Sunken Village

Last week ye ol' German Village nearly got washed away! It flooded very quickly and drained almost as fast.

Lots of water... maybe why I purchased BioShock over the weekend for the 360. I missed the boat (erm) hype on this game, but I am willing to give it a shot. A couple hours into it now and still waiting to get sucked in. I keep wondering if I am missing something here. The game is rated as one of the best on the 360 so I must be. I'll admit the scenery is impressive. Mid 20th century architecture completely underwater. It reminds me of an episode of Futurama where they rediscover Atlanta under water and everyone was mutated by the Coke spilling out of the factory. There are some genuinely creepy moments, which maybe why I'm writing about it and not playing it right now. I'm going to keep plodding along and report back if anything changes.

While I'm at it, I'll post a video on a game that I didn't find time to write about. I really enjoyed this one. The video below was made by the folks that made the game. I think it accurately portrays the games mood, it also lets me know the team creating it had something good in mind when creating it. I was, am, floored by the environment. So good it is a show piece.

Destinations

It's a warm, peaceful, Saturday morning in Columbus and I feeling the need to share. There are only a handful of good places on the web for reasonable reviews and features about video games so I thought I put a few here today...

GAME CRONICLES
I have a soft spot for this site right now even though it is not the most comprehensive place for reviews... the ones they do are written by folks who... gasp, enjoy games.

THE NUT AND THE FEISTY WEASEL
I found this after reading a feature piece written by Bill Abner that blew me away. I actually contacted him as he is an Ohio guy. If you want to read that piece (from the escapist magazine)... THE STAGNANT STATE Mr. Abner also has a book: The 2006 Gamer's Tome of Ultimate Wisdom: An Almanac of Pimps, Orcs and Lightsabers. You need not go any farther to find a intelligent, honest voice on gaming topics (board games included).

GAMESUTRA
More of an industry site, but is very good.

RACKETBOY
It tries too hard, but it does have more then a few good feature articles to read. Honest good stuff.

youtube

saloin4: "Excellent,super.THANK YOU"
trevalot: "yeah YU, get your act together, we're waiting..."
molotovtube: "God Suzuki bring us SHENMUE 3!!!!please!!
azechirai: "Nozomi dont forget to say goodbye, see you" T3T
sharkonesega: "one of the best video on youtube, gratz. I'll remember these situations forever.Shenmue nel cuore."
sarpijk:"nice effort"

Sometimes it's worthwhile to take a look at comments on my youtube videos. My Shenmue video has gotten the best response by far. I'd have to say there is a bit of pride when someone says it is one of the best on the site, sort of embarrassing as well. The Teela video has gotten a lot of comments (had to delete a few actually... gross man, gross). The beer ad is off the charts, I've even had a few emails about that one... people sharing their experiences, usually they are related to baseball so I eat those up. One guy really got in to sharing his time at Polo Grounds. The Jamestown videos have attracted a few folks from my father's church. One watches them often for morning meditation.

Perhaps the most re-friggin' diculous was a video I posted about my travels back and forth to Columbus, OH from Raleigh. They were mean... hateful even, telling me that Columbus was a great town and that I was just an out of towner. One message was very long about how I was a looser, just filming myself. It was very interesting since I didn't really think the video portrayed Columbus in any real light at all except the intro text said "Welcome to Columbus". I guess it is possible that I got across my loneliness and disconnect from all the travel I was doing... but I doubt it. I pulled the video very quickly.

Now, after watching it again, it brings back many memories. Some very difficult, so in a way I'm happy that I have it. To me, it speaks volumes, which was the purpose of it. Maybe, in a way, I knew I would want to look back at it a few years later and remember the feelings. It's cliche, but like it happened to a different person on another planet. I filmed myself waking up, the complimentary continental breakfast (hardboiled eggs!), misty morning, 6am alarm clock actually going off (look for the red dot), my wedding ring, my old phone, the 6am TV shows, downtown Columbus, the cold... After watching it... melancholy. I miss my friends in NC. I'll say this... I'll be back, maybe not tomorrow, but I'll be back.

I'll put a link to it back up here now but... wow... Touchy people out here in O-H-I-O man, touchy. You want to jump in these shoes?! huh? youtube gangsters? What! Right. I didn't think so (wait, I'm the one touchy).

(you may have to reconnect the link once you get to the page)

WELCOME TO COLUMBUS

Below is a revisited version. Maybe I'll post this one up on youtube and see what happens... as for now though, it will only live here.

GTA IV.II

As the credits rolled on GTA IV I started to wonder how much the game cost to make, so after some searching... $100 million. After some additional searching you figure out that GTA IV is the first game to eclipse Shenmue in this category. All roads take you back to Shenmue. Shenmue cost a reported 70 million.

