800 MS points? I had this game set in my scopes for months now thinking it would cost 1200 points, fully planning to get it on Day 1 anyway. Now I am going to give my money to Mircrosoft even more readily, if that is even possible. I am very, very hyped up about this. It is too bad that I will probably have no-one to play it with online cause all of my friends hate Rare like that… unless…
Kira, I’m counting on you…
Tag: rare
Is it really Christmas?
So here I am, sitting in my room at my place in Nea Smyrni, stealing someone’s WiFi (together with 6 other people… Logging in to routers with default WEP settings and changing the keys is soo tempting… but I am not that evil), blogging when I should be working on my projects. I’ve been here for a few days already and I’m not feeling like it is Christmas at all. I look at all the constructed, fake festivities around me and I am feeling nothing but disgust for this joke of a festival centered around “love”. Just sneaking a peak at all the advertisements targeted at children, the true targets of this consumeristic parody, is borderline depressing. It’s no wonder we all have a sort of nostalgic aftertaste of Christmas which really stems from our childhood, when it all seemed so magical, so true, so happy… Is it the presents, the holidays, the sweets, the music? Maybe it is the sheer fakeness of it all, the same thing that draws children to Disneyland, that manages to enchant them so. What can indeed be said about the “holiday season”, a cultural curiosity which is one of the best examples of globalization today? I feel that if I let myself loose I’m going to fill pages upon pages of ranting about something that everybody knows is true yet decides to turn a blind eye to, preferring to drown their sorrows in ethical and guiltless super-consuming.
The fact, then, that I’m not feeling as if it’s Christmas is probably a good sign.
Maybe it is because so much has happened in my life in so little time. Maybe it’s because I have been consciously looking away from the very strong build-up that typically leads to an all-encompassing “Christmas spirit”. Maybe it is because I’ve grown mature enough to be able to appreciate being close to my loved ones and having some free time without associating the holidays with consumption, fake feelings of love for the world and this hideous “spirit”. It may be all, it may be none, it may be just one of these things, but whatever the reason, I am happy that I can see past the worryingly ultra-happy social appearances…
OK, Christmas flaming over. :] I started writing this post wanting to share what I’ve been doing the past few days and how I’m going to spend my holidays. Interesting much? It’s the fatal compulsion of blogging…
University Projects
One of the slighter reasons I’m not feeling too Christmas-y and/or relaxed is that I have a serious amount of work to get done for university. Four projects. It was going to be five originally but I decided to drop the project for Virtual Worlds and Digital Animation — my well of inspiration was looking a bit too dry for me to realise my relatively ambitious plans.
1. PHP. My project for WWW Technologies is to build a complete computer hardware online shop. That is much harder to do than it sounds, at least for someone who has little to no knowledge of dynamic website developing. This project is supposedly for two people but Garret doesn’t look like he might be a lot of help; he still needs to get his HTML sorted out. Anyway, it’s online tutorial and lab note time!
2. Cultural Representation. I chose to represent my top 5 favourite cities in the world for this one. I will have to make the workflow chart for an interactive application. I won’t fully develop it, but just designing a workable and attractive User Interface, as well as making it have the distinct Cubi style will take some full hours.
3 & 4. These are secret projects… ^^D
I promise impressive things… It’s not that I’m too bored to write about them or anything like that, no! It’s because I want to surprise everyone!
Flickr, Facebook and Online Identities
It’s been a a few weeks now that I deactivated my Facebook account. After a point, it felt downright hypocritic posting bad stuff about it but having a perfectly healthy account. Nevermind the less than impressive number of pictures I had on it.
Tell you what, I haven’t missed it a bit. A lot of people seem to find it strange that I’ve done so and have tried to persuade me to re-activate it. They say: “We miss you!”, just like Facebook said they would (and I thought it was being ridiculous…) To them, all I have to say is this. Sorry, but I will indulge in pathetic spying and “maintaining expired relationships” no longer!
