place in the collection (its place being the first slot, thanks to alphabetization) and there it sat, for many months.

It sat, calling, for quite some time. It's impossible to determine how much exactly or even approximately. We could be talking a year or more; we could be talking a few months. It's like the title has been there forever yet just arrived - a warning I should have realized regarding how creepy the game is to play. Sure, I was told; my friend had been playing it, and knowing me more than I now myself, informed me that I would be too scared to play it (alone, at least). He would be right, of course: I had a hard time playing Doom 3 back in the day, and I couldn't even make it through the demo of Condemned 2. Alan Wake would be different though. Since I have a bit of extra time during the day, I decided to go for it. I needed a different title to play than Fable III, and this would be just the ticket. 

The weather outside was warm, and more importantly, sunny. This should help with my fears, right? I put the game disc in and let the 360 drive absorb it. Then it happens: the un-Godly whirring noise of a disc being spun to velocity that is trademarked by the Microsoft system. The last time I heard a system make this sort of noise I was playing Project Gotham Racing 3, over five years ago. This problem was supposed to be fixed, right? Apparently my new-ish box is not immune. Quickly exiting the title screen, I was back upon the dashboard and chose the option to install the game, a function typically reserved for reducing load times but in this instance, would also be used to deafen the turbine that was going off in my living room. Unfortunately it takes about a half hour to install a game, and during that process the drive is going at full tilt. I left the room, and upon coming back and seeing the mission accomplished, I turned everything off and occupied my mind with something else. The spark had faded, and I found myself loading up a television show and my laptop: the show as background noise and Reddit as the source of concentration for the next hour.

A week later and I'm able to start playing the game again. This is record time; see, the last time I turned a game off like that was Halo 3, and it took me two whole years to return to it. It happened with Ocarina of Time more than a decade ago, which resulted in a year long hiatus and me restarting from the beginning. Alan Wake would not defeat me like that. It seemed like the gauntlet was thrown down - I'm not sure who did the throwing, but it was there - and I was ready to take up the challenge. The only rule, so far, is that I play while the sun is out. And how fitting it turns out the light is to me, as it is important to the title character himself. As he wields his flashlight, narrowing its beam to weaken enemies, then quickly running to a bright spot where he can recoup his sanity - or at least, my own. After completing the first episode, I fear something else though. I really enjoy the title, and I'm not sure I can not play at night, during prime gaming hours With the sun setting so early it would be unfair to myself - and to Alan - if I were to not piece together more of the mystery.

Wish me luck.