In a handful of ways, the comparisons are there. Come to think about it there may not be a GTA IV without Shenmue. Besides the gameplay; the story is similar. Our main protagonists are hell bent on revenge. Ryo is hunting down the person who murdered his father, Niko is looking for a person who betrayed him and both characters have doomed relationships and find only emptiness in revenge.

Shenmue can't really be considered a 'sandbox' game like GTA titles can. Shenmue has a clock that haunts your dreams and keeps things moving forward. Ryo needs his sleep, man! GTA IV uses that gameplay element a bit more now then previous installments. I felt more rushed in GTA IV but a big motivator there was story whereas in Shenmue the story sometimes left you looking for sailors, dropping yen into a Hang-On cabinet and working a regular job moving boxes around, which only made it seem like a sandbox.

The thing Shenmue had going for it was intimacy. I really felt like I was part of the world. GTA IV has that as well, but it just can't compare. Even if I could have, I would never even have thought of jumping to my death from 50 stories while firing off rounds from my carbine all the while hoping to land on a vehicle just to see what happens to Ryo. The story in GTA got to me, but not enough to prevent me from trying those types of things. Money comes easily to Nikko, not so easily for Ryo, playing Lucky Hit could only earn him so much.

Now that I've finished up the GTA IV story I can't help but think of how refreshing it would be to have a game with the same elements, but without the witty advertising, cursing, vulgar talk radio stations, ethnic stereotypes, etc... not that I don't like it, it's just that sometimes it took me out of the game. That said, there is definitely a self awareness about it at Rockstar throughout the game though. At one point even, Niko switches off the radio station, stating that he couldn't stand it anymore. I was impressed. It also made me wonder if there is another game that Rockstar wants to make but cannot because it wouldn't sell. Maybe a game closer akin to Shenmue.

Think about the buzz around a Shenmue game made by Take-Two's Rockstar.

Think about it.

GTA 4

Wow. It's rare that something comes along with a lot of anticipation then surpasses your expectations. Rockstar has outdone themselves. The game is incredible. When reading the reviews about the game you might feel bad for the folks that review for a living. They play games as a job, not for the fun of it or for (gasp) the experience of it. GTA 4 is a rare treat for someone like me. First impressions after firing it up are jarring. I expected it to look and feel much like San Andreas. Nothing could be farther from that statement. Meaning, it is clear that it is by the same folks, but the boyish story in the previous installment is gone. The story, which is what I figured would fall flat, it much more gripping.

Like and dislike, feelings.

One of the biggest changes perhaps is, well, me. Maybe I'm wiser, gone though a bit, been around long enough to have made bad decisions... but this game makes you, forces you, to take deep breathes. Dare I say; it has a bit of Shenmue to it. For example: you work on many relationships at once. The game allows you to invest time in certain characters, work for their friendship or love. Because I am the way I am, I tried to take one as far as the game would allow, when all the sudden it turned on me. I honestly felt sort of betrayed. I felt like taking a walk and watching the time go by, literally. So I did. Almost like adding my own cut to the story.

Marching On.

Rockstar didn't mess around. This game is worth every penny. The city looks and feels ridiculously good. I've never lived in NYC but I have visited on occasion, probably more then I should have. I vividly remember the colors of the city the day after New Years, the emptiness. I also remember taking a train from Islip on a Spring day in the middle of the week. Both contrasting images and feelings are in the game. My experiences are limited, so I can only imagine what someone who spent a lot of time there thinks. Regardless, the game sucks you in. Forces you to take in the character that is the city along with the human characters to run into along the way.

Some say this is the greatest video game experience of all time... They may be right, perhaps wrong. Either way, I'll be playing this game all the way through. Why not.

8 bit

My Xbox 360 returned to me last week and seems to be working again just fine. I resumed my futile attempts at higher ranks at Call of Duty 4 and revived my addiction to Galaga. However, with the release of Grand Theft Auto 4 I think that all other games will be cast asunder for a few weeks. From what I've read, this is the best Rockstar has given us, and that is saying something.

'In der Beschrankung zeigt sich erst der Meister'... limitation reveals the real mastery. Or so www.8bitpeoples.com says, by quoting Goethe, about the music of Stu. The site is incredible. I can't get enough of the music found there. It's what we have the internet for. The music is in part the realization of some of the early 20th century German Bauhaus (got a Klee hanging at my desk) that art should meet the needs of society and that no distinction should be made between fine arts and practical crafts. While we are going German it is worth mentioning that this music is of the Karlheinz Stockhausen school. Some of the tracks I found are so closely related to the thought process behind Stockhausen's it's erie. I think he'd be proud of my video.