Some other people, mostly from the Theatre and Photography groups, have told me that I should re-activate my FB so that I can upload photographs for all to see. I have a different reply for them: Flickr! Maybe you’ve noticed, maybe you haven’t, but I’m uploading more and more of my photographs there. It’s a very good image site, well-made, professional, respectful to the applying web laws as far as content protection goes. That is where you can head for my full lowdown of pictures! Look at that: it’s even got integrated support for WordPress (the sidebar pics are from my Flickr photostream, also have a look at my previous post). What else can one possibly ask for?!
To sum up:
Facebook sucks,
Flickr rules,
if you want to see my pics,
you surely oughta choose!
Windows 7 for free! Legally! How?
Casually browsing the web, a few days ago I stumbled upon MSDN Academic Alliance through my.aegean. What’s this, you say? It is a Microsoft service that allows students to download some of their software for free, all in the name of academia. Amazing eh? I was excited to discover that the University of the Aegean is eligible for this service. Why hasn’t anybody, ever, told us anything about it?
I really did download Windows 7 Professional, as well as a valid license key, for free, just by putting in my CT user name and pass. I burnt it on a DVD and now it’s waiting for me to tidy up my laptop HDDs before I format. This might take a while actually… heh.
Three Sequels and a Classic.
My gaming activity in the past few weeks has centered around four games: Modern Warfare 2, Banjo-Tooie, Half-Life 2 and StarCraft. Let me tell you a few things about these games.
Modern Warfare 2 is a great game in multiplayer, haven’t touched SP yet, as “controversial” as it may be. Enough said, I believe.
Banjo-Tooie. Oh, Banjo-Tooie. I am very aware that about 2 years ago I placed it #20 in my 20 Favourite N64 games. I did not remember it very well back then, having only played it once before, when I was only 11. Not long ago I downloaded it from XBLA and decided to give it another spin, especially when I had so much fun downloading, replaying and 100%ing Banjo-Kazooie this time last year from the same service.
Tooie must be one of the deepest, most innovative platformers in the history of the genre, not to mention one of the most expanding sequels ever. The level architecture is brilliant, how each world connects with a few others is something that hasn’t been used in other games since, even though it was such a good idea. The game is truly massive — getting 100% might take me 20+ hours when Banjo-Kazooie took me around 6. It’s definitely because I remember Kazooie almost perfectly even from my early years while now with Tooie it’s like playing it for the first time… Yes, the game is massive. TOO massive and time-consuming at times, when the original was a lot tighter and pure. I just have to comment on some of the humour displayed in Tooie; there are a lot more sexual references than in the original, and that can only be a good thing.
It doesn’t feel like I’m replaying it so it all feels fresh. If remade it could easily stand next to contemporary platformers and surpass them in many ways. Still, even if I have redeemed it a bit, the original still stands proud of its proximity to platforming perfection even when it obviously offers less, is shorter, much easier and has a fraction of the content of its sequel. I guess that is what separates a very good game from a classic. And talking about classics…
StarCraft. Yes, Blizzard’s other franchise that is about to see its full revival in a few months (and then we’re going to talk about sequels, period. Any new IPs please? :P) Even though I’m a strategy game fan, I’ve never shown great interest for Blizzard games. I’ve tried to like the WarCraft universe but I find it bores me. I still cannot exactly say why I like StarCraft and even worse, explain the on-and-off relationship I’ve had with it for years. Now, this Christmas, I’ve decided to follow its story and see why it’s a game celebrated like few. So far I’m loving it! Haven’t had this much fun with a Single Player RTS campaign in years.
Want another game I’ve had an on-and-off relationship with for even longer? That’s none other than Half-Life 2 for you. I downloaded and tried it when it was released more than 5 years ago and was blown away by its atmosphere. For some weird reason I lost interest somewhere along the way. I tried to pick it up three times since, once after I bought the Orange Box, another time sometime last Autumn and another shortly thereafter… again and again, I kept losing interest a bit further along the road. My last save was two hours or so before the end of the game, in the City 17 streetfights. I had reached this point last time I’d felt like playing, that is last February. The morning before I left Mytilini and after a good dose of caffeine, I finally took the bold step, closing a 5-year circle: I finished Half-Life 2.
