This entry is in relation with the North American release of Xenoblade Chronicles and I use the term ‘North American’ because I myself have already played it back in November and it is indeed worth all of Operation Rainfall’s effort. It’s rare to see a JRPG in this day of age to do its’ own thing and simultaneously pay hómage (French for homage) to does who thread the path before it.
Sorry, have you played it? If it makes you any better it’s not nearly as good as The Last Story. Not that one either? Oh well, never mind...
It’d fair to say that Xenoblade is taking its’ precious time to get to party. In fact by the time it got to our party here, I’ve already left. Only to end up finding it lying in a HMV at Heathrow airport last November on the lowest rack. Y’know? That one that is positioned after Z section but before the gates of Hell? Localisation seems to be the main culprit as to why games like these games are being delayed. And I know that I may sound daft in mentioning this but; why?
Of course I don’t mean disregard localisation completely. It’s hard enough to understand a Hideo Kojima game, imagine playing Snake Eater with only a Rosetta stone as a reference. I’m particularly more focused on the concept of dubbing.



I know that dubbing is only a fraction of the localisation process. But it always gave the impression that it was the most expensive fraction, the kind of one that would represent golden stardust in a pie chart.
Suppose form a monetary point of view, dubbing would be the best option. And I can’t recall a Japanese spoken game aim at children break the million marks outside of the land of the rising sun either. Yet what’s Xenoblade Chronicles’ excuse? Expand their potential audience? Sorry I don’t buy especially from a game that was even planning on coming out of here. Just think of all the benefits that come with (or to be precise, without) them.

- It technically counts as reading.
Get your daily reading in manageable bite size chunks. This also benefits as a great work out for the eye.

-"Gradually" learn a foreign language.
Well not a language in its’ entirety, but I’m sure I would be able to pick up and master the essentials like; Oniichan, Yatta & Saaki.

- Games come out earlier.
Ok maybe this fact isn’t as concrete as I like it to be, but there are those games that are delayed put the blame on localization. Look at the Legendary Shenmue II for the Dreamcast. Released in both Japan and Europe with only Japanese audio, both with a release date of three months difference.



Maybe I’m missing a crucial part here and if I am please do mention. I don’t want to give the impression that I am against dub because the Xenoblade Chronicles’ in particular is really, really good.
Even at the risk of wasting near 800 words of typing, I won’t deny.Alright it’s not perfect mind you, I was convinced for a majority of the game that Reyn was a Alzheimer’s victim seeing that he slurred the same sentences every second battle. Nevertheless the dialogue is top notch which shows no signs of cringing material. Credit also goes for the game delivering bearable British accents. Certain people would regularly nagging on how there is a style to dubbing and before Xenoblade I didn’t believe them.
I know in the Anime circuit that there is preference between dubbing & subtitle and it can be almost to the point snobbery. Yet you never see that division with the computer games? To be fair a majority of the games do give us the option with audio, so there's never a dilemma well, at least between English and Japanese. Most of the central Europeans countries wouldn't have the luxury of there native language in audible form. So if they can put up with subtitles, why can't we?
Take either the Resident Evil or Silent Hill for example, both series with North American references so clear it’s a wonder that Silent Hill 2 isn’t about 120Kg James Sunderland looking for a Subway voucher. And with that, both franchises only featured English audio throughout. Yet with games like Xenoblade, with show Japanese influence, gives the option of both. And I liked to emphasis on the word option one more time. Option!



I’m not trying to persuade people into my train thought; again, I’m perfectly fine both original and English dubs. But is there a real need for a dub for certain games, especially if it means (in most cases) a prompt release date?
Maybe there is and I’m being more blunt than usual if so, don’t hesitate to tell. I should be playing Pandora’s Tower by then. Sorry? Oh that’s right......

