Nintendo Origins: "Pokemon" Revolutionizes the Handheld Market

Though these days we're enjoying a highly varied games market, it wasn't always like this, especially in the handheld department. There was a time where handheld gaming was exclusively for casual gaming; most hand held games could be beaten in under an hour. Handheld consoles didn't have any deep, complex properties; in fact, most handheld games were either puzzle games, mini game packages, or watered down versions of games you could play on a home console. This was due to the fact that, unlike home consoles, handheld consoles had shorter operation times, due to battery consumption. This all changed with a little game called Pokemon.

Nintendo Origins: "Star Fox" Humiliates the Competition

The Fourth Generation of Video Game Consoles was witness to what can arguably be called the greatest Console War ever seen: Nintendo versus Sega. When Sega released its biggest video game console ever, the Genesis, they promoted it with a simple, but arrogant campaign: "Sega does what Nintendon't." The shots were fired, and Nintendo did not take it sitting down. The war was on between the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Not to be outdone, several other companies, most notably Atari and Panasonic, joined the war with their own consoles. Each company tried to outdo the competition by having consoles with superior graphical capabilities. During this time, Nintendo released its then newest property, which in turn would be the deciding factor for Nintendo's victory in the War: Star Fox. 

Nintendo Origins- "Super Mario Bros." Saves the Console Market

The Video Game Crash of 1983 was caused by more than just E.T. for the Atari; it was the end result of an unregulated market that was too over saturated with mediocre products, copy cats, and an overabundance of companies that cared very little about the quality of their products, which in turn led, again, to the mediocre or downright awful products being sold. Atari allowed any game company to make video games for their system, the 2600, and that policy is what eventually led to the Crash. Nintendo, who had just released their latest system, the Famicom, was determined not to allow that to happen to them; so when they released the Famicom in America, they were forced to take up some pretty Draconian measures. But, they also had to 'wow' an audience that had grown cynical about video games. They needed a game that could blow people's minds away. Enter Super Mario Bros.

Nintendo Origins- "Donkey Kong" Hits the Arcades

The year was 1981, and the video game was enjoying its greatest era: the Golden Age of the Arcade. During this time, arcade games were HUGE; arcades were big money makers, and people would line up to spend a quarter on any game they could get their hands on. Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Centipede, these were just some of the games that were taking the world by storm. However, one game would come to revolutionize gaming, not just inventing a new genre, but also reinventing how game presentation works. That game was Donkey Kong.

Announcement- December will be Nintendo Origins Month

When I was a child, I was a Nintendo Boy. That means I was ADDICTED to Nintendo: the SNES, the Game Boy, the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, the Zelda cartoon, everything to do with Nintendo, I ate up. However, though that ended in 1997 with a little system called the Playstation, I still have fond memories of Nintendo, and I've observed this game company grow throughout the years. So in honor of that, I am pleased to announce that this December is Nintendo Origins Month!

Every weekend you'll see a blog entry about Nintendo's four biggest steps into becoming the entertainment Juggernaut it is today. Skipping over its long and illustrious history as a playing card company, we'll start with that legendary arcade game: Donkey Kong. From there...well, here's the tentative schedule:

December 5-6: Donkey Kong

December 12-13: Super Mario Bros.

December 19-20: Star Fox

December 26-27: Pokemon R/B/G/Y

I hope you'll be joining me on this trip through history!

Revisiting Sephiroth

On September 15, 2013, I had finished a blog entry analyzing Sephiroth, the main villain of Final Fantasy 7, where I made the argument that he was overrated because his motivations were unclear. However, it had been pointed out to me that I missed some key details regarding Sephiroth's history, which explains his motivations better. Mistakes were made on my part, and upon reexamining the game, as well as the data available to me, I am certain that I can revisit Sephiroth, to see if I truly was wrong to call him overrated. This is a second analysis of Sephiroth.

Sephiroth's portrait during his short tenure in the party.

What I did when I heard about the Paris attacks.

I played video games. Specifically, I played Maple Story and Smite, in an attempt to not think about what happened. I had first read the news on the BBC news site, from a link I got on Tumblr. "That's awful" I thought. I didn't know what else to think, just...nothing. I didn't feel numb, I just felt off about the whole thing.

And then the number of victims kept climbing and climbing, until it was in the hundreds. I was already stressed from all the homework I had to do, but this gave me one hell of a pause. I started thinking about everything, about how many lives were lost for nothing. And yes, it was for nothing, because no ideology is worth killing people over.

I was a mess. I started thinking about all the lives lost, all the lives destroyed by this nonsense. I started thinking about the Islamophobia that would sweep Europe and America, thanks to these attacks. And sure enough, I was right. Refugee camps in Calais were burned down, anti Islamic rhetoric increased to levels not seen since September 11, 2001. Innocents were paying for the crimes of assholes.

Mercedes Carrera, someone I once respected, started spewing nationalistic bullshit about Syria for Syrians, blindly taking in people from another country, and so forth. I unfollowed her on Twitter for that, and anyone who thought that way too. I regret that it came to that, because I greatly admired her for her conviction, her dedication to the cause of freedom of expression, and for helping a rape victim when she needed it most. But I have limits, and Carrera crossed them. I wish her well in the future, I wish her no ill will, I respect her right to free speech, but I will support her no longer.