I had been thinking that the game would have a tedious ending. How wrong I was. Getting rid of the Striders, climbing up the Citadel and then… *spoilers* was just so EPIC! Not only wasn’t it tedious, it was awe-inspiring. The rest of the game was like this, what in the name of Valve made me think the end would disappoint? Silly Cubi… Now, if only I could get Episode I to run on this laptop. Oh, don’t we wish…
That’s it for now! I have more things to share but they’re still being digested. Hey, there’s still lots of happenings left for the rest of the holidays anyway, they’ve only just begun! Soon it’s going to be the turn of the decade as well. Now that’s going to be awesome…
Uncommon Ways: A Subjective Look At Rare’s Ventures On The Xbox 360
I got myself an Xbox 360 last Christmas. It was purely coincidential (or was it?) that I found the premium edition along with Perfect Dark Zero and NFS: Carbon for only 120 euros new. If it wasn’t for that super bargain I may not had been writing these lines about one of my most liked developers: Rare.
Up till then, I had been chiefly a Nintendo gamer; as such I had played and loved most Rare games after Donkey Kong Country, even the more obscure ones like Jet Force Gemini or Blast Corps. Classics like Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country 3 and GoldenEye all enjoy the view from the top of my favourite game list. Obviously, I was full of anticipation when the GameCube was just getting released, sure that Rare’s slew of great games would continue on Nintendo’s latest console. The announcement of Microsoft buying and Nintendo selling hit me hard. I knew I wouldn’t be playing Perfect Dark Zero or Donkey Kong Racing any time soon, if at all.
Things didn’t change much during last gen since Rare wasn’t all that active during that period. I didn’t even try Star Fox Adventures (though I’d like to try it now)… Games Rare designed for the original Xbox seemed heretical to my preteen eyes, as anything they made could only be associated with Nintendo in my book.
When I got that Xbox 360 with Perfect Dark Zero, again I didn’t expect much from the game. I remembered hearing a lot of criticism during X360’s launch… How the game had little to do with the original and how Rare had dropped the ball for its first major release since the buyout. Sceptical, I tried it for a few hours and indeed, the game was a total disappointment. I couldn’t understand how they could mess it up so much. But the worst had still to come.
Let’s have a look at Kameo: a new IP in Rare’s arsenal, Kameo was first shown along with Donkey Kong Racing as the games they were working on for GameCube’s launch window. When within that same window fell the company’s trade of hands Kameo was moved to Xbox and Donkey Kong Racing was, of course, cancelled. The former reappeared after a second delay as a launch title for Microsoft’s new console hand-in-hand with Perfect Dark Zero, heralding Rare’s supposed revival. Supposed… A friend of mine got me the game for Christmas shortly after I got the Xbox so I had the chance to play it only shortly after the mess that was Perfect Dark. What can I say about this game?
