tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7576679469486773332024-03-13T00:51:11.806-04:00A Porchful of GeezersBook reviews, things I'm writing, game reviews, and rambling. Just like grandma's!Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-4768672198413529112012-09-14T14:09:00.000-04:002012-09-14T14:09:10.434-04:00No "Weekend Flashback" this week. D=Sorry to say it, but there won't be a weekend flashback from me this week. My dog had surgery on Tuesday, and while he's recovering during this first week, taking care of him is more important than a blog segment on old games. Or any blogging at all, really.<br />
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For those interested in hearing why that'd be such a huge diversion to blogging, he had a torn ligament and got it fixed. He's home now, and on pain meds, but he needs post-op care like massages and prom (passive range of motion) exercises to keep bruising and trauma low and to help keep him comfortable. It's also got the added benefit of reducing his recovery time.<br />
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Things should go back to normal after this week. I should have things queued up, if nothing else, before the end of next week. I can't make any promises, though, because my dog is my literal best friend, and his health and safety come way before any blog could ever dream of.<br />
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Peace out, peeps, I'll be writing again soon.Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-52611663870774819622012-09-09T11:00:00.000-04:002012-09-09T11:00:02.461-04:00Girl Time! Review: John Frieda Precision Foam ColourOkay, the rumors are true. For those of you who keep gazing at my Blogger profile, wondering how I got my hair to be such a vibrant yellow, gaze and wonder no more: Yellow is not my natural hair color.<br />
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It's actually this awful golden brown, like perfectly done toast.<br />
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So, I dye it semi-regularly. Usually it's the golden blond of my childhood. Or of Thor, but mostly my childhood, and sometimes I deviate from that with the help of my awesome hairdresser.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gZ8yHDrOGQ6vQ78X73NLhnhn_VlzsGFNaJXX0g7JmdnCO_NmWNdvLSDBT_jdK5q6yf3Lw1tsCxnpckncFS4UA093IgxdftYV0UpipW5NrZ_AyErl-D3KAsQj8UPwh-PrTxvVsvt2NC4N/s1600/WP_001335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gZ8yHDrOGQ6vQ78X73NLhnhn_VlzsGFNaJXX0g7JmdnCO_NmWNdvLSDBT_jdK5q6yf3Lw1tsCxnpckncFS4UA093IgxdftYV0UpipW5NrZ_AyErl-D3KAsQj8UPwh-PrTxvVsvt2NC4N/s320/WP_001335.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The complete kit. Simple and easy.</td></tr>
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Today, I decided not to use my hairdresser for the first time in five years and dye it myself. The color I chose was Medium Burgundy from John Frieda's foam-based haircolor line.<br />
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"Foam?" I asked myself in the middle of the aisle whilst people milled around me. "How will this work, I wonder?" You have to remember, when I was dying my hair in high school, "foam" was not an option. It was a messy cream-based crap the got everywhere except in my hair and left huge undyed patches everywhere. Gross.<br />
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So I picked up this... "foam" and went about my merry way.<br />
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So, what's the point of this vignette? The point is this: HOLY CRAP I LOVE THIS FOAM HAIR DYE. WTF.<br />
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This stuff is so easy to use. I'm no stranger to hair dyes and hair dying supplies: I regularly dye my friends' hair all the time, I know my way around equipment. But this was so easy to use <i>by myself</i> that I was a little bit amazed. Foam doesn't get all over the place like the cream-based colors did. It's foam; it stays roughly where you put it. That's what I did with it, and it worked beautifully.<br />
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The other thing I really liked about the stuff? It covered all of my hair. My hair's long - it goes to the small of my back - and it's <i>thick</i>, to boot, so with cream based colors I was always getting two boxes of stuff. Not with this shit. I had extra in the container when I was done. That just doesn't happen! It was awesome.<br />
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And the results are amazing. I can't stress it enough. All the superlatives in the entire world are useless when describing my pleasure of having bought this. I'm sure that it would have been the same for any foam-based color, but this stuff is pretty. <i>And oh my god is it red or what? </i>I mean, really, the reds that I was looking at were like copper orange and strawberry blondes. But this is a really beautiful deep red.<i> Look at it</i>:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha48NzA1lHQXoUPq2Xr66SJpEYjMtLvzL8cE_Ge3xC0ynyvGmfWy3r4d82tPJyC6u8m4I-O6Ouu6zTc05ECKouABDGIs3AYLulsOVtJu4uUIM7dKFyLod8le1zg7aO8N5VTlzoCHtlUaFH/s1600/WP_001343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha48NzA1lHQXoUPq2Xr66SJpEYjMtLvzL8cE_Ge3xC0ynyvGmfWy3r4d82tPJyC6u8m4I-O6Ouu6zTc05ECKouABDGIs3AYLulsOVtJu4uUIM7dKFyLod8le1zg7aO8N5VTlzoCHtlUaFH/s320/WP_001343.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You're looking at the Color of Awesome, right there.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Yeah, that's me rockin' that new red. Oh man, so much better than that blonde I was just keeping around.<br />
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So, yeah, totes look at foam color next time you do your hair. And if you're looking for a red with depth, you can't go wrong with this stuff. It's pretty, it's vibrant, and it's really easy to use. It's a little more expensive ($11.99) than the L'Oreal or Herbal Essences dyes (which are both around $8.50 where I am,) but it really is worth it for its vibrant color and shine.<br />
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You can visit the John Frieda website <a href="http://www.johnfrieda.com/">here</a>.Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-53020562589434028522012-09-08T19:36:00.000-04:002012-09-08T19:57:45.029-04:00Weekend Flashback #5: Crash Bandicoot (PSO, 1996)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDBuwM5WSKfUKSxGKvT3c8rAj5csNGTfmcafU0EVDv7uEDm8Lih9UFojpYjtZt0_SRgfH4QAcPTg_4jBHsSdDlk-wxc2ecMrSMDlLlsyWS7owS0ht9_WQi8FgFZVomCZoPPyktlop8l8h/s1600/Crash+Bandicoot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDBuwM5WSKfUKSxGKvT3c8rAj5csNGTfmcafU0EVDv7uEDm8Lih9UFojpYjtZt0_SRgfH4QAcPTg_4jBHsSdDlk-wxc2ecMrSMDlLlsyWS7owS0ht9_WQi8FgFZVomCZoPPyktlop8l8h/s1600/Crash+Bandicoot.png" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Title:</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"> Crash Bandicoot</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Original Release Da</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><b>te:</b> </span><span style="line-height: 17.25px;">August 31, 1996</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Platform:</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"> Playstation </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">ESRB Rating: </b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">K-A (Current ESRB: E)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">Crash Bandicoot used to be fun. When Naughty Dog was still in charge of it, it was a fairly entertaining, albeit basic, action platformer. The characters were mostly memorable, the levels pretty, and the music good.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">Oh, wait, <i>Crash Bandicoot</i> was none of those things. Actually, it was exactly the opposite.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">Before all my other friends were having fun with <i>Spyro the Dragon</i>, I was busy hating myself with the original <i>Crash Bandicoot.</i> It was a decent enough platformer for its time, I suppose, but it hasn't aged well at all. The controls are buggy at best, the camera angles suck, and it varies wildly between being impossibly difficult and simply too easy to bear. And yet, when it came out, it was given generally positive reviews.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">But that was 1996. It's 2012 now, and that's the point. Trying to replay this was torturous at its worst and tedious at best. It's almost tough to believe that I ever had a good time with this game as a kid, especially enough to buy the later games in the series. Like I said above, the cameras are buggy now that I've grown accustomed to tight cameras, and the game's controls seem loose and unresponsive, which I believe was Dave's complaint about the game back when we first got it. This game introduces the major characters - Dr. Cortex, Aku Aku, Uka Uka, and Crash himself (obviously) - but they really came into their own in later games. The platforming isn't anything special and could actually be considered mediocre at best, even among platformers of its time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;">I'm almost surprised that this game was successful enough to spawn sequels at all. I'm not saying that I'm not glad: I am, because<span style="font-family: inherit;"> the series would later become one of my favorites, starting with <i>Crash Bandicoot 2: </i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Cortex Strikes Back. </i>The series got a rough start, but it vastly improved with later installments.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Verdict: </b>Unless you want a bout of nostalgia, skip it. Go for <i>Crash Bandicoot 2</i> instead.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><b>Notes:</b> <i>Crash Bandicoot</i> is available on PSN for both PS3 and PSP play.</span>Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-36479155649675333852012-09-03T10:30:00.000-04:002012-09-08T19:39:23.602-04:00Review: Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One (PS3)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRdCMccBjKJeljj9MUgnG5CJIe5wcuIgT8YRug1KXsbq8z0dG80L5dSqv7hwOTJbnW-fm-LV3fR0DptJA_WFAJ6PtZnhWgrznDH6sTfcaOPB6pwL-J1GtNRe82E6C7QkTUXNApk1BFzT7/s1600/All+4+One+box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRdCMccBjKJeljj9MUgnG5CJIe5wcuIgT8YRug1KXsbq8z0dG80L5dSqv7hwOTJbnW-fm-LV3fR0DptJA_WFAJ6PtZnhWgrznDH6sTfcaOPB6pwL-J1GtNRe82E6C7QkTUXNApk1BFzT7/s320/All+4+One+box.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
<b>Title:</b> Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One<br />
<b>System:</b> Playatation 3<br />
<b>ESRB Rating:</b> E 10+<br />
<b>Number of Players:</b> 1-4 player co-op, online capabilities<br />
<b>Buy It:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ratchet-Clank-All-One-Playstation-3/dp/B003O6E620/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345693204&sr=8-1&keywords=ratchet+and+clank+all+4+one">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.gamestop.com/ps3/games/ratchet-clank-all-4-one/84132">GameStop</a> |<br />
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By this point, everyone is sick of me talking incessantly about how much I love <i>Ratchet & Clank.</i> Well, call me honey badger because I don't care. I've been a fan of the <i>Ratchet and Clank</i> series since its launch in 2002. With each of the main games that came out, I liked the series even more. It was a mix of insanely bizarre weapons, an engaging story, completely loveable characters, and modern platforming (done right!) that drew me to the series in the first place. Even as the series evolved and moved onto the PS3, I still loved the series. I even enjoyed (thoroughly) the spinoffs <i>Size Matters </i>and <i>Secret Agent Clank</i>, despite their flaws.<br />
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So, despite the fan attack, I'm going to say this right out in the open, unashamed: I thoroughly enjoyed the shit out of <i>Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One</i>.<br />
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I know, I know. Fans of the series typically hated this game because it deviated from the <i>R&C </i>norm that we've come to expect from the series. But that was part of what really drew me to it: it was different than what I'd come to expect, and for the first time, I could play a game from this series with another person. Or, as luck would have it, a group of people. (I wasn't lucky enough to have anyone to play <i>Deadlocked</i> with me as a kid.)<br />
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The story isn't quite as deep as I've come to expect from a <i>Ratchet and Clank</i> game. We're greeted with a beautifully-rendered cutscene of Ratchet and Clank escorting Qwark to an awards ceremony that seems (to our titular heroes) to be a fishy. When they finally get to the podium that's been set up for Qwark, it's revealed that Nefarious is the villain behind the "ceremony," and our heroes prepare themselves for a Class-A beatdown. Unfortunately for Nefarious, he gets caught up in the chaos unleashed by his own plan <i>and </i>gets himself abandoned by Lawrence, leaving him to work with Qwark, Clank, and Ratchet. They all then get captured by the <i>real</i> threat, and the four of them have to work together while they await rescue from Cronk and Zephyr.<br />
