The Perfect Video Game - Exemplification Through "Advent Rising"

The Perfect Video Game

- Exemplification Through "Advent Rising" -
By: Blue Rose
Now, I understand that I am probably committing every fallacy in the book on this one, but I can't help but be obsessed with this game.

When Reach and I's local BlockBuster was closing down, He and I decided to head down and peruse their inventory to see if there was anything we wanted to pick up. As I was glancing through the "Transporter" series, Reach called me over. "Rose," he says (Well not literally, but you're not gonna trick me into posting my real name :P) "you HAVE to get this." I took the game from his hand. Little did I know, I was holding the Holy Grail.

I was skeptical at first. The cover art was pretty bland, and the price was only $5 (to put that in perspective, that's 1/4 the price of Barbie Horse Adventure at Gamestop). It took some convincing, but eventually Reach talked me into buying the game on the grounds that if I, "Didn't absolutely love it", he would eat the cost.

Well, I went home and plugged in the 'ol Xbox and was immediately swept away. Even the opening credits was one of the more immersive experiences I've ever had. For the opening credits scene, you pilot a space ship into a massive space station. It sounds simple at first, but it was absolutely beautiful. Entranced by the amazing artwork, I didn't even notice that I had been sitting there for 15 minutes of credits.

Once you gain control of your character, you are thrown into a compelling plot that sneakily works in a tutorial.

The controls are mapped perfectly, and are just as much a part of the immersion as the story it self.

---- Mild Spoilers ----

Starting the game, you are a space marine named Gideon Wyeth. You begin combat using dual-wielded firearms, but slowly learn psychic abilities. You can replace one or both of your fire arms with the psychic power of your choice, and, as you move through the game and learn more powers, you transition from traditional weapons to all psychic abilities.

This parallelism plays flawlessly into the plot, as you slowly begin to side with different alien races. It is not, however, forced in any way. You could technically go through the whole game with guns, but it seduces you into playing along with this transition. I didn't even notice until the end of the game.

---- End Spoilers ----

With this amazing parallelism, and flawless writing, the game was just set up for success. Upon further inspection, the game just has amazingness at its roots.

With Will Friedle, "Eric" from "Boy Meets World", doing the main voice acting and the story written and directed by Orson Scott Card, creator of "Ender's Game", I don't know how the game could have possibly failed.....

....yet it did.

Even with its all-original orchestral score, and cinematic experience so complete, it made Avatar look like the "A Clockwork Orange" from the 70's, Advent Rising so underwhelmed revenue projections, that one year after its release, the next two parts of the trilogy had already been cancelled.

With the release of Halo around the same time, Advent rising just wasn't enough of a clone of the precedent Bungie had set-up a couple of years earlier.

Most critics murdered the game, and its fate was sealed forever in video game history; truly one of the biggest tragedies in the video game world.

All I can say is, if you ever find a copy of this game, BUY IT IMMEDIATELY. It goes without saying that I made good on my arrangement with Reach after falling in-love with this game.

For now, I'll just have to wait patiently until me and Reach are extravagantly rich enough to create our own remake of the game.

Reminding you to always find your voice,

- Blue Rose.

Reach's note: Alas, it is often the case that an imperfect world has no tolerance for perfection. We crucified Jesus, remember? The guy who could create alcohol from the most abundant source on the planet? In semi-related news, Halo: Reach actually looks different from the last three games bungie made. I thought they were just going to keep making Halo 2 there for awhile.

Final Fantasy Dissidia

Final Fantasy: Dissidia, A Review
By: Blue Rose

Now, I realize this review is probably a little dated, but it is a strong part of my personal philosophy to never pay more than $30 for a hand-held game. That's just ridiculous.

So, with GameStop's price drop of Final Fantasy: Dissidia, I decided to give it a spin.



The game is visually stunning right off the bat, and it reminds you of this with about a 20 minute cutscene.

This cutscene might have been one of the best cutscenes since the opening of Command and Conquer: Generals, but unfortunately I left the volume on. the dialogue in this game is literally the worst I have ever heard in my videogame-playing days. It's like what the result would be if you combined the script of "Minute to Win-it", an interview with Paris Hilton about her new perfume, and a slightly challenged 4-year-old.



