Just to let you all know that I have been working on quite a few videos and have started up a Youtube Channel to accomodate these! The videos so far are primarily based around Minecraft ('The Animus Diaries') however, I intend to begin making short videos about many of the games in my extensive Steam 'Library'! Time permitting of course...
More new to come soon as I realise, because of my videoing and processing, that I have not had the ideal amount of time to make posts on the blog! This post is just to assure you that I have been doing something with my time!
Thanks everyone, and remember to check out the Youtube Channel below and comment,rate and subscribe if you want! Thanks.
As you may or may not know...(well you obviously should)...Notch - the creator of Minecraft - and Mojang hosted 'Minecon' in Las Vegas a few days ago. Minecon was like most conventions in the sense that it was set up to advertise a franchise or a select game; this convention was for the official opening of Minecraft 1.0 (or 2.0 to the picky..) and the event drew gamers from far and wide to the sunny but expensive state of California. For the most part the convention was a complete success with Notch and Mojang alike being absolutely dumbfounded by the support they received from Minecraft's community. All the people there were there because they enjoy the game and want to give something back to the Notch, the token Swedish creator; of these people included the gamers-turned famous Yogscast comprising of Simon, Lewis and Hannah.
The YouTube sensation that is the Yogscast crew were beckoned to Las Vegas by none other than Notch himself as the designated 'Guest Speakers'. Due to last minute disruptions and problems the crew weren't going to take the long-haul fight from the UK but decided against that as they quote: 'wanted to give back something to [their] fans'. Smart move considering the notoriety of the Yogscast fans! And in all fairness, they would not be where they are today without them...just simply go to the most watched on YouTube on any given day and your sure to find the Yogscast's latest video at number one!
Anyway, the controversy is this...
The Minecon event was the first of it's kind and thus was poorly run in many regards due to the small nature of Mojang and their amateur organisation proved costly, especially when it came to signing sessions. Yogscast aswell as Notch, most likely had to - or felt they had to - sit for an apparent six hour session even at one point in order to indeed give something back to the community with a pen in one hand and a piece of merchandise in the other! This is a ridiculous time-sink and Notch was tiring, which was of course to be expected from the man! Maybe it was him being tired or maybe the incompetence of Yogscast however Notch blew up over a 'practical joke' played out by the Yogscast team concerning the signing of a 12 year old's T shirt.
It goes like this...Notch signed this boy's shirt and then handed it to the Yogscast members next to him after being asked by the boy to have both signatures. Yogscast reportedly crossed out Notch's signature and wrote 'Fuck You', a profanity that should not be exposed to anyone at that age let alone being from a couple of internet celebrities. Unbeknownst to Notch however, it has been found out that Yogscast's actions has been accepted by 'half of Mojang' and the convention staff team and was given the go-ahead.
This caused Notch to vent his anger at the Yogscast over his Twitter stating that 'now we know who not to work with anymore' and all that spiel. Unfortunately, I believe Notch was too quick to judge, and quite honestly his persistent judgements of Simon and Lewis's personalities over his Twitter page was out of order. He claims they were persistently rude, acted like 'divas' and refused to do their job at the convention apparently.. So the question is, if this was true, but the signing scenario hadn't occurred, would Notch still say those things? Or was he just getting too worked-up over this one instance which was, to his knowledge at the time in all fairness, a completely immoral act. At the end of the day however, the tweets from the friendly Swede revealed, alarmingly quickly, how sour the creator can be about two guys who have made Minecraft huge aswell as the man himself. Both parties have alot to owe each other frankly...so they should quit their whining, enjoy the success of the release of Minecraft that got 9.0/10 from IGN and make up :)
Anyway,aswell as being in the IGN feed on the top right of my blog, here is the official link to the Minecraft Review: Minecraft Review
I am starting a series of Animus-Network Server videos. For those who probably do not know, this is a server that I have been playing on for quite some time and is a really great community. Obviously, otherwise I would not have built a city there in the first place....
Unequivocally the best introductions to any game so far...
A good designer knows that music is pivotal in any epic game experience and 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' and 'Kingdom Hearts II' are the standalone titles for me. The ability of the OOT music team to create a truly memorable and timeless 81 seconds in the 'start' menu of the game truly speaks volumes for Nintendo EAD's visionary attributes; without even considering the fact that all they could use to record music into games in 1998 was a keyboard...yet it still sounds like a symphony of unparalleled aesthetic.
Kingdom Hearts II's intro menu is a beautifully minimalistic piece of work on behalf of Square Enix. Yoko Shimomura begins the epic adventure into the world of Disney with a hauntingly enigmatic piano solo that just echoes the underlying theme of the game: A journey into Disney nostalgia.
Hello Viewers!
At the moment I feel like talking about one of my other band interest: Coheed & Cambria.
The band's music is EASY LISTENING and can be likened to progressive and punk rock with a metal undertone. Now I must get one thing straight...I absolutely loath 'screaming' music. The kind of music that so often accompanies band names like 'Dark Fortress' and 'Immortal'. But Coheed is none of that sinful nonsense, no not AT ALL.
It may be my attraction to various American pop music, but the best thing about the band for me is the lead singer Claudio Sanchez's voice. Unfortunately he has the kind of singing voice that first-impressions are particularly unkind to. I have witnessed friends who listen to one of the bands songs, and within the first 10 seconds of hearing the singer's voice, dismiss them as an 'Offspring' or 'Sugar Ray' flavour...how this makes me seethe with revulsion! Sanchez's voice IS incredible...sure it sounds high and youthful but his vocal range is so dynamic and this makes for some exhilarating and zanily experimental tunes.