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A lot of the complaints that I've read about the game talk about how it's not really a "co-op" game because you're working against your teammates as much as you're working with them. That's true, so my friends and I affectionately call these kinds of games "competitive co-op" games. It's the same kind of classification we give to <i>Castle Crashers</i>. As much as you'll be working with friends to complete puzzles and unlock doors, you'll be competing for bolts (the <i>R&C</i> universe's currency) and critters, cute little creatures that unlock bonus puzzles. If your friends are already competitive by nature, then this is already right up your alley. The winner at the end of the round gets a bonus in bolts, and every character gets a title after the battle. (For example, if you collected the most bolts, you'd be the Bolt Master, whereas if you died the most, you'd get the title Noob.)<br />
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One of my biggest qualms with the game doesn't lie in the "co-op vs. not co-op" debate, but in the fact that you can't level up your weapons like fans have grown accustomed to over the course of the series. You have to buy your upgrades instead of earning them, and sometimes, the upgrades really don't feel worth the bolts I have to pour into them. The other is that, while you can play the game by yourself, the AI that you get paired up with isn't always smart enough to get the hint. Sometimes, it gets caught and runs itself into circles while driving the player character crazy.<br />
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Other times, working with other players isn't much better. The range for working on the level is very narrow, making it frustrating for someone in the party to go back and get something when everyone else is trying to move forward. Other times, someone's clumsiness causes everyone else to commit mass party-suicide when they slip off of a hookshot point or when they pull someone off the edge while they try to tether forward to the rest of the party. And on grind rail levels, try to make sure whoever is playing as Quark stays in the back, because he's almost impossible to see around. The other characters - even Nefarious, despite his height - are narrow and easy to see past, but Quark is a wall of body mass. Most of these things are overlooked, though, while we're busy laughing at each other for being so unbelievably stupid. (Not that thing about Quark, though, we all really hate that guy.)<br />
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The weapons system is difficult at times, as well, especially when not working with the AI. Players can choose which of their weapons to use, and while that's great most of the time, damage bonuses are awarded when two or more players use the same weapon against an enemy. Many times - especially against bosses - that damage bonus is the deciding factor between winning the battle and resurrecting your friends. But unless you and your teammates are really good at guessing each other's movements and weapon preferences, it's easy to get caught up in using nothing but your blaster. That's a shame, because some of the other weapons (I'm looking pointedly at the Frost Cannon and Warmonger, here) are absolutely devastating against enemies when used wisely, and become indispensable later in the game.<br />
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Overall, the game isn't as bad as some members of the fanbase want you to think it is. It's entirely too short (we've blown through the entire story in an afternoon) and some of the things we have to go through don't feel worth it for the payout, but we've each found a character we love using and when we don't have anything better to do, we automatically default onto <i>All 4 One.</i> If you've liked the rest of the games in the series, but you'd like a multiplayer option, then you really can do worse than this game.<br />
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<b>Bottom Line:</b> Certainly co-op, but competitive co-op. Awkward camera angles and character sizes make some levels really difficult, but overall not a bad experience.<br />
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<b>Final Score:</b> 8/10</div>
Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-76285449225025267172012-09-01T11:30:00.000-04:002012-09-08T19:40:16.041-04:00Weekend Flashback #4: Paper Mario (N64, 2001)<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Title:</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"> Paper Mario</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Original Release Da</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><b>te:</b> </span><span style="line-height: 17.25px;">February 5, 2001</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Platform:</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"> Nintendo 64 </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">ESRB Rating: </b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">E</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Ever encounter a game that you picked up for no other reason than because the art was unusual? I think we've all done it at one time or another. (My most recent encounter with this was <i>The World Ends With You</i>, for example.) That's what I did with the original <i>Paper Mario</i>. I wasn't really into most of the titles in the <i>Mario</i> franchise as a kid; I'd play them if they were there, but they were far from my first choice. So everyone was a little shocked when I picked this title up as a kid.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">I didn't finish this game the first time I played through it. I got stuck on the final fight with Bowser, got frustrated, and gave up entirely. I remember doing that, and my own save file on the N64 cartridge confirmed it. So, instead of picking it up from where I left off, I played through it again. Completely, all the way through. Then I bought it from the Virtual Console store on the Wii and played it through <i>again</i> to see how it stacked up against the original version. Two playthroughs in about a week and a half, and I still wanted more.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Needless to say, I'm pleased all the way around.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">There's something about this title that makes it truly timeless. The graphics hold up, the music is just as fun and bubbly as I always remembered it being, the worlds Mario travels through are still beautiful, and the partners he picks up are still wonderfully characterized and different. This game is still so amazing and fun to play that I honestly believe it should be in everyone's Nintendo library, and that's not something I say often. The other entries in the <i>Paper Mario</i> franchise are all okay, but none of them seem to live up to the standard that this one set. In terms of accessibility, anyone can play it. My nieces had a blast playing through it, as did Dave. This is one of those rare titles that, no matter what your experience level is with gaming, you can pick up and play like a pro in just a few short scenes. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">The story isn't fast-paced, per se, but it does flow very well and move fairly constantly. There's not really a lot of idle time for Mario and his friends, but it never feels like you're being rushed. There's always something to see, do, and find in every level that makes going back really rewarding (and trust me, I'm still not at 100% with my files.) Leveling up my partners is still a bit of a challenge - you don't level them up with experience, you do it by finding ultra blocks - and I spend quite a bit of time just wandering around looking for them. I know there's walkthroughs out there, I even have the original guidebook in my room, but finding them myself is half the fun. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">As for the Virtual Console version, it's been left, for the most part, untouched. Most of the controls are the same, save for commands that use the "Z" button. (On the Gamecube controller, which is what I use to play Virtual Console games on, you use the "R" button.) The game is smooth and clear on the Wii, and doesn't leave remnants if you're using a standard-def Wii on an HDTV. Overall, an enjoyable experience.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><b>Verdict:</b> No one should miss the original <i>Paper Mario</i>. It's a game that none of its sequels have matched in story, gameplay, or charm. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><b>Notes:</b> As I mentioned above, this title is available on the Wii as a re-release for 1000 Wii Points. ($10)</span></span>Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-2568724060461025452012-08-27T11:00:00.000-04:002012-08-27T11:00:12.633-04:00Series Recap: Deadpool Kills the Marvel UniverseSo, there are no more Wednesdays in August, and that meas that the Marvel limited series <i>Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe </i>has come to an end. For those of you who read my review of issue #1, you'll notice that I didn't write anything about issues 2-4. Because this was a limited series, and because I didn't want to spoil anything for anybody, I decided to keep my mouth blissfully shut until the series had come to an end and talk about the series as a whole instead of issue-by-issue.<br />
<br />
<b>FOR MY READERS THAT HAVE NOT READ THE SERIES:</b> <u><span style="color: red;">This post contains spoilers.</span></u> That's what the jump is for! If you intend on reading this series, and don't want important details about it ruined for you, DO NOT read this post! For everyone else, the post continues after the jump!<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Overall, I was mostly pleased with the series. I'll get to what I didn't like later. <i>DKtMU</i> was as fast paced as I was hoping it would be, keeping me turning pages and begging for more. Waiting a week between releases was almost torturous. The art was gritty and matched the tone of the story quite well.<br />
<br />
Part of what I liked best (other than that it was blissfully short) was that there were a few genuinely funny dark moments. (See: issue two, with Howard the Duck.) Other moments actually made me chuckle out loud. (Thor is a great example of this, as is Wade's short exchange with Wolverine.) The series is truly dark humor done properly, and Deadpool is in his element the entire time. This is honestly Deadpool as he was meant to be. Even when longtime frenemy of Deadpool, Taskmaster was sent in at the end of issue three, I was enjoying where the series was going.<br />
<br />
That being said, I was disappointed with the ending.<span style="background-color: white;"> And it's not because Tasky bit it, either. It's because the end - the <i>very last few pages</i> - seemed almost like a cop-out. Yeah, yeah, I get it. The whole point was to destroy the <i>entire</i> universe, so it (technically) made sense that 'Pool would attack the writers themselves and leave his final words pointed directly at the reader. But if Taskmaster understood what was going on, and it was made clear that he did when he was talking with Deadpool, I feel that he really could have had a more important role in the story that would have been far more interesting and <i>still </i>have been finished in those last six or so pages.</span><br />
<br />