After grinding through that experience, I dove right into the story mode, with the lowest level campaign to start off. Playing as Cecil, I made it through with not many problems until I got to the boss fight, and oh my gosh.

Dissidia stacks the fight in favor of the boss to a point where it's not even a challenge so much as it is an impossibility. For some reason it seems much easier for the boss to dodge your attacks, and impossible for you to dodge his. I remember the first time I tried to beat him, before I had even hit a button to attack, he pinned me up against a wall creating an infinite combo that killed me with ease.

So, after losing about 5 or 6 times, all of which you are penalized for, I decided to suspend gameplay and power-level though the games "quick battle" mode. As always, Final fantasy finds a way to force you to power level; grinding through enemies that yield very little rewards.

Don't get me wrong, this game is amazing. I found myself playing it for hours at a time, and 90% of the time the combat system works flawlessly. It is endlessly fun to run up a wall, jump, and smack Tidus in the face with a sword too large for any normal human to carry. The graphics are visually stunning, and the gameplay is pretty stylish, but Final Fantasy once again falls into several of the pitfalls it has in the past.

My final recommendation? Definitely give it a shot, find out if it's for you, then decide if you're going to buy it or not.


-Blue Rose

How Video Games Ruin Themselves

How Video Games Are Ruined
By: Blue Rose

1. Time Limits

So many video games love to put time limits on things. Why? To falsely manufacture action*. It's annoying, it's gimmicky, and it's one of my least favorite devices in the entire realm of video gaming.

Biggest Culprit: The worst one that stands in my mind is "Katamari Damacy". This game had fantastic potential to be so much fun if I wasn't constantly worrying about making it by the time limit. There were so many props, so many things to see, but it was so rushed, you couldn't take the time to enjoy it.

When it's good: When coupled along side an infinite time mode. I understand that somewhere (deep in a very, very dark corner) there is someone that enjoys this whole "Time Limit" thing, but why can't they include free-play modes for those of us who actually like to relax, and enjoy the game?

Other Notes: Sometimes time limits are totally useless. The time limit reaches zero, and guess what happens. Nothing. The funniest example of this is "Minesweeper". Why they chose to include the time limit no one knows, but it's there in case you want to see how fast you sweep mines and don't have a stop watch handy.

2. Poor Health Systems

Some video games have completely awful health systems, and it can screw you over big time. I can't say how many times I've ended up quitting a game because I get really far, and then get stranded somewhere with low health and no way to gain any.

Biggest Culprit: For me, the worst example of this was "Half Life 2". Without health that regenerates over time, and hardly any way to gain health, I got extremely frustrated when i got stranded at a save point very late in a chapter with only 4/100 health. This caused me to abandon finishing the game.

When It's Good: The best ways to incorporate health systems, in my opinion, are with minimal consequences. There's nothing more frustrating than when you are having fun in a video game, then, because of a simple mistake, die and are sent back. Wayyyyy back. Back to a place so early in the game, it's almost in the game's prequel. All this does is break the flow of the game. It's an awful tactic by developers because instead of being immersed in their product, you're broken out of it with a sharp jolt.

Other Notes: While these low risk health systems are the most fun, they are definitely the most unrealistic. Which bothers a lot of people**

3. Limited Lives

While this isn't something that's implemented very often any more, it's still very very very frustrating. It hasn't been a widely mainstream facet of gaming since the days of the Arcade, but every once in a while it resurfaces. Besides, it's terribly fun to know you can jump off a cliff when you get frustrated, and re-spawn unscathed.

Biggest Culprit: "Contra 3". If you've ever even attempted to play this game, you know how impossible it would be to play through on the game's original 3 life system. Even getting past the first level is nearly impossible with their original system. It makes it to to where you can't even enjoy the game without cheating, and it's hurt a lot of games.

When It's Good: Never.
Other Notes: Yet again, sometimes developers put this in for no reason. In the new "Super Mario Bro.s" game on the Wii, when you run out of lives, you just hit continue. That's it. There's literally no reason to have a life system, but hey, who am i to argue with so much success?

4. Beating a Franchise to Death

This is one of the worst. Although, I can't quite blame developers for this, because I would probably do the same if I had such a money making formula. This is something that is especially prevalent today. Developers are scared to entirely break out of the mold, so when they come up with a new idea for a game, they just mix it in with their recognizable franchise.