Even with the controversy surrounding it in the last fortnight, Mass Effect 3 is still widely regarded as a quality game with standards more pristine than the regular slop. Despite this thought, people will forever claim that it was the ending that tainted what could of been a ‘Return of King’ of conclusions and reduced it to a ‘Matrix Revolution’ - esque train wreck.
Personally I’m satisfied with how the trilogy fell together; I already went into this subject matter and frankly I’m exhausted.
To be honest I’m more fascinated about how no matter the player went through, the final moments in a computer game and alter anyone assumption and make them absent to anything prior. Once anything: Endings are important. Pretty much writing 101: When starting a story, end. Preferably the two sandwiched between some meaty middle. While could go on about the great games with bad endings. Then I thought, ‘What about the polar opposite?’
If stating that a developer’s games is ‘bad’ is like a stabbed to the heart, then telling them that it was not ‘worth it’ must be forcing them to listen to Nickleback ‘s entire Discography. And while this games aren’t (in my opinion) great, they certainly were worth it.

Persona 3-



I can’t really speak for everyone in Europe, but in Ireland if you want to keep in touch with the anime and JRPG scene, really have to work at it. Bit of a daft thing to say with the internet now but if you want to be honest about it you’ll regularly burn 500 calories in the process. I choose not to do and for that I will forever be on the verge of being out of the loop what may be the coolest/lamest thing possible (I have no idea).
Persona 3 is pretty bad. Actually, I take that back, it’s a topic which I am one the fence about. It may be long, repetitive, exhausting, confusing at certain points, cringe worthy at many points, clichéd, unforgiving, tedious and downright boring, all the negative words in the Anglo Saxon dictionary might as well be in Vietnamese because Persona 3 is an unbelievably addictive game. 80 hours has been fed into the PS2 and in the final 3 hours of it all I was muttering to myself is that “It better be worth it” over and over again.
Persona 3’s finale consists of you and your squad mates facing the apocalypse if it were thought up by a much more family friendly version of Tim Burton. This particular battle where the fate of the world is at stake is exactly how a battle where the fate of world should be; long, challenging, nerve wrecking. Really putting all what you have learned to the test (granted most of the stuff you have learned is ‘how now not to rage quit after your fiftieth cheap death’).
After the final boss where the game should end, the game doesn’t end. Because there are a few more days until the school year is complete. It is then you can reconnect with class mates, love interests and town drunks. Revealing to us that it was never about saving the world to begin with, but rather your world. (Isn’t that just lovely?)

Then Again – Persona 3 is a culprit of giving at one point all the characters amnesia. An action that should be punished with highest form of finger wagging.

Castlevania: Lord of Shadows-



While indulging (and loving) in most of its’ heavy hitters, I am not confident enough to say that I am a huge fan of the Castlevania series. However I do share the same traits of most diehard Castlevania fans by not really liking Lords of Shadow at all. Is it really a Castlevania game? I mean, it this was release eight years ago under the Universal license, it could pass for a Van Helsing video game tie in. It’s a bit strange how the development team will focus on minor details that reference the series like level design and then ignore much grander ones like, Dracula. Y’know? The whole reason why there’s Castlevania to begin with!
While we could go all aggressive nostalgic with LoS, it‘s important to note that all of it was a reimagining of the series as a whole. This couldn’t be more prominent than in the ending.
Apparently, vampires weren’t enough for the Belmont family. Gabriel (the protagonist) does and Dante and takes on the devil, where in this depiction he looks like a someone who just gotten out of a bubble that was made entirely out of charcoal. After all that he gives penance which was all in vain the credits then roll to is followed by the game doing (pseudo) M. Night Shyamala. Not a twist, but is an odd way to the end the game. And you have to respect that, you are going to mess with some this delicate, make sure people are going to remember it.

Then Again – I haven’t talk to anyone about the ending but it’s one of those ending where you could go beyond and make a sequel but if you did you would be really taking the piss. LoS being true Castlevania game is debatable, but if a follow up title convince it’d be to keep to what’s true to Castlevania’s nature. Old pork chop and 45 degree angle jumps.