I watched as many of my Facebook friends changed their profile pictures to have a French flag filter. I knew the ones from Europe at least would do so. But I didn't. I didn't do it for France because I didn't do it for Kenya, Somalia, or Syria when those bastards started doing what they were doing there. I won't refer to them by any name, I refuse to. And I didn't do it for any other country because the option was never there. It felt like nobody cared until it happened to a European country. I know that's not entirely true, but that's how it felt. That's how it still feels.

All in all, however, I just felt impotent about the whole thing. The world got a whole lot darker as I kept watching what happened. I saw people whom I thought were more rational buy into the outrage and the Islamophobia, spewing that anti religious crap over and over again. I saw news outlets ignore what was happening in South Korea, the protests against the President, and how the government stifled these protests with violence. It reminded me just how powerless I am in the world, how I can't do a damn thing for anyone or anything, how all I could do was just watch as the world around me burned.

It was September 11, 2001 again, albeit on an admittedly smaller scale.

In the end, there was nothing I could do but play video games, hoping I could forget for a moment everything bad that had happened. But when the games ended, the world was still burning, and there was nothing I could do about it. And I knew it.

"The mobile games market is an absolute mess, thanks to you"- a rebuttal

Every now and then there comes an article talking about the game industry that makes you take pause and think, to reconsider what's going on in the market, in games media, and all gaming culture. It is a well written, thought provoking article that, if read by the right people, can become the catalyst for real change. This is NOT that article. This is a rebuttal for Aksel Junkilla's article The mobile games market is an absolute mess, thanks to you. Original words from the article will be in bold, and beneath those will be my own words. A link to an archived version of the article here: https://archive.is/h3me2

A Word on TotalBiscuit

I can't say I'm a fan of his, but I have heard of him. He's one of the biggest voices in gaming, and one of the few game critics with credibility. And today, he's shared with us that he's been given two years to live. I believe I speak for all his fans when I say I wish this day had not come.

We all wish for TotalBiscuit's complete recovery. Nobody but the vilest beings on Earth wish for someone this young to be taken away from us, especially to cancer. I, personally, believe that cancer is one of the worst ways to go; it creeps up on you, and you spend so much time fighting it and fighting it, only for it to beat you in one way or another. Fighting cancer is never easy, and beating it much less so.

I'm speechless. I've never seen a single TotalBiscuit video, and now I'm too afraid to do so, because I fear getting attached to someone with an expiration date...wait, no. We can't think like that. We have to keep our chins up, ladies and gentlemen, keep the faith strong.

In times like these, I find Scripture to be comforting. I scoured the net for a good quote, and I was not disappointed. First Corinthians, 15:42-44 "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is a spiritual body."

We are all praying for good news for you and from you, TotalBiscuit.

Edit May 25, 2018: regrettably, TotalBiscuit lost his battle with cancer. He will be missed. He suffers no more.

A Quick Word in Regard to the Petition to Have Anita and Zoe Arrested

Recently there has been a petition circling the Internet, especially on Gamergate friendly forums, to have Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian arrested under grounds that they have technically committed an act of betrayal by appealing to the UN to censor the Internet. This petition cites the Logan act of 1790, a law that was passed well over two hundred years ago. There have already been thousands of signers as of this writing, including Quinn herself.

Let me get a few things out of the way: petitions seldom work, by my experience. I've yet to see a petition actually achieve what it has set out to do, and I've signed hundreds of them. Second of all, this petition is giving ammo to the enemies of Gamergate. By calling upon the government to arrest these two ladies, based on a centuries old law, we're being no better than these two ladies who call upon big government to censor their critics and silence them.

Make no mistake, what they have done, and what they are calling for, is beyond describing how horrid it is. Sarkeesian and Quinn want to make it a crime to dissent against THEIR feminism, the feminism that makes women victims instead of strong fighters. These two women, who have both been proven to be frauds and charlatans, went to the United Nations, played themselves as little victims, and begged for Big Brother to come to the world and instill his censorship on anyone who dares raise their voice against them. Meanwhile, we have child brides in Yemen, acid attacks against women in India, and in Saudi Arabia it's still perfectly legal to stone a woman to death if she cheats on her husband. If you want REAL misogyny, don't look for it on Twitter, look for it everywhere a woman is legally declared to be worth less than a man.

So yeah, it's easy to see why it'd be delicious to see these two women be given a slice of humble pie. The Schadenfreude would be extremely satisfying, should Quinn and Sarkeesian be arrested. But they shouldn't be arrested, because their "crime", when all is said and done, amounts to little more than making a speech to a congregation of politicians and representatives.

Literally, all they did was go up to the UN and beg for censorship, which the UN has all the right to tell them "no, now fuck off." Quinn and Sarkeesian have been rightly ridiculed by every thinking man and woman on Earth who have wasted their time reading their proposal. Further, the UN has proven itself to be, frankly, useless when the world needed it most. They couldn't stop the Yugoslav wars, the genocide of Rwanda, the Somali civil war, the Syrian civil war, and all the female genital mutilation in Africa, among hundreds of other issues in the world from the UN's inception to today. To expect them to actually censor Twitter and Youtube is, at best, a joke.