Most of this madness was inspired by the documentary "King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters". Watch it. Besides being good; You'll find an extra that features art from the "I am 8 Bit" gallery that is part of the 80's revival junk everywhere. Remember wondering how the 80's would impact our culture now like the 70's did in the 90's? Well. Look around I guess. I figure it is from us folks from that time are getting to be in charge and the rest of the world is just going to have to deal with it for a while.

Lots of German here today. Ii has to do with where I live I'm guessing. Ohio is filled with peoples of German decent. Off the top of my head, here are some last names of people I know here: Zerhusen, Keck, Bernthold, Eicher... Anyway, I hungry. Got me some braunschweiger chillin' and Weissburgunder to wash it down.

Collecting to Play

Another weekend here and this tired, stressed out manufacturing supervisor kicks up his feet once again to calm himself by writing about his video game addiction. Last weekend was a big weekend for collecting. I was able to find the original NES and N64 at a thrift store. Continuing with the Nintendo theme... I purchased a Nintendo GameCube for 30 bucks. Now, being that I'm not much of a Nintendo person, I've got a lot of work to do to catch up. But my initial thoughts are that the GameCube is a great system for collecting and playing games. My guest game reviewer (Amy) has been enjoying Paper Mario a lot. The console itself is impressive looking. In the future I'm planning to get into Zelda: Ocarina of Time and perhaps some other choice Zelda games as Nintendo ported a bunch of them to the system.

On the other side of things (games), I expanded my Genesis library a bit. Picked up Sonic, Sonic 2, Taz: Escape to Mars, Taz-Mania, Mickey Mouse: Castle of Illusion, Quackshot, and EA's first Hockey game simply called NHL Hockey. Won those on ebay for a bid of $6.50.

There is something undeniably sastisfying about gathering games right now because it is so wide open to me right now. Meaning, I'm not nearly close to having to narrow down my searching. I'm able to pick up loads of stuff for next to nothing is get quite a bit out of it. However, as with anything, there is a frustrating side as well. Guardian Heroes for the Saturn being one. I loved that game when I had my Saturn back in the day, now it is being sold for over 100 dollars... where is mine now? I don't know... lost to time.

Shadow of the Colossus

"Video games by their nature require player choices, which is the opposite of the strategy of serious film and literature, which requires authorial control."

[T]he nature of the medium prevents it from moving beyond craftsmanship [however elegant or sophisticated] to the stature of art. To my knowledge, no one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great dramatists, poets, filmmakers, novelists and composers. for most gamers, video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic." - Roger Ebert

I find it interesting that the first place I go to seek approval for video games as a viable art form is Roger Ebert. It is also worth noting that I agree with what he has seemingly, thoughtfully commented. Video games are so many things to so many people, it is impossible to pin down exactly what it is the industry wants as a whole. But the same can be said for any art form or medium. "What is art?" Is is more of a modern question in my opinion. The idea that 'something' can be torn apart and be commented on as to if it is 'anything' results in an unending conversation with oneself or others. In fact just asking the question could be considered 'art'. To me the process of creation is art. Simply trying to understand is the result of creation and with out creation you can't have the conversation I am having now.

I'll never forget sitting in a full classroom without any teacher present for over a half hour. Some students left, others just sat there, when finally someone yelled 'why don't i kill myself right now'.

Myself and the remaining students sat stunned for what seemed like minutes. Then the question was repeated 'tell me why i shouldn't shoot myself in the head right now'. It was the teacher. A cheap trick, I thought at the time, but now it has been near on 15 years and I still refer to it when thinking about what art is and the all encompassing power of it.

It's what surrounds us that keeps us going. Our personal ideas we consciously or unconsciously formulate. If we wish to take it farther then that is our own decision. Creation is the foundation for existence. Existence is the adoration of emotion evoked by creation. One can see how this belief can be carried over to the spiritual as well.

Among the many things that energize me in this world are video games. To be honest I do see it as a craft or trade. But does that make it any less 'art' then a singular work in any other widely considered art form. The case in point here may not be Sonic the Hedgehog or Pac-Man (although arguments could be made), but in a game like Shadow of the Colossus.

I don't feel the need to go into the specifics of this game, nor do I feel the need to explain how it relates to the reason I'm posting thoughts on art. If you haven't played a game in a while or need something to invoke enough inspiration to write as I have here then you should find this work of art and play it. You'll need a Playstation 2... that's 100 bucks. Then the game... 20 bucks. 120 dollars. Trust me, it's worth it.

Find yourself a nice warm spring evening, where it is just you, this game, and a good bottle of wine and press the magic button.

The Return of the Ring

I goes without saying. I was wrong, but I felt good to have felt right. Nothing can save your Xbox 360. Never fear, however. Microsoft is on the job! Got my coffin today and I'm sending her back. Back to... to... Mesquite, Texas?

Just a side note: I know five people at work that have a 360. Three of those people have gotten a general hardware failure. Perhaps its just a statistical anomaly.