You are now aware that Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is over 25 years old.

I am sorry I missed the actual anniversary. Hell, I am sorry for the lack of posts in over half of a year. In the meantime, I got a job and managed to develop some new opinions about my beloved hobbies. I have recently lost that job due to a car wreck, so I have time again.

But yeah, January 14 was the big date, and Gamefaqs did their daily poll to commemorate it by asking whether you had actually played the original game:

I think it is safe to say I have. A whopping 40% of the users who voted had not played it. Shocking! It seems that the Nintendo 3DS is actually beginning to maintain the interest of my peers lately. I was planning to buy one before the car wreck, but that is now on hold. Unfornuately, having not played one is making it hard to review. However, the library is looking interesting now, even it is only franchise AAA rehash. Portable gaming has always been about bringing portability to the last generation (a wise move, reducing internal competition between products), so I can live with it. There were concerns of the second analog stick and the peripherals needed last year, but the design looks promising if a little awkward.

2011 was an eventful year for gaming. The 3DS launched. Deathwing erupted out of the Pacific off the shore of Japan. Video games are now protected free speech in the United States as a Supreme Court precedent (always nice to have and shows we do have allies in the real world). Sonic the Hedgehog turned twenty. The PS Vita launched in Japan. And the game launches were not half bad either. Half bad I say? Well: DC Universe Online, LittleBigPlanet 2, Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Pokémon: Black/White, Dragon Age II, Ocarina of Time 3D, Bastion, Dead Island, Disgaea 4, Dragon Quest Monster: Joker 2, Dark Souls, Arkham City, Skyward Sword, Skyrim, The Old Republic, and blah blah blah.

I made extra sure to hit up The Old Republic (forever known as Tor) for Christmas. Admittedly, the release felt rushed and hackneyed, but my experience with MMO's is very limited. My repetoire includes: Maple Story and WoW. Suffice it to say, it was an unfair opinion of an MMO launch. However, I very much enjoyed diving right into the Sith lore; Force Lightning was a tool of disposal by level 3. Sure, I picked the Horde of Tor, so to speak, but it was really enticing. I fully intend to see all of the individual class stories. Tor is seperate from WoW in one capacity only: it is purely optimized for a single-player experience. Yes, there is PvP. Yes, there are instances and raids (groups of four and 20). However, it is very much Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3 Online. I think they just did not  want to call it that. That said, after recently downloading a copy of Dragon Age: Origins, Tor is much prettier graphically, the improvement is noted. The problem is, DA:O is old and you feel too inclined to want to compare them. Why? Because they are simply not the best graphics. I reached level 24 before the subscription ran up. I already feel I got what I paid for out of it and still want to play more when I have disposable cash. That is the crippling difference between Tor and WoW. Being away from WoW was not acceptable, I sold plasma to afford it when I was into it. Will Tor have longevity? Time will only tell.

GAMING MUSIC:

I was greeted to this jewel after installing the game. No complaints here. However, it is difficult to shake the feeling of LotR while listening to DA:O's background music. It camps an otherwise brutal game. I can live with it or listen to something else.

Writer's Block

Well, I am an amateur poet. And. Well, I cannot think of anything poetic to write. How lame is that? My artistry is halted by my own self-defeating hedonism. My only creative outlets are easily drowned out by this new copy of Pokémon and old episodes of Daria I downloaded. Maybe... Video games and the internet are what is destroying my ability to appropriately contribute to humanity by any means.

...

Moment of clarity over. I guess I will now muse about something relevant.

As mentioned before, I play World of Warcraft occasionally. In fact, it would be fair to say I co-own a guild of local friends. Too bad, it is collapsing because we did not get off our lazy butts and raid sooner. Though, until I ran out of game time I was legitimately busy. Now I am just broke and told my best buddy to enjoy the reigns for a bit. I have no doubt that he will appropriately destroy everything I worked towards with guild relations. Honestly? I am fine with that. The problem with WoW is that I cannot seem to stay hooked like 99% of the player-base (The opinions expressed by my clearly professional research on the matter are just that. Opinions.). I mean, sure I play pretty hardcore for a couple months and then I find something more interesting. Cataclysm is so nice too. However, the feeling that they are ruining the paradigm by stripping out every vestige of accomplishment by handing out everything is unshakeable. Unless, of course, you count the absurdly long-winded grind for achievements and more gear. Though I noticed something important: WoW, itself, is not the perceived addictive digital crack so much as the hunt for better gear. Any captivating MMORPG can be guilty of this form of personal achievement which has been known to shake real drug addictions. That is the real glory of Blizzard. WoW is often associated with this model, because hell, they did it right. So, why isn't it illegal yet?

