• 23Sep 09

  All right, I know this has been funny for a while...

  ...but based on the fact we are supposed to find the greatest game hero, the whole Bub and Bob ordeal is hideous.

  Okay, yes, I know that many regard this as yet another stupid useless popularity contest with an obvious result. In regards to the former, why don't you simply not vote then and get on with your life? Concerning the latter, there's an option to vote for the other guy. The advantage Kratos has over Cloud in the matchup as of this writing shows it can happen without shady business going on.

  Anyways, in regards to Bub and Bob, how many of you lot are voting for them out of sincerity as opposed to because a meme said so? Based on the overblown hyperbolic statements, not many it seems. You know, in the end, this hurts Bub and Bob and supporters more than it actually helps. For one thing, the meme voters are overshadowing the people who sincerely like the dinos, so that even they are being accused of being mindless drones despite not actually being such. For another, people who haven't jumped on the bandwagon are not going to greet Bub and Bob with cheers and open arms. In reality, their impression of them has become tainted by the contest and all the obnoxious "supporters". Considering that the franchise has been going downhill recently, they don't deserve that. They are not L-block. Bubble Bobble is merely one part of the retro gaming scene, while Tetris in casual circles has influence comparable to, maybe even surpassing Mario.

  In addition, this is Gamespot, and we are Gamespot users. Why are so many of us openly letting some other community pull the strings on our contest? And of course, we all know that the reputation of this site will suffer if Bub and Bob win. Okay, so many of us are not exactly liking how this site has been handled recently, but still, we are members of this site, so it reflects badly on us if dirt is piled on the site's reputation, especially if we are the ones doing it.

  So yeah, that's my view on the whole fiasco. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to observe the unfolding of the Gordon Freeman vs Solid Snake matchup.

  • Posted Sep 23, 2009 2:55 pm PT
  • Category: Opinion
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• 31Aug 09

  Favourites

  A strange reaction comes out of me whenever I hear people talk about "The Greatest Game of All Time". Wait, you mean that every game in the future will be inferior to the game you deemed "Greatest Game of All Time"? That gaming will never again progress in terms of experience?

  I find it difficult for me to answer the question of what is my favourite anything, especially in terms of works such as video games. I feel that by putting one thing on a higher pedestal than others, I am implicitly denying the individual qualities that other things have that the thing on the pedestal either doesn't have or has less of. It's even worse when you get a bunch of people to determine a favourite, since there will never be a guaranteed consensus on which will be number one due to personal tastes varying. In fact, many people, including myself, tend to get annoyed at whatever ends up on the number one spot, as then it feels like the person (or worse, group of people) is trying to force that thing as if it was a "one size fits all" thing. This mentality is why I found Roger Ebert's assertion that all greatest movie lists are propaganda to be incredibly true and that the least interesting ones are based on large-scale voting.

  In short, this is why I am reluctant to post on any of the many "Favourite Wii game" boards.

  • Posted Aug 31, 2009 7:56 pm PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 22Jun 09

  Welcome! Welcome! Galaxy Colosseum!!!

  I know this might be a bit late, but I only recently found out that this Mario Kart Wiitournament was still running and ends on June 24. For the unitiated, you have toknocka triple succession of two Spiked Topmen out of the arena only receiving Triple Mushroom items to aid you. After every 30 seconds or so, another of the three outer rings of the colosseum falls away.

  So far, playing through the Spiked Topman challenge is quite exhilarating. It reminds me of Time Trials in the sense of requiring pattern memorization skills combined with quick reflexes to get the best time, not to mention the endless string of failures before a success, yet it's refreshing to seea new strategy to masterand pull out a vehicle I would not have otherwise used in a regular race. I would start off with a plan of attack after figuring out the Topmen's movement pattern, then discover as I repeatedly put it into action a better way of doing things and thus adapt it to my overall strategy. Yes, I could simply study the YouTube videos of it, but I find it more fun to figure things out yourself. I'm not in it to win since I'm nowhere near as skilled as even many GameFAQs denizens, but to do my best and see how far I can go. I'm currently at the 49 second range, which is pretty lousy if you compare it to the 18.8 seconds (give or take) of the world record, but it's still an A rank apparently so it's satisfaction enough.

  It's a pity though that this is a limited time event. I'm suspecting that Nintendo prefers to attempt to even out the amount of practice time the competitors have, but it's still disappointing that suchchallenges can only be experienced once a year and that if you hear about it too late you've missed out indefinitely or even forever. I would love to leisurely try this on my own time tohone my skillsrather than stress about time limits, so it's too bad things like this have to be reserved for special events rather than be included in the game itself. Oh well. I anticipate seeing what they have next year.

  UPDATE: In the end, I got 23.832 seconds. Not a bad time, I think. The world record is currently a little above 18.6 seconds.

  • Posted Jun 22, 2009 8:14 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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