themblan's blog

Proponents of physical games will give you BS-answers when you ask them why they like physical games over digital ones. They spout off the same answers that proponents of guns and the Republican party do. "I feel like I own the games." "You don't really own the games if you have the digital version." They talk about the rights of the consumers and blah blah blah. What they really mean is that they want to be able to sell them later. They are collectors first, and gamers second. Why do people really prefer physical games? The fetishization of physical media (materialism).   We all live in the third dimension, and there are both ugly and wonderful things about living in a physical reality. There are some beautiful boxes and cases of videogames out there. Having a beautiful box or case to behold and cherish certainly beats having nothing but an icon in a home-menu on your system. The shadow-side to the overappreciation of our physical reality is hoarding. W...

Bethesda and Panic Button are fantastic. I thank them for bringing Doom to Nintendo Switch. As a longtime Nintendo-fan, however, it feels like a dream only half-fulfilled. I'm not someone that nitpicks graphics. I see video-footage of Doom, and it looks great. The main thing that turns me off is the price of $60. I'm not saying it's a right or wrong price. As a Nintendo-fan, I want to get Doom on NS, even though I can get it on my PC, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, but the thing that is most greatly deterring me is the price. I wanted to get this game from the time it came out but I had other excuses like being distracted and having a backlog of games. When I saw that it was coming to NS, I decided to wait for it. As long as the price is higher on NS, I will continue to wait. My full dream is for Nintendo-systems to get multiplatform games on time, at the same price; and for them to be completely on par with, or better than the other versions from the standpoints or both gr...

EA pulled lootboxes from Star Wars Battlefront 2 to the celebration of gamers around the world, but who really pulled the strings? Gamers will proclaim that their incessant whining directly caused action to be taken, but is this the truth? There are rumors that Disney, the owners of the Star Wars IP, mandated EA to pull lootboxes because of the bad publicity they were causing the IP ahead of the release of the impending new movie. Now this makes much more sense. EA doesn't give a damn about gamers. It's true that the vocal minority of superfans indirectly caused the removal of lootboxes. They were the catalyst, but not the direct cause, and if Disney didn't care about the bad publicity, EA wouldn't have done a damn thing. Gamers, get over yourselves. The only power you still have is your collective money as a whole. If you didn't want lootboxes, you shouldn't have bought the game in the first place. Complaining after you buy something is meaningless, espe...

Everyone has a different story, but one I hear a lot is that when they were kids, they got games on birthdays and Christmas, and other than that, they had to rent games from the video-rental store. My story is very different. I got an NES during the holiday-season on 1988 when I was 6 years old. It wasn't on Christmas-morning. I remember my father setting up the NES in the bedroom my parents, sister, and I all shared, with Super Mario Bros. + Duck Hunt. The NES was never presented to me or my sister like it was ours, or a gift for us, nor was my father interested in playing it. He just hooked it up and barely played it. I just stood there watching him emotionlessly. It's kind of sad if you think about all the videos of kids receiving their new consoles on Christmases and being overjoyed. I never got games on birthdays or Christmases until I was older, because 1) I never asked for them, and 2) my parents didn't like games nor wanted me to play them, which contradicted wi...

Foreword Recently, I played through Tales of Phantasia on the original PlayStation. It's been a long time coming. I first discovered the game after DeJap Translations translated the original Super Famicom game. I did play a little bit of that ROM, but stopped shortly into it. There was someone named Frogacuda on a gaming-forum I used to frequent (Cloudchaser, Xengen, Xengamers). He evangelized about the remake on PlayStation. I bought a copy on soft.himeya.com (they don't exist anymore). At the time, there was no English translation. In fact, I had never heard of translations for PlayStation-games - only for Super Famicom games and earlier. Fortunately, people were working behind the scenes in the deep, dark dungeons of the internet, and it was finally translated: the definitive version of Tales of Phantasia could be played in English. At the time, I couldn't play the translated version on a disc playing on real PlayStation-hardware, so I used the emulator called ePSXe...

