Wold Of CoD

Don't you love online gaming? I mean it's free for the PS3 but for Xbox, you need a live gold account thats about 50 dollars for a year? you could always tell me the "+" account for the ps3 is 75 dollars, but hey if you buy stuff all the time that money will be worth spending in the end, discounts and free games that normal users wont be able to get. So clearing this up, the results are in for CoD MW2, the new versions of it will come with a "input code" to play online apparently, don't know why, maybe for more money. "But how are they going to make money if they give the code for free" well you dumb f***s, the people with their old copy can pay a "fee" to get the new code, great isnt it? what happens when you switch PS3's, or 360's? well your SOoL you'r going to need to buy another fucking "code" yeahhhh the code only work once per account, so dont bother buying a use copy of it... just buy a new one, or hope for the best wallmart and gamestop the two biggest selling game companies stops that from happening.

Red Dead Re-view

You like what I did up there? Clever, right? Cause, you know, the first game was Red Dead Revolver, and the next game was Red Dead Redemption, and the ending words start with the letters "Re". Oh man, I am so clever. I am also on the internet. Therefore, Comedy Central should hire me to replace Tosh from Tosh.0

Okay, so I may be five years behind everything that has happened on the internet, my writers are horrible, my comedic delivery is awful, I'm ugly, but at least...I dunno. I got nothin'.

So, as you might have guessed, I am here today to talk to you about the best videogames based on the wild wild west to ever come out. Not the Will Smith movie Wild Wild West mind you, though if you thought the Red Dead games were based on that movie I would ask you where was the giant spider machine battle hmmm? Cause that would be the only re-deeming quality to a game based on that movie. I would also ask how you are reading this, because I would imagine the force must be strong with you, and by force I mean re-tard.

Luke, why aren't you wearing your safety helmet?

I am here to tell you about a game that has such a masterful storyline that, were it a movie starring Clint Eastwood, it would be the best spaghetti western ever. Fun fact, the name spaghetti western is given to a number of western films in the 1960's that were directed by Italian directors and shot in locations in Italy resembling the American Southwest. Also, the re-ady availability of low cost spanish actors led to themes involving Mexico (Mexican Re-volution, Mexican bandits, border troubles, etc.) to be often used. There, now you can't say you never learned anything about other forms of media from me. And remember the last post I had with all the Lupe Fiasco shit in it? Good times, right? Anyway, this game has controls that re-ally draw you into the west, making it accessible yet also challenging. The dialogue also re-tains that spirit of the west and flows naturally. The characters are fleshed out without falling into the trap of being overly dramatized. I mean, this is a western dammit, not Shakespeare. We want guns and cool characters, not people going on about complex motivations for their actions.

*bang bang pow kaboom revenge blam blam ratatatata grimace* And it was awesome.

This game captures everything. The atmosphere, the pacing, the gunplay, the dialogue, the characters, everything is done right. For a genre as ripe with many of the things gamers love (the guns, revenge plots, cool characters, and streamlined story), it amazes me that there is only one game that has done it right. The best western game every made.

Hey you, down in front! Get out of the way!


There we go. Much better.

Yes, I am talking about Read Dead Revolver, not the over-hyped, wrongly critically acclaimed, and all around terrible attempt at a true western game known as Red Dead Redemption. "But Justin, how could so many people be wrong?" I'll tell you how; a little thing I like to call the Grand Theft Auto effect. Basically, after Grand Theft Auto 3 changed gaming forever (and there re-ally is no doubt that it did) Rockstar became one of the four kings of the gaming world.

Pictured from left to right: Bungie, Blizzard, Rockstar, Capcom

Like all of these companies, in the eyes of their fans, they can do no wrong...except for Crimson Tears Capcom. That game sucked. And of course, when a game from one of these companies inevitably comes out, critics get behind them in a big way. I find it interesting to see how mainstream game critics re-act to big budget releases as opposed to how film critics react. Either game critics are much more like their audience, or they're are much more susceptible to hype that film critics. I mean, look at the re-sponse a film like Transformers got. 57% on rotten tomatoes, but it made $709,709,780. Meanwhile, Red Dead Redemption gets a 95% positive response from game critics. But whether or not it is a good game isn't what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about whether it is a good western game. So, let's talk about what makes a good western.

Basically this. I mean, did you see that? He fell right into the grave, fuckin' a.