Tekken Series –



Fighting games. Do they even have an ending? Isn’t that their charm? Well of course that’s one of the many perks of them, that their longevity is only matched that the player’s interest. While not being particularly good at them myself, I always find comfort with twenty minutes of Street Fighter, Soul Calibur or Tekken every now and again.
Now I love the early Tekken games mind you, but the series seems to be the Pearl Jam equivalent of fighting games, refusing to change with the progression. And it seems to be showing its’ age ever since four. That said while the latest Tekken hasn’t been awe inspiring in gameplay-wise, their concluding cutscenes are brilliantly pointless as ever. Ranging from either ‘abnormally cheesy’ to ‘downright goofy’, Tekken really knows how to the ease the tension to what could be a stressful. Fighting games should never be taking seriously, which is a peculiar thing for me to say as it is one of the most competitive ways of fighting people. Ranking just above ‘betting on people fighting’ and below ‘actually fighting yourself’. But as long as games like Tekken are being made with made the same amount of heart and daftness, I need not worry.

Then Again – No matter how hard Namco Bandi tries, they will never top King’s Ending in Tekken 2. Everything else looks like a cheap imitation in comparison.


I’m only scraping the surface (at least I think I am) but these as the few games that stick out for me and I’m sure there are more like that out there. For every game that you may think is bad, don’t fret. There may be a silver lining and it is not concealed in the form of an off button.

Decided to break my two year hiatus and type again. I'm dreadful at keeping up with these blogs.

Endings are important. I know the journey in between is what makes the story, but there is nothing for satisfying than to see all the time and effort that you put into a story leading to an ending that leaves you heartfelt. This goes for double for video game as it demands triple the time and quadruple the effort, so the conclusion should be fourteen times more satisfying. Unfortunately a majority computer games nowadays don’t live to that promise.
This is of course all is in relation with the Mass Effect 3Not and its’ notorious ending, leaving fans confused, agitated and primarily disappointed. While it took a moment for myself to digest it, I’ve comes to terms with it and actually spawned an appreciation for ME3. And it seems that a majority of people with an internet access and frontal lobe also have a warm approach to it. So don’t take this as new information. I’m just here to feed the fire that was already made and hopefully singe some haters along the process.
What’s wrong with how the franchise wrapped things up? The only way to approach this subject is by extracting apparent problem and what I felt. However before I dive in, allow me to cover my backside by mentioning the important factors that revolves around the idea of spoilers, personal opinions and speculation as in there may be some.




Best place to start probably would be choice segment. The Paragon/Renegade aspect is most certainly one of Mass Effect’s most defining traits as it one of the few games that does morality system justice. The choices that are made throughout only alter events that revolve around the story rather than the plot as a whole. Yeah, characters and alignments come and go but maguffins and objectives remain intact. Never in the game are you allowed to make a giant U-turn in priorities to take down Joker and his robosexuality is what I mean. This all leads to the first argument against the ending.
From what I have gathered is the reasoning behind the rage is that all possible endings were planted in front of you from get-go, all of which leading to similar results. Regardless of what choices you made throughout the game.
This is all very similar to Deus Ex, more specifically Deus Ex: Human Revolution where we are given button A, B, C or D to choose from which in turn activate the Deus-Ex Machinia machine followed by the (mandatory by law) crap cutscence.
Now hold on to your flying buttresses as I may rock the foundation by saying ‘I think they're missing the point’. I know it a fantasy and the choices that made as an avatar wouldn’t necessarily be the ones that you’d make in the carbon world. But I never really agreed with the idea that you should be rewarded with what what path you took. If you want to destroy a civilization in its’ entirety or punch a woman in her entirety, the only thing that should motivate you in doing so is the self-satisfaction. Not because it gives you the best armour or the angriest feminist group. And with the final decision of said game, you shouldn’t need a clip to comfort you that you had a mass affect on the ending. (Lord did I just say that?)

