Post split-created from Zelda: Twilight Princess on Sunday, July 8th, 2007
On Friday, December 22nd, 2006, my Mom went shopping. She managed to find a Wii from Gamecrazy, at 2:30 or so PM, while 5 other people were in the store. She got:
Nintendo Wii Game System, with bonus Wii Sports disc
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Call of Duty III (though I've never played a CoD game before)
Extra Wii Remote
Two Nunchuk attachments
Two Classic Controllers (future-proof), and
$78 in tax and warranty.
It came up to $597 total. And I still need an SD card. $12.99+S&H for a 2 GB...I will trade her one of her cards for the 2 GB card. Our camera needs more storage more than the Wii right now, right?
According to Nintendo:
"Important Note: If you are using rechargeable batteries, the only type of battery recommended are Nickel Metal Hydride batteries. When it comes to using rechargeable batteries, you must follow manufacturer guidelines for safety and proper usage. Failure to do so could cause damage to the Wii Remote and void the warranty."
We had some rechargable NiMH AA's laying around, so we're gonna use those in the Wiimotes. Oh boy, they're gonna get heavier. THANKS A LOT, GOD!
That isn't to say that they're too heavy right now. I've read consistently that the Nintendo Gamecube controller is the most ergonomically comfortable controller on the market (possibly not the most functional). I assume this is true, because I've never seen anyone challenge it.
However, the Wii Remote just completely blows any traditional paddle out of the water. Get it? Paddle? Water? Hah, boating humor. Anyhoo, do you have any idea how comfortable it is being able to have your arms spread a little bit whilst laying at an angle playing video games?
Very comfortable. Plus, the Wii Remote feels fantastic in your hand. The Nunchuk attachment as well. I am disappointed by the Classic Controller's two analog sticks- they're so far to the bottom...I don't know, they would be better placed in the middle of the controller, or maybe I'm just not used to the controller. It seems too slippery for the analog sticks to be so far to the bottom.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Edited and updated Sunday, July 8th, 2007
The most anticipated release in the HISTORY OF EXISTENCE. How does it stand up to the raw, brutal expectation?
It does pretty good. Twilight Princess has taken me until last night (at 11:06 PM) to complete. Fifty-three hours on the time played clock, but I spent around 65-70 hours, counting going back from saving and such. Twilight Princess was voted best adventure game of the year by X-play. More than well-deserved.
This is the first Zelda game I didn't get any help with from a guide- it's usually just once or twice and "where do I go," to which I find I need to be way across the land, under an ice rock, that I melt using the Lens of Truth and the sun (from an invisible platform on Death Mountain), but still it counts as help. That is a made up scenario, by the way.
This game made me feel like I had to rescue people, or like I was rescuing people, not just mindlessly playing. You know, like, (Link's) kidnapped friends, and Zelda, and uhh, as an afterthought I suppose the rest of the Kingdom. Maybe. But the trick is, once I did rescue people, I got thanked with a cutscene, not just a "Okay dude we're engaged now, you're gonna marry me in like 7 years." But either is fine, I suppose.
Also, the developers did a fantastic job of making weight of a situation. One part, in which Zant invades, really makes you understand the decision that Princess Zelda had to make. In one action. Everything is said by that one action. It makes you wanna say "No," but you know she made the right choice.
It's a very long game, but none of it is boring. Even running around, collecting Rupees to repair a bridge is fun, or at the very least entertaining, not boring. Heart-piece-locating seems like it'd be awesome, too, although I discovered how to locate them too late to not just finish the game (I miss stuff like that often).
A few things I just stumbled upon that would have frustrated me to no end otherwise- either luck, or a good design. I swear, it's amazing how your brain works in a game like this. BAM, it clicks, and you know exactly what to do. Perseverance is the word. Ah, who am I kidding, being smart is the word!
The character development is great, too. And there are no bad parts I can remember...you know, in certain games you think "Man, I'd like to play that game, but I friggin' HATE that one level!", and you decide you don't really want to play it. Right?
