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About Me

I am the Everyday Legend, and I am a male, 28-year old, Florida native and videogame addict (and soon-to-be father!).

Now, that's not an addict in the sense that some people are addicted to drugs, gambling or World Of Warcraft. I'm an addict from the standpoint that I am a dyed-in-the-wool controller jockey, and to back that up, I can honestly say that I own all systems that have had an American release save for six: Magnavox Odyssey, ColecoVision, Atari Jaguar, Philips CD-i, Panasonic 3DO and the SNK Neo-Geo (the last of which is the only one I'd consider punching a baby in the face to own). Every home console system outside of those six I physically own at the present time - NES (original and toploader), Sega Master System, SNES, Sega Genesis (with Sega CD and 32X addons), Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Gamecube, Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft XBOX, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft XBOX 360, and Sony PlayStation 3 - all of which can be powered on and played at will, and they are all played very regularly. I even own an original 1977 Atari 2600, the fabled "Heavy-Sixer" model built in beautiful Sunnyvale, California.

I consider myself an accomplished connoisseur of videogames, which is a really nothing more than a fancy way of saying that I'll play just about anything I can get my damn hands on. However, I do refer to my collection of assorted titles with a fair amount of pride, as while I might own a lot of things purely for their collectible value, I only spend dedicated time playing the gems of a particular console's library.

I got into gaming when I was 5, and my Aunt and Uncle had an NES that they had bought because they thought it was the coolest thing ever. As a matter of fact, they weren't too far off of the mark. I was introduced to Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt (naturally), and soon followed up with the very first Zelda. I remember the very first game I beat - Megaman 2, in 1988. I was 6, and by the time I had achieved that monumental feat, I was already leagues beyond the other kids I grew up with in terms of sheer skill with a D-Pad. I was getting phone calls in the late afternoons/early evenings to come over to a friend's house to help older siblings get past certain parts of games. I remember one time in particular - it was a Friday night in late 1990, so I had no school the next day, and one of my best friends called me up to come over and help his 14-year-old brother beat something. I went over to see what was going on, thinking that it would be a quick thing to learn and get through. The trouble was, he was playing Final Fantasy on the NES, and he was running into WarMech on the bridge to fight Tiamat late in the game. Long story short, it wasn't a quick cut-and-dry process - I ended up staying the entire weekend trying to level grind his characters and beat WarMech, only to not have him show up the next time we tried to cross the bridge, 20-25 levels of progress later (it wasn't until later that I found out that there was only a 1/250 or so chance of fighting him on that bridge).

Shortly after that, I played Street Fighter II for the first time in a local skating rink and was hooked. Bad. Like, crack-habit bad.

I remember playing against the college kids that would come in there to hang out and chill - there was a lounge connected to the place that you had to be 18 to get in - and a lot of these guys used to come in and spend a ton of time and money on playing SFII. I learned how to play from these guys, and within a year, I had become just as good as they were. I was hanging out with people almost twice my age, and conversing with them on their level about a mutual passion - and that's where I've been ever since.

Videogames don't make up my entire life: I cook, I paint, I write, I sing (now just for fun, but I have been in 4 different bands), I have a full-time job and am still attending college. Oh, and I drink when I can - nothing beats a good trip to a good bar where they serve good beer and have a good selection of good tunes. Also, chilled Junmai Ginjo (unfiltered) sake is the nectar of the gods, in case you weren't aware.

Oh, and I really, really love sushi. I can put away amounts of that stuff that some may label as borderline criminal.

But, videogames and my personal history with the medium does comprise a lot of who I am intrinsically, and what I have yet to become. The header image that is there above the blog now is of the Megaman 1-Up head - the same 8-bit image that is tattooed into the entirety of my left shoulder blade. If I ever have the good fortune to meet Keiji Inafune, I'm going to apologize for my behavior just before I give him the biggest, warmest hug I could ever give another man. Then, I'll buy him his drink of choice, and I'll spend however much time he's willing to give talking to him about life and his view of it, and how it shaped his creations - because his creations definitely helped shaped me.

As for tastes, this is what I consider to be the short-short, Cliff's Notes version of my must-play list:

Chrono Trigger
Megaman 2
Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy IV and VI (fuck VII and VIII)
The Guardian Legend
Crystalis
Contra
Okami (for the love of whatever god you choose to serve, play this game)
Viewtiful Joe
God Hand (not the best game, but it had serious potential)
Any Street Fighter-related game (from Capcom - accept no substitutes, except...)
Mark Of The Wolves (SNK's finest hour)
Samurai Shodown
Rival Schools/Project Justice
Rez (if you haven't played it, you're pathetic, because you really have no excuse)
Virtual ON
Guardian Heroes
Gunstar Heroes
ActRaiser
Soul Blazer
Onimusha
Toejam & Earl
Super Turrican
Gradius
Ikaruga
Axelay (Mode 7 was f'n sweet)
Sin And Punishment
Panzer Dragoon (especially Saga, oh, and Orta)
Radiant Silvergun
StarTropics
Samurai Warriors 2 (a guilty pleasure)
Tech Romancer (for the Mecha Anime buff in me)
F-Zero
Gran Turismo
Lumines
Dr. Mario
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Yoshi (the puzzle game)
Puyo Puyo
Motherfucking Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, Motherfucker
Mr. Driller
Star Wars Arcade
Star Wars: KOTOR
Ninja Gaiden
Any Capcom game with "Versus" in the title



The list could and should go on for longer, but I'll let you slide on that one. Boredom can be fatal.

So, that's it for now. That's all I have to say, and if you want to hit me up, my XBL gamertag is Everyday Legend, my PSN ID is Everyday_Legend. I'm always down to play.

See you out there.

- EL

Gamer Profile

3DS friend code:
Steam:
Battle:
PSN: Everyday_Legend
Mii:
Gamertag: Everyday Legend

Following (28)

Less is More, or How Keeping It Classic Might Work Better For Everyone Involved Everyday Legend | 2:20 PM on 08.15.2010 13 comments

Obvious spoiler alert: I'm a fighting game fan. My avatar on the 'Toid should be indisputable proof of this age-old love affair. By "age-old," I'm referring to the nineteen years I've spent with the genre, and during this time I've taken the opportunity to play as many of these games as I possibly could. While I'm happy to see that there's a resurgence/renaissance of sorts taking place within the genre and its legion of fans, I've seen a depressing sea change take place along with it, and this isn't limited to my genre of choice - it's pervading every single genre I can think of, at some level. Hit the jump for your lazy weekend dose of "good 'ol days." I remember the arcades. I grew up in them. There's a sensory imprint, many of them melded into one unified recollection through the pressure made by the passing of time, of dark rooms lit with the soft glow of multiple flashing monitors. The sound of sticks rolling and buttons clicking, the quarters dropping into slots and the dollar bills being exchanged through machines or at counters for more quarters to fuel the madness. The smell of plastic and carpet, pizza and people, and the sense that this was where life was being lived, although it may have not been a life noticed (or even recognized) by the world outside of that building's borders. I remember playing Street Fighter II. I remember the learning curve inherent in the game, the special move motions taking diligent practice to use and precise application to master, and the gameplay elements reaching an end at that point. Once there, the only thing left was learning how to play human opponents, seeing how two people could use the same characters with the same capabilities and yet play their quarter's chance in a radically different fashion from each other. Even though you might have seen two players choose Guile, they would most likely have a different way of going about doing things, even if their end goal was the exact same - kind of like Catholics and Protestants, taking two drastically different roads and approaches to their shared version of final rest. This aspect still remains to this very day, but I'm scared that this core concept, the very thing that endeared me to this type of game for life, being endlessly and repeatedly buried under increasing levels of superimposed complexities in the name of "evolution." I look at SFIII and the Parry System, I look at SFIV and the Focus System, SoulCalibur IV and the Armor System/Critical Finish, TvC and the Baroque Cancel, and anything made by Arc System Works featuring their tendency to name their buttons things like "Dust," "Tortilla" or "Brian." I don't understand it. It's still loads of fun, don't get me wrong there...but it's hard to keep track of all of these things created just to differentiate the title in question from every other title in present or past existence, and harder still to use some of them to maximum effect. Or at least it's harder than it really needs to be. This is why I still fire up the original SFII every month or so. Not any of the HD Remix, Anniversary Collection renditions, but the O.G. I like to visit the nursing home and visit my dear old digital grandpa every once in a while, I love the stories he tells me, and I love reliving the memories of my wide-eyed youth, if only in fleeting glimpses of reminiscence of a bygone age accelerated by the technological jumps the last two decades have brought to pass. I leave that experience every time with a contradiction-filled sullen smile and yet an aftertaste of bittersweet happiness, as I go back out into the world with a youthful glow balanced by a strangely heavy heart, to go out and play BlazBlue or Super IV with people that are sometimes up to 10 years my junior. I witness them pull FADC tactics with flawless execution while I just try to rely on largely fundamental spacing, specials and normals. I get to see the change of the guard happening right in front of me, seeing the new generation raised on buttons named "Brian," and feeling strangely scared for the future and yet somehow contently assured that they too will feel this way one day...and no matter how much I want to warn them that this very day is coming for them eventually with a vicious vengeance, I really just want them to have fun with their time now without me burdening them with such potentially depressing ramblings about the "good old days." And then I realize it: I'm the Grandpa now, aren't I? Son of a bitch. - EL Attached photos: