Devolution (5/7/2012) - Old Man River City Ransom
In lieu of my previous blog where I stated that I am old from just a few days ago I have decided that I am going to start blogging about my gaming experiences, this will not be a planned blog as of right now because I have a lot of stuff going on and adding another thing to my schedule doesn’t sound too appealing at the time. I will say that I will attempt to make this bi-weekly, and on Friday when I publish it. That is pretty much all I can come up with now, if the reaction is positive or if it seems like a good group of people will be somewhat interested in it then I will make an effort to give an exact day and time every other week that I will release it.
Concept
This is where I think the blog can get rather interesting. I will be talking about the games that I have played in between blogs and giving some thoughts and opinions, this is the same with old and new games. The blog that I published on May 4, The Old Guard talked about how I feel like games are trying to pass a generation of us by. My solution to this problem is to not only play newer games and discuss them but to also become more of a collector than I already am. I will be documenting my adventures in traveling to local games shops both new and retro, traveling to flea markets that are fairly local, and scouring the internet to find systems and games to add to my collection. I will also try over the next few days to create a list of everything that I currently own and will add to the list after each blog to show how the list grows. I will not include all of my Steam games on the list right now because it is ridiculous, but I will talk about new Steam games that I purchase if I feel strongly in way or another about them. You guys and ladies may think I am totally crazy with some of the stuff I may purchase but just remember, I have my reasons, even if I don’t fully understand them
Now, I am not digging a huge hole for myself here, I am married and have a one year old daughter so real world monetary situations will not allow me to go insane and constantly buy new games and systems so each blog will not feature something that I have purchased but rather for those blogs I will attempt to fill in that section with what I would like to add to my collection or with a discussion of a game (or games) from a prior generation that I really enjoyed or didn’t enjoy.
Now You Are Playing with Power (or just some games)
Alright, I have some extra time on my hands right now so I am just going to throw in the first edition of the new blog series. This may end up being a slightly condensed edition, or maybe not. This past weekend I went a little crazy and decided to re-download all of the PS1 era Final Fantasy games on PSN, which I wouldn’t have to do if I could just invent a way to cram a PS1 disc into my Vita but that doesn’t exist at this time so I had to spend money on them again and purchase the digital versions. This is one of the main reasons that I am highly anticipating the addition of PS1 compatibility to the Vita, I never owned a PSP and have only been able to play these PS1 games on my flat screen TV through the PS3 and the do not look so hot on the big screen so I am holding off on playing them anymore until I can use the Vita.
I actually have a ton of PS1 games on PSN that I plan to play again or for the first time when I can use the Vita for this. Silent Hill, Resident Evil 2, a ton of JRPG’s, and a number of other games that I either wanted to play or did play during that generation. I think these games’ being available on PSN is a great way for people who didn’t get a chance to play them 15 or so years ago to experience them now. They may be a little hard to stomach in the graphical department but a lot of these games are pivotal parts of gaming history and deserve, at the very least, an attempted play through.
A game that I actually did play recently was the Walking Dead. I downloaded this when it first released but only last Friday got an opportunity to play it and my opinion of the first game is that it is a very interesting start to what could end up being a great series for TellTale. I have enjoyed some of their earlier work and the Walking Dead seems like a very welcomed addition for them especially after the bad taste that Jurassic Park left in everyone’s mouth. The walking dead plays like a traditional adventure game and for me the most interesting aspect from the first game is the persistence in the choices that you make in some very well presented dialogue options and split-second situations that will push you emotionally. I didn’t go into this expecting a psychologically pressing experience but to my surprise that is exactly what I got.
To share a bit of context with everyone, I don’t have a ton of exposure to the Walking Dead series; a little reading of a couple of comics and the first season of the television series is what I brought to the table. So, I knew that it could be interesting but I wasn’t prepared for exactly what it was. I will never spoil anything in any of these blogs because I want people to play these games themselves and the Walking Dead is no exception. I will say that if you enjoy a good story and are a fan of adventure games then this is probably for you, if you are a fan of the series but have never really gotten into adventure games then this could be a very good starting point for you because of the source material.
The main character in the first episode Lee Everett is very likeable and as this episode begins to progress you will come to a better understanding of him as a character and will genuinely feel that he cares for most of the people that he comes into contact with. The set pieces and characters introduced to you are very well done for the most part, the only character that I could not stand and I feel terrible for this was a little boy. You will probably understand what I mean when you play it, he was just so damned annoying. I will say that I really liked this first episode and It excited me with the potential for the remaining episodes and where it could go from here.
That is just about everything that I played aside from some Trials Evolution, which is something that I constantly go back to and I am sure that it will become a running theme throughout the blog. In the next couple of days I will be picking up the Silent Hill HD collection and will be playing through that next. I have heard d some bad things about the port and how it turned out but I will push those opinions to the side and let everyone know what I think of my time with it, probably, next Friday.
Pissing Off My Wife and Buying Some Random Stuff
Here is where my new purchases will be displayed proudly (or not) for the world to see. There is nothing to report this week because I just decided to include this into the blog series but I will say that I am going to be buying a Nintendo 64 for around 20 bucks from a local game store that I have been haggling with over the last couple of days, I should be dropping in there to pick it up later today. I work from home and only live a couple minutes from the shop so it won’t be too hard to get out there. I have also been checking out eBay and trying to get a good copy of River City Ransom for my NES, the cheapest that I have been able to find it for is roughly $20 which is a little bit much in my opinion but I may break down and just buy it, that is the cliffhanger to keep you coming back for next time. Will he or will he not break down and drop a 20 spot on an old ass NES game. Tune in next time to find out. At least I’m not trapped in a shark tank or being held in a rape den by Burgess Meredith wearing a monocle.
I also wish that I could hit up some local markets this weekend to search for some games and still may be able to get a little time in to do that but it is doubtful because my daughters first birthday party is coming up so my whole weekend will be consumed by trying to make a 1 year old happy. Normally I would just throw some fruity pebbles and a stuffed Minnie Mouse at her and she’s fine but my wife wants to throw this insanely huge party that my daughter will never remember but will love nonetheless so I’m in, I have to be or my wife will probably murder me in my sleep. If I am able to get out on Sunday or something and comb through some random stuff trying to get a good deal for a copy of Battletoads I will tell everyone all about it. Now, my rules for going to these flea markets is that I will not check my iPhone to see if I am getting a good deal or not, I will base all purchasing decisions on how I feel about the game itself.
FIN
Well, there you have it. Hopefully this isn’t terrible and at least someone has an enjoyable time reading about how a guy in his mid-late 20’s feels about games and wastes his money and if so let me know. Hell, even if you hate it let me know, it gives me more human interaction than I normally get which is always welcomed. If you have any thoughts about games I should play or even games I should look for when I head out on my money spending adventures leave it in the comments, they can be obscure or popular, it doesn’t really matter to me. Anyway, thanks guys… and All Your Base Belong to David Schwimmer. God I hate David Schwimmer.
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