Weekend of July 4th, 2014

The title sort of seems like the entire post is a patriotic celebration, but it just happens that the 4th of July is a Friday... so... regular celebration?  Lots of video game stuff because I am in a classic gaming mood as of late.

Rob Pardo leaves Blizzard.  There are people that would say this is not a big deal, but I say its a telling sign at Blizzard.  Over the years, as the money rolled in and the focus of Blizzard increasingly became one game, they have lost a lot of their big talent.  The guys that have been with the company since Warcraft, Blackthorn, and Lost Vikings have slowly trickled out so they could do their own thing.  Rob Pardo is pretty much the last big name.  Ever since Activision took over Blizzard, it has seemed that Blizzard games have only ever slowly trickled out.  A lot of pre-Activision promises have been thrown aside in World of Warcraft, and a few big games have been cancelled or never heard form again(Titan, Ghost, etc).   There's no telling if Pardo has a contract that prevents his competition, as he's been with the company for so long his contract was probably never touched by Activision's lawyers.  But if you see "I want to do other non-video game stuff" then expect to see that in two years to the day he opens a new game(like Cliffy B or Dave Jaffe).

I am a firm believer that more gamers should recognize and know the talent behind games.  It seems the big publishers want to bury this and make you think that the publisher is all that matters.  They see how directors can take audiences in movies with them between companies, and they'd rather not have that.  So don't be a sheep.  Learn who made the games you love, and what else they have been making.  EA is not a game maker, Activision is not a game maker, they create boxes and commercials and talk to Walmart.  They do not make anything.

HappyConsoleGamer , I know, he was capitalizing on the fame of Angry Video Game Nerd, but he's been around since Youtube has started and has lasted, so that's saying something compared to the other hanger'ons that didn't make it.  He's a closet fighting game player, but mainly is an RPG and Anime fanatic.  What I like most about him is that he's an older gamer.  What I mean is, he's old enough to have actually played through all the games he talks about.  A lot of the Youtube "retrospective" guys do all their reporting by searching Google and using someone else's hard work.  HCG's retrospectives on Dragon Warrior/Quest, Phantasy Star series, and others is from the perspective of someone who has played through these games several times himself.  Its a huge difference from the teenage Youtube-gamer kings of today.  Ever wonder why every "garme Journalost" says the same goddamn thing about older games?  Because they all take the same basic notes from Wikipedia and "translate" them into their own "voice".  Happy Console Gamer speaks with the knowledge of someone that was there, and its a totally different feel to the conversation.

When I was a kid we used to go to the local race track for the 4th of July fireworks that they put on there.  Almost every year we would go, and I'd fall asleep before the races were over, but wake up before the fireworks started.  It was a dirt track, so by this time we were all caked in some red dust, and anything we'd had brought to eat would be a little gritty.  Then we'd be treated to an amazing fireworks show that took place right over our heads.  When I was older, my friends from the theater would talk about going to the local dam, and watch the fireworks over the water.  They talked it up like it was this amazing thing.  So one year I decided to join them to watch this spectacular thing.  And... were were miles away from the fireworks.  I realized that I had been spoiled by the fireworks of my youth, and since then I've never really been amazed by fireworks shows because they just don't compare.  It could be nostalgia... but there's a difference between being miles away from the fireworks, and being literally under them at a small tiny racetrack for a gigantic show.

I started FF6 on Sunday night, I felt like playing a classic RPG and was in no mood to gamble on something else.  I vowed that the next time I played through, I would play the Gameboy Advance version, so I am going to try and do that.  The thing about the GBA version is that they did a whole new translation, so some of the characters at different at times, and that's kind of "bleh" to me because I know the original by Ted Woosley almost by memory; warts and all.  The other problem with the GBA version is that the sound is "off" by a little bit, and as someone that bought and listened to and like the music of this game more than any other game ever, hearing the music sound "wrong" is also "bleh".  All this aside, I've played this game so many times that I might as well try the GBA version... it is at least not the Android version, ick.

Posts to come:

Its 2014, 20 years since 1994.  In gaming there are certain years that end up being very important in gaming.  The film industry has these years as well, they venerate 1939 as their greatest year ever.  When it comes to discussion of this for video games, several years come up.  Many think 1998 is the best, and that 2004 is in there as a contender as well.  In all the lists I think 1994 deserves as very high spot.  We have what is probably the top 16 bit RPG ever made.  We have the RTS game that birthed a HUGE franchise.  We have the return of a pioneer gaming character in a game that is in the running for the greatest game of all time.

I'm going to do my "What if I was to make an arcade" set of posts some time.  This isn't going to be a pricelist for a gaming room, or a media center area.  I'm pricing out if I was going to make an actual small arcade room somewhere for the purpose of being nostalgic.  I am going to pick a size of room, something bigger than a closet, but not an whole basement.  I'll list the arcades I would add, the carpeting, the furniture, and all that.  Now, this is not going to just be a price list, like almost anything I do, I will explain WHY I am choosing something, and what the choice means to me.