The zany guitar strums and the rhythmic connection between the wood of the sticks and the skin of the drums is scintillating to listen to and even at their heaviest times the sound comes off crystal clear and effortlessly - despite the fact that the band play a notoriously intensive set in all of their live gigs. Whenever the songs translate into slower tones, they become eerily calm and sublime, evoking an atmosphere of joyful spontaneity and with upbeat tempos thrown in at random interludes. These songs don't disappoint and turn too dreary but rather exploit their methodic verses and attatch a truly unique style to the lyrics. Why? Because 'dreary' is not a word in Sanchez's vocabulary owing to his refreshingly unorthodox voice. Even in the soothing songs like 'Wake Up' and 'The Light & The Glass' the listener never gets too docile and inebriated as that oh so spontaneous and distinguishable voice never stays too monosyllabic.
All the band's albums are concept albums: in other words, they all follow a shared purpose, message or storyline. In Coheed's case, their songs chart the events of 'The Amory Wars', a story written by the front man himself that has actually been turned into a comic-book series. This underlying theme in Coheed's works is most likely why their album artworks are so insanely cool, reminiscent of 'Iron Maidens' CD art collections.
Songs I would recommend to the new listener:
Feathers - Personal favourite. Welcome Home - Excellent guitar riffs. Wake Up - Calming and Smooth. Blood Red Summer - Most famous Hit. Everything Evil - Showcases band's Epicness. Time Consumer - Example of typical storytelling narrative song.
Trivia: Coheed and Cambria are known to have a continuous video stream of Sam Raimi's 'Evil Dead' behind their set in their live shows. 'Blood Red Summer''s msuic video is a hint..
Nimesh left us last time in the knowledge that he has a house in Whiterun, takes on any mission - good or bad - as long as there is money at the end of the line and aspires to be the eventual 'Arch-Mage' of The College of Winterhold.
Alot has gone on in Skyrim in a very short amount of time! Nimesh found himself South-East of Winterhold in the snow-capped mountains. After wandering astray like a bold, brigand of the wilderness, Nimesh stumbled upon an old campsite; it was in this campsite that he found a book in which was documented the owner's research into Dwarven dungeon below the camp. Nimesh, being an inquisitive soul, was unusually frightened about the prospect of entering a dungeon of such calibre but his braveness payed off and he exited the dungeon, located on the side of a huge ice crevasse, with a large bounty: anything and everything from Dwarven weapons to small metal gizmos, Nimesh tends to clear out every dungeon he visits fully..
After this brief adventure, Nimesh quickly sold everything he found at the friendly shop owner who was becoming a very appreciative merchant indeed! Nimesh was not done however..A short button-click back to that same camp and he was off again, for you see, Nimesh was in the search of untold riches on this day and nothing was going to stop him, not even a Dwarven dungeon was enough for our hero!
A short trek into the higher reaches of the mountain range overlooking the campsite and Nimesh was soon engulfed in a thick snow-storm. Scouring the mountain range whilst traversing dangerous plateaus, Nimesh caught glimpse of a movement; and there, in the distance, he saw an ominous shape: A Dragon. A bloody mean looking one aswell. An intense and epic duel later, Nimesh and his trusty housecarl reaped the rewards with Nimesh acquiring another magical shout.
With a dragon slain and a Dwarven dungeon ransacked, Nimesh had gone beyond his expectations and he returned, tired and dishevelled to Whiterun to sell the remnants of his looted goods. His new house however was lacking the interior that a proud mage of Winterhold College is fit for and a quick visit to the Steward of Whiterun resulted in ample and a fully decorated interior. The day's work ends seeing our hero set up and exhaustively organise his house's storage boxes and a good rest is in order! After all, a well kept houehold is a necessity in any Roleplaying game!
Hello my wonderful and hopefully highly entertained viewers,
I though I would put my review temporarily on hold as to make it a wholly better read for you guys aswell as allowing me to try out an idea that was suggested to me: A review in Diary format - a sort of continuous review if you will, that will chart my expedition into the refreshingly unknown world of Skyrim-.
Session 1:
I begin this log having already amassed about 4 hours of game-play in the jaw-droppingly sumptuous realm of Skyrim..
Having narrowly avoided an untimely execution at the hands of an Imperial executioner, Nimesh (my character) had been thrown into disarray at the hands of the impending doom that was set to envelop the world: Dragons. Luck would have it that Nimesh is a 'Dragon-Born' and thus can absorb a dragon's soul. That he has done so far..twice. You see, dragons are hard things to kill. Nimesh always enjoys a challenge and he is really grateful that Bethesda has provided this! After all, his campaign in Tamriel, which did indeed involve shutting down many an Oblivion gate, had not proven to be too taxing..
It has not been long - about 8 hours of gameplay - and we find our hero already running to and from the city of Whiterun, doing various lowly tasks in involving gathering everything from a Mammoth's tusk (ridiculously hard), to long-lost tomes. You see Nimesh has yet to decide his fate in the world and because of this he doesn't mind killing innocents for rewards or trailing untold fortunes with nothing but a scrawny map and a heap of dreams; as long as there is cash at the end of the road, he can carry on being the dirty, perverted looking wizard that he is.
After taking in the sights on the journey to Winterhold from Whiterun, the gloomy rear-end of the caravan was a painfully uncomfortable experience. His desire to join the guild of mages in their college in Winterhold must have been a strong one.. And now, geared up with enough spells to kill any dragon in his way, Nimesh and his conjured fire Atronach companion, along with the resolute Lydia, are ready to rise among the ranks of the guild, with his intention being to become the eventual 'Arch-Mage'. His house now bought in Whiterun, shabby though it is, Nimesh might have just found himself a home here, despite the lack of sleep brought about by tireless dragon screeching..