Biggest Culprit: There are so many choices in this section. Mario, Sonic, the never ending stream of Tom Clancy games, but I think the award has to go not an actual game, but a person. That's right, none other than George Lucas himself. With everything from "Lego Indiana Jones", "Lego Star Wars", "Lego Harry Potter", and "Lego Batman", to "The Force Unleashed", "Knights of the Old Republic", and a new Star Wars MMO that is soon to come out, George Lucas has successfully stamped his name on a hefty portion of the video game industry.

When It's Good: When games know when to die. Don't get me wrong, I love sequals. There are just times, however, when game developers need to figure out it's time to call it quits. I am all good with sequals as long as the developers introduce new, innovative ideas, while still sticking to their old formula of greatness, but it's a fine line. One walked very masterfully by the "Command and Conquer" Series :)

Other Notes: The most annoying thing is when developers borrow the name, and a few of the same graphic design style from another game, only to make a game nothing like the original. Alot of times Developers would be better off just scrapping it as a sequal, and starting a whole new adventure.

Conclusion

There are alot of new and exciting things emmerging in the video game world, yet developers continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over again. Hopefully we can one day get to a point where developers will actually learn from their mistakes, and embrace creativity.

- Blue Rose

* Oh yes, that's right, I'm talking about you Bejeweled!

** Stupid People

The Real Conflict In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Real Conflict in The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

By: Blue Rose

If you are between the ages of 10 and 20, and haven't ever played Ocarina of Time, you're probably living under rock. The game was released in 1998 to high critical acclaim, with perfect review scores in Gamespot, IGN, and Electronic Gaming Monthly. The game sold around 7.6 million copies worldwide.

While the game is one of the best known in the industry, many might not know what the actual conflict is about:

Link's sexuality.

As the first game in the Cannon of The Legend of Zelda Series, the game becomes about Link defining himself, especially with regard to his gender roles, and his sexuality.

Now, I could bore you with random speculations about, physical manifestation of Link's conflicting sexuality, and over-analyzations of the stories major characters.....so I think I will.


MAIN CONFLICT OF THE STORY

Link's main adversary in the game is Ganondorf. Born into the Gerudo tribe, Ganondorf is the only male to be born to the Gerudos in 100 years.

Ganondorf represents Link's homosexuality, and his affinity toward cross-dressing. Link constantly battles with both Ganondorf, and curses Ganandorf has placed upon certain people. These curses represent bridges burned by Link's flamboyant sexuality, and the conflicts and battles represent the emotional road-bumps he and his friends/family had to overcome to come to a place of peace.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Ganondorf - The Great King of Evil

Ganandorf's character includes a cartoonish masculinity, coupled with some very feminine features. His costume is very ornate, he appears to be wearing some sort of make-up, and his flaming red hair (no pun intended) appears to be styled in a way that takes WAY too much effort for the abilities of hair products in feudal farm life.

Ganondorf's main goal in Ocarina of Time is to conquer the entire world. This goal represents the inner-sexual conflict in Link, by showing how his homosexuality wants to overtake him completely, even though he clings to his heterosexuality.

ZeldaPedia describes Ganondorf as "... one of the most powerful characters in the series". Ganondorf, in Ocarina of Time, is shown to have literally supernatural powers over the lands of Hyrule, which shows just how strong of a hold Link's homosexuality has on him in this game

Zelda - Sheik

Zelda appears as yet another guide in Link's life to help him through his conflict. She, in order to escape Ganondorf, dresses as a male to disguise herself. Zelda understands what Link is going through as far as blurring the lines between masculinity and femininity, and how he feels he may be losing his identity if he doesn't embrace what his society dictates as his gender role. So, Zelda appears at different times in the game to help Link through his journey.

Link - The Kokirian Hero

Born a Hyrulian, Link is abandoned by his mother in the Kokiri Forest and found by Saria. He is raised there, without a father, and becomes an outcast from the other children.

Link's lack of a male role model is a huge contributor to his questions about his masculinity, and the fact that he is essentially the male of the household forces him to hold on that masculinity as tightly as he can in order to be strong for his mother.

Link is contrasting from the other Kokiri both physically, and socially. He is seen as an "Outsider" his entire life, and grows up with many unanswered questions.