There are two bad things about this game. One is the ending. It IS the natural progession of the game, and it's not like we didn't know it would happen, if we just paused for a minute and thought it over. But still, ouch. Why did it have to happen that way? THANKS A LOT MIYAMOTO!!!
The second problem is that the game is very long. Very, very long. It's epic, yes, but whew. I spent 65+ hours on my first play, and I consider myself average. So don't you dare unless you have at least 2 hours a day to play.
The controls are, simply put, fun. The bow and arrow are easy to use, and not surprisingly, pointing is faster than moving an analog stick. It's more mentally taxing, but that's what makes it so cool. There are some truly delightful areas, as well as amazing use of some previously existing items. Some of the bosses are awesome, some of the bosses suck.
I give this game a 9.8 out of 10, and a 9.5 if you don't have a lot of time to devote to it.
The most anticipated release in the HISTORY OF EXISTENCE. How does it stand up to the raw, brutal expectation?
It does pretty good. Twilight Princess has taken me until last night (at 11:06 PM) to complete. Fifty-three hours on the time played clock, but I spent around 65-70 hours, counting going back from saving and such. Twilight Princess was voted best adventure game of the year by X-play. More than well-deserved.
This is the first Zelda game I didn't get any help with from a guide- it's usually just once or twice and "where do I go," to which I find I need to be way across the land, under an ice rock, that I melt using the Lens of Truth and the sun (from an invisible platform on Death Mountain), but still it counts as help. That is a made up scenario, by the way.
This game made me feel like I had to rescue people, or like I was rescuing people, not just mindlessly playing. You know, like, (Link's) kidnapped friends, and Zelda, and uhh, as an afterthought I suppose the rest of the Kingdom. Maybe. But the trick is, once I did rescue people, I got thanked with a cutscene, not just a "Okay dude we're engaged now, you're gonna marry me in like 7 years." But either is fine, I suppose.
Also, the developers did a fantastic job of making weight of a situation. One part, in which Zant invades, really makes you understand the decision that Princess Zelda had to make. In one action. Everything is said by that one action. It makes you wanna say "No," but you know she made the right choice.
It's a very long game, but none of it is boring. Even running around, collecting Rupees to repair a bridge is fun, or at the very least entertaining, not boring. Heart-piece-locating seems like it'd be awesome, too, although I discovered how to locate them too late to not just finish the game (I miss stuff like that often).
A few things I just stumbled upon that would have frustrated me to no end otherwise- either luck, or a good design. I swear, it's amazing how your brain works in a game like this. BAM, it clicks, and you know exactly what to do. Perseverance is the word. Ah, who am I kidding, being smart is the word!
The character development is great, too. And there are no bad parts I can remember...you know, in certain games you think "Man, I'd like to play that game, but I friggin' HATE that one level!", and you decide you don't really want to play it. Right?
There are two bad things about this game. One is the ending. It IS the natural progession of the game, and it's not like we didn't know it would happen, if we just paused for a minute and thought it over. But still, ouch. Why did it have to happen that way? THANKS A LOT MIYAMOTO!!!
The second problem is that the game is very long. Very, very long. It's epic, yes, but whew. I spent 65+ hours on my first play, and I consider myself average. So don't you dare unless you have at least 2 hours a day to play.
The controls are, simply put, fun. The bow and arrow are easy to use, and not surprisingly, pointing is faster than moving an analog stick. It's more mentally taxing, but that's what makes it so cool. There are some truly delightful areas, as well as amazing use of some previously existing items. Some of the bosses are awesome, some of the bosses suck.
I give this game a 9.8 out of 10, and a 9.5 if you don't have a lot of time to devote to it.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
I am an impatient Fanboy
Edited and updated Sunday, July 8th, 2007
It's no secret...well, I suppose it is. I'm ashamed that I like video games. I don't know why. I can't stand it, but I love video games. I have no friends who play video games (or maybe they're too ashamed too, huh!?), except my brother, and he has Downs Sydrome, so he isn't a good role model. My Mom and Dad both couldn't videogame their way out of Hell, so I don't get positive reinforcement there.
