Forums - We Have Them Back... But At What Cost?!

Or something. Whatever.

It's a shadow of it's former glory, but I'm not about to cry about it. Over the past week I've reacquainted myself with this here blogging/commenting thing, and I must say, it's not as bad as I remember. I don't know what's in store for the blog/forum merge, but I like to think I'll be well prepared for it when it arrives.

So in commemoration of getting acquainted with the affairs of the Cblogs, and instead of going on about that Al-Quesadilla horseshit - a more personal entry:

10 Most Influential Games of Nihil's Life

I've long since rejected the idea of favoritism. In the scheme of things, playing "favorites" only promotes fanboyism and teh BIAS. Bearing that, it was hard enough for me to think of more than four that have literally changed the way I process and perceive information in daily life - So I've split this list into two eras of my life; Early and Adolescent.

EARLY

PAPERBOY

It's like he WANTS to ruin your shit

This is the first video game in my memory that I ever remember playing, that actually involved skill. It's also the first game that I ever rage-quit.

It was X-mas in the late 80's, and the family had just gotten a shiny NES, with this game, along with a few others, to go with it. I was no more than 4. As a matter of fact - now that I think of it - I was 3. And then I turned 4 the next day. Damn....

Anyway, the time I had with Paperboy then was mostly spent in frustration. The dogs. The upset homeowners. The motherfucking tornadoes. I don't remember how far I got, but it became difficult enough to where I essentially threw the controller down in classic "SCREW THIS!" fashion and walked away from it.



After about 3 years of putting a few "Completed Game" notches on my belt (including TMNT and Ninja Gaiden), I went back to show those ungrateful Times subscribers, pixelated abominations, and Mother Nature, exactly who the hell they were dealing with now.

....I was gang raped yet again.

DAMN YOU PAPERBOOOOOOY!!!!

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BUCKY O'HARE

The only justification I have for furries

My first all-nighter... Good fucking times.

I practically made my mother take me out to buy this game, just to make sure she wouldn't screw it up and buy something else that had an anthropomorphic bunny on its case. I don't remember how I found out about it, probably a commercial, but I was a huge fan of the cartoon show. One of the banes of my existence was being torn away from it mid-show on Sunday mornings and dragged off to church. Suffice to say, the game made up for that.

The NES was hooked up to the TV in the living room at the time, and BEDTIME™ was still in effect, so I couldn't literally play all night. However, I did the next best thing: wait til the minute everyone's asleep, and then hop right the fuck back on it with the volume one bar above mute. Which was around 3 in the morning. This might have been the first time anyone has seen me up and about before 7am, on purpose. It was also the first time my parents questioned how healthy video games were for me, and also the first time my response to anything was more or less, "Are you kidding me? It's just a video game!" The fact that I was having so much fun with it was all that mattered to me, and all they sought to do was take that fun away from me, like how parents are wont to do.

Fortunately, sometime later, the Nintendo ended up in my private quarters, where I could play the whole library to my heart's content. It was here that Bucky the Game truly had its impact on me... In the form of its soundtrack.



The first time I was ever moved by music, possibly in my entire life, was when I played this game. I would just sit there in the middle of the day and stare at the TV, listening to it. I would turn it back on after lights-out and fall asleep to it.

It gave you a reason to care about Bucky's mission and his friends.

It made it very clear, that if you didn't kill the Toad Marshal, everything Good in the universe will be lost.

It made you want to save the fucking world.

If I could find the composer and meet him, whoever he is, wherever he is, I would hug him and sob uncontrollably.

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Of Course,

Who didn't fucking like this game?

I gotta be honest, I didn't even like this game. As far as I was concerned - all you did was run round, hitting shit with a stick. I had to kill some guy named Cannon. There were fairies and magic. I was bored out of my mind.

Thing is, I didn't actually own it. I was invited over the next door neighbor's house to play it with their daughter. I hung around her fairly regularly, so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't until one fateful day, when I was trying to beat the game for the fuck of it, that she seemed to get bored of watching and took me up to her room.



Without going into detail, I'll just say that the first kiss I ever had was the most awkward. And it was all because I went over a friend's house to play Zelda.

Thanks, Video Games!

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MOOORTAAALL KOOOMBAAAT

Welcome to MAN ISLAND, bitch

I may not enjoy the games anymore, but I appreciate the time I had with them and what they've done for the culture in general. I don't even remember Doom getting as much a bad rap back then until Colombine. But EVERYONE was on top of it.

For me personally, it wasn't even that it was more violent than Street Fighter (which is a total lie); it was the gameplay it implemented that was innovative to the genre. It was a chance to show off just how much more badass I am at this shit than you; memorizing the finishers; pulling off 1-2 combos before knocking you into the pit. And if you didn't like it, then don't step up - lest you wanna go crying home to Mommy.

It wasn't until seeing MK3 promo posters, and playing it at the arcade, that I really understood and appreciated what Midway was doing. Not only was it bringing gaming to a mature audience, but doing so in a fresh and relatively tasteful manner. The dark tone, the violence, the model-based sprites, the music - served to create an authentic and unique experience worthy of recognition and fandom...


Hellooooo Nurse!

Erm... Yes, well. You know...

Damn, I forgot where I was going with this.
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Anyway, I don't wanna take up too much of your time, so I'll save the rest for the next post. If you have made it this far, thanks for reading and stay tuned!

- Nils