So begins the tantalizing final hour before Bethesda release the monolithic and unanimously critically acclaimed title that is 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'.
I will hopefully play a bit tonight/tomorrow morning (release is at 12:01, specifically for some odd reason..) and will be able to get a review up and going come Monday night; reason being I have a life and thus have a girlfriend to visit down South!
Thats all for now, I may as well leave you with a funny Yogscast Video on the topic:
Another year, another Warfare. But this time it's to do with games!
Yes indeed folks, the IGN review of Modern Warfare 3 is out and about in full force. My take on the game so far? The usual really: Multiplayer good, Singleplayer bad. So goes the notorious phrase coined ever since MW1 was released back in 2007.
Singleplayer: Now, I have personally never really revelled in the franchise's campaigns so much, seeing as I am a fanatic multiplayer fan myself. I remember playing through the entire of MW1's campaign scenarios and rather enjoying it, however, as the curse of the multiplayer addiction goes, I was always concious that I felt I was wasting my time. "Well you would be wasting just as much time if not more on multiplayer Piers?!" I hear you say; yes indeed I would but I frankly get more enjoyment out of the competitive atmosphere and subsequent ranked atmosphere rather than singleplayer rewards which are, let's face it, far inferior to multiplayer's. In singleplayer, all you are aiming for is to complete the campaign, get the trophies/achievements out the way and be done with it so you can finally say: "I completed it". Therein we have the multiplayer edge as with ranks and levels come more enjoyment and value-for-money, which seems to be of paramount concern these days!
But anyway, back to Modern Warfare 3's singleplayer: It's meant to be 'good'. This particular IGN review seems to think that the campaign's story is classically 'difficult to follow which doesn't surprise me! There are the usual glitches in the form of unrealistic lapses of common sense from AI solders who seem to just run crazily into your men with a complete disregard for safety. Wasn't this game meant to be more realistic this time? One thing really annoyed me in the previous Warfare singleplayers, and that was the constant flow of enemies until an objective was completed...WHYYY! oh why Infinity Ward... That is NOT the way realistic battles commence, the bloody Taleban do not have an army the size of George Bush's mouth so don't configure the game like that! It's not cool or fun, just annoying. Especially when you think you have taken a sniper out who was pinning you down, then you go take a loo break, come back and woah! There he is again! Not cool.
Aside from that, I know most people enjoy playing the Singleplayer and if you do, heck, why the hell shouldn't you? I like seeing dart gun physics sometimes it must be said...
Multiplayer: So, the singleplayer is good, but the multiplayer is apparently 'fantastic'. And indeed it is. The game, from what I gather, seems to be completely focused on multiplayer it seems. Concerning MW2, all I did was turn the PS3 on and automatically go to multiplayer, disregarding 'Spec-Ops' and singleplayer entirely and to be honest, Im glad I did. There was alot more fun to be had much much faster on multiplayer then and it seems so in the new one! Infinity Ward have teamed with newly-founded Sledgehammer Games to create an apparently much more fluid, dynamic and sinuous multiplayer with the odd graphical tweaks but predominantly some major, integral game mechanic overhauls.
Killstreaks have also been reworked into Strike Packages to bring a better sense of balance and reward to all types of players. You still unlock abilities in Strike Packages by getting kills, but now you can specialize your killstreak rewards so they suit your playstyle. If you're not the type who goes on huge streaks and you're not always watching your kill/death ratio, you can take a Support Strike Package. This package doesn't have rewards that are as offensively-focused as the Assault package, but all kills carry over between spawns. This gives less-skilled players a way to contribute to the fight, and will hopefully give clans and groups ways to better specialize their players into a cohesive team unit. It's a great new feature, and showcases how Call of Duty offers one of the most varied multiplayer shooter experiences around.
There have been some complaints from a certain famous Cyncial Brit named TotalHalibut on Youtube about FoV options and limitations and I attach his rantings for you all to have a gander at!:
The game seems to be on the right tracks to be a great purchase for any multiplayer lover with the familiar 'exhilaration' from a great multiplayer round still remaining from the previous Infinity Ward games. The whole package is attractive and disregarding small matchmaking issues and clan domination the MW3 multiplayer seems to present itself making leaps and bounds from MW2's reign, which is a feat in itself! There is a reason this is the most popular on-line shooter out there! If you haven't got it already Im sure whacking it on a Christmas list won't do any harm! Let's face it, all your mates will be playing it so get involved!
Yes indeed. Old news though it is, the war between Mojang - the company driving Minecraft - and the massive gaming company that is Bethesda continues..
To all of you who do not know, Mojang are making a game called 'Scrolls'. Subsequently, Bethesda have decided to attempt to protect their trademark of 'The Elder Scrolls' with an iron fist. Massively famous and popular in the gaming world, Bethesda's 'Elder Scrolls' saga of games have been genre-defining experiments into the monolithic world of Role Playing Games or 'RPGs' for short. Their saga's title contains the word 'Scrolls' in it and that my friends is causing the upset...one word that Bethesda apparently own..
Mojang, friendly, happy, go-lucky Moajng are being sued by Bethesda for 'stealing' or being 'just too close' to their trademark for comfort apparently. Their foray into the naming of their new game seems completely valid and innocent to most but clearly unexpected and invasive for others..Notch - the mind (or should I say 'mine') behind Minecraft - speaks some sense into the matter. Paraphrasing, he says that imagine if you put a trademark on a sentence, that trademark should not necessarily mean that you now own all of that sentence, but only the most obvious words in that sentence. Sure 'The Elder Scrolls' is a 3 worded short sentance, but bloody hell.. I mean 'Scrolls'? Is that not a common word used in gaming titles? There must be at least a few games that use the word in their titles? What about small browser-based indie games? You know..the ones that pop-up all around you when your trying to read or use an internet page..What about them? But oh no.. as soon as a company of considerable credit and worth uses Bethesda's trademarked word all hell breaks loose apparently...