There is this pervasive thought, especially in USA, that bigger is better, but I think bigger is worse. This is a response to Nadia Oxford on USGamer about how Xenoblade Chronicles 2 puts fans back where they belong: on the shoulders of giants . I always found the premise of being on a giant to be gimmicky and uninspired. Running out of ideas? Let's just make everything bigger. World of Warcraft suffers from this as well. Everything in that game is too big, from the mobs, dungeons, and even to the NPCs. It irks me when NPCs of the same race are twice my size. This is a problem in most games, especially RPGs. In Final Fantasy VI, for example, the sprites of your playable characters are stout and cute in comparison to the enemies you fight. Even an enemy that was a human and had a sprite that was the same size as your own, magically transforms and doubles in size in battle. I love games that respect proportion and don't use size as a gimmick to inspire awe. Remember when in...

Spammy YouTube-Channels I highly dislike it when a YouTube-Channel spams your subscription-box with multiple videos in a row. Spread it out. I know that this type of channel is more interested in getting random views from random people, rather than their subscribers. In that case, I will simply unsubscribe. I don't want to, but the wanton disregard for their subscribers really pisses me off. Addiction to Hope & the Future Some people are addicted to hope and the future, and the euphoric feelings that these concepts bring. It is fun to look forward to games in the future, fun to imagine how good they can be. The problem is that when most games get released, they don't actualize their full potential and end up being disappointments. They may be "unfinished," and rushed to meet a deadline, or highly unpolished and full of bugs. A lot of games start off fun, but get boring and repetitive later on. What happens when a game gets boring? Most people quit. P...

I've been burned so much in the past. It's amazing how I have never borrowed anything from anyone, but people have borrowed so much from me, and they have hardly ever returned the things they borrowed back to me. They just know, subconsciously, that I am a generous person, and they take advantage of that. It's kind of pointless now, but if I could go back in time and talk to my younger self, I would tell him to not lend anyone anything. Let us list the things I have never had returned back to me. Countless pens and pencils in school Bushido Blade 2 for PlayStation Either a Steven Curtis Chapman or Jars of Clay CD Super Mario Advance for Game Boy Advance A bunch of below-average SNES-games and so much more For me, personally, I have too much pride and desire to own something for myself, to borrow anything from anyone. I don't understand why people borrow things from other people. I also further don't understand why they don't return the things they bo...

I have not played Sonic Forces, but I desire to one day. The general consensus, however, is that it is not a great game, which is a disappointment considering the hype surrounding the game. It was first revealed at the 25th Sonic Anniversary event in San Diego Comic Con on July 22nd, 2016 to much fanfare. People went crazy for the game. I thought it was more exciting than the other game they revealed: Sonic Mania. Fast-forward a year later, and the fortunes were reversed - Sonic Mania was very well-received and Sonic Forces was not. I feel like Sonic Team, the developers of Sonic Forces, are subconsciously fed-up with developing Sonic-games. Creative people don't want to make the same game over and over again, but since Sonic-games sell so well, the higher-ups feel like there's no choice but to keep churning them out. There was not a single exclusive Sonic-game on Sega Saturn. Instead, Sonic Team created other games like Nights and Burning Rangers. Many people felt like if ...

This week, EA bought Respawn Entertainment, the developer of Titanfall and Titanfall 2. Apparently Nexon put in a bid for the company as well, but EA had the right of first refusal and could match Nexon's offer; EA eventually outbid Nexon. I believe that Nintendo should have been in the talks. They also missed out on the chance to buy Crytek UK in 2014. Crytek UK, formerly known as Free Radical Design, are experts in crafting first-person shooters, a genre that Nintendo-systems are sorely lacking in. In recent years, Nintendo has had good working relationships with other companies in Japan. Bandai Namco developed Smash 4, Game Arts developed Smash Brawl, Nintendo has worked with Koei Tecmo on Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors; Sega's Amusement Vision developed F-Zero GX and AX; Namco developed Star Fox Assault, among many other examples. They are reaching out, people are responding, and they are making money together. It's a win-win situation. I understand the di...

