Archive for the ‘Video Games’ Category

In my early years of gaming I began like many others, first watching my siblings and then trying my own hand at classics like Super Mario Brothers and Burger Time.

I eventually matured to the Final Fantasy series, Xenogears, Diablo, and Metal Gear Solid, and was just as willing to attempt the next RPG as I was a mindless excuse to kill things as can be found in most Blizzard Games.

Those styles of gaming all still exist, but many of them have something a little extra these days—a choice between good and evil.

What I mean by a ‘good vs evil’ game is this: A game where the storyline is directly affected by the player’s choices, which determines whether the protagonist will become a selfless hero or a self-serving bastard.
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Forgive me if my heart is not quite in this blog entry as I had already completed it to my great satisfaction last week only to have it wiped when a virus attacked my computer at work. But as one of my faithful readers said,

This just goes to show that these new-fangled transistors are unreliable. We need to learn about steam technology as quickly as possible!

And so I return.
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To even begin my review of the new PS3, Xbox 360, and PC phenomenon, Dragon Age: Origins, I must first discuss the company responsible for the masterpiece as well as many other claims to fame: BioWare.

BIOWARE

BioWare is a Canadian electronic entertainment company that started up in 1995 and is responsible for some of the more cutting-edge and popular games of our day, like the Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights series, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and the Mass Effect series.

These guys know their role-playing video games. They are known best for allowing for substantial customization in both player character appearance and in the options given throughout the games in choosing various paths, ie Light Side vs Dark Side.

Dragon Age: Origins is a culmination of years of successful gaming, and at this point I can only imagine that BioWare will continue to do better and better.

BioWare is currently a part of Electronic Arts (EA) but has retained its autonomy. It is safe to say that EA appreciates and understands the cash-cow they have in BioWare, and they are even restructuring their gaming development into a new RPG/MMO team headed by one of the BioWare founders, Ray Muzyka.
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I am torn on this one. With the other versus blogs I had a clear favorite even when most of the time I greatly respected the opposing side, but with this particular debate it is harder to choose. I would say Marvel simply because Spider-Man, Deadpool, and the X-men are some of my favorite characters of all time, but then DC has Batman, and it really is hard to compete against Batman.

There is a lot more to cover with these franchises than with any of the others I have compared thus far, so bear with me. Onto a brief history of each of these incredible comic publishers.
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I once got into a heated debate over how only an idiot would think Harry Potter wins in a comparison with Lord of the Rings because the writing is so superior. Me? I was on Harry’s side.

To some readers J. R. R. Tolkien drones on and on about the details of a leaf when we just want to get to the story, while J. K. Rowling has readership with children barely in their double digits as well as with their grandparents with equal success.

So what is the definition of ’superior writing’ exactly?

As with my previous blog entry, Star Trek vs Star Wars, I do not want my opinion to further cloud this comparison, as I see great strengths in both franchises. Let us begin then, as before, with a quick history.
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“I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else.” — Gary Gygax, 1938-2008

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson—may they rest in peace in a land where skimpy chainmail really does protect better than full body armor on big-breasted women—created D&D and published its first book in 1974.

It was different from tabletop wargames in many ways, allowing for each player to essentially create and become a single character of their design to embark upon adventures in a fantasy setting. This was all guided by the Dungeons Master or DM.

Besides telling the story the players’ characters live through, the DM’s job is to try and kill the characters off. Hopefully, your DM wants you to succeed, but if they’re not throwing challenging monsters and puzzles your way that could potentially kill your character at every turn then they are not doing their job.
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The first question, of course, is what is WoW? With over 11 million players worldwide, most people already know that answer, at least enough to say that it is an online video game also known as World of Warcraft.

More specifically, WoW is an MMORPG, or massively multiplayer online role playing game. This means that not only are you playing online as your own character, but you are playing with everyone else’s character too, almost like an interactive chat room with depictions of yourself that can go off and kill things after you’ve had that meaningful conversation.

Created by Blizzard Entertainment, WoW was not a new idea in scope or setting, following the Warcraft series of games that first began in 1994 with Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.

Going the MMO route, however, was new as the previous Warcraft games were all RTS format or real time strategy.
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Tattooing has been around almost as long as human beings, seen in many cultures throughout history for many varying reasons, usually for personal, cultural, or spiritual expression or identification.

In the previous century there was a time when tattooing was seen as something only for the hardcore, scary people like bikers and gang members, or sailors who got drunk one night on leave. In Japan it is still generally thought of as a sign that you are part of the yakuza, the native gangsters.

But these days nearly everyone you run across could potentially have at least one tattoo, even if that one is merely a typical ‘tramp stamp’ on the lower back.

The average person might only have something small and simple, like Woodstock on their hip or a flower on their ankle, but even the unexpected person might surprise you with a slew of tattoos hidden beneath their clothing.

Tattoos with a geeky origin are more common these days than you might realize. All three of mine fall under that category.
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Batman

May of this year celebrated Batman’s 70th birthday, having first appeared in Detective Comics #27. Ironically, our modern DC Comics decided to celebrate this milestone by killing Batman off. This instigated the Battle for the Cowl miniseries that named Dick Grayson (the original Robin) as the new Batman until Bruce Wayne’s inevitable return.

But even if Batman were to remain dead, lost forever to the comic world that needs him, he would never be forgotten by fans thanks to his many other incarnations since first being imagined in 1939. Batman has been a comic book hero, a television hero, a movie hero, a video game hero, and more, so many times that listing them all would probably be ostentatious. Batman is DC Comics’ crown jewel, even more popular than Superman, who has been around longer.

For me, the love of Batman did not begin with the comics, or with Adam West, or even with the wonderful Tim Burton movies—Batman’s 1989 release having marked the then 50th anniversary of the character. No, my love affair with the Caped Crusader began with a cartoon.

I am referring to, of course, Batman: The Animated Series.
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Being a girl geek in the new millennium can mean a number of things. There are anime geeks who gush over prettily drawn bishounen and the powers of their favorite magical girl. Video game geeks who can tell you every possibility of that date with Cloud at the Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII, including how to get Barret.

There are also comic geeks who have already chosen which ring color they are going to root for in DC’s Blackest Night saga, as well as those of us beaming over Marvel’s Rogue character finally being able to turn her power on and off (where’s that Cajun?). 

And that’s not even mentioning all of the possible fangirling that geeks commit over certain movies, television shows, books, and more.

Me, I like to think of myself as a little of all of the above.
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