Now, because Mojang is a relatively small company there have obviously been reports and concerns that Bethesda is trying to muscle-out a weaker, more 'inferior' competitor, because let's face it, all gaming companies are fighting for the buyers out there. Bethesda may have all the money in the world, and alot more guaranteed with the release of 'Skyrim' on 11.11.11 but Mojang seem to have a pretty solid case in my opinion. A probable case based around common-sense predominantly I am assuming! It is going to court despite Notch's humorous invitation for the matter to be settled in a Quake 3 deathmatch and no doubt, a shed-load of money will be spent by Bethesda in order to win, but only time will tell I suppose. I think Bethesda should turn their heads to the bigger issue, and that is their release stages of 'Skyrim'. As a Minecraft lover, I am rooting for Mojang! Go team Mojang!
The title explains everything, here you go. A direct link to the video from 'You-tube'.
Don't whine about about the shoddy quality please! Still in experiment here you see! Comments would be great thanks!
I have been letting you down a bit I feel. For reasons unknown to myself really I have not posted anything for about a week. For this I am considerably sorry and hope that we can just put this whole episode behind us and move on. Sound like a plan? Good. Now all that spiel is over I have some exciting news!
I AM EXPANDING
That's right folks, I am expanding my subject material to encompass quite a few more gaming elements. What would these be? Why only some of the latest and greatest gaming announcements from 'IGN' and my unique and cynical opinion of said announcements! Fore example, we have quite a few MASSIVE titles coming out this Christmas including: 'Uncharted 3', 'Batman: Arkum City', 'Skyrim', 'Metal Gear Solid HD' and 'Battlefield 3' to mention a few. These games are all huge, ground-breaking titles and they will no doubt need some serious and typically humorous feedback, in which I will be proudly adhering to! On a more pressing note however, I feel that if I follow the IGN news closely and consistently then there is no real need for you guys to go looking for info on you favourite games as they will all be summed up here in - hopefully - short, descriptive posts; aswell as this it also lets you guys rest assured that I will not stop churning out quality and up-to-date content every week!
So the imaginary box has been ticked for IGN.
Now, I am not silly. I know many of my viewers come from the Minecraft server 'Animus Network' and 'what is going to happen your Minecraft posts Piers?' I hear you ask... Well, I WILL still be making insightful posts about the game but maybe not so formatted for you guys on 'Animus'; the reason being it seems a little too focused on a small minority of Minecraft gamers, let alone gamers in general! I will of course keep you posted on my movements on the server as - hopefully - my town has not been destroyed as of yet!
In recent news, I would like to let you all know that I have been making some videos...yes...that does mean you will be hearing my voice. Once you stop laughing over the particularly middle-class voice I seem to have adopted you will hopefully find the videos relatively interesting. I AM new to the whole Youtube scene aswell as movie making in general so please be patient with video and sound quality as I hope to improve as I go on. You gotta start somewhere right? My mission is to make some videos for the purposes of reviewing that particular game I would be showing and then some videos about random, general points whilst running game footage in the background. Again, the possibilities are in abundance so be sure to stay tuned.
I now, rather embarrassingly, provide this link to one such video and actually my ONLY video on Youtube thus far...be warned..It's bloody average!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX5ceYBRBKM
Just felt like letting you guys who don't use steam know what your missing out on really! Steam is obviously a massively ESSENTIAL piece of freeware to any true PC gamer. Quite simply it lets you compile all your games in one user-friendly area on your computer. You click the icon, go to your 'Library' of games and you can just click play...hell it even updates your games for you! Why wouldn't you use it really..
Steam even compresses your games so they are actually smaller than the retail copies you can buy! I swear this is true as I have seen it on a fair few of my games but of course, if I am wrong please to shout out in the comments area!
Possibly THE best thing about steam however, is that it offers games at a ridiculously good price and has deals pretty much every week.. Im not joking when I say that there is a '50% off' deal on a brand new release game most weeks. Titles such as 'Left 4 Dead' 1+2 and 'Borderlands' for £5 surely conveys the kind of deals that Steam is chugging out every week doesn't it? I honestly don't know how Steam are allowed to offer such sell-out titles for such ridiculous prices, it honestly is a concept that eludes me. Even on upcoming games or brand new releases, Steam usually slashes off a good £7: games like 'Skyrim' or 'Dead Island'. Essentially, Steam must be run by people who want you to game, not just for the money but for the sheer enjoyment. Sure they know that if they offer cheap prices they will make more overall as a product of increased sales but who cares? Everyone is a winner are they not?
Another massive positive is in the form of account-bound games. Every game you buy on Steam is linked to your account meaning, that you can download and play your games on any computer with Steam by simply logging into your account! How convenient is that!
I remember vividly a recent Christmas period where Steam was running it's Christmas bargain week (it is usual for Steam to have large discount weeks in the holiday periods, as they know..geniuses that they are.. that more people will be gaming in the holiday season). I actually sat at my computer for a good 5 minutes in disbelief that Steam could sell games like 'Empire Total War' for about £5.. a brand new game at the time. Christmas is a time of festive cheer and my God was I revelling in it.. I bought about 5 games that week...call me sinful. 'Killing Floor', 'L4D2', 'BFBC2', 'Counter-Strike: Source' to name most.
If you don't use Steam you a are fool, a neglectful sinner and naive thrall... GET IT.
And if, for some strange reason, you are purposefully ignoring Steam in the hope that you can say: 'I don't care for modern technological trends, I am my own person' and all that 'uniqueness' shit, then take a long hard look at your wallet.. Save yourself the cash, and join the millions before you end up a gibbering, elitist wreck!