<i>Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe</i><span style="background-color: white;"> is out, in its entirety, as we speak. You can pick it up at any comic store. To find one near you, check out </span><a href="http://www.comicshoplocator.com/">comicshoplocator.com</a><span style="background-color: white;">.</span>Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-7312073139907426882012-08-25T12:00:00.000-04:002012-09-08T19:42:39.327-04:00Weekend Flashback #3 - Pokemon Snap (1999, N64)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMCP22f5W7Sh-MqlVXN46uCX9SxzYx-_mlLxahSQqq02BuXNDCZDX-IM4o9W1hcfFR5JtfLvNTVWTU9I06OkadqIGqXhDgnwAJEpphxZwhN0xRf_ApZgxQBEMxl13ANTt5eIXG2ASS7K3/s1600/Flashback_Snap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMCP22f5W7Sh-MqlVXN46uCX9SxzYx-_mlLxahSQqq02BuXNDCZDX-IM4o9W1hcfFR5JtfLvNTVWTU9I06OkadqIGqXhDgnwAJEpphxZwhN0xRf_ApZgxQBEMxl13ANTt5eIXG2ASS7K3/s320/Flashback_Snap.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Title:</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"> Pokemon Snap</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Original Release Da</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><b>te:</b> </span><span style="line-height: 17.25px;">June 30, 1999</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Platform:</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"> Nintendo 64</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">ESRB Rating: </b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">E</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">One of the fastest ways to shut me up as a kid was to slap a Pokemon game in front of me. Something about the mix of turn-based combat and its simple - yet very broad - storyline kept my interest for literal hours on end. <i>Pokemon Snap</i> was the series' first spinoff game for a home console, and though it was extremely short, I remember it being incredibly fun.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">You play as a Pokemon photographer named Todd whose job is to... well, capture pictures of Pokemon. You team up with Professor Oak, who needs help with a scientific project on an island where Pokemon live fairly undisturbed by humans. The island in the game is home to a lot of different geographic regions, which makes it an ideal place to go to research all sorts of Pokemon. </span></span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Over the course of the game, Oak will rate your photos on a point system and puts them into an album that you can </span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">reference</span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"> back again later. That's about as complex as the story gets.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The game starts with one stage, and as you progress through, you unlock more by meeting certain conditions or figuring out how to unlock the stages yourself. You'll also get a few nifty items, like a Pokeflute and pester balls, which will allow certain Pokemon to come out of hiding, do something special, or both. You'll also get bait to lure Pokemon out into the open. How you use these items is entirely up to you, and I'll get to that in a minute.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">See, I remember this game as being fairly long. My younger cousin and I spent months playing it. Literal months. We could compete to get the best picture scores, spend hours trying to find all the different Pokemon and framing the best shot, use a complex trial-and-error system to get all the special Pokemon. It seemed like every time we thought we were done, we would discover something new.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">So, how does it feel thirteen years later? Well, it feels...</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">...it feels stagnant, unfortunately. See, I remember this game being really long and really complex and having a lot of hours poured into it, but when my friend Nikki and I played it together while we were revisiting it, I knew how to get everything. Every new stage, every hidden Pokemon, every nuance behind getting the "perfect shot." I remembered it all. It took a lot of the excitement and fun out of the game for me. Nikki, on the other hand, had a lot of fun playing it, and once I was able to turn my brain off, I enjoyed myself as well.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The "fun component" that I always seem to be talking about is severely lacking here, though, as far as following the story goes. While both <i>Crash Team Racing</i> and <i>Ratchet and Clank</i> feel timeless, <i>Pokemon Snap </i>feels tedious and tired. And <i>oh my God the music. </i>May God himself have mercy on your soul when you replay this game. As Dave pointed out, the music is tedious, tired, repetitive, and just plain awful. It did <i>not</i>, by any means, age well. Even <i>CTR</i>, which came out in the same year, had better music behind it than this. My great grandmother's <i>funeral </i>had better music behind it than this.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The part that <i>was </i>fun, though, wasn't the game itself, but the results screen when we were done taking pictures. See, now that Nikki and I are older, we pick up on certain things that we didn't notice then.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgh7dYRFlxQjeV2IHekUpqpxqEF1waUmKCDK8l2VdEAZO0a8wW0hiyj60FmXt7aVvRodzuG_IQ7bDZCk__BzsmREaAXG0-_WUqQ5YG6pceEvKLg2d8dZnNTdm9x7tHjK1w3S3WGRpV9nsi/s1600/perv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgh7dYRFlxQjeV2IHekUpqpxqEF1waUmKCDK8l2VdEAZO0a8wW0hiyj60FmXt7aVvRodzuG_IQ7bDZCk__BzsmREaAXG0-_WUqQ5YG6pceEvKLg2d8dZnNTdm9x7tHjK1w3S3WGRpV9nsi/s320/perv.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like what a pervert Professor Oak really is.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYar_mXnNXTxK0I3tYaFJa82v3ld9ddBfU9ANb9wZMKvjG5pZu0AYp1QuwJlcUAaN8ar4ycnj6-77_WA_AXFZeVVZjKwgRyHLqsKJ3F4Tom1ABZFxDGMmi04nBNBMLXLosG1k_IoYQa30/s1600/guess+what.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYar_mXnNXTxK0I3tYaFJa82v3ld9ddBfU9ANb9wZMKvjG5pZu0AYp1QuwJlcUAaN8ar4ycnj6-77_WA_AXFZeVVZjKwgRyHLqsKJ3F4Tom1ABZFxDGMmi04nBNBMLXLosG1k_IoYQa30/s200/guess+what.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We didn't alter this at all. This really happened in-game.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Seriously, we took a lot of oddball pictures, and soon the game wasn't about taking the </span><i style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">best</i><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"> picture, it was taking the strangest, most effed up pictures we could manage within the one stage and sixty pictures we were allotted. We had more fun pelting Pikachu with bait and making Electabuzz fall flat on his face than we did trying to get Snorlax to wake the hell up. We tormented poor Meowth by making him fall off his platform, then worsened the blow by whacking him relentlessly with pester balls. We bounced apples off of a herd of Charmanders' heads to see them cringe, then laughed and made fun of them as they roared at us in their cute little Charmander voices. We knocked Charmeleon into a vat of lava, not to see him evolve, but because we could knock him into a vat of lava. We made two Magmar fight each other just to see one get knocked out.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7brxfBRyT56AWZS5Vb4ZG6XBRgXplirUE4LkVZMBSUZszOL9AdHyNrpkIXNOGaRdy-tFqyQqqQ_veHUKgE3OBrCFclEtzW05ZbU73HgQE9r3h4c0KN_AEJ3QUFtbXf5t7dHEuwCYVQmwL/s1600/apples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7brxfBRyT56AWZS5Vb4ZG6XBRgXplirUE4LkVZMBSUZszOL9AdHyNrpkIXNOGaRdy-tFqyQqqQ_veHUKgE3OBrCFclEtzW05ZbU73HgQE9r3h4c0KN_AEJ3QUFtbXf5t7dHEuwCYVQmwL/s200/apples.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one was more a victim of <br />
circumstance. Still comedy gold,<br />
though.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">We did countless other things to these poor, friendly Pokemon that would make PETA shit their pants in horror. And we did it because we could, and because the option was there.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">And, really, what more fun is there than that in this universe?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>Verdict:</b> Taking the perfect picture of a Pokemon isn't fun. Having Professor Oak laugh at fainted Pokemon <i>is.</i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>Notes:</b> If you want to relive <i>Snap</i> and have your own hours of hilarity, you can purchase this title again in the Wii's Virtual Console store for 1000 Wii Points (or, you know, ten dolla holla in real money.)</span></span>Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-23529484148280450212012-08-24T17:21:00.000-04:002012-08-24T17:22:36.556-04:00Hey, look!In case you were wondering, I've set up two new tabs for easier blog browsing. They're the "Weekend Flashback" and "Game Review" tabs listed at the top of the page, and will be continually updated as I post new reviews!<br />
<br />
Happy reading!Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-66461606394564635882012-08-23T13:47:00.000-04:002012-08-23T13:47:36.016-04:00Rant: It's not even here yet, but I hate Marvel Now! and everything in it.I mentioned this in my last post, and I'll say it again: <i>I am not, in any way at all, looking forward to Marvel Now! to happen. </i>I think it's a stupid idea, and my friend, co-writer, and fellow blogger Leena agrees with me wholeheartedly. After a lot of thought, I've decide that I'll share the list with you about why we're not feeling this brand-ass new revision of the Marvel 'verse. I'll start with what we've heard, in italics, then we'll post our rebuttal.<br />
<br />
We're not trying to make enemies, here, Internet, so calm yo' tits. We're just trying to figure out why everyone's so excited for what boils down to a half-imagined, half-baked universe do-over.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><i>Shut up, it's not a reboot.</i><br />No, <i>you</i> shut up, because it's a very well-disguised reboot. After the "aftermath" of <i>Avengers vs. X-Men, </i>Marvel is just going to decide to cancel everyone's current comic run and blend them together? That's not how this industry is supposed to work. Comics are supposed to be a carying group of topics and characters doing their own things. Constant universe retconning and cannon changing isn't going to keep the readership nailed down. Marvel is doing the same damn thing that DC's New 52! is doing.<br />And you know what? The New 52 is <i>tanking.</i> Should Marvel really be following in those footsteps?</li>
<li><i>It's easier to keep everything in one universe!</i><br />This is an argument that I find stupid every time it comes up. If everything in the Marvel 'verse fits together like a puzzle, it's going to get really complicated really fast. (Ha, like it isn't already.) It's bad enough that everyone shows up in everyone else's books all the time already; we don't need to make it a constant thing. Marvel Now! feels like it's trying too hard to make everyone work together and play nice. We don't need Captain America to have another reboot, for example. He's only at #19 of his current series. Why does he need another one so soon? Not everything that can be done has been touched on in his current story; should it really be abandoned for a high-reaching idea that's ultimately going to tank?</li>
<li><i>Uncanny Avengers, you guys!</i><br />No. I get the idea behind it: In a world where the Avengers and the X-Men want to work together after working against each other, a title like <i>Uncanny Avengers</i> makes sense. But how long do we, as comic fans, keep biting at this? How many times do we have to suffer through a "groundbreaking" limited series before we stop caring? The answer, apparently, is every year. We just <strike>suffered though</strike> read the events of <i>Fear Itself</i> a year ago. A huge epic every year feels forced and tired, and isn't something that's going to keep readership going for very long.<br />This pulls me into <i>Uncanny Avengers</i>. Yeah, it's cool that this is the first title that really meshes the Avengers and the X-Men into one title. Great. But does either team <i>really</i> need another book that bad? I'm getting a little sick of seeing Wolverine, Cap, and Iron Man everywhere I go. I get that they're some of the biggest names in Marvel's catalog, but Jesus Christ, can't there be a team without them? The Marvel Universe has plenty of secondary characters who are just as powerful as their A-list counterparts, why doesn't anyone take a gamble on any of them?</li>
<li><i>It's more accessible to new readers.</i><br />How? If no one is going to screw with anyone's current canon, wouldn't that make it tougher for a reader to jump right in? I'll use an example in the form of my friends: Many of them only know Marvel characters through the movies. They <i>only</i> know Iron Man the way that Robert Downey Jr. portrays him. they <i>only</i> know Captain America from the movies. They were genuinely confused by the Hulk in <i>Marvel's The Avengers</i> because "who's that green guy?" They had never seen him before. Sure, they knew the name, but they knew nothing of his character. When one of my friends decided that she was going to give comics an honest shot, she quickly found herself lost.<br />"I don't get it, these characters have too much backstory for me to catch up on," is exactly what she told me. That's an honest answer, and verbally giving her a rundown of the character seemed to help, but does it really? Will Marvel Now! really make it easier for someone who's been interested in, say, Thor to pick up the Marvel Now! issues and not be the least bit confused by what they're reading? There's no way to make a long-running character like Thor, Cap, and Iron Man easily accessible to a new reader. The new reader has to want to jump right in and just let the issue fill in the blanks. I don't think Marvel Now! is going to be able to do that. I don't think that rebooting - because that's what this is doing to everyone - is going to give newcomers an honest shot at getting involved with comic characters. I think that longstanding, popular characters are going to become more confusing and alien to new readers, especially those who just know these beloved heroes from their movies. Canon on top of canon on top of retcon doesn't make for an easygoing character experience. It makes for a headache.</li>