...anyway...
I still don't have a Nintendo Wii. There is a big shortage (about 900 million people want one). My Mom went today to try to find me one (I helped looking for locations over the Intranet).
We thought Walmart would have them, but they didn't- then Kmart didn't (shipment didn't come in), and they even had it advertised for today! So we lost out on an hour and a half of looking time. Sheesh. What a fumble there. I really want a Wii. And I really don't want to spend $450.00 on eBay!
So I need a way to pass the time, and I'm bored of my current video games. Old games are games you don't play because you're bored and don't want to- they're ones you play when you remember how much you love them. At least for me, at least. At least.
For instance, Metroid Prime. I wish I could play it, but I just don't feel like it. Silly huh?
You know what's REALLY silly?
That Nintendo didn't include a bot-multiplayer for MP1 or 2. I mean, comp-stomps are what I LIVE off of- like gaming air! Oh, the days of spending hours playing Perfect Dark with 8 bots. What losers, getting held back by doors while me and my brother picked them off with the crazy wall-penetrating alien weapon.
You know who's in Perfect Dark?
Joanna Dark. She's got an English accent. She is also quiet. I mean, not as quiet as Samus (she doesn't have a tongue, as far as I'm concerned), but if I was being shot at, I would be yelling at those jerks back in Houston. "What the-, you told me they would be unarmed! You said it would be like raiding an Amish retirement home!"
Rare made Perfect Dark. Then, Rare ended up with Microsoft, so now I need an Xbox 360 apparently. Logically at least. I will be getting one later this year, if I have a mind to. We'll see how my finances end up going. $50 a month for one chore, $80 a month for the other, plus any cash I can trick my parents into giving me. Hehe, suckers.
Then minus games I have to buy for the Wii...
You know, I can buy a 360 offline. Used. No controllers, no cables, BOX WORX GREATX!X and I'm okay with that. It's like...like...well, I won't use that analogy. But the Wii? I can't even stand the thought of getting it brand new, sealed, off of eBay. Why?
Just the idea that someone else bought it, may have touched it. Someone else might have lusted after it. Left it locked in their trunk with a PS3! Someone else could have sang it sweet lullabies until it fell asleep! Someone else told it of the games to come. The innovation that was possible.
Someone could have damaged it. Someone could have locked it inside a safe for hours! The ones at the store are bad enough, but at least they're in jail bars then, not in an airtight safe! Someone else tucked it in at night, waited it line for it. Told it how much they loved it (it's very important for their development, I hear).
Someone else could have named it. Someone else could have told it what Wireless Internet was. Someone else told it just when it would see the light of day and feel the power of 120 volt AC!
How could I stand that? How could you? I know I couldn't. Do you know you couldn't? Me too.
Oh, how I long to sync the Wiimotes to the console! To install the batteries. Play Zelda for the first time! Wrestle with that one psychotic Nazi in Call of Duty 3. Anticipate the first Real-time Strategy. Cut someones throat in Splinter Cell: Double Agent. To keep up with game releases, struggle to sit long enough to play them!
Take my first headshot with a sniper rifle using the Wiimote.
How I long to tell it its name.
'Blackii.' Even though the console will be white. In honor of my black Gamecube that died...it was so young. <=(
I am currently using a Platinum GC that's all business and clicks alot. Click click. I suspect it is very slow morse code. To what end, I do not know, and lose sleep over.
\
Goodbye. If you have a Wii, make sure it doesn't have to stay up too late. They need their sleep. God bless.
It's no secret...well, I suppose it is. I'm ashamed that I like video games. I don't know why. I can't stand it, but I love video games. I have no friends who play video games (or maybe they're too ashamed too, huh!?), except my brother, and he has Downs Sydrome, so he isn't a good role model. My Mom and Dad both couldn't videogame their way out of Hell, so I don't get positive reinforcement there.
...anyway...
I still don't have a Nintendo Wii. There is a big shortage (about 900 million people want one). My Mom went today to try to find me one (I helped looking for locations over the Intranet).
