Weird Movies? We Got Em

I've come to the conclusion that I don't really like big name Hollywood movies. Each big action movie seems to only be a few soulless explosions followed by a poor climax. Cheap dramas don't seem to try to make a new plot in fear of scaring off the six million people that go and see every one. The award shows are useless, and the people that mindlessly watch whatever gets nominated. Rarely do movies come along that I truly want to see. Scott Pilgrim was one of them. Ninja Assassin was another. Inception.  I've gone and seen other movies, socially, but I've rarely walked away thinking 'I really enjoyed that.'

Happy 25th Metroid!

Link isn't the only classic Nintendo hero celebrating a birthday this year. On August 6, 1986, a little NES cartridge was released on Japanese store shelves, and much like several other games of the time, its simple beginnings would blossom into generations of fame.

We all know how the Metroid series has been the first thing that comes to mind when someone says "good women game protagonists." I am aware of that, and I would refer you to IGN's latest article about Samus' impact if you want to read more. But I'm gonna talk about some of the other burning questions of Metroid's legacy. Like: What made Metroid so special? Why does Super Metroid live on as the pinnacle of 2D gaming? Who cares about Metroid II? Why am I so annoying about the Metroid Prime trilogy? And why Other M can, in fact, be left as a large stain on this good franchise, a stain that may spell doom for the entire series?

An Excursion Through the Ninth Fantasy

When people give their favorite Final Fantasy game, I usually hear I, VI, VII, or X. Occasionally others, but not really. Now, to be fair, I do fall into the VI-loving category. However, most of these people haven’t played Final Fantasy IX, and will tell you that they know next-to-nothing about it. While the game is certainly popular in its own right, comparatively to other games in the franchise, it is widely ignored for its more techno-savvy compatriots with less jarring art styles. But gamers ignoring Final Fantasy IX are ignoring a carefully crafted game with one of the most consistent themes in all of Final Fantasy. Most of the other games have extremely mixed messages, but to put it bluntly: Final Fantasy IX is a play. Seeing as how it opens and ends with a play, this shouldn’t be too hard for people to believe.

The Many Failings of Capcom (or "How Not to Develop a Game")

So, yeah, this is gonna be an article about the failings of Capcom as a company. It’s funny, because a year ago, I would be singing Capcom’s praises as though they were one of the greatest companies ever. Not only did they release Mega Man 9 and 10, two excellent throwback titles, but they also announced sequels to two of their beloved franchises, Marvel vs. Capcom and Mega Man Legends. Capcom had been releasing pretty good games for a while, and I honestly didn’t have much to complain about. But, as I watch recent developments, I can’t help but see a failing trend at Capcom, and I think if we look at the evidence, we’ll see that it has existed for quite a long time ago.

The Japanese game industry has been having problems for a while now. Former Capcom employee Keiji Inafune was long-quoted as saying that the industry was unwilling to change, and that they were sticking to the same tired old formula. This was ultimately the reason Inafune left Capcom in October of 2010. If we look at Capcom’s recent history, we will see that it very much follows the idea of an industry unwilling to change.

The Shape of Things to Come: Skyward Sword

Original Writer: Andrew S.

It's really hard not to be a Zelda fan. Over time Nintendo has pumped out some grade A titles for the Zelda franchise. Ocarina of Time is widely accepted to be one of the best games of all time. Recently however there has been some doubt in Nintendo. Twilight Princess was pretty, but it really did not live up to what it could have been. Skyward Sword seems to be shaping up to redeem Link in his console endeavors and there are a few key reasons why. 

EA didn't ruin Dragon Age II

Earlier this year, EA and Bioware released Dragon Age II on the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Mac platforms. The game has since stirred up tons of controversy and talk, with fans of the first game and new players both citing numerous faults in the game’s methodology of presenting its story, characters, and gameplay. Dragon Age II’s predecessor, Dragon Age: Origins (henceforth referred to as DAII and DA:O, respectively), was a slow-paced game with lots of exploration, a wide-spread story, tons of decision making, and an almost entirely customizable character. DAII eschewed this idea in favor of a more set in stone protagonist and storyline, with less obvious choices like in the first game and more intention on telling a specific story. However, I’m not here to review DAII (though I personally enjoyed the game). I’m here to talk about EA.

Super Meat Chaos: A Good Design/Bad Design Review

Through fire, flames and mounds of salt, Super Meat Boy left aches in my fingers and nightmares in my sleep. But like everyone else, I'll say that it was worth every minute. Was it hard? Yes. But the simplistic charm of a game that tries so hard to emulate the difficulty of a long gone era of platformers is impossible to ignore.

The First Post

Welcome to a blog created by a group of friends who thought it'd be fun to write about all the geeky things they do in their spare time. If that sounds pathetic, its because it is. But there are plenty of other pathetic blogs such as this, so its socially acceptable.

As far as content goes, its probably stunningly boring right now. This is probably the only thing on here. But give it a week or so...we're only doing this for fun. Not to berate any professional journalists that may do this, but this is the internet, so therefore everyone's opinion carries the some weight to those who will listen.

Finally, this is only for fun. Which means, write-ins are accepted. Chances are you only stumbled on this site because we yelled about it on Facebook, but hey,anyone is welcome.

Other than that, wait a few days, now that we have a website, and have our own expectations to motivate us, we should start to get up off our asses and write about stuff. Expect lots of video games, anime, sci fi, technology, and all that geek stuff. Y'all know the drill.

Tyler B.