</ol>
<div>
If you haven't heard about Marvel Now! before this, and you'd like to do more reading about it, I suggest that you start by checking out <a href="http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=40467">CBR's complete rundown</a>, then heading on over to <a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/22/the-new-state-of-the-marvel-universe">IGN</a>. If you'd like to do even more reading on the topic, head on over to <a href="http://www.newsarama.com/comics/marvel-now-revamp-what-we-know-so-far.html">Newsarama</a> and <a href="http://screenrant.com/marvel-comics-now-uncanny-xmen-avengers-kofi-184503/">ScreenRant</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The first issues of Marvel Now! titles hit shelves in October 2012.</div>
Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-79203311185809392152012-08-22T17:00:00.000-04:002012-08-22T18:40:32.709-04:00Oh, man, here it comes.You knew it was going to happen. My writing is about to become horribly inconsistent.<br />
<br />
What? But Lynnafred, you've been writing on a semi-regular basis! You even have a weekly feature you haven't screwed us over on, yet! You cry, because you're honestly distraught by the news.<br />
<br />
It's okay, dear reader. I feel your pain. But that's why I'm coming here to talk to you. I want you to know what I've been doing, and what you can expect in the coming weeks.<br />
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See, a lot of things are coming out in the next few weeks for me. I just finished reading <i>Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe </i>and I intend on writing about the series as a whole since <a href="http://porchful-of-geezers.blogspot.com/2012/08/review-deadpool-kills-marvel-universe.html">I talked about issue #1</a> in the beginning of the month<i>.</i> <i>The Ratchet & Clank Collection</i> comes out in literally six days, and I can't wait to give you my impression on that. I'm already working on the Weekend Flashback for <i>three weeks from now</i>, and it's taking me a lot longer to go through than originally intended. I'm also reading some books that I'm excited to talk about - because they're good! I'm writing short stories and looking for a publisher because that's my major. I'm looking to turn that Associate's in Arts into a Bachelor's. I'm also playing games that I hate and want to share with you, putting off games I just bought because I can't find time to write about them, and talking with my awesome friend <a href="https://plus.google.com/106971306523620066966">Leena Lee Lecroix</a> of the newly-founded <a href="http://the-animehub.blogspot.com/">Anime Overload</a> about how much we're not looking forward to Marvel Comics' launch of the new Marvel Now! line. (And I have to post a rant/topic about that later, for the entire Internet to hate and disagree with me on.)<br />
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I've been doing a lot, and I've been doing it for <i>you</i>, all three of you who subscribe to this thing that I'm doing. Because I secretly hate you and want you to suffer through my lousy entertainment writing as much as I have to suffer through writing it. Just kidding, I love writing about entertainment, and I love you.<br />
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So bear with me if I get quiet. I have a lot to say, I just need to finish getting it all together to talk about first. If nothing else, you'll have a bunch of Weekend Flashbacks to read and regret your prior life choices. You're welcome.Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-52912163385197046162012-08-18T17:00:00.000-04:002012-09-08T19:43:30.753-04:00Weekend Flashback #2 - Crash Team Racing (1999, PSOne)<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Title:</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"> Crash Team Racing</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvNKpMmhOqfRGEmr3xcDo87YLyYTeD4VwOczmU1ph4BGeQxU6eJH6a15rMbotogftNC98TEXZoo2uDMmZn1UKZnQq4pWvjuudx_KlIEhzffe9PLMow0brK66eSULo-I9HR4E9e2rbEthr/s1600/CTR.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvNKpMmhOqfRGEmr3xcDo87YLyYTeD4VwOczmU1ph4BGeQxU6eJH6a15rMbotogftNC98TEXZoo2uDMmZn1UKZnQq4pWvjuudx_KlIEhzffe9PLMow0brK66eSULo-I9HR4E9e2rbEthr/s1600/CTR.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Original Release Da</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><b>te:</b> </span><span style="line-height: 17.25px;">September 30, 1999</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Platform:</b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"> Playstation</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">ESRB Rating: </b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">E</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Remember when the <i>Crash Bandicoot</i> series was fun? Yeah, me too, and let me guarantee you that it had everything to do with its developer, Naughty Dog. The proof for that became clear as soon as they stopped developing the games themselves and the franchise got passed around from developer to developer like a hooker at a frat party. The quality and overall playability of the games went downhill pretty steadily until finally I just gave up hope entirely.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">When I bought this game, it came in a three-pack "Collector's Edition" of Crash Bandicoot titles. Those titles were <i>Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Crash Team Racing, </i>and <i>Crash Bash</i>. Out of the three games that the collector's edition box I bought, the only two I still have are <i>CB:W</i> and <i>CTR.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Care to guess what the only one I still play is?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">That's right, <i>CTR.</i> The game is so simple, yet so undeniably <i>fun</i> that it almost should be criminal. Dave and I spent a good year playing through the story, doing all the time trials, gathering crystals, and playing against one another for no benefit or prize other than "we can." Even now, I'm the only one out of the two of us to have a perfect 100% completion in the game. But I'm not the only one who still plays it. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Just a couple of days ago, my friend Nicole and I sat down with nothing better to do than play a good time-wasting game. We mutually picked out CTR because we remembered how fun it was. Hoping that it wasn't just a case of rose-colored glasses, we popped it into my PSOne and away we went.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><i>Crash Team Racing</i> is another example of a timeless, fun game, as far as playa<span style="font-family: inherit;">bility goes. This game is as easy to pick up and play now as it was when it came out in '99. The music is a little dated, and the graphics are much more angular than anything we'd see today outside of catching a Porygon in Pokemon. But there are no game-breaking bugs, no annoying clipping errors or awkward camera angles to speak of. There's just the ability to beat another friend in a race and some infuriatingly difficult boss races in story mode.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Verdict: </b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Still incredibly fun after all these years, even though the music, sound effects, and visuals haven't aged very well. Worth a play for story mode alone, but it's more fun with other people.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><b>Notes:</b> You can purchase the game on PSN if you want to relive the experience on your PS3. The original game also plays really well on the PS2 without problem.</span></span>Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-83677050647372777352012-08-16T13:00:00.000-04:002012-08-16T13:00:05.401-04:00Topic: Video Game OSTsYou know what I love? Video game music. So it really curls my figurative tail when people insist to me that it doesn't matter, that it's a trivial part of a game. I feel that video game soundtracks are a versatile medium that, like classical music, is capable of conveying a lot of different emotions all in one piece.<br />
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That seems like a really bold claim, but hear me out before ripping me a new one. Music by itself is an art medium that transcends a lot of barriers: time, language, age, you name it. Anyone can feel the emotion in an opera, even if they don't speak Italian, for example. The same thing can be said for a video game soundtrack. Even listened to out of order, even if the listener has no idea about the setting, theme, or feeling of the game, they can guess by listening to its soundtrack.<br />
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<a href="http://youtu.be/lrsy9t94nvg">Take this</a>, for example. It's a piece from Namco's <i>Tales of Symphonia. </i>It's a specific character's theme. To be exact, it's the theme of Zelos Wilder, one of the party members that you pick up along your journey. Let's jot down a couple things we notice about his theme as we listen to it:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>It's got a fast tempo. It's upbeat.</li>
<li>It's a major chord. It sounds happy. Listening to it, in turn, makes you feel happy.</li>
<li>We can pick out a couple of instruments in there. Steel drums and ukuleles are two of the first things that we hear. Both of those instruments are associated with laid back attitudes.</li>
<li>The song isn't all that serious sounding; it's lighthearted and almost fun.</li>
</ol>
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So, if we had to guess anything about this character, it'd be what we learned just from listening to the theme here. He must be a laid back, upbeat, cheery kind of character. He must be someone who can keep the group going even when the going gets rough, right?</div>
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<div>
Okay, that was a fun exercise. Now, <a href="http://youtu.be/peItTotmpzg">let's listen to that again, with a little change</a>.</div>
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<div>
What do you notice now? It's the same song. It's for the same character, from the same game. But its presentation is completely different. Let's name the ways.</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>It's very slow. It's down tempo.</li>
<li>It's still a major chord, but played with a harmony in minor. Minor harmonies and chords are indicative of feeling sad. This song is no exception.</li>
<li>We can still pick out a couple of instruments here. One of them seems to be a guitar. Another appears to be a cello. The brass is synthesized, but we can tell that it's supposed to be a brass section, and we can hear some bells. Together, they paint a picture of sadness.</li>
</ol>
<div>
The tempo and the choices of instruments are important; they let us know what we're supposed to feel. The song itself can reveal more about the story, or the point in the plot, than any amount of dialogue or animation can. Most importantly, the music can tell a person who's never even played the game before that something happens to this character, or that this character does something that is going to make us feel something. It has to, or the change in song wouldn't be there.</div>
</div>
<div>
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<div>
Music in video games can tell us a lot about the environment of a specific place, too, not just about character. Let's move away from JRPGs and move onto a western game. (As in, a game made in the west, not a game about gun-slinging and horseback riding.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://youtu.be/Gs2axjnJUbM">Let's use <i>Assassin's Creed 2</i> for an example.</a> This is the theme for Venice Rooftops. It's atmospheric, and sets the mood perfectly for a few key points in the game. We can tell that it's evocative of being in the air, or at least off the ground. It's flighty, in a way, and has an almost uplifting feel to it. But it's rooted in the sense of urgency that it carries in its undertones. Even with the desperation that's present, it carries a push to it that makes you keep wanting to move forward. It's the perfect song to set the mood for a game like <i>AC2, </i>because even though you'd like to explore what's probably the best virtual recreation of Renaissance Italy, you still have to be careful and keep your head down. By this point in the game, you're a wanted man. The music alone is able to remind you of this while seldom letting you know with words how important it is that you be careful. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The entire soundtrack is like that. Hauntingly beautiful, awe-inspiring even though it carries a heavy weight within its notes.That's important in a game, especially one with as much atmosphere as <i>Assassin's Creed. </i>Trying to convey all those emotions with only words would be tiring. Music hits a resonance with us on a primal, almost subconscious level. Effective music is as important for setting moods and making us feel things as connecting with characters and an interest in a story. Everyone has that <i>one</i> song that they can't listen to without tearing up. (Admit it, you do.) </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Why? Because it <i>resonates</i>. Music is able to intertwine with our emotions in a way other art forms - written words, acted events, painted scenes - can't always connect with us. It's why we can feel the sadness in Zelos' theme up there but we can't always feel sad for Aunt Bertha when she sends us her monthly letter from prison. Maybe if she composed some sort of concerto, we'd be able to feel bad for her.</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