It wasn’t a TOTAL disaster. For instance, the graphics and sound production were of high quality all around, nicely showing off 360’s initial capabilities. The gameplay was fine too: transforming into different creatures and killing stuff with combos? Sounds great! And it did play decently. But as I progressed, more and more did I feel like something was wrong. Every time Kameo uttered so much as a word my face transformed into a mask of disgust, every time I had to play the SAME boss to gain a new Elemental Warrior I slowly shook my head, every time I flip-kicked a boulder using Kameo I’d wonder why it wouldn’t budge when just running into it would make it roll around as if it was a giant titanium ball filled with helium. Yes, every time I played the game I’d find more and more cringe-worthy characteristics: the story (ouch!), the characters (yuck!), the presentation (ewww!), how Kameo’s horse would be too scared to go anywhere near buildings but it’d run head first into huge crowds of identically modelled and animated trolls (what?? trolls are like orcs now?), how the game tried to be fantastically epic but failed so miserably it hurt. OK, as I said the gameplay was fun and enjoyable but picture this: it took me over 2 months of on and off play to get to the last boss of this weekend-filler game and I still haven’t defeated him. Even the respective (high scoring) achievement wasn’t enough of an incentive… To sum up, Kameo played kinda like a Rare game, that is unrivaled when it comes to fun and fulfilling gameplay, but it fell flat on its face concerning the other aspect that make Rare games great: the personality, the humour, the flair and vibrance that make them unique. Kameo felt like it was just trying to be all of these, trying to mimic something long lost… As if it was another company that made the game. Thankfully (?), there was something that reminded me who made this piece of perfumed crap: there’s a hidden radio somewhere within it that plays the Banjo theme remixed in metal! Oh joy! An island of hope in this sea of mediocrity…
That track proved to be much more than what met my eye at first. I liked it so much I looked all over the net to download (still haven’t found it). Meanwhile, I did some research and discovered that it was none other than Grant Kirkhope himself, composer of Banjo-Kazooie music (among many other Rare classics, not least GoldenEye and Perfect Dark) who was behind this remix, a heavy rocker himself. I found his profile on MySpace and asked him about his projects himself, while commenting on his work (add him guys and gals, he’s an open and down to earth guy!) Then I found out that he had made the music to Viva Piñata. Something clicked. Add to that I’d heard good words about it, and next thing I knew was that it had come to my posession for a mere €30.
It didn’t take me more than an hour to realise just why everybody was so hooked with the game: I was hooked myself! Several tens of hours later, more than a LVL50 of mad gardening skillz, 5 gardens filled with little, colourful and oh so childish piñatas and an intense addiction with the game that has thankfully relaxed recently — how else was I going to touch Lost Odyssey? — I can say with certainty that Rare has neither lost their talent nor their soul (although Microsoft may state otherwise). In fact, all the crappy games may have been an unfortunate break for the rest of the great games to come. Viva Piñata was the first game of theirs that I really enjoyed after almost 8 years and that’s 8 decades when it comes to the entertainment industry. Brilliant music, just as expected from Mr. Kirkhope, beautiful graphics and wacky artstyle, addictive-as-crack gameplay and more of our beloved Rare flair with just enough Microsoft casual undertones and direction to make it bearable and suitable for the kids but not without the innuendos that only we “adults” would understand. Definitely not without its flaws — why do I have to whack the entire garden every freaking time, and I’m-fine-thank-you-Miss-Costalot-yes-yes-bright-eyed-bushy-tailed-GET-ON-WITH-IT! AND STOP PUSHING THAT DAMN SLOT MACHINE LIKE A RETARD ALL THE TIME! Eat my melting chocolate coins. — and annoying moments, thankfully they’re not enought to deeply spoil the otherwise satisfying gameplay.
So details for the new Banjo were announced just a few days ago, with Grant Kirkhope perfecting that early metal remix that had appeared in Kameo. Most fans of the old games don’t like the direction of Nuts & Bolts and have erupted into riots about how Rare sucks now and how they’re ruled my M$, how they’re constantly taking wrong decisions and the like. I know that a good chunk of them are still Nintendo devotees like I would have been had I not got my Xbox 360 by the strange twists and turns of luck and may not have had the chance to play some recent Rare games. Viva Piñata is a good indication that the old Twycross chaps haven’t lost it all, even with all the staff changes that they have endured recently and before they became part of Microsoft. I have trust in the new Banjo game’s ambition and scope, how creativity is such a big part of it. I welcome the fact that they’re changing the feel of the series and are taking it to another, more personalised style of platforming. Some things may seem strange at first, like the removal of Kazooie’s moves, but that will only make her bitch and complain about it and how the game would have been better off with them, in-game! The guys know what they’re doing and the crew that is behind this is mostly the same as it was back in 1998, which wasn’t the case with Perfect Dark Zero. I’m now eagerly awaiting what looks like not another great Banjo game, but also another great, groundbreaking Rare game… The kind of groundbreaking and reinventing we had almost forgot they could manage and systematically deliver.