1. The character
The best character is one who is a simple character that plays into the traditional western stories; those driven by re-venge, moral ambiguity, or western style justice. So how do the protagonists of these two games square up?
Red Dead Redeption-John Marsten: Driven to confront and bring justice to his former gang members...because the government kidnapped his family, but re-ally he has a heart of gold and he re-ally doesn't trust those government boys who are coming into the west and trying to impose their laws on these good people who are doing just fine for themselves and blah blah blah Jesus Christ shut up! He fails as a Grand theft Auto character because he has a heart of gold and I feel bad tying women to train track. Not bad enough not to do it, but still, it's awkward. Every other Grand Theft Auto protagonist has either been straight evil or at least morally ambiguous, so running over someone's grandma is an allowable behavior. But god, every moment I am being re-minded that John Marsten really is just some guy trying to do some good in the world and save his family.

I should go check out that train. There might be some orphans who need me to go pick some flowers for them for a few hours to make them feel better.

As a western protagonist, he still fails. His backstory is waaaaaaaaay too complicated. The Mysterious Stranger is fantastic largely because the lack of a complicated backstory lets you focus on his actions. A western hero is defined by his actions. But all I ever hear about is his story. Instead of letting me get to killing things and saving people, I have to ride with some npc and talk about the evil government for ten goddam minutes. Speaking of which, I feel like Rockstar might be trying to get back at the government for all the negative press by being so anti-government in this game. Re-gardless, the point is John Marsten is not a good wetsern lead.

Red Dead Revolver-Red Harlow: Okay, first off, Red? Badass name dude. So, what's his story? Parent's killed when he was young, and grew up as a bounty hunter. Now, his present and past may coincide and help bring his parents' murderers to justice. See? That is a story of a great western. Everything else is re-vealed piecemeal and not harped on every 20 fucking minutes. Honestly, that is all you need to know. Now, I'm not even gonna get started on the supporting characters. Why? Because Red Dead Redemption's side characters are all cookie cutter. The snake oil salesman, the old guy, the sheriff, there just isn't much that actually tries. Red Dead Revolver has the British gunslinger, the Native American cousin, the guy with a freaking cannon arm! These are exciting characters. They still play into the western tropes, but are re-freshingly inventive.

Arm cannons are always cool. P.S. Megaman will pwn your ass in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

2. Music
Okay, one name. Ennio Moricone. Who is that you ask?

I have 733 entries on IMDB...bitches.

This is the face of Spaghetti Western music. You have heard his music. It has been sampled by the likes of Jay-z and many others. Like the characters, Red Dead Redemption's music just comes across as a bland attempt to meet the standards set by men like this. In fact, even worse. You can hear in the soundtrack that this is modern music trying to act like western music, and that is just kind of sad. It's like my ten year old brother trying to trash talk with people online on Halo 3. It just doesn't fit and comes across and awkward. Re-ally, just go to YouTube and listen to the soundtracks to the re-spective games. The proof is in the pudding.

It's okay m'am. I'm a detective. I'll need to take your pudding into custody to conduct my investigation.

3. Pacing
Oh lord, where do I start. Westerns, just like any primarily film based genre, need to have an entertaining yet succinct story. Red Dead Revolver played smoothly. I would play it for hours and not even notice. Everything flowed, and the story was always making me want to play just that few more minutes. And as much as I harp on a clean, uninterrupted story, the fact that there were several side missions only tenuously related to the revenge story were a short but welcome change of pace. At the end of the day, I felt that every moment was an essential part of the gaming experience and that it all meshed well with the story, like a perfectly executed dinner theater.

Gonna be honest. I just look for excuses to post pictures of food.

The problem with Red Dead Redemption is that it's just Grand Theft Auto, and Grand Theft Auto games are all about the sidequests and item collection. There is no way to balance a western story with a sidequest involving collecting fucking flowers for an old guy so he can give his arthritic wife a nice gift. But you know what the best part of Grand Theft Auto games are? Driving to nowhere and killing people along the way. You know what the worst part of Red Dead Redemption is? Trying to do the same thing and realizing there isn't a goddam thing out there. You ride through empty wastelands for 15 minutes to get to new towns and finally get to do something interesting. And of course, that breaks up the experience even more.

I only have one last problem with Red Dead Redemption. What is more western than the quick draw? You know, that thing based on speed? That thing where drawing quicker and delivering the kill shot is the most important thing? That thing where it makes no sense to try and fire all your bullets like they do in Red Dead Redemption?