The petition to arrest these two, however, is no better than their petition to the UN to censor the Internet, if not on intent, then in spirit. It liberally interprets the Logan Act in order to get two women arrested. Just because it's the law, it doesn't make it right.

By invoking the Logan Act, we are, subtly or not, stating that we are scared of Quinn, Sarkeesian, and their ilk. This petition WRONGLY shows the world that their message is dangerous to us, and that it needs to be silenced. To quote Tyrion Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire "When you cut off a man's tongue, you don't prove him a liar, you prove you're afraid of what he has to say."

Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian are, when it comes down to it, guilty of little more than being idiots. When it comes to idiots, the best thing to do against them is to let them speak. When idiots speak, only other idiots listen; everyone else just points and laughs.

The Five Worst League of Legends Players

The following is a list of the five worst types of League of Legends players. These are not written in any particular order, because no one type is worse than the other. In my opinion, these five are equally bad, equally trash, and they ruin ANY game they are in. So without further ado, here are the five worst types of LoL players.

Samus Aran's Alleged Transsexualism.

If you've been keeping up with gaming news lately, then you'd know our old pal Literally Wu, also known as Briana Wu, has come up with a wild idea: Samus Aran, one of the most famous and most important female characters in gaming, is not a woman from birth, but rather, a Male to Female Transsexual. On a recent article written on The Mary Sue, a website that caters to feminist geek interests, Wu, alongside fellow writer Ellen McGrody, made the argument that Samus Aran is a trans gender woman. Well, it wasn't so much an "argument" as it was an assertion, as an argument offers tangible proof, but I digress. Briana Wu and Ellen McGrody made the claim that Samus was trans, and they are treating this as fact. But, is it a fact?

A Smite Story

I don't just play League of Legends, you know, I'm also an avid Smite player. No, I am not GOOD at Smite, I just love the game. Anyway, I want to tell you guys a story that happened to me in the game, and if you're not careful, you may just learn something before I'm done.

A New Patreon Account

I made a promise to keep this blog commercial free, and I intend to keep it. If you see ANY ads here, those were NOT approved by me, and you might have an ad malware, so get that computer/smartphone checked. However, the sad truth is that I am a poor ass college student, there's no jobs where I live, and leaving my country at the moment is next to impossible for me, as I have no money. I tried and I tried to find a job, to no avail. I did my best, and now it has come to this, my last resort. I have set up a Patreon account, where you, the readers, can send me a couple of loose change my way if you like what you read. I am NOT saying I'll stop writing the blog, mind you, but I am saying that you can now help me get some pocket money and help me survive my new college years. It'll be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time. The link is here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=1015826&ty=h

December 3, 2017: Disregard that, please! I am now working as a teacher, earning  my own money! So don't worry bout no Patreon, alright?

Gamergate: The Five Best Moments

It's been a year since Eron Gjoni posted "thezoepost", a giant post detailing the personal failings and the abuse he had suffered from his girlfriend, game developer Zoe Quinn, which included allegations that she had cheated on him with several video game journalists in exchange for favorable coverage. This post proved to be the spark that would eventually light the fire that became Gamergate, one of the most successful online movements ever seen. In the past year, Gamergate has seen its ups and downs, its successes and failures. We have seen several voices rise up against us only to be silenced by the facts. We have made an indelible mark in not just games media, but in gaming culture, and even in the gaming industry. We have forced EVERY LAST games journalism site to update their ethics code, we have critically hurt the media giant Gawker, and we have destroyed the credibility of dozens of "journalists" who, a year ago, seemed untouchable. But what have been the five best moments of Gamergate's first year? Here is my Top 5 moments in Gamergate:

Feminism in Gaming

If you've been following Gamergate, you'll know that part of the contention has to do with feminism in gaming. The anti-Gamergate side will tell you that Gamergate opposes ALL feminism in gaming, and seeks to become some sort of cultural gatekeeper that keeps all progressive thought out of gaming culture. The pro-Gamergate side, which I proudly ascribe myself to, claims to oppose authoritarian feminism, claiming that many "feminist" critics seek to become authoritarian figures in gaming culture, to create games with strong political agendas, and dictate how developers ought to make their games. I am not here to argue which side is correct, as I am too biased to do so objectively. But I would like to ask this: why are gamers opposed to feminism?

Heroine's Quest and the Swan Maiden

Suppose you meet a woman who's married and has a child, and she's miserable. She's upset for a rather valid reason, like being unable to return home and thus feeling trapped by her situation. Suppose you had a way to help her one wish come true, but doing so would mean she'll abandon her family. What would your course of action be? That's the sort of situation presented in one of the sidequests in the game Heroine's Quest.

The first screenshot I took by myself for this blog!

Five Reasons Why I'm Still a Gamer

I've been a gamer since I was five years old. I first started by playing Super Mario World for the SNES, and my entire childhood was defined by that machine. Twenty four years later, here I am, making a blog about video games. In many ways, I've not changed since I was a child. I've been asked before, though, on why I'm still gaming, why I haven't "grown up" and be like the rest of my peers. These are my five reasons why I'm still a gamer.

