Musings, Rants, Commentaries, and other Tirades.

• 16Dec 09

  Child's Play Charity

  Since I was too busy last year to remember to donate to the Penny Arcade charity, Child's Play, I decided to be extra nice this year. I bought a Wii for the hospital in which I was born, the first according to Amazon. I know that if I were in the hospital with some injury or illness, a massive Nintendo dosage would do wonders for me. Gotta remember to write down the tax ID too...

  • Posted Dec 16, 2009 11:01 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 15Dec 09

  Remake Inspirations

  So I've once again been inspired by a forum thread to make a blog - what games would best beneift from a millenial update? I've seen the great things Nintendo did with the new SMB games on DS and Wii, as well as the great downloadable modernization of Bionic Commando Rearmedon the PSN (not referring to the PC game that was okay at best). Also the Super Street Fighter HD Remix looks great and yet retains the same feel of the classic arcade game. Another example is the relatively recent Supreme Commander, which is essentially a beautified version of Total Annihilation that was still just as engaging as the original. When Sega announced that a new NiGHTS game would be coming to the Wii, I was able to stop pining over the Saturn game that I played so long ago. I present these examples as an argument to keep it going, because there is obviously a market for remakes/modernizations. So here's my own list, populated mostly by 8 and 16 bit RPGs but also touching some of the more recent, disc-based games of other genres:

  1)Chrono Trigger - this seems to be a common refrain on the forums, which is encouraging. Graphical improvements would help my enjoyment because, despite being colorful and all, the graphics were a bit busy and sometimes it seemed like the devs were constrained by the graphical abilities of the SNES. Then there's the music - those charming midis will forever have a sweet spot in my heart (and on my hard drive, ha!), but I've heard the symphonic interpretation of Wings of Time and it was beautiful. There was the Chrono Resurrection project that Square assassinated a few years ago; search youtube for that term and weep. Here's hoping!

  2)Castlevania SOTN - not so much for the graphics, although that would be schweet, but more for the atrocious voice acting that was the one and only flaw in this sidescroller.

  3)Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - the whole time that I was playing and loving this game, I kept thinking "gee, if only the graphics were better and there was more audio variety". It really stands out as the oddball in the LoK series because all the others are rendered in 3D, while this one languishes in overhead 2D. One of the best original stories out there, and the time is ever so ripe for a vampire game, one in which the central character does not sparkle.

  4)Final Fantasy VII - I know it's cool to hate FF7 these days, but every one of you loved that game if you played it when it was released. It's graphics were great for an RPG released in 1997, but they quickly aged and suddenly blocky characters, sill backgrounds, and the intermediate sound (the music to me sounds quasi-stereo, quasi-.midi) felt dated.

  5)Super Mario RPG - this is currently a top-seller on the Wii downloadables. Mario's only true foray into RPGs, this is still one of my favorite games ever. The graphical style is still truly unique, one which could be amplified by smoother textures. Super Mario Galaxy proved that you can take those quaint little Nintendo tunes and turn them into great music, and SMRPG introduced some of the more novel sounds into the series.

  6)Panzer Dragoon - we haven't had one of these in almost 7 years, and I can't remember one that was bad. I know that a Sega Ages version was released on the PS2 a couple of years ago, but good luck finding it. There are several examples of exemplary games in this old series, but Orta would be a great candidate for rejuvenation.

  The great thing is that, even with the major overhauls to sound and graphics, most of these games could be offered as downloadables through the PSN or the Xbox Live online stores. The Bionic Commando upgrade was a relatively small download despite the huge improvements. Charge $10-$20and watch the buyers line up. Look at the top downloads on the PSN, for example: Final Fantasy VII has been at or near the top of the charts for months now. I believe that indicates that people still want to play it, and I'll bet they are willing to pay a premium for a modern version of an old classic. The important part is to leave the game mechanics pretty much the same, and I'm sure it would be tempting to try to change the game itself for modern gamers, but I think that would take away from that classic experience.

  Of course, some great games don't need remakes because they are part of a series that has been done to death, like Tomb Raider 1 though infinity. What I'm mostly talking about are games that are either not part of a series or a series that has long since run dry. Some would argue that developers should just focus on the new ideas. However, nostalgia is big business, and I think many gamers would be willing to pay a lot of money for a game they have already paid in the distant past if it were made all purdy and nice. I know I would. Even if they don't ever give these games a facelift, however, I'll still love them for the gems that they are.

  • Posted Dec 15, 2009 2:36 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 10Dec 09

  why are there red dots on my hotel window?

  oh my it is so cold in Salt Lake City this week. I'd rather be gaming. I've got unused gamefly games back in Ohio, all alone...so ronery. Currently I'm debating on whether or not to walk to a good breakfast and face the frigid weather, or to take a crappy breakfast in the hotel but stay nice and toasty.

  
  I also learned that KIA is not just a car brand, but an acronym: Killed In Action. Seriously, next time I'll get the Subaru.

  • Posted Dec 10, 2009 7:08 am PT
  • Category: Travel
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