We thought Walmart would have them, but they didn't- then Kmart didn't (shipment didn't come in), and they even had it advertised for today! So we lost out on an hour and a half of looking time. Sheesh. What a fumble there. I really want a Wii. And I really don't want to spend $450.00 on eBay!
So I need a way to pass the time, and I'm bored of my current video games. Old games are games you don't play because you're bored and don't want to- they're ones you play when you remember how much you love them. At least for me, at least. At least.
For instance, Metroid Prime. I wish I could play it, but I just don't feel like it. Silly huh?
You know what's REALLY silly?
That Nintendo didn't include a bot-multiplayer for MP1 or 2. I mean, comp-stomps are what I LIVE off of- like gaming air! Oh, the days of spending hours playing Perfect Dark with 8 bots. What losers, getting held back by doors while me and my brother picked them off with the crazy wall-penetrating alien weapon.
You know who's in Perfect Dark?
Joanna Dark. She's got an English accent. She is also quiet. I mean, not as quiet as Samus (she doesn't have a tongue, as far as I'm concerned), but if I was being shot at, I would be yelling at those jerks back in Houston. "What the-, you told me they would be unarmed! You said it would be like raiding an Amish retirement home!"
Rare made Perfect Dark. Then, Rare ended up with Microsoft, so now I need an Xbox 360 apparently. Logically at least. I will be getting one later this year, if I have a mind to. We'll see how my finances end up going. $50 a month for one chore, $80 a month for the other, plus any cash I can trick my parents into giving me. Hehe, suckers.
Then minus games I have to buy for the Wii...
You know, I can buy a 360 offline. Used. No controllers, no cables, BOX WORX GREATX!X and I'm okay with that. It's like...like...well, I won't use that analogy. But the Wii? I can't even stand the thought of getting it brand new, sealed, off of eBay. Why?
Just the idea that someone else bought it, may have touched it. Someone else might have lusted after it. Left it locked in their trunk with a PS3! Someone else could have sang it sweet lullabies until it fell asleep! Someone else told it of the games to come. The innovation that was possible.
Someone could have damaged it. Someone could have locked it inside a safe for hours! The ones at the store are bad enough, but at least they're in jail bars then, not in an airtight safe! Someone else tucked it in at night, waited it line for it. Told it how much they loved it (it's very important for their development, I hear).
Someone else could have named it. Someone else could have told it what Wireless Internet was. Someone else told it just when it would see the light of day and feel the power of 120 volt AC!
How could I stand that? How could you? I know I couldn't. Do you know you couldn't? Me too.
Oh, how I long to sync the Wiimotes to the console! To install the batteries. Play Zelda for the first time! Wrestle with that one psychotic Nazi in Call of Duty 3. Anticipate the first Real-time Strategy. Cut someones throat in Splinter Cell: Double Agent. To keep up with game releases, struggle to sit long enough to play them!
Take my first headshot with a sniper rifle using the Wiimote.
How I long to tell it its name.
'Blackii.' Even though the console will be white. In honor of my black Gamecube that died...it was so young. <=(
I am currently using a Platinum GC that's all business and clicks alot. Click click. I suspect it is very slow morse code. To what end, I do not know, and lose sleep over.
\
Goodbye. If you have a Wii, make sure it doesn't have to stay up too late. They need their sleep. God bless.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Either way, her ankles should have been broken by now.
Edited and updated Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Her being Sheik (Zelda's "lightweight" form) in Super Smash Brothers' Melee. Either the leaning at a 95 degree angle, running at probably 20 miles an hour, or somehow being stable enough in midair to kick left or right.
Or the thing with the...you know, uhm...the flippy...kick...... thing.
You know? Sheik's "Down Smash"? Her BreakDance Kick?
yeah!
The flippy spin disco thing. Where everything gets hit 5 times.
Or her spine should have broken. You know, picking up barrels. Crates. Those things must weigh 500 pounds! They're like, four foot square! More than 500 pounds. Man.