Games 16bit is looking forward to from E3

Children of Eden

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

Metal Gear Solid Rising

Portal 2

God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Halo Reach

tbc

ZOMG CoD continues

allright sohrt easy news for those who fallows the CoD series today is the day they release the first official date for the new CoD : black ops.... AND NO ITS NOT PART OF INFINITY WARD THEY'RE BEING SUED GOOGLE THAT UP, anyways here's the link goo look it up
http://callofduty.com/blackops/

Enemy of Lavos: A Love Story

I love Chrono Trigger. I mean, I REALLY love Chrono Trigger. And not just me, but damn near everyone loves Chrono Trigger, even if they don't know it yet. It is, almost without dissent, considered one of the best games of all time, and certainly one of the best RPGs.

I LOVE CHRONO TRIGGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me talk about why Chrono Trigger was so amazing. I'm gonna break this down into six parts.

1. Music
Music is first? Why music? Isn't gameplay more important, or at least story since this is an RPG? They will come in due time. The fact is, the soundtrack to Chrono Trigger is fucking amazing.
Fun Fact: The soundtrack was mostly done by Yasunori Mitsuda, who was previously a sound engineer, and was overseen by Nobuo Uematsu of Final Fantasy fame. Uematsu took over for 10 of the game's 54 tracks after Mitsuda developed stomach ulcers because he was working so hard (damn!).
So, music. Start up the game, and we get a pendulum swinging with some atmospheric music playing. Nice set-up, but I'm not feeling wowed. But if you let it sit, the intro video comes up, with scenes from the game, credits, and, oh yeah, KICKASS THEME SONG! Seriously, this is the kind of music that gets your blood pumping. I love the very subtle opening of Final Fantasy VI as well, but once the main theme of Chrono Trigger starts going, you know this is going to be a badass adventure. It really sounds like the prelude to an epic quest to save the world. Oh, wait, did I say save the world? Sorry for the typo. I meant to say save the world, 3 freaking times! Most heroes call it quits after one time. Not Chrono's crew.

You thought you were down/Thought you were gone/Saw no heroes around/You felt all alone/But look up in the sky/See the Epoch fly/See us in everytime, everywhere/Save the world for you

But it's more than just the track, it's about the track coupled with the opening. Videogame music can be really amazing compositionally; the kind of thing you'd buy if it was on a cd completely unrelated to the game. I hate Twilight, but I like Solar Midnight, and it's so unrelated that I don't feel any sort of contradiction there. Sometimes the music just works well within the game; it fits so well that you hardly notice how much it enhances the experience. I'd probably put the soundtracks to killer7 and No More Heroes in this category. Now, rarely, you get videogame compositions that do both. But Chrono Trigger, man...It's really beautiful. The music is amazing, but it feels like it belongs, and soon the game and the music become inextricable. I hear the music, and I remember all the time periods, the characters, and the epic battles from the game, but it doesn't just feel like association. I associate Castelvania: Circle of the Moon with forests, my aunt and uncle, my grandma, and Final Fantasy bestiality pronz (you could ask, but then I'd have to show you pictures of porn and my grandma at the same time, which would probably lead to some uncomfortable associations involving boners).

Wark Wark!

The point is, association is different from being intimately connected. The music of Chrono Trigger is matched perfectly with the game world, which is what makes it so fantastic. Beautiful on it's own, perfectly crafted within the game, the music is simply a masterpiece.
I'm not gonna go on about individual songs, even if I want to; maybe some day, cause I really just wanna go off about Frog's Theme, Magus' Battle music, all the music in 12,000 B.C. it's all so amazing.
I should make a few last notes before moving on. One is that the songs are long; for game music of that time I mean. Games songs have to loops, unless it's during a cutscene. Maybe you get up to make a sandwich. Wouldn't it be weird if the music just stopped after 4 minutes? So, of course game music loops, but some people take advantage of it, especially in the old days. Make some beeps for about 20 seconds and then loop it, but not Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger doesn't fuck around with that weak ass shit. These songs are around two minutes before they loop.

This man is not one to fuck with that weak ass shit.

Lastly, this music is beloved by so many. There are several entire remix albums dedicated to this music, some official but many fan made. Aside from full projects there are countless remixes. OC Remix (which employs a judging system so not every entry is accepted) has 131 remixes just from Chrono Trigger, not counting their own remix album Chrono Symphonic. Okay, I've gone on about the music enough. Lets move on to gameplay.

2)Gameplay
At first glance, the gameplay seems pretty straight forward for an RPG, but there is some nice variety to mix it up. For one, at the beginning of the game you can choose between turn based battles or ATB (Active Time Battles). ATB basically means that time keeps going as you choose your moves, so even if it's your turn, taking time to pick out the moves gives the enemies time to attack. Another nice feature is the tech system. So, techs are basically special moves, and you get new techs by getting tech points from battling. The cool part comes in when you get dual and triple techs. What this means is, when you have gotten certain techs for two or more characters, you will learn a move that combines them, and as long as all included characters turns are up, you can do the dual or triple techs. Aside from that, the special moves are really cool, and go beyond the basic "cast fire", "super sword strike". The more unique ones come from Frog and Robo though. Oh, yeah. One of the characters you play as is an anthropomorphic frog knight from the Middle Ages.

