An unlikely sight
You can feel the tension in the photo above. The Nintendo 64 looking down on the PlayStation with much distain. Back in the late 1990’s I was more likely to buy a PlayStation to crush before Sony fanboys than to add it to my own collection. Now, 15 years later, their stories having been written and their rivaly irrelevant I can safely add this console to my collection.
Much like the GameCube is now, this console is really an unnecessary machine thanks to backwards compatibility in the PlayStation 2. So even though this doesn’t enable us to play any games that we couldn’t already play before, there’s just something about using the hardware of the era to complete the retro experience.
The PlayStation was really more a part of Andrea’s history than my own. She had one as a kid and still has a small collection of games to go with it that have outlived the consoles that met their end either through the rigors of play or the unsuccessful “modifications” performed by her Dad. She was as excited, if not more than I was to get this in. Infact she ordered it as my Christmas present. Which I’m totally cool with.
I don’t have a whole lot of personal recollection of the original PlayStation. I remember my first impression was in a Toys R Us which had one on display. I remember seeing the controller and thinking it was a pretty blatant ripoff of the Super Nintendo controller, thinking that they just changed the lettered buttons to symbols and added handles to be “different”. But while I didn’t express it I remember thinking that the thing was pretty damn cutting edge just because it played CDs.
It was in pretty good condition when it showed up. Just a few smudges and finger prints, but it cleaned up pretty well with just some soap and water. And the good news is, it works flawlessly. We played each other in a game of Madden 98. Tell ya what, football games have come a long way since 1997. I honestly couldn’t figure out how you run the ball in that game because as soon as you come within reaching distance of a defender the ball carrier simply falls flat on his face tackled.
Holding the controller was a very foreign experience. It’s similar to the PS2/PS3 controller, but just different enough to feel very strange. Most obviously there’s no analog sticks on the controllers, but overall the controllers felt smaller than the later controllers. Just different enough to be awkward.
It’s not a system that will see a ton of play from here forth, but when I get around to playing some of the Final Fantasy games of the PlayStation era this will be how I play them! Thanks, Andrea for adding to the collection!
Holidays are over, it’s 2012.
Well I’m finishing up my last day off before getting back into the regular world. This time of year is always crazy with all the people there are to see, so there’s just not much of a routine. It will be nice to get back into something consistant and being able to spread out all my work over a whole week. It just doesn’t pay to take time off because I have to do all the work either before or after I leave anyway. But anywho.
It was a really nice holiday season as far as I can ascertain. Doesn’t seem like as stressful as those of the past few years. Even with Luke here, it just felt like everything kinda fell into place. We made it out to Cimarron, Wichita, Kansas City… all in less than a month. It kinda blew our gas budget, but we made a little extra money with side jobs to come up with the difference. Seems like the Lord still finds ways to provide!
This last quarter of 2011 has really rekindled my excitement for gaming. I got Zelda around Thanksgiving and the new Mario Kart for Christmas. On top of that I got back into Guild Wars for the Wintersday, getting hundreds of holiday items that I need to consume now. Let’s just say I’m not too worried about Death Penalty for a while! I still need to get Super Mario 3D land, but I think that can wait while I work my way though Zelda and Mario Kart.
I’ve been having more fun with Mario Kart 7 than I’ve had with any game for a real long time. Honestly after the Wii and GameCube versions being so similar, I really didn’t expect this to be so compelling. But I’ve really been enjoying the new courses.. a lot. Online mode has been pretty fun too. There’s no communication between you and the other players, but it’s clear that you’re not just racing the computer. Mostly because there’s so many more cheap shots in Muliplayer. In the context of Mario Kart though that’s a good thing. For everytime you get screwed at the finish line, there’s an equal chance that you’ll be able to screw over somebody on the next race, and really that’s what Mario Kart is all about. Haha. I haven’t played a whole lot of Time Trials yet… but the couple ghosts I raced were very fun. I’m not quite ready to give a final review of the game yet, but initial impressions are very good and I’d already recommend it if you have a 3DS.
I’ve been getting into retro gaming more too. I’d like to bolster my collection some dating back to the Super Nintendo and before. I have the N64 pretty extensively covered, and besides a few more brand new controllers, there’s really not a whole lot else I’m looking for right now. I want to go real old skool. In fact at the top of my “retro list” right now is an old “Vectrex” console from the early 80’s. I never had one. And until a few months ago I didn’t even know one existed until I started watching some reviews from Classic Game Room on Youtube. I think I like it because it’s so far and different from anything that is still around today. It really hearkens back to the day when the real games were in the arcades, and if you had something at home that could approximate that experience… man you were living.
Well, happy new year. Hope yours is a good as mine is going to be. I’ve pretty much made up my mind it’s going to be awesome.
12.27.11Maintaining my KartMaster ‘Cred
I can’t believe there’s been seven Mario Karts… Makes me realize how long I’ve been playing games.