Note: Steam has a Halloween Deal running till the 31st. Make use of it! Check it out!
Just thought I would make a quick little post about Project N64 (As promised in my Zelda post which I do hope you all read!)
Project N64 -Nintendo- is an emulator. Very simply, it 'emulates' what a console does but uses your computer. There are emulators for mostly every console before the PS1 (Playstation 1). You may ask why can developers not make an emulator for say.. the Playstation 3? This is because -if you want to get technical about it- think about how great the graphics are for the PS3..how could a developer make freeware software for the computer when the rendering (among other things) was so demanding of hardware! Because of this, the emulators that are freely accessible to the hoards of down-loaders on the internet must be of a slightly poorer graphical generation. In steps the best of them all: The Nintendo64 'Emu'.
Think about it...Threw away your old Nintendo64/controllers and games for extra money or just because they were out of date consoles? Ever wanted to go back to playing a little bit of Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie but found that you were a naive child back then and threw your N64 away upon the promise of a much 'cooler' and better console: The PS1-2? Well now you can just download the whole console onto your computer and play every single bloody game that EVER came out on the N64. And guess what.. It is ALL free. No memories of paying £50 for Zelda or Mario Party.. Those days are loong gone. Nowadays you can spend that money on the PS3, on such classic and renowned titles as 'Leisure Suit Larry' and 'Clash of The Titans The Videogame'....hopefully you understand where im going..
The freeware that is dubbed 'Project N64' is relatively easy to download, install and play. Im going to make it really, really simple for you:
(The games are called 'ROMs' for the Project N64. Download any game you could possibly want here, starting preferably with the top 20 section. You download these Zip files to -again- wherever you remember on your computer then extract them using a standard piece of software like WinRar. After you extracted the .Zip file into the same folder, deleted the .Zip, you don't need it clogging up precious memory! (Advice: Make a file inside the previously downloaded Project N64 file called 'Games' so you can find it easily.)
Downloading done, you go into the Project N64 file you created and then click the colourful Icon 'Project N64' application. You should get a blank window which is essentially acts as a Nintendo64 console that you have turned on but not put a game into. You can fiddle with the options -if it's a 2 player experience you want then you can set keys, or if you want to alter graphics ect..- but when your ready to play a game, click the file button at the top of the window.
Now all you do simply, is browse to the file you called 'Games' and then into the game folder you downloaded into it and extracted from the .Zip file. Now all you need to do is click the file in there that ends with .z64 or similar (most likely file extension <---) and open it. Your console screen should turn black and begin playing the glorious title!
If your controls are F***** then go into the options and change them! Enjoy your new-found hoby: Retro gaming from the glory days! Wipe away the initial tears and adopt the same kind of behaviour you did as a young child paying the game: Day long sessions delving into the beautiful 'Rare Company' titles with eyes so wide they couldn't miss a single detail.
For all the perfectionist and nostalgic souls out there, try the program out using a 'N64 Controller' -> 'USB' cable available on Amazon using this link:
Sorry I have not posted in a bit, just been trying to make some videos for YouTube which hopefully you guys will see soon! And when you do..Don't judge me! Just first-time game impressions/reviews ect..
ZELDA ladies and gentleman....Zelda.
If this post was in fact paper, the ink would be smudged with tears of joy, sadness and respect.
Let me just say one key thing about games: What makes great games good, is their replayability. Remember that.
In all honesty I don't really know where to start..It's going to have to be a looong post. There is so so much to cover: Music, Gameplay, Gaming Context -revolutionised gaming-, Background Story and finally, Last Words. Hopefully this won't just be a fascinatingly profound account of a sad, depressed kid who loves his old games too much but instead, a post that educates and explains the wonderfully charismatic world of Zelda 'OOT' = 'Ocarina of Time'. Why is it such a famous, fascinating and talked-about game? All will be discussed forthwith.
Background Story:
Your hero is called Link; he is a woodland elf child who lives in the Kokiri Forest with the rest of the elf community. Everything in the starting zone, where you begin your quest, resonates an atmosphere of cuteness, magic and purpose. The tale begins with link having a nightmare about a mysterious man atop a horse who seems to be kidnapping a princess. This princess -you later find out- is none other than Zelda, princess of Hyrule -the game's capital city hub-. When Link wakes up, he is in his own little tree house in the Kokiri Forest. His guide: A fairy called Navii. Link's purpose: Defeat the evil Ganondorf. How is he going to do it? By questing towards and into 3 dungeons to obtain 3 special stones that, when combined, unlock the Temple of Time's Master Sword room.
Sorry for skipping ahead, but it's easier that way! To stop Ganondorf from becoming grand-ruler of all of Hyrule our hero, Link, must go forward in time to be able to wield the master sword. Once he wakes up 7 years later, able to wield the sword, he is met by the Temple's sage. He, along with 6 other sages, must be joined in order to infuse Link with the power to destroy Ganondorf and rid the Kingdom of Hyrule from tyranny! With his mission in front of him, he is guided by Zelda's lifetime guardian , Sheik. Note: Link had met Sheik and Zelda before when he snuck into Hyrule Castle's gardens for a previous quest. His mission is to go into 5 temples and retrieve each sage's talisman, with each temple containing a final boss. Upon retrieving the fifth talisman, Sheik reveals herself to be Zelda and the final sage.