If the audiences weren’t complaining about the grey cloud that shrouded ME3’s linearity, it was the lack of a silver lining that didn’t follow after it. Bluntly: no happy ending.
This all bogs down to what you’d call a Happy Ending. I always thought that not having the galaxy located near shit creek in your epilogue would qualify as being a good call. But other people aren’t easily persuaded.
At this point, anyone who is reading would be well aware of both the petition for a DLC ending as well as my potential spelling errors. A solution that still doesn’t make sense.
Why? The fact that it made you a verified tear duct isn’t enough of a reason. If anything people should commemorate it. In the case of my playthrough, many of the characters that died in Mass Effect 3 were indeed my favourite. That said I never felt it was unjust, all of it had meaning that lead to the inevitable outcome (despite what people think). Take the Suicide Mission of ME2 for; this was a section that I played more than once to ensure that the Normandy’s population was far away from zero as possible as it was suggest was suggested that it wasn’t their time. While in the ME3 the lingering notion that they will die would always be present and all you could hope for that it wasn’t all for vanity.
While it didn’t concluded with the entire crew chugging some frosty chocolate milkshakes in Purgatory, but it was by no means A Requiem for a Dream 2.0. And you can’t fault a developer for making you emotionally invested into a character that will have to sacrifice themselves for the need of the many.



I was going to dedicate this slot to the final image in Mass Effect 3 but chose against it. So here's a fraction of space in all its' glory

Personally, I’m satisfied with how it all wrapped up. Certainly, I would end a whole lot different with a whole lot of lightning bolts and frosty chocolate milkshakes.
Yet while I didn’t get the ending I wanted, I certainly got one that I needed; which was one that embraced closure. Y’see this problem with saving the galaxy, even if you thought it was under whelming. No matter what follows afterwards it will always be diminished in comparison because, well, you saved the Galaxy! Can’t really imagine spin-off where Garrus shares an apartment with a surly Elcor now can I?



Now I still stand by what I just said, but this Kid's purpose made sense the same way a Monty Python joke doesn't.

Admittedly I would of loved to of seen a ‘Where are they Now’ epilogue. Yet, for a series as vast as Mass Effect, I always felt that it best to fill in the gaps yourself. Lazy I know, but assuming what lies beyond the stars is what started the idea Mass Effect franchise to begin with.
The premise of Mass Effect was about a commander named Shepard who as his/her names would suggests, herded all the races into one galactic pen to stop the Reapers. In the return, the Reapers were stopped and his/her name was written into history.
I would like to end with an emphais on endings and their important. That said, not all ending are the ones you want and if you’re unable to accept that the outcome will always be

Father’s day should be approaching upon us, and whenever I’m on a site like this it always make me think of the fathers and the symbolism that depicts fatherhood within videogames. Silent Hill, Heavy rain, Bioshock, Psychonauts, Pong, Tekken and many others except pong are all riddled with father figures and frankly (yet fortunately) I feel that it’s not going to stop anytime too. While Dads in videogames maybe common thought (particularly because of the upcoming ‘celebration' ?) , respectively I think about it’s other half of the within the gaming world.
Mothers (or Moms, Mums or my preferred choice Mams) in computer games isn’t a rarity, however I don’t think that people take and truly discuss it, except for the odd top ten list. Which is a shame because when back on the subject matter since it has an interesting timeline, interesting enough to make me type about it with my writing skills, which is coincidently also interesting enough for you read through with enthusiasm or with no regrets (I hope, I pray).