I got this for Christmas from my Brother in Law Josh for Christmas, and so far it’s pretty awesome. I’m still working through 50ccs and haven’t had a whole lot of time with it, but I can once again say I have every Mario Kart game! I actually just got the original Super Mario Kart on Wii Virtual console a couple weeks ago for 100 Nintendo Club points! If you aren’t registering your Wii games at club.nintendo.com, you’re really missing out on some cool bonuses. And if you aren’t going to make a Club Nintendo account… can I have your registration codes inside the boxes!?
It was really cool though, because my nephew Nik wanted me to open my present so bad. He even wanted me to open it before he opened up his own presents. I thought that was just too awesome that he was getting that happy about giving a present, when so many kids you see are just gimmie, gimmie, gimmie. He’s a pretty awesome guy!
I’ll write some more about the game after I’ve had some time to sit down an play it to a greater extent. Which will be right after I publish this post!
12.24.11Merry Christmas 2011
Merry Christmas! It’s 9:30 Christmas Eve and little Lucas just woke up from another nap. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get one in today too. Luke’s first Christmas will be exciting as we’ll be in Wichita for Andrea’s family’s Christmas. I know Santa has some presents waiting for him there!
I’ve played quite a bit of Guild Wars the past couple days. It’s been exclusively the quest Strength of Snow which is only around during the Winter’s Day Festival going on now. It’s pretty mindless, but sure has netted me a whole stash of holiday items. I figure I’ll play some Guild Wars while the festival is around, and once it’s gone, get back to beating Zelda Skyward Sword.
I hope your Christmas is a joyous one. Thank the Lord for his Son born on this day! God Bless!
12.23.11They’re still playing…
Even if you're not.
Special Treatment
The snow came down earlier this week. They were calling for as much as 14 inches at one point in time. We ended up getting around 5 inches. Seems like that’s the way it always goes. Better to freak everyone out and over prepare, than to catch everyone off guard with a foot of snow I guess.
It’s no suprise Andrea’s car get’s the nice dry garage. But that’s okay. The Toronado is tough. I had to head in to work early the next day and I think I was the first person to hit the roads here in Albert. The Toro trudged through the five inches of snow like a champ.
12.8.11Look familiar?
Take a look at this video. This is a super old commercial from the 90’s, but might remind you of an ad campaign you’ve seen recently.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUqV_u_JgLQ]
12.6.11Super Cute Zelda Video
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiAwuz-YWSw]
12.4.11Most Stressful Time of the Year
I like to think I’m pretty versatile and can handle just about anything. But the last couple weeks have been mentally tough. I’ve been spending some extra time at work trying to get all my stuff done. Doesn’t help that I haven’t really worked a full week since Thanksgiving. But now that basketball season is here, and we’re following four teams instead of two, it’s more than my brain can handle at times. Plus we had one of our board operators quit, so that’s more stuff that we need to find fill in’s for.
When things are going smoothly, it all goes really well, but lately all it’s taken is one little thing to send my whole world out of whack.
Today was nice though. I didn’t have anything work related to do. I slept in until 8:00am and then got up and eased into the day. Crazy… I remember thinking my 10AM classes at K-State were SO early… and I remember being out and about in the mornings thinking… wow so much goes on while I’m sleeping… haha. Of course I used to stay up until 3am or 4am in those days. Now a days my bedtime is a strict 10:30pm.
Went and saw a radio play version of “It’s a Wonderful Life”. It was pretty good. I found myself somewhat confused as it started though since each actor played several characters. Took me a while to feel out who was who. But the local Community Theater did a really good job, and it was a fun way to spend part of the afternoon.
Then I got to play some Zelda! It’s been several days for sure. And man it is just such a cool game. I could sit and play the game all night, but I wanted to get a short blog written, and get to bed.
So that’s what I did. Onward into next week. I have a new starter coming in for the Toronado tomorrow so I need to get that swapped out. The starter hasn’t been engaging every time, and it’s starting to get less reliable. But $50 for a rebuilt starter isn’t too bad. Should last a few more years. So that’s my project for tomorrow night. Shouldn’t be too bad… and I’ve got a garage to do it in!
11.20.11Skyward Sword Get!
I haven’t anticipated a game like this for quite some time. In fact the last game I recall going to the store to get on launch day was The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. That was 7 years ago.
Andrea had actually planned on getting me this for Christmas, and truth be told, I’m fine with this STILL being my only Christmas present. I had been following the hype online and by most all accounts this is far and away the best game on Wii, and one of the best Zelda games of all time. Now maybe that’s just one of those things they say to help boost sales and such… but either way, I was stoked to get it.
So we headed into the store this morning. It was cold, about 25 degrees. Gamestop opened at 11AM, but unlike the olden days I wasn’t there as they unlocked the doors. Something about having Luke around and things just take a little longer. So we had a few errands to run, and made Gamestop our last stop.
