Friday, August 15, 2014

Suikoden Day- Why It's Needed


Suikoden Day, a time of celebration for fans of the video game series Suikoden, where fan works are presented and shared, contests are held, and overall a feeling of brotherhood is felt throughout the fandom. This day, held this year on August 15, 2014, is a day for camaraderie, a day for fans to remind each other that they are not alone, that they belong to an international brotherhood united in a common bond: their love for a grossly underrated series. But, do we really NEED  a Suikoden Day?

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Is Super Mario World really that good?

It's often called one of the best Mario games ever, and considering Mario is THE best selling franchise in the world, that's saying a lot. This is one of the games that helped codify just what the Super Nintendo was capable of: bright colors, fast gameplay, less glitching, clear sound, and more detailed graphics than the NES or the Genesis. But today we need to ask ourselves a tough question: is Super Mario World really THAT good?

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Had It Succeeded: Virtual Boy

I'd like to present to you a hypothetical timeline. As you know, in the year 1995, Gunpei Yokoi, father of the Nintendo Gameboy and the man who practically invented handheld gaming (for all intents and purposes), created one last project for Nintendo, meant to be his farewell gift, his swan song before he left the company to pursue new interests: The Virtual Boy, the world's first 3D handheld gaming device. This timeline assumes that Nintendo, instead of rushing the Virtual Boy into the market, decided to test the device, perfecting it until it was ready for release.

From http://www.gameex.info/forums/topic/12241-logos-artwork-random-stuff/page-4

Saturday, August 2, 2014

One Year Anniversary

It's been a year since I've taken to blogging about video games, and I must say it's been one of the best decisions I've made in my life.

I've been gaming since I was five years old, since the year 1991. My first video game ever was Super Mario World for the SNES. Man, I played that game every weekend, as mom would not allow me to play on the weekdays, otherwise my grades would suffer. Anyway, I beat the game with not too much trouble, but I'd often lay it on the side to play games my parents would rent for me from Blockbuster. Back then, you could rent a game for like 2 dollars for one weekend, and it was awesome.

Anyway, I think I want to talk about why this blog is important to me. Truth is, this blog isn't giving me any money. It's not from lack of trying, because I tried to monetize this blog when I first started, see if I could get a little coin in my pocket. But as time went on, and Google made it clear that AdSense was a no go for me, I started thinking about WHY I started this blog. And the truth is, writing gives me purpose. I've been unemployed a good while now, since I graduated college in 2008. I've been looking for work, and no one would hire me. I'd go to interviews but I'd be turned down for whatever reason, like my shoes. I went back in college to finish some classes I needed for my teaching license, but now I have to wait for the Department of Education (which has a well earned repute for being incompetent) to give me my license. For a long time, I felt like I had no purpose, you know?

I started writing this blog because a friend of mine told me to. She gave me the idea that I should do my own blog, that I could do a little writing to distract myself. So, I said to myself "why not?". I went to Blogger, started a new blog, and wrote my first ever entry, which I titled Pokemon: A Coming of Age Story. It was an idea that I had been thinking about for a while, and had nowhere to put it into words. But now that I have a blog, I do!

I love writing on this blog, because not only does it make me feel like I have a purpose, it makes me feel alive, like I'm doing SOMETHING with myself. I love writing this blog, even if hardly anyone reads it, even if I'm not a good blogger at all, because when I write on it I feel like I'm someone worthwhile. I feel happy doing this, and I hope to continue doing this for a good, long while.