These questions begin to manifest themselves more and more as he gets older in a few ways.

As link grows into an adult, he dons a pair of tights; a garment which none of the other Kokiri wear, His ear becomes pierced, and his feminine elvish features become much more defined.

Navi - Link's Companion

Navi is Link's primary guide throughout his journey. Navi follows him everywhere helping him overcome every challenge.

She constantly points out the weak-spot in Link's foes, telling him how to overcome the different facets of his sexuality he struggles with.*

Din, Farore, and Nayru - The Golden goddesses

The deities of Ocarina of Time are known as "The Golden goddesses". The three female spirits created both the land of Hyrule, and the natural law by which all living things are governed.

The three goddesses show how, in Link's universe, femininity is a very strong force. The three deities each have their own respective personalities that they leave behind in their piece of the Triforce: Din - power, Farore - Courage, and Nayru - Wisdom.

These three personality traits are, in turn, passed on to Link in his struggle to understand his sexuality.

The Trifoce - I know it's not a character

The Triforce is split up into three pieces, and divided among three of the residents of Hyrule: Link, who obtains the Triforce of Courage, Zelda, who obtains the Triforce of Wisdom, and Ganondorf, who obtains the Triforce of power.

The three obtained their pieces of the Triforce when Ganondorf found the Triforce and tried to claim it. The Triforce rejects anyone who's wisdom, courage, and power aren't in perfect balance, and gives them the piece that best represents their person. So, when Ganondorf touched it, he obtained the Triforce of power, and Link and Zelda their respective pieces.

a. Link's Triforce
Link obtained the Triforce of courage, as a representation of the courage he needs to call his sexuality in question. In his society, seemingly no other person has this same conflict, so he must travel this journey alone; requiring great courage.

b. Zelda's Triforce
With the Triforce of wisdom, Zelda is a guide to help Link through his constant struggle. As a cross-dresser herself, Zelda/Sheik understands on some level what Link is going through, so she swoops-in at some key points in his life to help him along the way

c. Ganondorf's Triforce
Ganondorf's Triforce of power once again represents just how much power Link's inner homosexuality has over him. Ganondorf's personality is geared most toward power because Link views his homosexuality as a pseudo-monster with the ability to ruin his entire world.

Malon, Zelda, Ruto - Link's Love Interests

a. Malon








Malon is found at Lon Lon Ranch, and is the one who eventually gives Link his horse: Epona. Malon is the typical, mid-west, "Farmer's Daughter", and is one of the possible romantic interests of Link.

b. Zelda









As the princess of Hyrule, Zelda is the most likely of the candidates for Link's affections, especially since the game is named after her. This likelihood becomes ironic as she becomes one of the main contributors to Link understanding his sexuality.

c. Ruto







(No there's no nudity, she's a fish-person and has no visible reproductive body parts.)

Ruto is the princess of the Zora people. Link enters Jabu Jabu's belly in order to save her. This dungeon represents the hoops that Link is forced to jump through in order to fulfill what society says he must do as far as "courting" a girl.

The three love interests all represent different preconceived ideas Link has about women. Malon, represents how easy and natural heterosexual marriage was said to be in his society. Most of the people in his village would just settle down, get married, maybe have a few kids, but Link's life is in direct conflict with this ideal; he continues to battle and battle his confusing sexuality. Zelda represents the sort of, "Marry as high as you can" ideal established in their society. In the days of a Monarchical society, people of royalty tried to marry as high-up as they could, yet Link can't force himself into a romantic relationship with Zelda. Ruto represents the trials and conflicts of courting. Link literally jumps inside of a giant fish just to go after her. This further damages Link's view of heterosexual relationships

Saria - Link's Mother

Link's mother exudes femininity in this game. In addition to Link being exposed to so much femininity growing up, he sees masculinity as a pain in his mother's life. Since she is single, Link views heterosexual relationships as destructive. Heterosexuality has forced his mother to be alone. Due to her likely disregard for social trends, she ended-up without any gentlemen suitors. She refused to compromise her strong feminist personality and ended up forcing out all sexually viable candidates in her life.

CONCLUSION

Throughout Link's journey, he learns new things about his sexuality, he meets new people that reinforce these views, and he fights out an inner-conflict that forces him to define who he is.