Try playing a video game with no soundtrack sometime. Just go into options and turn off your background music but leave your sound effects and voiceovers on. See how invested you are in the story then. I can almost ensure that you'll think that there's something missing. You'd be right, because a good chunk of the story can only be found while you're listening to the music, even if you don't notice it consciously. </div>
<div>
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Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-4654635716069503502012-08-11T18:35:00.000-04:002012-09-08T19:44:07.478-04:00Weekend Flashback #1 - Ratchet and Clank (2002, PS2)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAq5efQaSODp-wUhs8ST7DAVdu9zluTRWEd8yOgYgnSWFEa_ko4AniQC2yzQpXSIPMIqsNubM8eW5-QzTt4NEzaYsvbmcNgBOWgkjjh-EkTeIs8jToZnSH8SbWBLa6VtVguAzo4tdArGm/s1600/Flashback_Ratchet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghAq5efQaSODp-wUhs8ST7DAVdu9zluTRWEd8yOgYgnSWFEa_ko4AniQC2yzQpXSIPMIqsNubM8eW5-QzTt4NEzaYsvbmcNgBOWgkjjh-EkTeIs8jToZnSH8SbWBLa6VtVguAzo4tdArGm/s320/Flashback_Ratchet.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<b>Title:</b> Ratchet and Clank<br />
<b>Original Release Da</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>te:</b> <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">November 4, 2002</span></span><br />
<b>Platform:</b> Playstation 2<br />
<b>ESRB Rating:</b> T<br />
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There's a couple of reasons why I've decided to choose <i>Ratchet and Clank </i> as the first "Weekend Flashback" installment. First off, it's because this year is the franchise's tenth anniversary. (Oh my god, I'm so old.) Second of all, it's because the <i>Ratchet and Clank Collection</i> is coming out later this year, and it's a re-release of the first three games in the series in pretty high-def. (I've included a link to preorder it at the end of this post.) I'm just not patient enough to wait until then to play <i>R&C</i> again. I'm like Veruca Salt; I want it now.<br />
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So, I reached into the handy gaming cabinet and got it.<br />
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I have a lot of fond memories of playing this game with Dave when it came out. Parts of it were frustratingly difficult, and others I breezed right through. There were moments that I would eventually give up on and actually have him complete for me because I was sick of spending days stuck on the same planet and watching him progress way ahead of me. To me, this is the perfect game to revisit first because of both its anniversary and because of the memories that it evokes.<br />
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And the greatest thing about this game, I think, is that it's aged fairly well. It's definitely cruder than the pretty <i>R&C: Future</i> installments we've grown used to seeing, but it doesn't - by any means - look outdated, old, or poor. Even being played on my PS2, on the family's flat-screen HDTV, the game looks nice. I've seen modern Wii games that look worse than this does.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeRmGhLua1_fg66OYd1TIUWukGXYZJOdBkWsp0K7kwKlaXOZrRkstTVBcC6zUDRUNPgnD9rOPZkYS-GU3mgrhUelAWzaDjvLC451qr81r0gL7JeO2Z9pom6NkXo0GXbBE8VCuVTdEezDm/s1600/flashback_Ratchet+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeRmGhLua1_fg66OYd1TIUWukGXYZJOdBkWsp0K7kwKlaXOZrRkstTVBcC6zUDRUNPgnD9rOPZkYS-GU3mgrhUelAWzaDjvLC451qr81r0gL7JeO2Z9pom6NkXo0GXbBE8VCuVTdEezDm/s320/flashback_Ratchet+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Though that might just say something about the Wii.</span>
</td></tr>
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<br />
And the gameplay, while sometimes more irritating than I remember it being, also isn't <i>bad</i>. It's mostly being used to tighter gameplay mechanics than the PS2 could really offer ten years ago. The rest of it is just being used to the way the series works <i>now</i> and forgetting how it worked when I was thirteen. It's sometimes tough to get my jumps timed right from platform to platform or over a long distance. That's gameplay mechanics. But the rest of it is me trying to shoot with the R1 button instead of the circle and getting my ass unfortunately handed to me. It's led to a lot of laughing and good-natured swearing between both my father and myself as we tried to play through the game, recalling the places that gave us a hard time ten years ago.<br />
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I did happen to notice a couple things now (probably because I'm older) than I did then. The biggest one, for me, was how completely obnoxious Ratchet is. In later games, namely the <i>Future</i> arc, he took more to the battle-weary hero archetype. In <i>R&C,</i> I found him to be selfish and childish, and found myself fairly short-tempered at his attitude - the constant backtalking, his needless overuse of snark - and honestly couldn't wait for him to shut up. After the original <i>R&C,</i> he was much more likable, more "mature" I guess, and it's his current personae that I attribute with today's Ratchet. If he'd stayed the same from this game to the next onee, I can't imagine the series being nearly as successful.<br />
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<b>Verdict:</b> Overall, the original <i>Ratchet and Clank,</i> the one that started it all, is still a solid game. It's still fun to play, getting all the hidden golden bolts still drives me crazy, and unlocking all the skill points still keeps me up until ungodly hours of the morning. Some of the controls seem clunky and awkward in retrospect, and moving around in the overworld doesn't seem as tight now as it did then. But it's still a great way to pass a couple of days to revisit the story if you don't have anything better to do and you can stand Ratchet's douchebaggery for more than a few hours at a time.<br />
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<b>Notes:</b> You can pre-order <i>The Ratchet and Clank Collection</i> from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ratchet-Clank-Collection-Playstation-3/dp/B0050SXI6K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344308869&sr=8-1&keywords=ratchet+and+clank+collection">Amazon.com</a>.<br />
<br />Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-59722528703547767372012-08-11T18:00:00.000-04:002012-08-16T21:44:03.760-04:00Welcome to the Weekend Flashback!Welcome to the very first Weekend Flashback, where I take a game that's a decade or older and replay it for funsies. We all know that not all games age gracefully, but looked pretty damn good at the time they were released. Well, between the totally amazing <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/17866627809585257034">Dave</a> and myself, we have plenty of classic games between us. And, more often than not, we sit around and continue to play old games together rather than tackle the massive amount of newer games facing us.<br />
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Why is that? Because many older games have so much <i>fun</i> built into a simple game mechanic that we find a lot of other games can't compare. So, I've decided to revisit a lot of the old games in our library to see if they're still fun. I'll be dusting off the games that Dave and I wasted days on when I was a kid to see if they're still as playable now as they were then, and all to answer the question: <i>Is this game still </i>fun<i>?</i><br />
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There's a few criteria that I'll be using in my judgement:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>All games that I'll be looking at have to be ten years old or older. Why? Because that's given the graphics a chance to age, given game mechanics a plenty long time to evolve, and given the game enough time to both be forgotten and for me to forget how good/bad it was overall. I'm more likely to punish myself through a bad game again if I forgot how frustrating it was the first time aroung.</li>
<li>It doesn't matter if a game has been re-released on some kind of "virtual console" platform. Chances are high - and I'll tell you otherwise, I promise - that I'll be playing it <i>on its original system</i>. So if something was released for the PSone, I'll be busting out my PSone and playing it. If something came out on the N64, that's where I'll be playing it. I'll stack it up against its re-released version if I happen to own it, but for the most part, this is truly classic gaming being played true to its roots.</li>
<li>Finally, in the case of games that have been localized to the US, I'll be using the game's US release date as my definitive guide for age, unless I'm using the imported version of the game. If I'm using a non-US version, I'll say so before I start my write up.</li>
</ol>
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You won't see games like <i>Super Mario Bros.</i> or the original <i>Legend of Zelda</i> on the Weekend Flashback. Why? Because we already know that they've 1) aged gracefully and 2) are still fun. Games like that regularly show up on "Best Video Game" lists of all sorts, and it's clear why: they were industry leaders in their day, and we're still seeing their influences on modern gaming. I'm looking pointedly at games that might have gotten themselves overlooked when they came out, or that might have fallen into the sands of time only to be forgotten as newer games overshadowed them.<br />
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This week, I'll be starting with Insomniac Games'<i> Ratchet and Clank</i> from 2002. That post will go live in about an hour, so check back later and see if the first game in the best-selling installment is still worth a play.<br />
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<br />Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-76559855989961027692012-08-05T21:03:00.000-04:002012-08-22T19:54:13.888-04:00Review: Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Issue #1<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i/mg/3/80/50098bb4b6809/detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i/mg/3/80/50098bb4b6809/detail.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture from <a href="http://marvel.com/">Marvel.com</a></td></tr>
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Little known fact: I love comics. I have since I was a little kid. Here's another little known fact: Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth, was my first ever superhero. I discovered him around issue three or four of his '97 run and it's been love ever since.<br />
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So I was understandably excited when news of <i>Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe</i> started to circulate. It took the same 'Pool that I'd grown up reading and gave him a decidedly dark, sinister turn. My only hope was that it was going to be convincing, that all of Deadpool's wit and snark could still fit within a darker universe.<br />
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All my dreams have come true within the first issue. Wade is still witty and snide, but thanks to the writing and his own underlying insanity, he's just short of completely despicable. We're introduced to the same Deadpool that most readers will be used to, but thanks to the "intervention" of the X-Men, we get to see a side of Wade that isn't usually apparent. By the end of the issue, all the pieces are in play and, thanks to Deadpool's trademark fourth-wall breaking, the reader gets to feel the threat level of the Marvel 'verse rising to critical levels firsthand by being indirectly addressed themselves.<br />
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We don't get to see a lot of bloodshed yet, but the promise is there for much more to come in the following three weeks as the series plays out. Given how it's started, I've been hooked and I'm ready to go along for the ride.<br />
<br />
<i>Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe</i> #1 is written by Cullen Bunn, drawn by Dalibor Talajić, and colored by Lee Loughridge. Issue one is available now, and new issues will be released weekly.Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-45494547972268456202012-01-24T17:04:00.000-05:002012-01-24T17:04:46.504-05:00Why I Hate the Start of New Semesters: An Introspective LookThe new semester started for me on Monday, and it marks a few big things. Firstly, it kicks off my last semester in my Associate's program. Secondly, it beats my ass down into a rhythm and schedule that it's gotten used to not having over winter break. And thirdly, it opens that old can of worms that is, in a nutshell, all my phobias and paranoias at once.<br />