The earliest recollection that mothers were going to a stable were in the RPGs of the nineties, they didn’t much that would catch someone eyes other than get the protagonist out of bed and sending them off to their inevitable quest of macguffin collecting, so they do get brownie points for playing the role of a catalyst. Then they’d be off to sit next to the table doing nothing for the next forty hours (like most housewives). Not to say that all of them were pixel infused alarm clock, for me the one that stood out was the mother Series, where in Earthbound deliberately forces your character to call its' mother on occasion other you’ll get homesick and be useless in battle. This might be a subliminal message about keeping in touch with our own parents might develop some kind of connection, but the fate of the world is in my bloody hands. I haven’t got time to be talking to Mam about how well my sister doing with her job and how she‘s better off than me. The third instalment, the mother plays a quintessential role for the being the Lucas’ inspiration to be a braver person and get over his timid nature. There’s a chapter in the game (people who played the game should know what I’m talking about) really exposes the desires of a child needing a mother in their lives which was executed greatly on the GBA (or Emulator thank you very much Nintendo). This was a scenario that really made game shine in which developers showed you can stir so much emotion and doing so little. Yet, it they must of thought that the chapter was tad sappy because in the next chapter you fight a guy infused with a saxophone in a volcano for a golden sword in the ground to prevent the end of the world! Lord how I wish I made up that last sentence.
Not to say that all mothers were the bliss saturated housewives always on the edge to replenish your health. Meanwhile the other side of the spectrum, there would forebearers were the ones to jeopardise the world, probably the most notable one being Final Fantasy VII’s Jenova who was inspired by the death of his biological Sakaguchi’s own mother. While not necessarily his biological mother, Sephiroth was brought up to believe that she was his predecessor and to cleanse the world they must combine within the life stream. Oedipus Rex syndrome is hinted at but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about, despite the fact of what those fans. Y’know, those fans, with their weird fan fiction and fan art and homemade mugs saying Sephiroth wants to Fuck his Mom! Y’know, those fan who when they aren’t found doing that are in caves scavenging for fish heads!
Back to the topic, another one within the Final fantasy series was Nora in XIII and frankly (if I may get another thing off my chest) I wasn’t too keen on her. Not because she’s half the reason why Hope exists, but because Nora is the name of my own parent. Which wouldn’t be half as bad but there is both a resistance team and operation after her! So I have to endure lines like: “For Nora!”, “Commence operation Nora” or “We must abort operation Nora”, it was so uncanny that the game was making those innuendo at my expense , I quit the game the moment I got to grand pulse. More than likely she was mention again but I can’t force myself though the hassle again.



NORA: "It's a stupid acronym. Their little code. Stands for "No Obligations, Rules, or Authority."-Thanks Lighting, that makes me feel better.

I personally like Brigid Tenebaum of Bioshock. Not necessarily a mother, actually we are given the impression that she is a career driven woman who would tinker with genetics of the little girls in order to climb the corporate ladder. I mean she couldn’t be more cold hearted unless she told a harsh truth about you and then she celebrated with a drink of your bitter tears out of your favourite mug. On your birthday.
Naturally, she eventually see the wrong in her doing and then devotes her life in protecting the children, so it impossible to bypass the notion that there is some motherly attributes to her name.
I’ve yet to play Metal Gear Solid 4 yet even I knew that Eva was Snake’s (sort of) parent I’ve very little to say about it but I thought I should just reference that, incidentally I didn’t know that the boss was Revolver’s mother (thanks curiosity). So there’s two tough child-bearers for the price of one game.
While looking back on the variation of procreators in videogame. Good one, bad one and even one with chickenpox, there is never a stand out game where they were the hero. Which is a shame since there many where dads are the heroes and the people are responding positively to that concept. However, I feel that the people who praise these games are men who were once young greasy awkward kids and are now less greasy awkward adults who tackle the challenges of everyday life who can play a game like say Heavy Rain and go “Here’s a hero: saves both the day and kid and is now off to finish the project for his firm, that‘s a standard could reach if I was bothered”.



In Ico there is Yorda’s mother the Queen. Who wants to sacrifice her daughter in order to cheat death. This is a concept that I always reminded me of those mothers who forces their daughter in those beauty pageants for “There own good”. Or should I ignore that concept…..