Sometimes I think I'm insane. I have a very good gaming-PC with an Intel i7-6700 and nVidia GTX 1070, a PS4 Pro, and a standard Xbox One, but I want to play Doom on NS. Does that make any sense? I don't really care that much about portability. Doom (2016) is the kind of game that I desperately wanted on Wii U. Maybe that part of me still lives and wants to experience it for himself. Nintendo-fans are dreamers. We believe in a better world. We are always hoping that things will be better in the world of gaming. Maybe we want Nintendo to be dominant once again so that we can relive our childhoods when Nintendo was dominant. Like Miyamoto himself, we are children at heart, whether we are 5 or 95. We believe in a world where a Nintendo-platform will have all of Nintendo's new games, as well as all multiplatform, AAA, third-party games. I must admit that my faith is all but gone, especially after E3. I still care, deep down, but it hurts too much to actively care like I use...

I don't have that same fire with Switch that I did with Wii U. I was in love with Wii U. I had a steady income for the first time ever, and so I bought a lot of games for it; and played many hours on it. I don't have that same passion with NS. I did spend an inordinate amount of money during Wii U's lifespan. I bought two 3DSes, two Wii Us, more amiibo than I'm proud of, some physical games, and many more digital games. Perhaps I simply do not want to spend the kind of money again, on NS, like I did with Wii U. There is also, however, the matter of ports. Ports must be two generations removed for them to be tolerable. A port of a Super Mario World was fine on Game Boy Advance because the two versions were sandwiched by Nintendo 64. Full remakes can be one generation apart. Resident Evil on PlayStation was remade the following generation, but it was such a substantial leap that it was very welcome. There were too many ports from Wii U to NS early on. I felt burned. I...

If you haven't read why 2002 was the best year for Nintendo-fans because of the awesome Gamecube, go read it now . Now it is time for the Game Boy Advance to shine. In 2002, Nintendo was still foolishly dividing their fanbase into two camps: one for portables, and one for home-consoles. Of course, there was overlap between the two, and their "connectivity" gimmick between Gamecube and Game Boy Advance was designed to aid that goal, but GBA sold 81 million while GC sold 21 million. The strategy did not work. 2002 saw the release of the e-Reader, which functioned a lot like amiibo on NFC-readers do today. You could scan a card in and get extra little content: physical DLC, which is much worse than digital DLC. There were a lot of great games ported from the Super Nintendo like Breath of Fire II, Super Ghouls and Ghosts, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, and Earthworm Jim 2. It was not a bad thing, however, because the Super Nintendo was two generations removed fr...

Many people with short-term memories are saying that 2017 may be Nintendo's best year ever. I beg to differ. Back in 2002, Nintendo-fans were treated to the best year of all time. It was filled with new installments in legendary franchises, great third-party support, and all these games featured state-of-the-art graphics, whereas Nintendo Switch's games do not. In this blog-post, I will cover the Gamecube. We're not even covering Game Boy Advance today; that's how great 2002 was. Tune in tomorrow for Game Boy Advance. On January 13th, 2002 we got the third and final installment of the NBA Courtside series: NBA Courtside 2002. Why is this significant? This is significant because it harkens back to a time when Nintendo tried to cater to more markets than just mindless Nintendo-fanchildren, and took it upon themselves to fund such games. Nintendo purchased a minority-stake in the developer: Left Field Productions, and in turn, Left Field produced the aforementioned NBA C...

On March 5th, 2017, you found out why I didn't like Super Mario Odyssey , and today you will find out why I still don't like Super Mario Odyssey. Thanks to USGamer, one of the costumes from Super Mario Odyssey was spoiled. I was angry for a second for having the game spoiled, but was glad because it helped me realize one of the key reasons why I don't like Super Mario Odyssey: I don't like the way Mario looks in this game. Mario is too expressive in this game. When I first saw him dancing next to a boombox in one of the trailers, I cringed so hard: Look at him opening and closing his mouth. It looks bad. Are his expressions too realistic? Is he ugly? He is not cute, cool, or badass. The costume (that USGamer spoiled for me) fixed this issue, and actually made me want to purchase the game. Visual and aural aesthetics can make or break a game for people. Some people like Sonic CD only because of the music. There is no question that its gameplay and level-design i...