<br />
You might think that last part sounds silly, but the start of a new semester brings me more stress than it does anything else. And I'm not talking about things like getting lost on campus (it's small) or not being able to get my books (because my aunt buys them online as long as I keep my grades up) or thinking my professor is going to be a dick (because they're all pretty decent people.) I'm talking about big, panic-inducing things like:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Obsessing over the male/female ratio of the class I signed up for.</b><br />That might not seem like a big deal, the male/female ratio of a class of students, especially when I talk so casually about hanging out with friends and meeting people. But the first day of class presents me with more stress than anything else because being in a room with strangers makes me feel vulnerable to begin with. Being in a room full of strangers <i>who are all men</i> amplifies that tenfold, even though I've historically gotten along better with men than with women. I feel more comfortable when there's at least four to six other women in a classroom with me, even though chances are I won't talk to one of those women. As it stands, for the first two weeks of classes, I won't talk to anyone unless I absolutely have to, and that leads me to...</li>
<li><b>I hate having to make new connections and meet new people.</b><br />This is where it starts getting sticky. When I go into a classroom full of other people, I go there to learn things and listen to what the professor has to say, and read my Facebook if he starts getting boring. I don't go into class to make friends. So, nine times out of ten, I'll be sitting in class minding my own business and someone starts talking to me and I'll freeze. I'm not exactly socially awkward, but talking and meeting new people has never been my greatest skill. So when someone <i>does</i> talk to me, I have to mentally reboot and think of something to say back while trying not to look like some kind of socially stunted community college kid. Half the time, the response I give out is prickly, short, or offhanded. That's not because I don't want to know you, per se, it's just because I'm dealing with so much stress that I don't know what to do with myself, let alone this person next to me who just asked what my major is.</li>
<li><b>Not knowing if there's anyone else I know in class.</b><br />This is a good one. I work in my college's greenhouse, and one of the things I've heard my professor say before is, "You act differently in here with me than you do out in the hall or in class." When I asked him to clarify, he told me that outside of class, unless I'm with a friend, I'm more prone to flee from groups, avert my eyes from contact, and sit away from central locations and just be by myself. But when I'm with people I know (as well as when I'm in the greenhouse,) he pointed out, I'm more likely to be open, to tell jokes and meet new people. So his question was, why the change in personae? Because having people with me who already know my personality makes it easier for me to act like that in front of other people. My friends already know that I'm prone to sudden song and dance, that I like to tell jokes and tell anecdotes. They don't give me a whole lot of grief for who I am, because we're fairly like-minded people to begin with. So when I'm already with a group of people "like me" it's easier for me to apply that to group settings. It's easier for me to do the things that I do, because I won't be "that weird girl who bursts into song." Instead, I'll be "that weird girl who bursts into song with those other guys." So when I walk into a classroom and see people I know, that stress level goes down by a whole lot, and it makes it easier to adjust to a new setting.</li>
<li><b>I contemplate dropping a class depending on what the room looks like.</b><br />And by "what the room looks like," I mean that whole male/female ratio thing and the friends in class thing, <i>not</i> "this room is yellow and it sucks, so I'm not taking this class." I'll stay in a class for a week before deciding if I'm going to stay or not. If the male/female ratio doesn't work itself out, or if there's no one in my class that I know, I'm more likely to drop that class than I am if there's a lot of women in the room, or if I have a friend I can sit next to.</li>
</ul>
<div>
My classes this semester are a really great example of this. I'm in three classes that I need to finish my degree: a lab science, a social science, and an English elective. Each one of these classes pretty neatly describe all the points that I noted above that make me really nervous.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In my lab science, the men far outweigh the women almost 2:1. But I know a woman in the class who was nice enough to sit next to me. She's not a friend in the strictest form of the word, but we've had a class together before and we got along well and I felt <i>comfortable</i> in her presence, so when I saw her walk into the room, it was a complete relief.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My social science, by comparison, is mostly women with just a few men. We outnumber them at a fairly high 3:1. I have no problems with those numbers, I sit beside a bunch of girls, and I've already started talking to a few of them. It's a more comfortable atmosphere than my lab, and I feel like I can cope better.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Lastly, my English class has two people that I not only know, but that I'm good friends with. And I know these two people well enough to know that they'd get along well together, to boot. So even though it's mostly men in the class, I have two people I'm really, really close to in class with me, and no one else matters. We can sit in a corner and chat before class, and then communicate through our series of eye rolls and grins during class. I wouldn't even consider switching out to another class, because this one is fun.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It doesn't seem like it'd be a big deal about who would be around you in a classroom, but those are the first things that I take note of every semester on the first week of classes. I become a week-long nervous wreck until I can calm down and start communicating with people like a normal human being. In a week, I'll be fine, but until then, I'll be a trainwreck.</div>Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-86045903232826996712012-01-03T16:07:00.001-05:002012-01-03T16:07:58.087-05:00Well, it's a new year...This year, I'm going to try harder to update. I'm realizing that there's a lot of stuff I've been noodling around with that I could/should/wanted to put up here but never did. So, this year, there's going to be more posts from this guy.<br />
<br />
Here's hoping I can maintain that enthusiasm.Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-64995515421228093592011-12-21T03:00:00.000-05:002012-09-08T19:45:25.505-04:00Topic: Gaming - Tales SeriesFebruary 2012 is going to be a big month for me. Honestly, I'm excited. No, it's not because there's a major life event coming my way, nor is it because I'll be in my final semester of college. Remember when I said that gaming was a big part of what I did? That it was my "thing?" February is going to be a big month because my all-time favorite game series is releasing two new US titles that month: Namco-Bandai's <i>Tales</i> series will be releasing <i>Tales of Graces F</i> on the PS3 and a remake of 2005's <i>Tales of the Abyss </i>for the 3DS.<br />
<br />
I'm so excited that I can hardly contain it.<br />
<br />
In the US, the <i>Tales </i>series is overshadowed by the <i>Final Fantasy </i>series, and we hardly ever get to see <i>Tales</i> titles here in the US. The last one that came out here was 2008's <i>Tales of Vesperia </i>on the Xbox 360. (True facts: I bought a 360 just so I could play <i>Vesperia</i>. I'm not kidding.) In Japan, four <i>Tales</i> games have come out since <i>Vesperia.</i> Those are <i>Tales of Vesperia</i> (remade for PS3 with new playable characters and a deeper storyline to coinside with the movie), <i>Tales of Hearts</i> (DS), <i>Tales of Graces</i> (originally on the Wii, and remade for PS3), and <i>Tales of Xillia</i> (also on PS3). US fans will never see <i>Hearts</i>, and there's a decent chance that we won't see <i>Xillia</i>, either, which is a damn shame.<br />
<br />
Namco-Bandai has been hinting that, if <i>Graces </i>and <i>Abyss 3D</i> sell well enough, we <i>might</i> see a localized version of <i>Tales of Xillia.</i> "Might" is the key word there. I said it once up there, and I'll say it again: that's a damn shame, because the <i>Tales</i> games are some of the finest JRPGs I have ever played, and I've played a lot of them.<br />
<br />
For starters, every mothership title to date has had an extremely strong storyline behind it, with a cast of extremely strong (and well-voiced) main characters to drive it. 2004's <i>Tales of Symphonia</i> had Lloyd Irving as its leading man - kindhearted, strong-willed, a bit slow, and a strong sense of justice - and Colette Brunel as its leading lady - polite, quiet, and overwhelmingly kind. The rest of the main cast was just as strong and believable as its two main characters were, and even when the story hit a cliche that would otherwise make you groan, it somehow worked within the game's universe and kept you pulled in. It's been seven years since that game has come out, and I still sit down to play through its story. That alone should tell you something. 2006's <i>Tales of the Abyss</i> on PS2 was just as strong. Main characters: Luke fon Fabre, selfish, bratty prince, and Tear Grants, a disciplined, tough soldier. Storyline: gave me a mindfuck the first time I played it. Did it again the second and third time, and I knew that it was going to happen.<br />
<br />
I could run through all the <i>Tales</i> games that I've played and tell you why it's a strong game while trying not to give away the plot, but we'd both be here all day. The best way to see for yourself is to go down to GameStop, or go over to Amazon, and get yourself a used copy of <i>Tales of Vesperia </i>on the 360. Play it, give it <i>at least</i> until you get to Capua Nor to make up your mind. If you like role playing games, the <i>Tales </i>series will never disappoint.<br />
<br />
If you're too lazy to go out there and play a game, or you don't have the necessary time, go watch an anime. <i>Phantasia, Eternia, Symphonia, Abyss, </i>and <i>Vesperia</i> all have anime adaptations. <i>Phantasia</i> and <i>Abyss</i> are out in the US.<br />
<br />
Don't just brush the <i>Tales</i> series off as another run-of-the-mill JRPG. It's so much more than that, I promise.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">HEY! </span><br />
Do you maybe already know all about what I said about the <i>Tales</i> series up there? Do you want to help out - as a fan - to try to get more of these games over here in English?<br />
<br />
Then hop on over to Facebook - I know you have one - and go "like" <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Aselian.Movement">the Aselian Movement</a>. It's the headlining page in a fan-created movement to get Bamco to acknowledge that yes, <i>Tales</i> fans exist outside of Japan, and YES WE WANT GAMES DAMMIT. And then go like the other pages involved in the movement. You can read about what the Aselian Movement is all about, as well as find about the other games involved in the movement by reading about them <a href="http://gematsu.com/2011/08/four-against-one-tales-fans-battle-oppression">here.</a>Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-76829546313047131512011-11-11T23:33:00.000-05:002012-09-08T19:46:02.513-04:00Review: Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns (3DS)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6051/6332173491_afa2249f54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6051/6332173491_afa2249f54.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>Title:</b> Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns<br />
<b>System:</b> Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS<br />
<b>ESRB Rating:</b> E<br />
<b>Number of Players:</b> 1<br />
<b>Buy It: </b><br />
<ul>
<li>Nintendo DS version - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harvest-Moon-Tale-Towns-Nintendo-DS/dp/B004WL4LZS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318900992&sr=8-1">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.gamestop.com/ds/games/harvest-moon-tale-of-two-towns/91538">GameStop</a> | <a href="http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-9jyt-71-ba-49-en-84-j-70-4ado.html">Play-Asia.com</a></li>