Sure Nina Williams had a game, but that didn’t really reference the subject matter that so much, plus that game had a serious fault of being a bit too shit.
Only thing that comes across in my mind is Samus Aran where the orphaned metroid just decides that She’ll just be biological property like that. However I feel that this really just a reference to Ellen Ripley to the Alien series more than anything else who has also struggled with her role as a Baby Maker (I ran out of alternate word for mother, can you blame me?).
I pretty sure there is more to take in, but I think I shall put a halt to it right about here. I tried not to give an image of an arrogant pillick who over analysing into things that aren’t really there. But I think that happened Around two paragraph ago. Plus me mocking those dedicated Final Fantasy VII fans doesn’t help it either.
So in retrospect, I didn’t think that motherhood wasn’t a much covered topic, but like most things in life I turned to out to be quite wrong and not only that be they’re has been multiple variations of them with traditional, strong willed and one I haven‘t even covered. So now if you excuse me, I have to find the meaning to each type of bubble in Bubble Bobble!

Exhale.

Once every blue moon when the planets align, I tend to take a brief scan around the Amazon website to see if there is anything in there worth buying/mocking. Usually my searches are unsuccessful, however this weekend I came across something that caught my eye that I would be an embarrassment to the legion of moaners, an elite group of pessimistic that I just made up.
For those of you who are not in the know, “1001 (blank) you have to (blank) before you die” is an ongoing series from ‘Quintessence Editions Ltd.’ Where they form a list in the form of books of (blank) you have to (blank) before you die, ranging from the obvious ones ( films, paintings and book) to the obscure ones (food and golf courses?). Thus, according Amazon, on the 0ctober 12th this “1001 Video Games you have to Play before you (blank’n) Die” shall be release. Personally, Interested, Yes, Excited, not necessarily, sceptical, indeed. After the announcement, this lead to ask myself all sorts of questions but more importantly: “Was it right of me to use those commas in the previous sentence where question marks were much more appropriate?”.



Well that's one we know, a thousand more to go.


The question which I assume (because I’m arrogant as well as a moaner) that people would be asking is “Will it be a good” list. Me, being a veteran of the previous books I can safely ‘No, but in it’s defence will be a balanced list’ . This isn’t like a top 1001 list (games will be listed chronologically), this is a book will suggested titles to give a general idea of the progression of videogames through history that moulded to it the behemoth that it is today . So expect alot of the obvious landmark titles: Pong, Doom, World of Warcraft (maybe, I mean there are a lot of games out there…). These videogames aren’t particularly great (whilst not being awful) videogames but they are ones that “must” play.
My love for Mirror Edge is between that fine line of ‘hating it’ and ‘Wanting to snipe down the developers from a clock tower’, yet I will admit that it should have some place in history and the list. Also Silent Hill is a whole bunch of greatness and all, yet I can’t see them including anything beyond 1 & 2.



Mirror's Edge: Despite the fact I think it looks like a Screen Aver Project gotten out of hand, i'd be surprised if it didn't make the list.

Which nicely links us to the question: “Who are these smelly people that are letting “Mirrors Edge” on this list and not ‘Megaman: Battle Network’ ?” Beyond Tony Mott (Who is current Editor of ‘Edge’ Magazine) as general editor, I have no idea, even after a brief internet search checking. I can imagine a few people from ‘Edge’ critics being apart of the project. Which is decent, if I was true I don’t have to worry about an enslaught of a twenty Ultima games. Edge have a reputation of being harsh with Critique (eight years ago, take that media industry!). And of course there is of Peter Molyneux, prefacing the thing, which I’m not for but not really against. I think it was just a matter of finding the biggest name in computer games who can speak passionate about the medium for ten thousand words within walking distance, and if that’s the case I can appreciate choice . Jokes on them when they can’t shut him up and they die of the toxic smugness he emits.
Finally, there’s ‘the’ question that I ask myself, the ‘first’ one I asked myself the moment I seen the title and urged me type this. “At this particular moment, can you honestly admit that there are 1001 title use must play? Not good games, but games that you must play if you want to earn the title Computer game connoisseur? If you can, fair deuce to ya, but I on the other hand can’t imagine a list of 505, let alone 1001, but along with global warming this is just something I’m hoping that I proved wrong with.