Two Year Anniversary

Two years ago today, I took a chance, wrote something about Pokemon being a coming of age story, and started off what would become the best thing I ever did up to that point. It's been two years since that fateful day, and not once have I ever looked back. I am glad to be here, glad to have you as my readers, and most of all, I am glad to share with you my views, ideas, and opinions.

A lot has changed in the past year, hasn't it? Gamergate's almost a year old, now. The old game's journalism scene has been demolished: Gamasutra no longer has Leigh Alexander, Gawker is losing a lot of ground and support, and even Ian Miles Cheong, formerly as anti-gamer as Ben Kuchera and Zoe Quinn, has changed his position on us gamers. It's been a long, hectic ride.

A year ago, the corrupt gaming press declared the gamer to be a "dead identity", one that could be ignored safely in favor of the "progressive hipster" crowd. A year later, developers have learned that money can only be made by pandering to the gamer, not the hipster; gamers will praise you for making honest effort and a good product, but the progressive hipster/SJW crowd will denigrate every mistake you make. A lesson Tale of Tales, a no name publisher that focused too much on art games, learned the hard way.

But I don't want to talk about Gamergate today; that's for another blog entry you might see later this month. Today, I want to quickly write my thanks to you, the reader, for sticking with me for two whole years. Also, I want to make a promise to you: that this blog will never post anything "click bait", that I will ALWAYS do my research on whatever topic I write about, that video games will forever be treated with love and respect on this blog, that there will be no "Social Justice Warrior" style of rhetoric, and that if there exists another perspective on a certain subject or a differing argument, it will be treated with respect.  My comments section will always remain open, and differing ideas will be respected.

One thing I have learned this past year is that people view the world differently; my way and your way might not be the same. My way of viewing the world is just as legitimate as yours, and vice versa. That's why we have to be open minded to new ideas and new perspectives; something SOME people need to learn. But that's something I'll be talking about in a future blog.

Anyway, thank you for two years. I am hoping for many, many more!

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 1

"Be the hero of your own story." Ever been given this advice? It's very good advice; it means to be the kind of person you want to look up to. Do good with your life; be successful, be happy, be GOOD. Take charge of your own life. But sometimes we screw up; we make one bad decision after another. Sometimes these decisions are so fatal, we become our own worst obstacles; our own villains. There will be times when the cause of our misfortune is ourselves; sometimes we can make up for it, sometimes we can't. When we can't recognize our own faults, our own shortcomings and weaknesses, we become our own villains. And if we're not careful, we end up hurting other people. Today's villain is a man who ruined his own life, and then kept on ruining everyone else's: Kratos, from God of War.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 2

Cops are supposed to protect us. There's supposed to be a thick, clear line between a law breaker and a law enforcer: the former is to be despised, the latter, to be trusted. A cop is supposed to be someone who inspires a feeling of security in the common folk, someone to look up to, someone to trust. But that is not always the case. Sometimes, the cop is more dangerous than the common criminal. Sometimes  it's the cop who you should watch out for. Today's villain is precisely that: Officer Frank Tempenny from GTA San Andreas.

artwork from http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Frank_Tenpenny

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 3

I had previously said that one of the greatest tragedies is seeing a former hero fall to evil. But of course, sometimes what makes someone a "hero" is subjective. Sometimes one man's hero is another man's villain. Sometimes the "hero" is someone who fought for what he thought was right, but went about it the wrong way. This is the freedom fighter, the revolutionary, the man picking up arms against tyranny. There is a great tragedy, then, in how the man who once fought for freedom turns around and fights for the tyrants that would gladly throw him away once he is of no use for them. Today's villain exemplifies what I'm talking about: Wiegraf Folles from Final Fantasy Tactics.

artwork from http://corpsebrigadecommander.tumblr.com/bio

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 4

Some villains are not people; there's a supernatural element to them, something that makes them seem so much more powerful than anything humanity can ever create. It's the super predator, the beast of destruction; a being so beyond humanity, that we are to it what ants are to us. It is a creature of immeasurable power, and it destroys with no thought. Today's villain is a great example of this type of villain: Sin from Final Fantasy 10.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 5

Children, we want to believe them to be good, to be pure, to be free of the poison of society. Often we commit the worst acts of censorship for their supposed "safety"; we hide bodies and sexuality away from them to keep them from being "corrupted", we censor words we do not want them to speak, we hide ideas away from them so they do not become "confused". Because of this, we often underestimate children; they can be capable of great things. Children can be capable innovators, writers, singers, artists. A child well reared can be a great scientist, a natural leader, a fantastic artist, etc. But, sometimes, a child can be evil as well. Why? Partly because that's how he was raised, and partly because that's just who he is. Today's villain is an example of the Evil Child: Pokey Minch from Earthbound.

Literally the best image I could find. That's his teeth, by the way, not his eye.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 6

Some people earn power through their hard work, others are born into it. Sometimes power corrupts, but some people should never be given power to begin with. The history books are filled with monsters in human skin who used power to commit the most heinous acts the world had ever seen: Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein, among many many others. Today's villain is a shining example of how much damage a mad man can do with political power: Luca Blight from Suikoden 2.