Prior to this, Link is told that the Tri-Force, the item that holds the land of Hyrule in place has been split and that Ganondorf has taken the piece of Power; Zelda holds the piece of Wisdom and finally, it is revealed that Link was always, unbeknownst to himself, in possession of the piece of Courage. With the sages restored to the Temple of Time, and the Tri-Force partially completed again, Link's only task now is to slay Ganondorf with the Master Sword. Oh no.. A villain being a villain must always interfere with plans, and Ganondorf does not disappoint: he encases Zelda in a prison of ice and steals her to his tower, his prisoner. Zelda, with the aid of the sages, enters the castle of Ganondorf, defeats him and sets about retreating from the castle. No sooner does he start making his way with Zelda, does Ganondorf make one last effort to kill them both by destroying the tower. A tense escape follows wit Link aiding Zelda down the rapidly deteriorating Castle structure. At the bottom, Ganondorf shocking reveals himself to Zelda in his true form: A monolithic, boar-like creature. The last epic fight ensues to which Link defeats Ganondorf one final time and reclaims Hyrule by combining the Tri-Force again.
The game ends when Link goes back to the past using the Temple of Time, by order of Zelda, to live his life of childhood again. They both meet, as they did even before the adventure really began, in the Castle's gardens. Do they both know what they had done 7 years into the future? Or have their memories been erased?.. Or does just Link know? This makes for a very emotional ending scene:
Gameplay:
Link begins his adventure in Kokiri forest, a happy, innocent elf. From the very beginning he is climbing ridges for Rupees -the game's currency-, navigating precarious, wooden bridges and hopping and skipping over stones. Upon acquiring his first sword, the player is introduced to one of the most important designs that has steered this game to worldwide renown and countless perfect 10/10 scores in most contemporary game magazine companies: it's combat system. The famed 'Z-targeting' system completely changed combat in 3D environments. Players of OOT found that they could lock onto their targets and not only that, but also switch between various enemies. Finally the player really felt in control of his combat and not only that, but he also felt the dynamism of his young warrior, Link.
Link has a range of moves using his sword: He can lunge forward, swing normally, back-flip into space and even hop to the right/left. Freedom of movement is key in all games nowadays, and the pioneer for this feature, I believe, is Ocarina of Time. Camera angles are all sublimely designed to allow the player to view his character from any position and indeed view in the first person. For how many times ive played the game, I don't think Link has ever got stuck in a glitch. The lack of bugs in the game is also of note as the seamless nature of the game makes for a much more enjoyable experience than many of the other Nintendo 64 titles.
With a shield, Link can block just as fluidly as he can fight using the N64 controller's R shoulder button. Realism comes into account here as, when Link receives his second shield -the shield of Hyrule- he is in fact too small to hold it properly and thus, can only use it to crouch below; the designers really used this hindrance to Link cleverly, as there are many scenarios our hero finds himself in before he turns 7 years older where the shield needs to be used to protect himself. Huge, fiery volcano boulders are but one example.
Throughout his adventure, Link finds himself using all manner of weird and wonderful devices. Some for combat, some for passive reasons -entry into secret rooms-, and some for both. The spectrum covers many things from the standard Bow & Arrow set -of which there are around 3 different arrow types!- to items like the directed, mouse bombs -glorified T.N.T that Link can send in a line towards enemies, exploadable boulders and mini-game areas-. His Ocarina, which I will talk about later, is his most useful however, as the instrument is needed to play various songs to unlock certain areas in the game.
Getting around is made easy to Link with the use of his trusty steed, Epona. After winning it in a race, Link can use Epona in most places adjacent to and inside Hyrule Field. Off the horse, Link can roll around, swim jump,and climb around the world, all of which prove extremely useful at most given stages in his quest. Rolling, seeing as it is pretty much all Link can do as a youngster in the starting area, is paramount to completing the first dungeon: The Tree of Life.
Music:
Arguably the best thing about the entire game? I think so. In fact, i am listening to the 'End Credits' song right now..yes I have you-tube converted all of them.. including random boss-fight music.
The music in Ocarina of Time is timeless, legendary and innovative. The music in the game are simple, keyboard constructed melodies. Being in the 1990s, there is only so much musical recording they could get into a 32MB cartridge and so, like many Nintendo 64 titles, OOT used a keyboard. In all honesty, the songs sound like symphonies in themselves considering all the musical director had access to was a keyboard, and his imagination. 'Koji Kondo' created all the music for the game. The thing I really enjoy in the game is the way that, upon entering a specific are, that zone's music will increase from a muffle to a complete sound depending how close you are to that environment. Unlike many games tendencies to have music introducing a character, OOT has the breadth of imagination to use a technique called 'leitmotif in reverse'. This means that, as stated, Link will enter say..'The Lost Woods', and, before entering he will hear the lost woods music as a muffled sound even before entering through the large log entrance. This idea was awesome for me as a child, as whenever I heard these sounds I wanted to explore, I wanted to see what was there. It sounded happy, so naturally you follow where happiness takes you as a child.
Music of real note in the game includes: 'The Lost Woods', 'Hyrule Field', 'Title Theme', 'Gerudo Valley', 'Kakariko Village', 'Kokiri Forest', 'Meeting Zelda', 'Sheik', 'Zelda's Lullaby' and 'End Credits'.
Those above songs Really capture the magic of Zelda, and for your sakes, i implore you just take about 10 minutes to listen to them all on Youtube. So magical, so wonderful and so spellbinding. Playing the game, you realise that you will attach the songs to your memories in game which will -most probably- invoke feelings to pure bliss and raw happiness when played through your computer, even while reading this even! <--- Recommended!