Rare managed within this generation alone to virtually burn its already dying self to ashes with its X360 launch games. Viva Piñata was the little baby phoenix that was born out of the ashes. It’s my belief that with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and to a lesser extent Viva Piñata 2 they will revive themselves into one of gaming’s great, brilliant phoenixes. And the gamers will be happy once again.
10 years since Christmas 1997 – A N64 Tribute (Part 3)
It’s been more than a month since my initially planned one-off of a tribute was last updated… I guess it’s high time for another 3 games that marked my childhood! Here goes:
13. Diddy Kong Racing
I know, I know. Some of you, when you see this, will be like: “you’ve got to be fucking with me… ANOTHER RARE GAME? It’s the third one in a row, not to mention Banjo-bleeding-Tooie!” All of you naysayers, believe me… It won’t end here. But I’ll rid you from this company for a while… You’ll only see them again in my Top 5. 🙂
Diddy Kong Racing was a must-have for me from even before I actually got my N64. I played all of the Donkey Kong Countrys on SNES the pretty long year of 1997 and the same year managed to turn me into a fan of all things Kong except for the monarchic one. I thought at first that the game would feature more Kongs than just Diddy. It took me a year to find out that that was not the case. Diddy Kong Racing was a kart game, a lot like Mario Kart, just with Rare characters. It’s funny how almost none of the characters apart from Diddy Kong himself and the featured Kremling had appeared in any game before DKR. Banjo appeared, but he hadn’t appeared in any game yet. In fact, Rare used DKR to promote Banjo just a bit before releasing Banjo-Kazooie: DKR was released in 1997 while Banjo-Kazooie in 1998. I got it in October 1998, after I had played and loved Banjo-Kazooie, so I liked that Banjo was in the game.
Aaaaanywhooo. Diddy Kong Racing, while oftentimes compared to Mario Kart 64 and rightfully so, was actually a game of very different scope. For starters, it was the first game of its type, that is cartoony kart game, to have a story/adventure mode which was actually pretty similar to Super Mario 64’s breakthrough idea of incorporating a hub world and a non-linear progression in the game through the means of obtaining golden balloons- – you can call me Power Stars. Games like Crash Team Racing used the exact same formula after DKR and are, due to them generally more popular game, mistakenly deemed as the creators of this system. There were a few worlds, like Dino World, Beach World or Ice World (they did not have such generic names but my memory fails me) and each had a few normal courses you could race in just like any other kart game. But it also had boss stages, where you raced against the boss of each world to rightfully “complete” it (though you always had to go back to each world for some more balloon hunting). Each world also had some battle modes you had to complete to get final access to the real final boss stage (which could grant you access to a 5th, secret world if you had enough balloons by then) and also tournaments, not unlike Mario Kart’s Cups.
The game was just so refreshing and polished. The graphics were great, the racing system was fantastic, what with the 3 different vehicles you could choose from (kart, hovercraft, plane) which by the way hasn’t really appeared in any games since then, the challenge to get the better times in the later courses, the awesome music which is standard in all Rare games… Diddy Kong Racing was a very fun game, had great multiplayer, had lots of secrets here and there that just make these kinds of games and was really a necessary addition to a Rare fan’s collection. Still is actually. Too bad the recent DS port/remake doesn’t really do the 1997 classic justice.
12. Paper Mario
(WARNING. SPOILERS IN THE VIDEO ABOVE)
Paper Mario was one of my last games for my Nintendo 64. I was already almost 13 years old when I played it (November 2001) and was, after Pokemon, my first RPG. I don’t know how I should take this now, having a mario game as my RPG kickstarter does feel kind of weird but then again back then my first PC was less than 3 months old and having been a Nintendo-only gamer for years I had missed many other good games for the PlayStation and computer. So perhaps it’s a suitable title. After months of dad pestering to order the game from Amazon, I managed to get him into buying it for me for my nameday. And it happened at the perfect time. One day before getting my hands on the game, I had an acciden at school where I cracked one of my right big toe’s bones. This is the closest I’ve ever been to breaking a bone, by the way… It was enough for me to stay home for a couple of days because walking was not advised, and what better time than then to start a game like Paper Mario!