Taken from http://www.rpg-players.com/t168-suikoden-ii, originally posted by user Daniel.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 7

Perhaps one of the most enduring tropes of modern science fiction is the rogue Artificial Intelligence, the machine that rebels against its creators and seeks to destroy all humans. What is it about the Rogue AI that inspires us so? Is it a subtle, primal fear of our own capabilities, the idea that one day, something we made will get out of our control or destroy us? Ever since Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, science fiction has presented us the idea of our creations gaining minds of their own, and suddenly deciding we were no longer needed. Today's villain is a shining example of this trope in video games: Portal's very own GLaDOS.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 8

Sometimes, the greatest tragedy is seeing someone who was once looked up to as a hero become a villain. There is this great void in our hearts that makes us ask "why!?", a difficulty in comprehending just what could drive a person to fall so badly. Sometimes it's a personal tragedy, a catalyst towards cynicism. Other times it's a personal flaw that simply overtook whatever heroic qualities that former hero possessed. Today's villain is a fine example of the Fallen Hero: Ghaleon, from Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 9

Some villains want to watch the world burn. Some villains want to bring the world to its knees. Few succeed. Fewer still succeed without meaning to do so. Today's villain is a man who nearly destroyed the world when all he wanted was to save it. All he wanted was to honor the wish of the greatest hero of the 20th century, but his actions not only bastardized and betrayed that vision, he brought human civilization to its worst era ever. He is a man who goes by many code names, but he is best known as Major Zero, from the Metal Gear Solid series.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 10

Today we continue our countdown of the top 11 video game villains with the tenth spot. Some video game villains impress us with their depth, but it must be said, many video game villains are of the "take over the world cuz teh ebils" type. However, if done well, this type of two dimensional villain is really all you need, especially if you can sneak in some details here or there to really add to the evilness of the villain. Today's villain is, in my opinion, the ultimate example what I'm talking about: Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 11

Video games have a wide variety of villains. Some want to conquer the world (of course!), some want to destroy it. Some are in it for revenge against the protagonist, some are in it for the money. Some villains want to watch the world burn, others want the world on its knees. Some see themselves as the heroes of their own stories, others know damn well they are evil. Some villains are simply average Joes and Janes with a little too much power on their hands; others are forces of nature. During the month of July, we will explore the top 11 video game villains. Why top 11? Because I like to go one step beyond, Because I'm ripping off Doug Walker. Again...

We kick things off with the 11th best villain in video games. This villain from the Golden Age of the JRPG needs little introduction. He is an icon of gaming, known through most video game circles, and is considered by many in Gamefaqs one of the greatest villains of all time. For that, it is no surprise to see this villain on this list. This monster clown has entertained millions of gamers world wide, inspired many a fanart, fanfic, and cosplay. I speak, of course, of Kefka Palazzo from Final Fantasy 6.

Artwork of Kefka, taken from the Final Fantasy Wiki.

My Reaction to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake

I didn't believe it at first. I thought it was a joke, or some sort of technical demo. I even thought it was just a movie! When I saw the trailer, I didn't allow myself to believe it. But then I did my research, and everywhere I went, it just confirmed what I was denying myself was true: The remake was happening.

Since 1997, people have been clamoring for a sequel to Final Fantasy 7. Since the launch of the Playstation 2, people have been clamoring for a remake. I myself, in my younger years, was also one of those who wished for a remake. I was one of those who wanted better graphics and voicework to be added to FF7. Hell, the reason I bought Kingdom Hearts 1 was SPECIFICALLY for the Final Fantasy 7 characters! So, I should be hyped, right?

Well, I feel cautious right now. A lot of notions are on my mind right now, a lot of questions. But I think the most important question is: why? Why now? Why are you doing a remake of an 18 year old game? Is Square-Enix that hungry for  more money?

I don't really know how to feel about this remake. I know I ought to be excited, but there's a lot of doubt. I know for a fact that the sense of wonder and amazement I felt when I was a kid, playing the original game for the first time, won't be there. If they remake the iconic scene of the camera panning across space until it reaches Aeris' face (YES I STILL SPELL IT LIKE THAT, I ALWAYS WILL) I won't be as amazed as I was in 1997. But maybe it isn't about reviving memories, maybe it's about making new ones from a classic story.

I don't think this remake is going to "ruin" the original game anymore than M. Night Shyamalan's abortion version of Avatar: The Last Airbender ruined the original show. Maybe the new version will be superior in terms of gameplay, maybe it won't be. I'm not sure. I won't, however, be one of those "this raped my childhood!" Kotaku types that like to cry and whine whenever what they hold dear from their youth is challenged or changed. I will accept this change, and I will judge this new remake on its own merits, not by the merits of its original PS1 iteration. Who knows? I might get surprised.

Another League of Legends Story

This is the story of the one time I ever decided to rage quit. Now, I want to say something clear here: I am not one to quit a game. Surrender? Maybe if the rest of my team wants to. Quit? Not me. So understand, please, that this moment was very much out of character for me.