<li>Nintendo 3DS version - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harvest-Moon-Tale-Towns-Nintendo-3DS/dp/B004XIQPAO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1318900992&sr=8-2">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.gamestop.com/nintendo-3ds/games/harvest-moon-tale-of-two-towns/91539">GameStop</a> | <a href="http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-9jyt-71-18m-49-en-84-j-70-4adn.html">Play-Asia.com</a></li>
</ul>
Before we start off, let me say this: <i>for all intents and purposes, this review is for the 3DS version of </i>Harvest Moon: A Tale of Two Towns<i>. Other than 3D effects, an animal-petting minigame, and the 3DS region-locking, I know of no differences between the two versions.</i> Now, with that out of the way, let's get to talking about <i>HM:ToTT</i>!<br />
<br />
The <i>Harvest Moon</i> games have remained mostly unchanged since the franchise started in 1996 on the SNES. As much a dating simulation as it is a farming simulation, it has a niche following in the United States, making it a small - but successful - franchise. Other than some graphic re-hauling over the years, the main <i>HM</i> franchise has always been about two things: rising up to create a successful farm, and finding yourself a spouse. In that regard, <i>HM: Two Towns</i> does nothing new. But the new things it does bring has kept me interested and occupied.<br />
<br />
The most interesting part of <i>Two Towns</i> is that you can choose which town you want to live in at the beginning of the game. The first choice is the farming village Konohana, a tranquil and pretty Japanese-inspired town that centers around raising crops over livestock. On the other side of the mountain, you have your second option: the town of Bluebell, a more European-looking town that centers its income on raising livestock. No matter which town you choose, you can utilize the land on both farms. (This makes it easy to live in Bluebell and raise a lot of livestock and still use the fields in Konohana to raise long-lasting crops like soybeans, corn, tomatoes, etc.) Living in Bluebell is almost like cheating. Living in Konohana is a lot more typical of other Harvest Moon games: being broke all the time and struggling to get the money needed for important things like seeds, fertilizer, and pet food.<br />
<br />
Other activities - fishing, bug gathering, and foraging - are back from other games and work just as well as they ever have. Fishing has a new option, though: you can now wade into shallow water and catch fish with your hands by walking up to them and hitting the "A" button. These tiny fish can't be used in cooking, but they can be sold for ten to thirty gold and be used to fulfill requests for villagers.<br />
<br />
The 3D graphics add a cute shadow effect to the game, but overall isn't worth the ten dollars extra you have to plunk down for it. The 3DS-exclusive animal petting minigame, however, makes your animals friendlier faster, and is an interesting benefit to getting the enhanced version.<br />
<br />
In spite of everything that <i>Two Towns</i> is doing right, though, classic <i>HM</i> bugs are still present. The game freezes periodically and at random times, and when your only option for saving is before you go to bed, a lot of things can be lost. Additionally, the game lags when there's a lot of things going on: riding your horse while other livestock roams around in their pens will cause the game to slow a little bit. In 3D mode, it's motion-sick inducing. In 2D, it's just annoying. The last thing that this game has wrong with it - <i>really, really wrong</i> - is that the weather system only kind of works. Listen to the radio before you go to bed, and it will tell you what the weather for the present day and the next day will be. There's about a 45% chance that the weather forecast for the next day <i>will be wrong</i>, making it confusing and difficult to plan ahead for the next day, especially for weather-specific events like flower events and figuring out what to do with your livestock for the day.<br />
<br />
Overall, <i>Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns</i> is fun and addicting. The typical bugs are still present, but are as much a part of the <i>Harvest Moon</i> experience as courting a villager.<br />
<br />
<b>Bottom Line:</b> Mostly the same Harvest Moon, but with an interesting addition of choosing where you can specialize. It's a welcome - and interesting - change. Typical HM bugs are still present and more annoying than ever.<br />
<br />
<b>Final Score:</b> 8/10Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-20002079594592120652011-11-05T11:31:00.000-04:002012-09-08T19:46:18.248-04:00Topic: Gaming - PokemonGaming is an important part of my lifestyle. What little time I have left between chillaxin' with friends, writing, homework, and life screwing me over, I dedicate to gaming. It's something that was in the house before I got there, and I'll be taking with me to my own household, when I finally decide to strike it out on my own.And one of the franchises that's been in my house since I was a small child was Pokemon. It's a staple in the house, along with Mario, Zelda, Ratchet and Clank, Spyro the Dragon (the original Insomniac games), and Crash Bandicoot (the Naughty Dog games.)<br />
<br />
But lately, I've been catching shit for the whole Pokemon thing. No one can give me a reason why, but I'll suspect that it's "Hurrr, you still play Pokemon. You should grow up." But you know what? I loves me some Pokemon games, even now. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6044/6250056784_9a1f41f4ff_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="167" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6044/6250056784_9a1f41f4ff_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above left: What someone who makes fun of<br />
my Pokemon habit looks like.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There's a mix of reasons for that. One, Pokemon Blue was the first game that was ever truly <i>mine.</i> I didn't have to share it with anyone. I got to play <i>my </i>game, on <i>my </i>GameBoy Color. And the feeling was amazing. Two, I like seeing the games evolve into what they've become today (inb4 sellout.) Three, I still enjoy the hell out of them for what they are - a solid strategy RPG. And four, the spinoffs are fun too.<br />
<br />
Now, before you go jumping down my throat about being in my 20s and still playing games designed for children, take a second to stop and think for a second: if you do, you'll look like that guy up there. Do you really want to look like that guy up there? Nah, didn't think so.<br />
<br />
The main games in the Pokemon franchise <i>are</i>, whether you like it or not, solid tactical RPGs that're pretty damn customizable. And if you're really into it, it opens a whole new set of doors into the mechanics of the whole thing. Essentially, there's two tiers to everything in a Pokemon game: a casual tier, where you can just play through the story, get your badges, and battle your friends over local wi-fi. And then there's the hardcore tier, where you can specially train your Pokemon for their best stats (IV and EV training,) competitively battle with others, or set special rules that you have to follow throughout the course of your journey. (Go watch a Nuzlocke challenge on YouTube or read the comic on <a href="http://www.nuzlocke.com/">nuzlocke.com</a> to get a better idea of what it is and to see how srs bns Pokemon can get.)<br />
<br />
And it's not just the mainstream games that get that treatment, it's spinoffs as well. And everyone knows that when it comes to spinoffs, Pokemon is pretty damn successful. (Just off the top of my head, there's the <i>Pinball</i> franchise, <i>Mystery Dungeon</i>, <i>Ranger</i>, <i>Stadium/Colosseum</i>, <i>PokePark, </i>the upcoming <i>Rumble Blast</i> and more that I know I'm blanking on.) And when Pokemon does a spinoff, they do it right. PMD (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon) is one of the best mystery dungeon games I've ever played. (Keep an eye out for a post on those in the coming couple weeks.) Pokemon Stadium entertained me for literal months when I was a kid, and still does. There's a few horrible games in the franchise, sure, but every franchise has their weak spots.<br />
<br />
Any way you slice it, Pokemon's not just for kids anymore. As long as adults can have fun too, Pokemon will continue being everyone's game.Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-9509550518358598362011-11-03T09:49:00.000-04:002011-11-03T10:12:16.154-04:00Announcing a spin-off blog!So, as we all know, I'm young and insane.<br />
<br />
And as you may <i>not</i> know, I've got severe wanderlust.<br />
<br />
With one more semester ahead of me before I get my Associate's in Creative Writing, I've been thinking more and more seriously about something I've thought about since I first got my car: a road trip. Not just any road trip, mind you: this would be a road trip for the ages. To go out and see what you've never seen, to do what you've never done, to live like you've never lived.<br />
<br />
That's my goal, after I graduate. To go out on an epic road trip and do, see, eat, and experience things I've never done/seen/eaten/experienced before. You can check out the new blog, <a href="http://smart-across-america.blogspot.com/">Smart Across America</a>, and see what my plans are. And when I finally get going on my trip, it'll be everyone's main way to creep on what I'm doing, where I'm going, where I've been, and where I'll be going next.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, during pre-trip, feel free to suggest places for me to go/eat/see/do. I'll admit, while I've been doing research myself, sometimes the best things to do are the ones that you learn about from other people. The blog is empty and sad right now, but check back. I'll start putting things up soon!Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-22363217302178888612011-11-01T19:52:00.000-04:002011-11-01T19:52:11.802-04:00Power Outages and Lacks of UpdatesSo, you might have heard about the recent snowstorm that pummelled the Northeast. We're out of power here, and that means a lack of updates. I have a few scheduled for the coming days, but unfortunately, until powe is restored, there won't be anything new from here after the last few post. Hang tight, I'll be back soon!Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-86272033759189020132011-10-27T09:00:00.000-04:002012-09-08T19:47:37.883-04:00Review: Professor Layton and the Last Specter (DS) PART TWO<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Title:</b> Professor Layton and the Last Specter<br />
<b>System:</b> Nintendo DS<br />
<b>ESRB Rating:</b> Everyone 10+<br />
<b>Number of Players:</b> 1<br />
<b>Buy It:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Professor-Layton-Last-Specter-Nintendo-DS/dp/B0050SVOHA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318900469&sr=8-1">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.gamestop.com/ds/games/professor-layton-and-the-last-specter/91400">GameStop</a> | PlayAsia (<a href="http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-9jyt-71-9g-49-en-84-j-70-3ln5.html">Japanese</a>) (<a href="http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-9jyt-71-ba-49-en-84-j-70-49om.html">English</a>)<br />
<b>Other Notes:</b> <a href="http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-9jyt-71-8l-49-en-84-j-70-3m1c.html">Soundtrack available on PlayAsia</a> | Read my review of <i>London Life</i>, the mini-RPG bonus game <a href="http://porchful-of-geezers.blogspot.com/2011/10/review-professor-layton-and-last.html">here</a> if you missed it.<br />
<br />
If you had asked me what I thought of brain teasers circa 2008, I'd have told you that they were a waste of time. Because they were never something I was ever good at, unlike my father, they were something actively dismissed. Worse, if an assignment called for them for homework in school (and it did, on a few occasions,) I would take an F for the homework grade rather than sit there and suffer through a bunch of puzzles that would infuriate me.<br />
<br />
Then Professor Layton walked by, and all that changed. Between the first game's enchanting art style and charming music, I was immediately hooked, puzzles be damned. I was more enchanted by the story, characters, and settings than I was by the puzzles, but they grew on me. Now, at the fourth game in the series, I can say (without sarcasm) that I'm really glad that I took the first step into the puzzle-solving franchise. <i>Professor Layton and the Last Specter</i> takes everything about the series up a notch: story, puzzles, characters, and music, and keeps the entire experience as charming and magical as it was in the first game. But better.<br />