Why am I supposedly immune? I am a gamer. In reality, it is just another game by most regards. Why do I spend more collective time on it than any other single game? There's more to do and in the past, I played with a (now ex) girlfriend. Also, believe it or not, it's cheaper than other video games. The delicious irony is enough to cause an ulcerous death, considering most people avoid it as a money sink. Think of it this way, after buying the right to play the game and its subsequent expansions, you only spend $15 a month to play. I say "only" because how much would you spend on other video games to compensate for the same amount of play time? The beauty is that you can stop paying the monthly fee any time and there is no penalty. Want to pick it up later? Just shell out the cash. It is that easy.

So why have I stopped playing WoW now? It's easy, I have new video games. Beyond that, I just loaded CFW 3.55 on my PS3 and that opens a whole new world of possibilities, but that is our little secret. It certainly helps to alleviate the grief of the crack in my Darth Vader PSP2000's screen. Though to be fair, if I had cash, I would just buy a spare parts PSP2000 on eBay to replace the screen. It is amazing what you can accomplish with broken stuff and some simple tools (in fact, isn't that the whole premise of SWAT Kats?)

Remember kids, You do not win World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft wins you.


GAMING MUSIC
As a sign out, I decided I will probably showcase gaming music that has stood out to me at one point or another. Today's lucky mention is:

As heard briefly in a latter part of the oh so crude Conker's Bad Fur Day. Seriously, anyone remember this game? Infamous for being one of the very few if not only Mature rated games on the Nintendo 64 and quickly doomed to the $5 bin at Wal-marts everywhere for it. BFD is remarkable in the sense that this game was so radically different than other titles in the Conker line as well as any other game, period. Sex, violence, literal toilet humor, and over the top pop culture references managed this game a strong enough fanbase to warrant a censored remake for the Xbox. That's right, it was too hardcore for the Xbox. Drink that in. Yay for cult smash hits, I suppose. This song receives special mention for being a video game track that actually made it into my dance playlist. What is up with that?

Launch Post

Hello world!

Well, I'm new to this world of blogging. I just finished college and the world is fresh to me. Beyond that, I have video games to play and things to say.

Expect a variety of opinions and experiences in my life as a gamer. From the past, present, and future!

Just picked up Pokémon Black Version and boy am I excited. I pulled about 24 hours and have only five Badges. So far, it is shaping up to be a strong installment. Of course, the developers could not be bothered to change the admittedly stilted plot structure and there is still only one region. Eight Gyms, the Elite Five [sic], and a gang of "evil" trainers still stand in your way to your destiny as the ultimate trainer just another meta-gamer (or if you happen to be a teenage girl, more cute Pokémon!). The PETA twist is definitely a fun element. However, don't get me wrong, they did make some great changes. Between reusable TM's, the ability to "register" 25 commands to a button, quirky animations, easier ways to manage the invisible stats (for us competitive players), and new multiplayer features I'm just tickled pink and can safely say that this puts Gen 5 ahead of Gen 3 and Gen 4. It has charm, but let's be fair, it will not defeat nostalgia. Beyond the new 150 Pokémon and some new stuff, they really failed to do any groundbreaking changes to the core mechanic and that is somewhat disappointing. It barely feels like its own Gen, despite being a stronger set than Gen 4's releases.

I'll admit, there is a little shame in playing this seemingly innocent kid's game. However, are you really going to hate me for embracing a piece of my childhood? Besides, it gets me off World of Warcraft, prevents me from dropping larger sums of money on console games, and allows me to interact with my horribly Poké-obsessed 13 year-old sister. Our mother actually knitted her a homemade Oshawott, that she carries everywhere.