The preorder was under Andrea’s name, so I offered to stay in the car with Luke, while she went and picked up the game. This is the part where it gets really geeky, so watch out. I kinda wanted to go in there, just for the whole experience, you know. To see them reach into those boxes that probably haven’t even been stocked yet, because, why bother putting them on the shelf? They’re pre-orders bound to be picked up by those who reserved them. So the box is like some kind of cauldron that manifests this mythical game that so far has only exsisted through the stories and images you’ve read about, only to be willed into solid reality by months of patient waiting and $70. That moment when the game finally becomes real.
For some reason… and probably all the wrong ones, I decided I didn’t want to be “that” guy. So I volunteered to stay with Luke in the car. Right before Andrea came out, another person, probably my age or a little younger came out with the game in hand. He got in his car, but as I expected him to leave, he didn’t. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but I knew. He was opening the game and pouring over the contents of the limited edition box. I actually found myself envious, and a bit regretful that I didn’t go in and get it myself.
But moments later, the woman I loved emerged with a big smile on her face holding our copy of the game. It’s reasons like this I love her so much. She hopped in the car, and handed me the game… finally there it was, in my hands.
As we drove home I turned the larger than usual game box in my hands. Gleaning over the box art… game synopsis and multitudes of warnings in multitudes of languages. The box had a very satisfying weight to it, as it contained not only a copy of the game, but a special 25th Anniversary Symphony CD, and a special gold Wiimote.
Of course I wanted to tear into the box right then and there… but I wanted to wait until we got home, so I could savor it and take the time to appreciate all the brand new items inside the box.
I brought in the house, Luke in my right hand, and the game in my left hand. I found myself pondering as I walked up the stairs, which would be more appropriate to set down to free a hand to turn the door knob. For some reason it felt like setting Luke down and holding on to the game to reach for the door implied some kind of messed up priorities… but as I got to the door, I thought… hell, setting the carrier down is just easier, so I did and opened the door. Haha.
I set the game on the table, and as a good responsible father would do I tended to my son who was ready to get out of the car seat and kick it like babies do. Before I know it Andrea has the game and is peeling the sticker seal off the game. PEELING IT! (I know, who would do that?) One of the things I regret is throwing away a bunch of old N64 boxes that I had held onto for a long time. I’d had them long enough that I really thought… am I ever really going to want these things. At the time, it seemed fine, but now.. I kinda wish I had them back. So keeping the boxes in good shape is something kinda important now. Not in the grand scheme of things important… but in the way that it’s never going to be new again, so you might as well take care of it. Because some day it will be 15 years from now, and I’ll look at that box and say… dang… that was a long time ago, but this is just how it looked the day I got it.
So one of my favorite things with getting stuff like this is pulling it all out of the box. Kinda similar to getting the box itself at the store. All of a sudden there it is… conjured into reality. But Andrea was already beating me to it as I was being the good Dad taking care of Luke. To be honest I was kinda miffed at the time. But I dunno if she was genuinely excited about it in the same way I was (doubtful) or if she just likes opening shiny new things (more likely). For whatever reason, she was the first to lay eyes on the beautiful controller, and the game and all its inserts and such. Not a huge deal to NORMAL people… but this is me we’re talking about.
I didn’t automatically pop the game in right away though. I for one was hungry… and didn’t want to get barely into the game only to have to stop because my stomach was growling. So I took some time to relax and enjoy some of Andrea’s famous Mexican Dip and watch the Vikings get their butts stomped by the Raiders. And THEN… I powered up the Wii… put New Super Mario Bros. Wii on the shelf, and put the game in.
First thing that happened was a System Update. I’ve known they ship out system updates on the discs themselves from time to time, but more often than not by the time I get the game, I’ve already downloaded the update over the internet. So this was the first time I’ve seen it happen from a disc. Of course they warn you that if you’ve modified your Wii in anyway this system update could render your console useless, yada yada. But man, compared to downloading the updates… this was fast! Of course to my knowledge this didn’t change anything or add any new features that I could perceive. Then again my main agenda was getting into the new Zelda game.
Starting it up the first thing I noticed was the music is FANTASTIC… already this could be my favorite video game sound track. The second thing I noticed, unfortunately, is that the HDTV really highlights the low resolution of the Wii. The game is still beautiful, no doubt, but next to something like FFXIII in 1080p or even Guild Wars on the PC… Skyward Sword just seems rough around the edges.
Technical prowess aside, the game really is beautiful. The colors and art are very painterly. The music really is very beautiful. But most of all the thing I like most are the characters. They really got it right. Moreso than any other game, right off the bat these people are interesting. They’re not just yaking at you about how to use the controls… I mean they are… but not JUST that. You can really feel a connection between Link and Zelda, and the characters around them while not as impactful still feel like they’ve got they’re own personalities and their own impressions and feelings about each other.
I’m only a few hours into the game so far, but I really like what has taken place so far. So far the direction has been pretty clear and your motivation to keep going is strong. I haven’t gotten to any dungeons yet, but so far everything about the game has lived up to its promises!