Don't ever craft Health Kits Don't ever craft Health Kits, especially in Grounded. In Grounded, you are two or one hit from death all the time, whether you have full health or not, so it's a waste to craft a Health Kit for just one or two hits. Instead, if you are full on Alcohol and Rags, craft a Molotov Cocktail. Play through the game on an easier difficulty-level first Play through the game on the easier difficulty-levels first so that you learn where enemies spawn, and their travel-paths. You don't get Listen Mode, so this will be very important. Ignore items that are hard to reach As a gamer that likes to check all the nooks and crannies for items, you might be tempted to get as many items as possible, but if you're in a place full of Clickers, just stealth past them. Take the easy way out. Take advantage of AI teammates If you're in a battle-scenario where AI is helping you, take advantage of them. Their damage-output is ...

I see it all the time. Fanchildren of all types are happy when a game that they are looking forward to gets a high review-score, even though they haven't even played the game yet. Review-scores don't mean anything. Just because a game gets a 10 doesn't mean you will like it. In fact, you may like a game that gets a 7 more than a game that gets a 10, so it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to care about high review-scores. Use your own judgment. Know your own tastes. You are not part of whatever company developed or published the game that got a high review-score, so why does it make you happy? By becoming happy about it, you are just being a foolish fanchild. To borrow a term from Blackbond, a fanchild is nothing more than a "corporate slave." Fanchildren do the work that advertising agencies and PR people are supposed to do, without getting paid. That's what a slave is: someone who works for somebody else without getting paid. Stop being a slave. If...

NeoGAF imploded recently, and is effectively dead. A lot of people cried, but many people rejoiced. I was one of those that rejoiced. Sure, NeoGAF had a lot of awesome people there. There were people that dedicated their lives to making beautifully detailed posts about single games, people with deep technical knowledge and experience, people with inside-information, and developers that could directly communicate with gamers. That's where the good things ended. To even become a member of NeoGAF, you had to be "approved" and use an e-mail address that wasn't free. I understand not wanting massive amounts of people signing up, or multiple accounts by single individuals. Ironically, however, making NeoGAF an exclusive club made the appeal to join the forums far greater, and thus attracted massive amounts of people to them. I am not an opponent of being "approved," but I am an opponent of the caustic moderation that happens there. Once you get approved, you a...

Gran Turismo Sport has been getting a lot of backlash. Some of it is warranted, and some of it is not. The ones doing the backlashing are probably hardcore Gran Turismo fans who are disappointed that it isn't like the other games in the series. Fortunately, I am not one of those people. The only other Gran Turismo game I owned was the original back on the PlayStation. I played it for a little bit, but I stopped because I couldn't get the A-International license. I achieved my dream of getting a Mitsubishi Eclipse, drove it around a little, but the gameplay wasn't very fun, so I quit. The game had 140 cars, and back then, it seemed like an unfathomably large amount. Ever since then, Polyphony Digital has been upping the car-count from game to game, and other developers like Turn 10 Studios with their Forza-games have been copying them. Would Forza exist without Gran Turismo? No. My point is, "Don't knock the original innovators for not doing the same thing they...

For weeks, I had been obsessed with getting into sim-racing. I wanted a wheel and pedals, a game, and maybe even a stand to mount the wheel and pedals on. The upcoming October 17th release of Gran Turismo Sport and Thrustmaster's T-GT wheel-and-pedal set was my opportunity to dive right in, and I did. I initially preordered a T-GT from Amazon, but with their spotty record of delivering hardware on release-day, I canceled my order there and chose Newegg. What a smart move that was. Newegg delivered my wheel on release-day at 10 in the morning before I went to work, and that's with free shipping and no tax. It doesn't get any better than that. All day at work, I was a little happier than I usually was. I wanted to go home and play GT Sport with my new T-GT wheel. I had already received a wheel-stand before then: a Wheel Stand Pro V2 to mount my wheel and pedals on. When I got home, I went to work unboxing everything and assembling things together. It was a little confusin...