Or leaning (would it be considered laying at that level of leaning?) half a foot off of the ground. Really, if you ran left and right, really fast, leaning 90 degrees each change of direction, your ankles would...well, you'd fall, of course.
Or how about the changing out of the dress and into the tight-fitting tomboy garb in 2 seconds flat? Sure, it fits that the tomboy garb is tight, thus concealed under the dress, but then where does the dress go? POOF, that's where! FAIRY MAGIC!
How about being grabbed, then hit in the face 5 times by Bowser, then escaping and kicking him in the back, which is, in case you didn't know, covered in spikes? 1-foot-long spikes? Steel spikes? With sharp tips?
Then somehow possessing enough power in that kick from your girly, elf frame, to move Bowser, that Great King of Evil...wait, wrong series. Either way, Bowser probably weighs 2 tons or so...uhh to move him 200 feet in 3 seconds?
Furthermore, wouldn't all that running, kicking, being slapped around, and being pretty brutally killed, give you a REALLY bad hair day?
What about that psychotic...uhh, you know how a chick spins around in a dress, and it flutters and spins and stuff? Right? Well, Zelda does that spin thing, but she puts her foot out a little bit, and all hell breaks loose for whoever is near by. Fairy magic?
...I've come to a realization, and that realization is this: Video games don't always make sense. For example, why isn't Sam Fisher covered in blood after he slashes someones throat, then carries their body to a sliver of shadow? How do other guards not miss that guard?
Or how does Samus get lucky enough to find every item she needs just in time for her to kill a boss she couldn't have possibly scathed without it? And why are there conveniently-sized morph-ball holes everywhere just for her?
Why didn't Mario get Luigi to help him in Super Mario 64? WHERE DID LUIGI GET A MANSION! WHY HAVEN'T I PLAYED LUIGI'S MANSION?!
It's all all right though. If things made sense, well, there would be no Link.
There would be no Zelda.
Samus would have been killed by Kraid. Her remains would have been catapulted into the sun as a safety measure. Although, they might then need to implode the sun, just to make sure. She can always make a surprise comeback. And she definitely would.
Mario would be dead, and Luigi would have been born a girl. Peach would be happily married, and, by some crazy freak accident, ruling Queen of Hyrule. If you haven't guessed, Luigi would be the Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Bowser would never have been born. Instead, "Palser" would have been born, and he would volunteer at the youth center on weekends, ride a skateboard, and every day before work read to the preschoolers for half an hour and teach them lessons. He would work as the director of the local Mothers United for Virtuous Children chapter.
Ganondorf would be gay, and none of the psychotic Gerudo thieves would understand HOW it happened. To tell the truth, I wouldn't know why, and I would have played the game explaining it.
Sam Fisher would have AIDS (remember the slashed throats and blood?), and be a shadow of his former stealth-action-hero self. He would spend his days regretting slashing that one overly skinny, shaky dude with a needle hanging out of his arm's throat he slashed. "Stupid!" he would say. The Vulcan nerve-pinch would become the new standard in suicidal covert operatives' arsenal.
Everything would be so different...
So I need to be thankful, each and every time I get stabbed through the spine with a beam sword and get away with not even a drip of blood. Every time I get caught in a Pokemon's brutal firestorm and get away to win a match, unhindered, unburned.
Whene...ahh you get the idea, if videogames made sense, no good ones would exist. It would be like watching...well, movies wouldn't exist either, if video games didn't.
Come to think of it, fire wouldn't have been discovered. And for some reason the amazon rainforest wouldn't grow past a certain height...or maybe it would have been smashed by a comet.
So, thank God every time you see something that makes no sense, and know, in your heart of hearts, that that...is why the world spins.
Thank you, and God Bless America!!!
Her being Sheik (Zelda's "lightweight" form) in Super Smash Brothers' Melee. Either the leaning at a 95 degree angle, running at probably 20 miles an hour, or somehow being stable enough in midair to kick left or right.
Or the thing with the...you know, uhm...the flippy...kick...... thing.