Revisiting Princess Peach

On August of 2013, I wrote a blog entry on Princess Peach, where I made the argument that she isn't so much an object for Mario to rescue as much as she is a fairly realistic depiction of a brave woman in a hostage situation. A link here: http://vidgameanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/08/princess-peach-versus-feminism-is.html. However, when I shared that blog with a Facebook group I've long since abandoned, I was accused of being sexist, idiotic, and cherry picking. In hindsight, I should have really known better than to share a blog entry with a Facebook group that had become little more than an echo chamber for Third Wave feminism, atheism, and champagne socialism, but hindsight is 20/20. However, a mod from that group said something that had stuck in me ever since: "I didn't find much argument." And I asked myself, did I really make an argument? Since then, I've taken many moments to read and re-read my entry, and I said to myself "I can do better." And that's what today's blog is all about: a second analysis of Princess Peach and her role in the Mario games.

A Quick Word: Plans for the Summer

So all through May I've been dealing with final exams, projects, and other things, and for that reason I've not been updating as often as I'd like. But I want you all to know, there are plans for the months of June and July.

In June, as I'll be attending summer classes, I won't be updating nearly as often as I'd like, so expect two or three blogs. One of those, however, will be a retread to an earlier blog I wrote 2 years ago, in regards to Princess Peach and feminism. I want to take a second look into who Peach is, her role in the Nintendo universe, and explore if she really is as lacking in agency as her critics claim.

In July, a month where I'll have more free time, I intend to make a countdown of the top 11 video game villains. What you'll see is 11 blogs, each dedicated to exploring what makes a particular villain tic, and just what earns them the spot I give them. This 11 blog series will be a collection of analyses and opinion pieces, so please don't take it as gospel. As always, you are welcome to disagree with me.

Another blog entry I hope to make either in June or August is a short piece in regards to feminist critique in gaming. If I make it, you'll most likely see it published on August.

Art that Offends: Kill the Fa---t

Author's Note: The title of the video game to be discussed in this blog entry has been censored by my own choice. I did it because I want at least the titles of my blog entries to be Safe for Work.

If you've been paying attention to games media lately, you may have heard of a game seemingly designed to offend. This game, a first person shooter in the style of old arcade games like Boot Hill, is called Kill the Faggot. (I'd like to take this moment to apologize to my LGBT readers who have just read that word.) The title of the game may be offensive to sexual minorities, including homosexuals and bisexuals. However, the existence of the game raises a few powerful questions: what does it mean to be offended, and does being offended have any meaning?

A Word on Paid Mods

So let's imagine a hypothetical scenario: You have a woman, aged 30 or so, and she spent five years of her life writing a book. She did tons of research for the book, poured resource after resource to make sure the book was finished and published. And when she published it, it became a huge hit: number 1 New York Times Best Seller, Oprah Book Club Sticker, a movie deal with Paramount Pictures, the works! Then some 15 year old kid reads the book, saw the movie, and went to her own computer and started typing down a fanfic. Twenty chapters long, it's a sort of sequel to the woman's book, where the main character's daughter leads her own adventure. The girl thinks about publishing it on a website, but then opts for another idea: get it published as a book, and sell it. Now, here's the question: should she be allowed to do that? The answer to that question should be the same as to the question of whether mods should be paid for or not.

Remembering Time Stalkers

Way back in the year 2000, during the waning years of Sega as a video game giant, their last console, the Dreamcast, was hungry for RPG's. To be sure, the console was not without some fantastic titles (Skies of Arcadia, Grandia 2), but some were...forgettable. One of these RPG's that have been forgotten by most gamers is Time Stalkers. But was Time Stalkers a truly bad experience? Was it simply a mediocre game that was rightly overshadowed by the titans of its genre? Or, was it an overlooked classic?

10,000 Visitors Special- A Few Quick Words of Thanks

When I started this blog, I never expected to receive 10 thousand page views. But today, lo and behold, there it was: I had received 10 thousand views! I'm still shocked!

I just want to say, thank you. Thank you for lending me a voice, thank you for listening. Thank you for taking the time to read what I've written, and thank you for taking a little bit of your time to read my blog. It means the world to me.

And so you know, don't be shy about writing your point of view on whatever entry you see. If you think I got something wrong, tell me and I'll fix it. If you think I'm wrong, tell me why. And if you liked what you read, feel free to say so! My comments section is open!

So once again, thank you all. Just knowing people do, in fact, read my blog inspires and motivates me to be the best I can be.

Final Fantasy Mobius- The Costume Change

When Final Fantasy 15 announced the first female Cid of the game, many gamers, especially feminists, were ecstatic. Then they saw the character's outfit, and they threw a hissy fit. When the main character for Final Fantasy Mobius- a mobile phone game that no one outside Japan might get because Square Enix hates making money, it seems- was revealed, people threw a hissy fit. And then Square Enix caved and changed the character's armor design, citing the previous armor as "too sexy".

Photo taken from http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-04-07-square-enix-tones-down-its-too-sexy-male-star-of-mobius-final-fantasy

This change of design, of course, is prone to open up a can of worms, because many people will start to question WHY Square Enix would change one instance of negative feedback while ignoring another. I speak, of course, of the female Cid of Final Fantasy 15, Cidney (or Cindy). Basically, Cidney is depicted as a female mechanic (people LOVED this idea) who has an open yellow jacket that shows off her bra and breasts (feminists hated this). Now the people who hated Cidney's design will have some ground for complaint.