Link uses his Ocarina in the game. Given to him by his childhood sweetheart in the Kokiri Forest, the Ocarina serves to aid Link in his quest to save Hyrule. He learns a collection of songs prior to his growing up in the Temple of Time, and many more even afterwards. The user-friendly menu screen -upon pressings 'start'- has a music screen that reminds you of the songs' notes so you will never be stuck trying to remember. All has been thought out. Using the 'C buttons' aswell as the 'A' and 'B' buttons, you have to string together a song in certain parts of the game whilst at other moments, you can just play them for leisure like I find myself doing even more frequently now. After each completed song, the actual song is played and that song's event takes place, whether it be unlocking a stage in the game like a door, or changing the weather.
Music is an intrinsic component in the game as through the music, you learn about the various songs' uses aswell as unlocking hidden parts of the game that prove necessary if you want to get the 100% complete. On some occasions, Link will learn the song that is playing in the current environment, such as the 'Minuet of the Forest'. Below is the song played upon entering the game:
Gaming Context:
The Legend of Zelda The Ocarina of Time was released to the gaming community in 1998. It was developed by Nintendo with many various big Japanese names behind it. The game was released on 32MB cartridge -the largest cartridge Nintendo developed- as I suppose it had vast environments and many rendering specifics attached to the landscape in Links' adventure. The Cartridge idea was always a clever idea I thought as -try as you may- it was basically impossible to break a game unless you -for some unbeknownst reason- try to go under the cartridge to break the memory stick. Child friendly hardware aswell as child friendly games, Nintendo had it sussed!
Fond Memories:
I remember playing Zelda when I was about 9ish. It was a time when the weekends were completely free to do whatever you wanted, a time when after school all you wanted to do/could do would be to relax. That relaxation for me was -alot of the time- playing on my Nintendo with my brother -3 years older-. The Nintendo in general was a great little console for me and my brother and I remember watching him play Zelda, -he was always better than me back then- fighting bosses and unlocking new songs. All this would take place on our balcony with our TV that was fairly big for the era! Whilst Zelda may not be multi player it is a very watchable game and has, unlike most games ive ever played, created golden memories for me and remains, the best game I have EVER played.
Last Words:
Finally, I just want to say that I have purposely tried not to reveal too much to you. Sure I have talked about the plot, but my description is so so loose. The reason why I made this post and spent about 2 hours doing so is because I want you guys to experience what I did when I was a child, experience what I still am experiencing now when I re-play it. Like I said at the beginning: What makes a really great game good, is it's re-playability. Games like Zelda OOT don't come around often, they are layered, and because of that they can never be played to the ground.. if you get 100% then fair enough you have seen it all, but I guarantee you will want to go back to it after a few months. Do yourself a favour and go and download the 'Project N64' software, download Zelda, and whether you are playing it for the first time -in which case great, get ready for a hell of a ride!- or replaying it -hopefully-, you are sure to have an awesome time inside an incredible and epic gaming story.
P.S: I will talk about the 'Project N64' in the next post. Just a small, quick description, how to download, configure ect..It let's you play Nintendo games on your computer...I mean.. CMON!
So, I have hit the 100 views mark! This is cause for a mass celebration involving scantily clad females and wine!
Aside from that however, I really appreciate you guys coming on to my blog to have a look-see of my words of cynicism and wisdom. Admittedly I have not actually produced a blog about Minecraft that particularly educates my viewers however I want to correct that in the future. Who knows, I may make a few youtube videos to provide a visual example of all my work in Minecraft or possibly tutorial videos. The options are endless!
Just know one thing. I will be CONSTANTLY updating this blog. If I have not done so for a few days assume I am either dead or celebrating with the previously mentioned nymphs above! That's my prmise to you guys, because I love the interest I am receiving and I love the community im building.
Please, Please, Please comment on my stuff as I wanna know what you guys think, and what you guys think I should write about next. Anyone can comment so it's an open society ;) Who knows? Your comments could steer my blog to bigger and better things!
What have I been doing in the world of Minecraft recently? Well a few things. Most majorly ive been building a lake city above Moria in order to present a more 'attractive' settlement for all those past visitors to Moria who have not shared my ideals about settling underground! The result is a couple of residents who are actually active finally! I have now realised and will subsequently talk about, how agonizingly annoying and irritating it is to have inactive residents whom you agree to settle on your towns' plots.
Basically the server I play Minecraft on uses the plugin 'Towny'. This essentially lets you mark a small section of that server's seed as your own 'town'. This town can be expanded and has a hierarchy system beginning (highest to lowest) from your town's Mayor (This person has the most '/' commands in the town,), Assistants, Residents, Allies and Outsiders. Moria is one such town, and Moria has had a rough time so far. Fair enough, I am probably shining my town in an over-complimentary fashion but nonetheless it deserves to be an area that is of note on the Animus server.
The lack of people in the previously explained 'Orange & Yellow' districts in lower Moria (as I now dub it due to the Lake City above it) made me take a bigger look at the picture: Initially, I thought people would realise that living underground had massive benefits as the prosperous mines were never too far away; fair enough the conditions of living are fairly minimalistic and the underground houses could only be so creative, however I believe that the pros outweighed the cons. The visitors to Moria could not understand the appeal. The project transformation thus begun:
Step 1: Wall off the entire lake above Moria and make sure the land had been bought.
I had managed to accumulate enough cobblestone to achieve this feat rather easily, even after selling two chests worth at the server's shop called 'The Grand Exchange'. The cobblestone walling took a while but finally was complete. Walling off a large lake is no small feat I can tell you that much! Land was bought using my assistant 'Clunny's' money. After this wall was in place, I got a definite idea on the grandness of my project. It was/is going to take alot of time, sweat and late nights but I believe my advertising and keenness will go somewhere in populating this new town area.
Step 2:Make paths and 'carve' out plot spaces.