This all builds to a climax in his final battle with his sexuality: his final battle with Ganondorf.

Ganondorf, after being defeated by Link**, only comes back even stronger in his more animalistic form, Ganon. Link's sexuality becomes the monster he has been afraid of this entire time, and he is forced to confront it in an epic battle that puts Gladiator to shame.

Link eventually overcomes this uncertainty, and emerges secure in who he is.

Reminding you to find your voice,

Blue Rose

P.S. i have to thank Zeldapedia for helping me find all this plot information!

P.P.S. If you have any questions or comments, you can now email me at my fan email, bluerose@s-words.org!!!



*Is it a coincidence that Navi is also a fairy? I think not.

**Spoiler Alert

A Moral Dillema

By Reach For The Sky

Mass Effect spoilers ahead

There's a part in Mass Effect 2 where you are infiltrating a massive mercenary assault in order to save a potential crew member, Archangel. Before you begin the assault you have the option of walking around the base of operations of the various mercenary groups, meeting the district managers of each, and potentially sabotaging the mission, making the assault easier on yourself. One such opportunity lies in a Batarian named Cathka. Cathka is a mechanic for the Blue Suns who is repairing a gunship that will be used to tear you and your squad apart during the assault. You have the option of taking him out sneakily with the world's coolest one-liner. Whether this kills or simply incapacitates him is unclear (the blood-curling scream he lets out would suggest the former) but what is certain is how evil you are for doing it.

Let's get this straight. A mechanic is repairing a ship that we know will be used against us in a few minutes. Never mind that in that time interval, we will kill a small town's worth of mercenaries and free-lancers. If you cattle-prod this one mechanic you are Satan incarnate. Thankfully, you aren't denied paragon points if you slip this peon the super-tazer, so it doesn't adversely affect you unless you can't stand the facial scars. It's also somewhat understandable, as it could be considered an "unnecessary death". Unfortunately, I wouldn't be writing this article if that was my only grief. Later in the game, you encounter a rather talkative krogan.
While the windbag is delivering his forty-page thesis on how his clan is so awesome and powerful,
you have the option of torching him with rocket fuel. The game once again calls you a menace to society for killing an alien who is currently threatening a genocide on the entire galaxy*. While, like before, you aren't sacrificing any nice points, the maddening thing about this scene is if you don't jump on the opportunity to turn the lobster-bisque into space ember, you still have to fight and kill him in combat. Yes, you are evil because you chose to kill someone 10 seconds earlier than you could have.

It only gets better. Later on in that same mission you have another binary choice. Get rid of research that could cure a little thing called the Genophage, which is a scientifically designed contraceptive virus that is in all krogans that has made the growth of the species come to a stop. Whoever is in charge of moral choices at Bioware clearly hates this idea. Destroying the research earns you evil points and deprives you of nice points**. The annoying thing is, Mordin, Shepard's Salarian friend who is awesome and certified Always-Right, has been defending the Genophage with immpenetrable logic throughout the mission. I can understand how someone could think the Genophage was wrong, but Bioware doesn't even bother asking the player's intentions. You like the Genophage, therefor you eat puppies and drink the blood of orphans.

The final choice in the main storyline is also brain-poison. You have two options (as usual), destroy the evil base, instantly scrapping advanced technology and extensive biological research, or simply wipe out the enemies inside with a bomb that would eliminate only the organic life inside, giving the good guys complete control. The moral nazi at Bioware considers the former to be the king of all evils, the decision only Beelzebub himself could make. Shamus Young has written extensively on the subject and words it much better than I;
"If studying the Collector base is evil, then what do we say about those Allied forces that captured Auschwitz instead of blowing it up?"

The point is, Bioware is putting too many of these binary choices in the game with questionable principles behind them. It's focusing too much on the decision and not enough on the intention. Also keep in mind that Bioware is the best at this sort of thing. Other games with morality systems tend to be a lot worse about their bizarre ethical standards and lack of a middle ground. At least Bioware lets you be completely awesome while calling you the King of the Underdark.

*There are a half-dozen or so of these moments throughout the game. Bioware must hate the idea of preemptive attack, no matter how obvious the recipients aggression is.

**It must have been a tough decision, considering Shepard also seems to think keeping any ill-gotten research makes you the offspring of Hitler and Saddam Hussein.