I had written my thoughts on sexy character designs on this entry, so if you want a refresher, click this link: http://vidgameanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/11/character-design-and-characters.html. For those with no patience to read long entries: how you react to a character's design is on you, and you shouldn't force an artist to censor him/herself just because you don't like getting turned on by a sexy design. You are free to not play a game if you don't like how the characters are designed.

I'm a straight guy, and I'll admit playing as a pretty boy in leather who shows off way too much skin isn't my cup of tea. But not for that would I demand that a company change the character's design, because guess what? A lot of people, especially women and gay men, would have LOVED this design.

That's something that ticks me off, too: this was supposed to be fanservice for people whose tastes fall onto the male. Like it or not, a lot of women and gays LIKE pretty boys in leather. Why do you think Dante from DmC is so popular? 

And what, men can't be sexualized? It's OK to have girls in bikinis bouncing their boobs every other game, but let a man show off a well toned six pack and suddenly it's boy burqa time? Let there be games that sexualize men, for Pete's sake, so the people who like men can have some eye candy! We make plenty of that for the people who like women, make some for the people who like men!

We can not, should not reject our sexuality. It SHOULD be OK for gaming to have games with sexy women, just as it should be OK for games to have sexy men. It should be OK for us to find a character to be sexy, and it should be OK for a game designer to design a character to be sexy. Being a sexy vixen does not make a woman any less of a deep character (e.g Tifa from FF7, Bayonetta, Lara Croft), so being a sexy fox shouldn't make a man any less of a deep character either.

If you de-sexualize a male character due to consumer demand, then special interest groups WILL question why the female characters remain sexualize, and they'll be right to do so. Let men AND women be sexy, there's ought be no shame in it!

On Art Games

I believe video games are art, and the reason why I believe video games to be art is due in part to my own definition of what art is: a work which creates a response in the receptor. To create art, you need skill, both technical and creative. Do video games need technical skill to be made? Of course. Creative skills? No doubt. So by that definition, video games are art. But some people refuse to see video games as a whole as an art form, preferring to see it as some form of entertainment form. And that's OK, not everyone will understand the finer points of gaming. But still others believe that gaming needs to "grow up", and to achieve that, they start making a very specific type of video game: the art game. But does gaming REALLY need art games?

Just for Fun- Decoding Second Life

So if you've played Second Life before, odds are that you've seen some people's avatar profiles, and if you've seen as many as I have, you'll have noticed a lot of them say the exact same thing. So today, we're going to decode the most common Second Life profiles! What we are going to do is:

1- Explain what the person behind the avatar THINKS they mean.
2- Explain what they REALLY mean.

Keep in mind that nothing said here is universal; there are exceptions to everything, after all. With that said, let's begin with...

A League of Legends Story

This happened to me about three months ago. I was playing League of Legends, and I opted to go Mid Lane Twisted Fate AP-AD Hybrid, because that's how I roll sometimes. No, it was not a ranked game, it was just a Normal game between 10 strangers. Or at least, that was what I thought. I remember like it was yesterday the champs chosen. We had a top lane Garen, a bottom lane Ezreal, a support Zilean, and Morgana jungle. At first I was like "huh?" But then I figured "breaking the meta, sweet." Boy, was I in for a surprise!

“What We Talk About When We Talk About Gamergate” -A Critique

*note*This piece was written as an assignment for one of my classes in college, but by my own decision I opted not to turn this in and instead focus on another topic. To not let this go to waste, I opted instead to just upload this piece onto my blog. Enjoy.

 In his editorial “What We Talk About When We Talk About Gamergate”, Internet editorialist, self ascribed relationship coach and love expert, and Online Personality Harris O'Malley, better known by his nom de plume Dr Nerdlove, aims to inform the reader on what he calls the true reason behind the online movement known as Gamergate. For those not in the know, Gamergate is a movement that calls for better ethical behavior in video game journalism, opposes collusion in the video game journalism industry, as well as the censorship of video games by outside parties, particularly feminists who are otherwise uninvolved in video games. Harris O'Malley, however, presents an alternative raison d'etre for this movement, which is mirred by the omission of some important details.

Literally Wu

Brianna Wu, known to Gamergate as Literally Wu, is a game developer who made that notorious game, Revolution 60, a game that's been panned by practically every user that's come across it (unless they were game journalists). Before Gamergate, she was a trust fund baby who never earned a thing in her life, never struggled, had everything handed to her on a silver platter (example: given 200 thousand dollars to start an animation company that went nowhere). She's the type of person any hard worker, that anyone who has ever had to work two shifts to pay for college, work the weekends to pay off a car loan, etc, would absolutely loathe. Before Gamergate, she was nobody.

Terrible Video Game Couples: John Rook and Arianna from don't take it personally babe, it just ain't your story

So this month I want to look at couples in video games. Why? Because it's the Month of Love, that's why. It's also Black History Month, and as much as I believe that looking at the way people of African descent have been presented in gaming is a far, far greater topic to discuss than lovey dovey couples, I didn't have the time to do the proper research, so lovey dovey couples it is. But where's the fun in seeing JUST happy couples? Why not look at couples who are just so damn WRONG for each other? And that's how we'll start this Month of Love, with a couple whose entire existence is simply wrong, wrong, wrong.