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This game (and, yes, the next two,) act as the prequel chapters towards <i>Curious Village</i> and give players an insight to what the gentlemanly Professor Layton was doing before St. Mystere ever became an issue and before Luke started wearing that adorable periwinkle sweater vest he always wears. The game kicks off with a few wonderfully rendered animated scenes and a few easy puzzles to get you going before you start getting kicked in the pants with new, more difficult puzzles. Veterans of the series know what to expect: puzzles ramp up in difficulty the more you play, plot twists come out of nowhere, and hint coins are still hiding in elusive spots. Newcomers to the series won't be disappointed, and the Professor walks through how everything works himself early on so that you don't get confused.<br />
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While plot twists and red herrings can still be somewhat frustrating, the story kept me engaged throughout so that I didn't get flustered enough to throw in the towel without seeing things through to the end. Even with the tomfoolery with the plot twists, I can't dock too many points from the game. It's remarkably solid, fun, and still a great way to waste a weekend. If you've been putting off getting the game, stop. Just go get it. If you've been interested in taking the series for a spin and never have, there has never been a better time to join the Professor in solving a mystery.<br />
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<b>Bottom Line:</b> Same Professor, but <i>more</i>. More cutscenes, more puzzles, more enchantment. You know, <i>more. </i>And bigger.<br />
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<b>Final Score:</b> 9/10Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-74409475089928248862011-10-23T11:07:00.000-04:002012-09-08T19:48:24.786-04:00Review: Professor Layton and the Last Specter (DS) PART ONE - London Life<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6092/6272331841_f5d4d7dc12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6092/6272331841_f5d4d7dc12.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>London Life</i> title screen</td></tr>
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<b>Title:</b> Professor Layton's London Life (mini-RPG bonus game)<br />
<b>System:</b> Nintendo DS<br />
<b>ESRB Rating:</b> E 10+<br />
<b>Number of Players:</b> 1<br />
<b>Buy It:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Professor-Layton-Last-Specter-Nintendo-DS/dp/B0050SVOHA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318900469&sr=8-1">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.gamestop.com/ds/games/professor-layton-and-the-last-specter/91400">GameStop</a> | Play-Asia.com (<a href="http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-9jyt-71-ba-49-en-84-j-70-49om.html">English version</a>) (<a href="http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-9jyt-71-9g-49-en-84-j-70-3ln5.html">Japanese Version</a>)<br />
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I'll say this first: this is a review in two parts. Why? That comes next.<br />
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I bought this game the day it came out, and as of right this very second, I have not yet started the main game. That's because of this nifty little bonus RPG that <i>Last Specter</i> came with, called <i>London Life.</i> What is <i>LL? </i>It's one part <i>Animal Crossing</i>, one part <i>Professor Layton</i>, and one part <i>Mother 3</i> (I think it was called <i>EarthBound</i> in English? Don't quote me on that, though.) And it's one hell of a great time.<br />
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You start off by creating a character from the top-down: looks, personality, style, the whole nine yards. Like in <i>Animal Crossing</i>, you start off by getting off a train in a new town and moving into your new apartment. Your furnishings are sparse at first: all you've got is a bed. Over the course of your time in Little London, though, you can buy new things and add to your room, though doing fetch quests for the other Londoners can get you some pretty nifty items that either can't be found anywhere else or are very expensive.<br />
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The game operates on two different levels: one is Wealth, the in-game currency. The other is Happiness, which affects almost everything else in the game: what kinds of fish you catch (and how often), what kinds of flowers you find in flower boxes, how much you get paid on jobs, and how well others respond to you. Of course, your happiness goes down if someone in town yells at you, but you can replenish it by making or buying food and eating it. Happiness, in most cases for <i>London Life</i>, is more important than Wealth, but the two are so well intertwined that sometimes it's hard to tell.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6213/6272880654_95d379fb85.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="174" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6213/6272880654_95d379fb85.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>London Life</i> player character (center) seen with<br />
Luke Triton (left) and Flora (right)</td></tr>
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But by now you're probably wondering where the <i>Mother/EarthBound</i> part comes in, right? It's all in the graphics, baby. Cute sprites looks like they could've been lifted right out of one franchise and plopped onto the other. It's not a bad thing by a long shot, either: <i>London Life</i> really benefits from sprite usage.<br />
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The biggest part about this game though is the part that I fear will turn players off of really playing it: it's all mission based. Don't be turned off by the fact that this is all built on fetch quests. I'm not normally a fan of mission-based games - my dislike of them kept me from really enjoying <i>Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days </i>- but I literally couldn't put this down. My inner completionist went balls to the walls with this and had a great time learning all the recipes, completing every single mission, and making my million-Wealth apartment all my own.<br />
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While the complete mini-story can be completed in around two hours, I had a lot of fun sinking hours upon hours into completing all the quests and helping out all the familiar faces from other <i>Professor Layton</i> titles.<br />
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I have no complaints with this game, at all, except maybe that it's too short. In all honesty, I would have bought this as a stand-alone game. It's that good.<br />
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<b>Bottom Line:</b> Mini-RPG that comes with <i>Last Specter.</i> Shockingly fun, lots to do, and extremely customizable.<br />
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<b>Final Score: </b><i>London Life </i>gets a solid, well-deserved 10/10<br />
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<b>Special Note:</b> You can buy the game's full soundtrack <a href="http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-9jyt-71-8l-49-en-84-j-70-3m1c.html">here</a>. It's beautiful, as I'd expect from a <i>Professor Layton</i> game.Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757667946948677333.post-77769494933663670292011-10-21T08:50:00.000-04:002011-10-21T08:50:00.830-04:00Creative Nonfiction is...?One of the semester long questions that I'm supposed to be finding an answer to is "So, what is creative nonfiction?" And as easy as it would be to just pop onto Google and look up a definition, that's not what my professor is looking for. She's looking for thoughtful, intelligent responses.<br />
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It took every ounce of willpower that I had to refrain from putting quotations around most of that last sentence. Not because it's there, but because the terms "thoughtful" and "intelligent" are relative. Especially - let's be real here - at a community college. Okay, now that I'm done making fun of community colleges and the people who attend them (myself included, guys, so chill out,) I can get through with this.<br />
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Creative nonfiction, to me, isn't just writing about things that really happened - anyone can do that, and it's called an expository essay or a textbook. No, creative nonfiction employs writing tools and devices from fiction to make a real event or topic interesting, more vivid, or more relatable. It's the "creative" part that keeps it from being dry and insufferable.<br />
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So, what does that mean for readers? Well, for one, a creative nonfiction piece should hold the reader's attention, even if the topic isn't one that the reader would usually stick around and pour attention and time into. (See what I'm doing here? If you're still reading this, it means that I'm succeeding.) A journal, blog, or other record that just tells of "I went here and did this and then I went someplace else" isn't going to be very interesting to another person. It probably won't even be that interesting for the person that wrote it.<br />
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Let's use an example, for funsies. "Yesterday, while I was baking, I ran out of flour and had to go get more. It took a long time and by the time I was done at the store, I didn't want to bake anymore." Okay? That's a true story. That actually happened to me, once. But that's not at all interesting to read; it's nonfiction, but it's not <i>creative</i> nonfiction. But this:<br />
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<blockquote>So, I was baking chocolate chip cookies yesterday when I realized I was running dangerously low on flour. I begrudgingly got my stuff together and went out to the store. It was kind of a pain: it was uncommonly cold for an August day, and all I really wanted to do was sit in my sweatpants and bake some delicious cookies. As if just needing flour wasn't bad enough, everything was going to play against me: my car refused to start at first, and when it finally did it wouldn't go over twenty miles an hour. Plus, I'd forgotten about the huge sale that the store was having - everything, literally, was on sale. you couldn't get near the place. Add to that the pain it was trying to wrestle the last bag of flour from this little old lady (I swear to God she knew kung-fu,) and getting through the line, and you can imagine why I didn't want to do any baking by the time I got back home. I was too pissed off.</blockquote>See, that was more fun to read. And, honestly, it was more fin to write. Why? Because of the embellishing that went onto it to make it feel alive. That's the creative part coming into play. The parts where you got to go into my day - what kind of day it was, when, and what I was doing - are all literary tools used to make you feel somehow connected with me. Everyone's run out of flour when they were baking. It's a relatable experience. You've probably had to ninja your way in front of other people to get the last of an item on the shelf, especially with though couponing bastards on the loose. You've probably had to stand in a line five people deep, all with something like fifty bags of Cheetos and bottles of Pepsi so that you could check out with your one item. Creative nonfiction writing takes experiences like that and spins them so that anyone can enjoy them, even that agoraphobic guy who had Peapod deliver his groceries.<br />
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It even works with intangible things. Remember my essay on love from the beginning of the month? That incorporated literary tools as well. That's what made it fun to read. The opinions of my friends, my own thoughts, the incorporation of humor... those all worked in my favor to create an essay that showed you something that you probably completely overlooked: my own struggle to find a concept of love that I was comfortable with in society, even though it might deviate from the norm. Guaranteed that no one - save maybe my professor, <i>maybe</i> - looked beneath the surface to see what it was that I did there. It would have been easy to write a piece about how I thought I was incapable of love because emotion never showed up in my definition, but it never came up; it's just not part of <i>my</i> definition of love. But see, that's the beauty of it: <u>that was creative nonfiction.</u> And I'll bet if you read it, you enjoyed it (at least, I hope you would have.) That's because of the clever use of literary tools to tell you about something I did, or learned, or felt. Creative nonfiction writers use those literary devices to drive home a point - a lesson, a moral, an emotion - and get the reader to engage and stay engaged in where they're going with their piece.<br />
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A textbook doesn't need to do that. A textbook doesn't care if you like it or not. But well written creative nonfiction can keeps a reader engaged, even if the topic is something like what creative nonfiction is.Lynnafredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03158073960530859686noreply@blogger.com0