Another Hint: Some of these games may of been playable on the this so call "Playstation"

But if I keep on going like this I’ll be missing the point of why I like these book like a suicidal bomber misses his potential future….I’ve friend who is currently trying to downloading all the films that appeared on the movie edition (he’s been going t it two years and is somewhere within the seventies), he knows in his mind (or at least I hope) that he’s not going to watch then all but enjoy just checking out what does make it within the book and then putting his analysis on it. Which would then lead to gentle criticism, debates and hopefully enjoyment instead of the usually eye gouging . Obviously there’s no need to take the opinion of superiors literally (wait, what). I’ve haven’t played the original instalment of Gran Truismo, but I don’t think the Gaming community is going to snub me just because I have play the later ones over the first.
All in all, while I do think it’s a book that’s coming out ten years too early, it’d still be one of those books that are over a thousand pages and you can have enjoyment with for five minutes. Plus it would be interesting to see what games will be on the list, we’ll the obvious ones that would be on it, but I can’t imagine a kick I’d get we’ll see a game that you wouldn’t expect and you almost get that proud father son moment (for me, it’ll be the case of the Oddworld games). Anyway we still have five months to bet and argue about it until it‘s get here.
It’s ready to be ordered on Amazon and Amazon.co.uk, with both a paper and hard cover edition. Here are those if you just want a look and save the five minutes clicking.

For England and Ireland

For America

Firstly: Even though I been talking about videogames since the moments I could form words and an opinion, I still manage to underestimate the thoughts that which belongs to the public*. So this made me think about my approach of chucking my two cents into the pool that is the internet along with the others. Normally, I would whinge about what I thought is wrong the gaming industry, but this is different, well kind of...... This more in the lines of me noticing something and wondering if it is just that thinks about, whilst not whinging ...





The reasons for this rant leads back to the numerous gaming magazines, websites, programmes, articles, blogs and the occasional banana sticker with their “Top 100 games ever list”. Don’t worry this isn’t a thousand word essay about me ranting how my opinion is the one and only while EDGE magazine has gotten soft with their ratings** because with a statement like that, my only means of survival after this would be literally a flame shield to defend myself from the sharp tongued and easily burnt . I’m talking about those games that keep on popping up in the top ten of the list, y’know: ‘OOT’,‘SM64’ , FFVII, WOW and another one that can be reduced to an acronym (“T”, for the tertis there). Again, I’m not stating that these games are by any mean bad, it’s just as time goes on really deserve the title as best game ever?


Obsolescence: Once feared by technology, trees, super models and now vvideogames.

Prime example would be the “Legend of Zelda’s Ocarina of Time”, probably gets the title “Greatest Games” more times than football itself. Praised for its unique gameplay and innovation, then the Wind Waker ‘blew in’ (sorry about that) for the Game Cube and though it had positive response, some panned it for looking childish. Which is strange because it keeps to the same formula which what made Ocarina so good. Fortunately, for that minority, Nintendo responded with Twilight Princess, which also received praise but ironically accused of trying to rekindle that Ocarina has started. Who are these people? Probably the same people who failed to see that Ocarina of Time is just 3D version of Link to Past. You may of realised that I didn’t mention Majora’s Mask, unfortunately I’ve yet to play it (Hold your stones until after you finish the article) but from the way people I been raving about it, it should be the equivalent of two Ocarina of Times combined displayed on a golden pillow which is delivered to me be a naked Anne Hathaway!
So this made me believe that the fact that Ocarina is favoured over the later additions because of the “First Time Wow Factor” rule, which is understandable. Games like Zelda, Street Fighter, Modern Warfare and more recently Street Fighter always face the challenge of constantly keeping their franchises both fresh and consistent, and if they fail to do so it will then be consider it repetitive like Street Fighter and more recently Super Street Fighter IV. Look at Modern Warfare instant, remember how everyone with a gaming blog considered the Nuke scene as one of the best moments in recent gaming. But then Infinity Ward came to the conclusion that human emotion works like clockwork because Modern Warfare 2 came with enough Nuclear Explosion to eradicate Christian Slater’s Forehead three times over and people found it as appealing as the loading screen for Dora the Explorer’s in the queue for the PS2 . As you can’t recreate the same moment twice.