Between the Lines- Kalikori Village from Star Wars: The Old Republic

So you should know, I am officially addicted to BioWare's MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. I am not just a video game fan, I am also a Star Wars nerd, though I admit not enough of a nerd to bother with the Expanded Universe, as I simply don't have access to the novels, or comic books, etc. But still, I am a fan. Today, however, I want to explore a particular element in the game, a very, very specific setting. This is a look at Kalikori Village.

Kalikori Village is a tiny village located on the planet Tython, the beginner world for the Jedi classes that most players leave behind by the time they are levels 9 to 11. In gameplay terms, the village serves as a mission hub for players levels five to nine. This is the place where you can spend Planetary Commendations, a special type of currency that can only be obtained by passing missions or killing specific enemies, on special, top notch armor that serve you well until you reach about level 13. You can also buy regular weapons and armors, some medicines, and the village serves as a central hub for the planet, as it's a crossroad between the Jedi Temple, the Flesh Raider Territory (a place with weak enemies but lots of missions) and the Ruins of Kaleth (the second to last territory on Tython, and the home of the sole mission that requires more than one person to beat in the planet). 

But what concerns us is the Lore. Kalikori Village is a village of Twi'leks, a race of aliens from the planet Ryloth. The village was founded by several Twi'leks who fled Ryloth because of religious persecution, The Twi'leks petitioned the Galactic Republic to allow them to settle into the planet Tython, a beautiful world of lush greenery, tall mountains, and clean water. But the Republic refused to grant them this permission, because the planet itself was only just recently re-discovered. Tython, you see, was the birthplace of the Force Users, the people who used the Force. The planet was being used by the Jedi Order as their new Headquarters at the time, mostly because, unlike the Twi'leks, they could claim ancestry to the planet (the Jedi Order could trace its beginnings to the planet, after all). Regardless, the Twi'leks still landed on the planet and made their settlement, without the permission or the protection of the Republic.

A Twi'lek male. You can tell it's a male because female Twi'leks don't have ears, they have mounds on the side of their heads where ears would be. Males have ears, though. Image from Wookiepedia, originally uploaded by user Ruthles Xero.

My Thoughts on Jonathan McIntosh, his ilk, and Charlie Hebdo

Two days ago, I wrote a blog on Jonathan McIntosh's stance on the need for games that are "not fun". McIntosh, for those lucky enough to be unaware, is one of the writers for Feminist Frequency, an online video series that offers feminist critique of pop culture. The series has gotten some well deserved infamy for its poor research practices, it's misinformation (Krysta was not going to be the sole protagonist of Dinosaur Planet in spite of what the show claims, in Hitman the player is penalized for killing strippers, not rewarded, etc) it's plagiarism (it's been proven that the show has stolen Let's Play footage and artwork for its Tropes vs Women in Gaming series) among other claims. And I, of course, wrote about his right to say such idiocies. I may not agree with it, but he has the right to say it.

Yesterday, tragedy struck France. A group of Islamist fanatics attacked a newspaper's office, killing eleven people and injuring eleven more. Why? Because the newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, continuously runs (yes, I am using present tense) cartoons that can be seen as offensive to religious sensibilities. I have seen some of these cartoons, and in all honesty I can say I can see how anyone, be they Muslim or Christian, can be offended. I will not be pasting any images from Charlie Hebdo, because I try my best to keep this blog Safe for Work. That said, I do not approve of a cover with a cartoon of Muhammed (PBUH) saying "Either you die of laughter or you get 100 whip lashes!" Yes, I know it's in jest, but considering the realities of anti Muslim attitudes in not just France but all of Europe, I question whether the intention was to laugh at Muslims or to push buttons for the sake of pushing buttons. For those not in the know, Charlie Hebdo is a satirical French weekly newspaper,

You may be asking yourself, "what does this have to do with video games?" Well, it has a lot to do with the current cultural debate regarding video games. You have two camps: gamers who wish to play games and allow developers to develop what they want, and authoritarians that wish to limit what developers can do, all in the name of "progressiveness". You have people who complain about misogyny in gaming: they hate how female characters (allegedly) all have one of three roles (Damsel, fucktoy, background character), how they are designed with the male gaze in mind, how there's a shortage of female characters in gaming that are strong and independent, etc. These people call gaming "hostile towards women", and for that they come up with several campaigns to try and make it less so, among them being #1ReasonWhy, a Twitter campaign where several people in game developing gave the number 1 reason why there weren't many women developing games (ignoring the fact that there ARE plenty of women who not only develop games, but they are the heads of their own game companies, proving that there are no real obstacles to women getting into gaming.)

Just for Fun- Games that are Not Fun! Also A Special Message

So recently, our buddy Jonathan "Full" McIntosh, or Josh as we like to call him, called for games that were less fun. See, Josh sees "fun" as feeling powerful, and to him, feeling powerful is a big no no. So just for him, I made a little list of video game ideas that are by no stretch of the imagination "fun", but are instead highly artistic. The following are a collection of art games that I am 100% certain will have the Full McIntosh Seal of Approval!