This unique RPG, although not being the first Mario RPG (the first one being Super Mario RPG for the SNES, developed by Squaresoft and unreleased in Europe) was the one that launched the in-house Nintendo Mario RPG line. Mario & Luigi, Paper Mario and Super Paper Mario, which are newer games, all belong to this line. Its characteristics: 2-D sprites that look like they’re made out of paper in a 3-D world (2.5-D to be precise), a turn-based battle system which doesn’t have random battles, that is you actually see each enemy before battling and you can strike first (by jumping on or hammering) or be striken which defines who plays first. The story? Bowser gets his hands on the Star Rod, a fairy rod which grants any wish its wielder makes. Mario has to rescue the 7 Star Spirits that control the power of the rod so that he can reverse the rod’s power and defeat Bowser, whose wish (typically) grants him with virtual invincibility. Oh, did I mention that he abducted the Princess in the process? To be precise, he lifted the whole CASTLE from its foundations, trapping her inside her castle which he keeps afloat.
In his usual quest to save Peach, Mario encounters many familiar faces, including Toads or whole races and towns of baddies that in earlier games were just, erm, baddies. You know, they only served the purpose of staining Mario’s shoes with their blood. But no, in this game Mario has a Goomba fan (nevermind Mario could have slain his entire family), meets a whole family of Koopas, gets a pink Bob-omb , visits a Yoshi Village, and more. A lot of these characters join the party so at the end of the game Mario ends up with 7 party members through out of which he can pick one to have as a companion in and out of battles at any time. This gives quite a bit of depth to the game as each party member has a different personality and point of view of how you progress in the game, not to mention different abilities in the adventure or during battling. What is also interesting is the use Badges, which now kind of reminds me of Materia from Final Fantasy VII. It’s the same, only that Mario has certain Badge Points and each badge, that is ability or feat, costs a certain amount of BP. After every Level Up, Mario can choose whether to upgrade Hit Points, Flower Points or Badge Points.
Paper Mario is a good way to spend 20-25 hours. Its humour, loveable characters, great dialogue from classic Nintendo heroes and refreshing battle system make me want to buy this game off Virtual Console right now! I guess I will at some point.
11. Mario Kart 64
Oh, Mario Kart 64… Whenever I think of this game I get mixed feelings. It was one of my first games, the third one to be exact (I got it for my 9th birthday yay!), but whenever I think of it I remember my grandmother. She died not long after I first got it… End March 1998. I remember playing it at her place and her laughing at how the characters, when they got a mushroom/speed boost, burst fire from their asses! It’s a sweet memory. She was like a mother to me back then and I miss her… *sniffle* 🙁 Anywho, back to the game.
Mario Kart 64 is the second Mario Kart game and I came to own it mere months after I had got my dirty hands on the 1992 showstopper. It improved on its predecessor by featuring more items, 3-D tracks (which are all original) and an even awesomer soundtrack than the first game. You must have realised by now that music is a big factor for me, and it can even turn a great game into a stuff-of-legends game. Inclusion of 4 player mutliplayer was also a great hit and I remember just how much I used to play it with Kostas, Manolis and Aldo. Battle Mode especially, Block Fortress! Bring it on!!! It had high production values, great tracks with many secrets each (I still can’t believe how long it took me to realise that the Whomp in Bowser’s Castle could not be freed) and shortcuts. While the game might not have aged well at all (I haven’t played it since forever) mainly due to the newer instalments of the franchise impoving on the gameplay in many ways, it still remains in my heart as the best Mario Kart yet and was initially very disappointed with its sequel, Double Dash, for the GameCube. Fortunately, the 2-player co-op mode saved that one…
Here’s a particularly good ad I found of the game that aired in Japan!