Experiencing the "First Time Wow Factor" via Third Person, Like this except much Sadder and half the people.

I myself remember playing Super Mario World at six year olds constantly turning off the Super Nintendo when I was fighting Bowser, back then I was a dim child who understood the concept of heart attacks and death but not adrenalin. And for that reason I do tend not to accept a better Mario game. It’s kind of obvious that I didn’t grown up with a N64 (couldn’t get to grip with that bear claw of a controller), but that said I have play 3D Mario games in order and Galaxy is the superior one, It’ might of beaten the nostalgia factor out of Mario World for me and dare I say it’s becoming more obvious? When I read about a retrospective on the Mario 64 on how it is one of the best games ever, the conversation seem to be about how it perfect controls in a 3D environment. Fine, good on ya! But how long can use that as an argument? Being the first will get you in the history books but it certainly doesn’t means it’s the best. Is Tron the best sci-fi film to be situated in a virtual reality that was populated with blue people just because if was the first to use computer aided effects?..... Alright that’s probably a bad example.


I was going to point out I perfered Galaxy after playing Sunshine, but with a statement like that I might well of said "Oh that game that was the equivalent of two Ocarina of Times combined that was delivered to me be a naked Anne Hathaway was far better than that punch in the balls I got eariler in the day".

I know it may seems that I may be ragging on about only Nintendo games. But I’ve been the common debates where people would go in favour of the original GTA and it wonky controls over Vice City and the obscure ones were I would have to prove that Breath of Fire II is better than the first one, despite the fact that no matter how much I debate or put off studying by typing this, it bears down to personal taste. And I write about is that will these games be the one we‘ll be talking about in years to come? I mean what‘s the point of making Tekken games if people are just going to keep on talking about the third one. And I’ m not a big Mega Man fan so from listening to internet gossip the only two Mega Man games that I‘m that certain exist are II and III.
Some may be say that the games that brought up are classic in their own rights and we will praise them for all time and that I should shut up. While they may be on to something in that third point, I would have to disagree. Go on about it as much as you want, but if Video Games hasn’t been around for long time, about forty years, which is pretty short if you compare it to likes of films or the day that they invented breathing. That fact that Ocarina of Time (even after mere years of its release) is constantly considered the one greatest of the all time if not the one makes either really lucky or really old, if that’s the case I have t-shirts that can be consider ancient artefacts and parents that are fossils. Yet I'll have to wait to see if these games will stand well against time, all great pieces of art are only truly appreciated years after their exposure. Citizen Kane though was well received, lost out on many awards back then , it was only years after it’s release it was recognised and forced down the throat of art college students (in a good way). Same thing can be said for It’s a Wonderful Life, Pixies and Super Street Fighting IV........

And Exhale.



*For all nine and a half people that read my last article on franchises rehashing the same premise. If this does come off as hypocritical, I’d like to retaliate with that ‘this is discussion on games an their stance against time. While the previous article that franchise with their onslaughts of sequels that has been unenthusiastically forces out every three years.
Oh yes, a lot of comment back then states that every shooter are the same. True, even those have some gimmick that make them stand out of the crowd, predecessors and successors , like Half-Life (that game with great pacing with loveable characters) and Half-Life 2 (that game with great pacing with loveable characters and a gravity gun) or Battlefield: Bad Company (that game with the destructible environment) and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (that game with the destructible environment and Dust)!

**Edge Magazine, like you and all but no way did Bayonetta deserve that 10/10.