The Ultimate Insanity

By Reach For the Sky

Is anyone really surprised by this?

I still am. How does this sort of thing happen in any professional industry? Ubisoft has released two games since they game up with this unbelievably stupid system. Basically, in order to play the games Ubisoft publishes (Assassin's Creed 2, and Silent Hunter 5 so far), you need to have an account with them. If you don't have an internet connection, you can't play. If you lose connectivity while playing, you are immediately kicked out of the game. A single-player game. They also have the ability to suspend your account and prevent you from playing games you have already paid for, without refund. And finally, if for any reason the servers become unavailable, as they were the first day of release, nobody who payed for the game can play it until the problem is fixed, as they did on Assassin's Creed 2's first day of release.

Keep in mind this doesn't actually affect anybody who downloaded the game illegally. The game is cracked. The DRM has already been circumvented. Pirates are playing this game and having fun, and people who payed for the game were locked out of it. What logic are they working under? Not only has this not put a dent in piracy rates(positively at least, who knows how many have sworn off paying for a Ubisoft product because of this), but the system actively targets paying customers who have jumped through all these insane hoops of registration just so they could play a game they payed for. In reality this is probably a good thing. The general public couldn't care less about the DRM debate, save for the occasions it interferes with their fun. Most people don't care about the fact that 2KGames installed a rootkit alongside Bioshock on their loyal customers' computers. Nor do they care about the fact that they might not be able to play a game that was made a few years ago because the company that ran the authentication servers is now out of business. They will care about a game they payed for being unavailable on day one because Ubisoft thinks they could be a pirate.

There isn't a lot more I can say about this. I could write posts about DRM every day for the next million years and it wouldn't make as much a difference as the event itself has.

edit: So apparently crackers and pirates are horrible, horrible liars (shocking, I know) and they did not have the game cracked immediately. That doesn't change the fact that legitimate customers were locked out of the game. according to more reliable sources, the game was cracked 2 months after release. The sales figures have not rocked the charts of the hinges, which means that the DRM is not the end-all solution to lost sales Ubisoft thought it would be.

Review: Audiosurf

Review: Audiosurf

By Reach For The Sky

This is...a difficult game to describe. The best I can do is say that Guitar Hero and Bejeweled had a child together and named it Audiosurf. The concept is actually simple. The game lets you select a song from your own music library, and it automatically creates a level from the various components of the song (tempo, rhythm, etc.) The actual game is a simple color matching game, you get blocks of the same color together, they disappear, the big number at the top of the screen increases, hooray, who cares. If I had to play this mute, it would probably be the most boring game ever. What I really love about the game is the concept fueling it. Allow me to explain.

The developer didn't actually have to create a single level. While I'm sure the programming was as difficult to create as it was genius, it was probably easier than designing, say, 100 different levels, which isn't a fraction of a decimal of a sliver of the content Audiosurf has to offer in its current state. There are several different modes ranging from simple to complex, to satiate those (like myself) Who simply want to enjoy the music while they play, as well as anyone truly interested in the puzzles. The level adaption is simply brilliant, for one thing. When a song goes "slowly" the track ascends, and when the song picks up it starts falling. This creates a roller-coaster effect that just feels perfect for whatever song that's playing. The block placement seems to be along the beats, which makes it easier to grab them by following the song, rather than simply catch them visually.

The Controls are exceedingly simple. There are many options, and all can be played with one hand easily. This sort of simplicity allows for newcomers to adapt easily, and difficulty varies from song to song, for an essentially infinite range of difficulty settings, although you can also decide how difficult you want the song to be when selecting game modes, if you're looking for an extra kick for slower songs (or a handicap for faster music). There's plenty for the more competitive players as well, like scoreboard tracking for each song. There isn't much to say about the atmosphere of the game, because it simply mirrors the song being played, and it mirrors it perfectly. You can expect bright reds and yellows for Dragonforce and deep blues and purples for Johnny Cash.

This is a fantastic game and a gem for Indie design. It provides a new and exciting way for people to enjoy their music .The game-play tends to match the user perfectly. The only people I wouldn't recommend this game to are those with small music libraries. Everyone else, it's cheap, it's lightweight, and it's incredibly fun. If you're still not convinced, there's a demo available on Steam, so give it a try.

-Reach