You know? Sheik's "Down Smash"? Her BreakDance Kick?
yeah!
The flippy spin disco thing. Where everything gets hit 5 times.
Or her spine should have broken. You know, picking up barrels. Crates. Those things must weigh 500 pounds! They're like, four foot square! More than 500 pounds. Man.
Or leaning (would it be considered laying at that level of leaning?) half a foot off of the ground. Really, if you ran left and right, really fast, leaning 90 degrees each change of direction, your ankles would...well, you'd fall, of course.
Or how about the changing out of the dress and into the tight-fitting tomboy garb in 2 seconds flat? Sure, it fits that the tomboy garb is tight, thus concealed under the dress, but then where does the dress go? POOF, that's where! FAIRY MAGIC!
How about being grabbed, then hit in the face 5 times by Bowser, then escaping and kicking him in the back, which is, in case you didn't know, covered in spikes? 1-foot-long spikes? Steel spikes? With sharp tips?
Then somehow possessing enough power in that kick from your girly, elf frame, to move Bowser, that Great King of Evil...wait, wrong series. Either way, Bowser probably weighs 2 tons or so...uhh to move him 200 feet in 3 seconds?
Furthermore, wouldn't all that running, kicking, being slapped around, and being pretty brutally killed, give you a REALLY bad hair day?
What about that psychotic...uhh, you know how a chick spins around in a dress, and it flutters and spins and stuff? Right? Well, Zelda does that spin thing, but she puts her foot out a little bit, and all hell breaks loose for whoever is near by. Fairy magic?
...I've come to a realization, and that realization is this: Video games don't always make sense. For example, why isn't Sam Fisher covered in blood after he slashes someones throat, then carries their body to a sliver of shadow? How do other guards not miss that guard?
Or how does Samus get lucky enough to find every item she needs just in time for her to kill a boss she couldn't have possibly scathed without it? And why are there conveniently-sized morph-ball holes everywhere just for her?
Why didn't Mario get Luigi to help him in Super Mario 64? WHERE DID LUIGI GET A MANSION! WHY HAVEN'T I PLAYED LUIGI'S MANSION?!
It's all all right though. If things made sense, well, there would be no Link.
There would be no Zelda.
Samus would have been killed by Kraid. Her remains would have been catapulted into the sun as a safety measure. Although, they might then need to implode the sun, just to make sure. She can always make a surprise comeback. And she definitely would.
Mario would be dead, and Luigi would have been born a girl. Peach would be happily married, and, by some crazy freak accident, ruling Queen of Hyrule. If you haven't guessed, Luigi would be the Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Bowser would never have been born. Instead, "Palser" would have been born, and he would volunteer at the youth center on weekends, ride a skateboard, and every day before work read to the preschoolers for half an hour and teach them lessons. He would work as the director of the local Mothers United for Virtuous Children chapter.
Ganondorf would be gay, and none of the psychotic Gerudo thieves would understand HOW it happened. To tell the truth, I wouldn't know why, and I would have played the game explaining it.
Sam Fisher would have AIDS (remember the slashed throats and blood?), and be a shadow of his former stealth-action-hero self. He would spend his days regretting slashing that one overly skinny, shaky dude with a needle hanging out of his arm's throat he slashed. "Stupid!" he would say. The Vulcan nerve-pinch would become the new standard in suicidal covert operatives' arsenal.
Everything would be so different...
So I need to be thankful, each and every time I get stabbed through the spine with a beam sword and get away with not even a drip of blood. Every time I get caught in a Pokemon's brutal firestorm and get away to win a match, unhindered, unburned.
Whene...ahh you get the idea, if videogames made sense, no good ones would exist. It would be like watching...well, movies wouldn't exist either, if video games didn't.
Come to think of it, fire wouldn't have been discovered. And for some reason the amazon rainforest wouldn't grow past a certain height...or maybe it would have been smashed by a comet.
So, thank God every time you see something that makes no sense, and know, in your heart of hearts, that that...is why the world spins.
Thank you, and God Bless America!!!
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