Now I must just say that above Moria just happened to be a large cobblestone, 'tower of Isengaurd'-looking structure that, I believe, some player called 'sapper' something had created (sorry if your reading this but the name has escaped me!). We actually have used this structure as a focal point of our town as, luckily, it's look and visual qualities lent itself to the theme of this town quite candidly. We decided to make paths out of chopped wood, this means not converting it into planks which would have been alot easier but less aesthetic. The idea of working hard and playing hard was never more prominent here as it took roughly (so far) about 50 trees to make all the paths. The wood paths linked the mainland area, near Moria, to the large tower on the lake and from there we proceeded with the symmetrical blueprints that were being conjured up in my head as we went. Yea im a pro like that :) Resident plot areas in place, aswell as the central 'hub', we then went up to the top of the tower to view our framework. We were happy. (I say 'we' because throughout the process i was aided quite merrily (5hr skype calls) by my cousin, Clunny).
Step 3:Make everything look dapper.
After we were happy with the design we then went about creating grass areas to plant large mushroom aswell as trees. Nothing like a bit of foliage to get the visitors on your side! After planting the dirt we realised it actually was going to take bloody ages to actually get grass growing on the water and, many internet searches later, we got the method of grass growing sussed! It took about 3 real days for that grass to spread but just as soon as it spread I placed mushrooms and trees. Me and Clunny then went about creating public houses, his being a temple, mine being a visitors house. At the beginning of the tower's stairs I made two signpost areas for Resident lists and town info ect.. Arduous but I am a perfectionist like that! By that time it all seemed a bit annoying as we were basically repeating the system we used for lower Moria!
Step 4:Complete and Advertise.
All that was left now was to touch up the small imperfections that presented themselves and start selling Moria to people! May hours were spent at the server's spawning in area as I felt it would reflect better if the town's mayor actually interacted with the new clients! With a couple of members in the new town so far hopefully Moria is now set to be a bit of a better community than it was previously underground. As it is near the town of 'Tectonic' hopefully members/allies will see my town from heir houses and be interested in roaming it. I would gladly oblige in letting anyone set up in the town for free as long as the tax is payed for!
Over the next few days I hope to analyse the town and gather more people to inhabit it as I really, really enjoy the town atmosphere from past experiences in other towns on the server.
Thought I would just talk about my all-time favourite band that I was in fact a little reluctant to start listening to.
This particular post is semi-dedicated to my brother as he was the one who showed me the way of the Pumpkins (much to my reluctance to admit it). The Smashing Pumpkins began in 1988 in Illinois and after a few years broke into the mainstream music category in 1993 with their album 'Siamese Dream'. The front-man, lead vocalist and lyricist Billy Corgan shaped this band with his songs from the very beginning and if you (like me) pay close attention to the lyrics in songs and not just the rhythm then you will see the genius that is the Pumpkins.
The songs, described as 'anguished, bruised report's from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land' are all completely unique and stand-alone pieces. Some songs join together to create a story such as in his album 'Perfect' however this a rare scenario. Now, it must be understood that I am not a heavy-metal fan, or really a metal fan; so when i first started listening to the Pumpkins i began by listening to their mellow, laid back music which is most of 'Perfect', dribs and drabs of 'Machina/The Machines of God' and similarly 'Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness'. For the purposes of this post im going to have to do the unthinkable and leave out their other albums including 'Gish' as I don't want to write a post the size of small, leather-bound book..
So basically, this band falls under the Alternative Rock genre. It was new, it was great and it was fun. They had a new sound, and a rising popularity after opening for The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Guns'n'Roses. They were set, and Billy and his band did not disappoint. Like I said I love their mellow stuff and to begin, im going to talk about 'Perfect'.
Perfect: This album is ALLLL about the sweet, soothing guitar strums and the atmospheric backing sounds. In fact, im listening to it now and all im hearing is win, win, fucking win. To narrow it down, if I had to advise someone to listen to this album I would recommend, no, tell you to listen to 3 songs: 'Perfect', 'The Tale of Dusty & Pistol Pete' and 'Once Upon A Time'. These songs pretty much encompass all the great qualities of this album: Smooth, Relaxed rock with a twist of lemon to wake you up from your euphoria.
Machina/The Machines of God: Here we have Billy bringing in a great mix of rock varying in heaviness whilst also (sometimes in the same song) holding onto those calming moments like we have heard in 'Perfect'. Now this album is annoying because all the songs are VERY easy listening and as such I really, really like all of them. However, (because I have to) if i had to suggest 3 songs that sum up the entire album they would be: 'Try, Try, Try', 'With Every Light' and 'I Of The Morning'. All 3 are great songs that manage to fuse dream-metal with grunge seamlessly, with the first 2 being some of my favourite songs out of all of Billy's songs.
Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness: Possibly the most varied of all of the albums, it has 2 CDs called 'Dawn to Dusk' and 'Twilight to Starlight'. I believe this was actually their second biggest CD with 29 tracks. It definitely has the most variety with Billy intending the songs to hand-in-hand together conceptually, as a symbol of the circle of Life and Death. Deep but that is the way of Billy! This album no doubt has their biggest and most widely known song out of all their work: '1979'. '1979' is such a golden song, it's one of those songs that you can listen to on repeat easily as Billy's voice is so soft but serene with the beat accompanying him being wholly constant but attractive at the same time. If I had to choose 6 songs to encompass the style of this album (no easy feat) I would pick: '1979', 'Tonight, Tonight', 'Lily (My One And Only)'. 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings', 'Zero' and finally 'Stumbeline'.
With The Smashing Pumpkins getting ready to tour their new albums: 'Oceania' and 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope' hopefully they can show their huge fan-base that they have what it takes to bring back the golden Pumpkins' past. They have been under scrutiny from music critics and even their own fans but hopefully Billy has something in these two albums that will hush those voices!