Slice those fiends/Protect Cyrus' dream/Slice those fiends/Use the froggy slip-stream/Slice those fiends/My techs'll make 'em scream/Slice those fiends/My song's an old world theme, drums and flute sing

Now, this is where it gets tricky because, like all great games, Chrono Trigger's gameplay is very much interwoven with it's story. My favorite part of the gameplay is definitely the time travel elements. Oh, right. SPOILERS: They travel through time if you didn't get that from, you know, Chrono being in the game's title, or read any basic description of the game. But, returning to the point at hand, I love the time travel mechanics for one reason; THEY FUCKING MAKE SENSE. You know how time travel plots always seem so stupid, because the mechanics don't make sense? Well, play Chrono Trigger, because the shit makes sense. When you go into the past and change things, things actually change in believable ways. And sometimes, you have to go back to the past to fix the shit you changed in the first place so the timeline doesn't go bonkers. I'd put up a picture of Bonkers the cat/police officer here and make a comment about how as a kid I liked the bonkers game, but will any of you get it? No, no you won't.
Anyway, the point is the gameplay is fantastic, and honestly you need to play it to fully understand how well it works. That's about all I can say about it.

III. Characters
So, you have time travel. How can you make the best use of it? How about having characters from all across time. You want robots? Done! Fucking robots! Robots with lasers! Shadow lasers! "But Justin, shadow lasers? That makes no sense." Fuck you; fuck you with shadow lasers.

Pictured: Not shadow lasers, but the closest approximation of their awesomeness.

(note: Some physicists theorize the existence of dark matter and dark energy, so Chrono Trigger's shadow lasers may have been decades ahead of scientific progress, which makes sense because the robot comes from the future. That should have blown your mind.)

What else do you want? Knights? Forget that shit! Frog knights! Frog knights with magic swords and magic...magic, I guess. He can use water elemental magic...to the extreme!

What else is cool? How about scythes. You know who uses scythes as weapons? Death, from Castelvania. Yeah, the dude who was always the coolest boss next to Dracula. Now, give him a badass, dark, intense theme song. That's a start. Okay, now give him magic. No, you're doing it all wrong! You're sprinkling it on there like a timid chef who is afraid of making the potatoes too salty. No, you take that bag of magic and just empty that whole thing. Okay, we're getting closer. Finally, add a cape. Now take all that, put it in a bowl, mix the FUCK out of it, and what do you get?

PENIS! I mean, MAGUS!

Is this cool enough for you? How about a Caveman? Well, this was turning into a sausage fest, so they made it a cavewoman.

What's the problem with a sausage fest?

Now, granted, she is the strongest character in the game, and has a very sexy dom feel to her, but one thing always bothered me about the prehistoric people in this game. They speak English/Japanese depending on where you bought the game, but they speak it like a 6 year old who doesn't understand basic grammar. So, these people came up with a complex language which has lasted at least 65,002,300 years, but are too stupid to speak it correctly? What?

Why can't all cavemen be this studious?

Rounding off our cast are three heroes from the present. We have Lucca, the resident girl genius with giant glasses who uses guns and, eventually, laser guns. Also, when I say she has giant glasses, I mean these things can see the dark side of the moon. They are bigger than her head. She also has fire magic and bombs. Personally, she is my favorite of the female characters, even though I admit that Ayla would probably fuck like a tiger, quite literally in fact. But I really like that nerdy, smart girl archetype, so yeah. We also have Marle, the most useless character in the game, and by useless, I mean she is the healer, which is stupid because basically everyone in the game has one healing tech. The only reason for ever putting her in your party is because her dual techs with Lucca are cool. But really, she's stupid and a ditz and What Is Wrong With You Chrono! Lucca Is The True Love Of Your Life! Lucca/Chrono Foreverz! Clearly The Writers Didn't Understand Their Own Characters! Waaaaaaaaah!
So, rounding out our cast is, of course, the main hero Chrono, who continues the grand tradition of main characters who use swords. His was a simple life, living in the village of Truce.

I'm from a city in the northwest/best city in the whole wide wide world, hey/city in the whole wide world, hey/city in the whole wide world/ I got that go go go go go go go go go go Chrono flow

At the end of the day, the characters are imaginative, fun, and memorable. Everything any good fictional characters should be.

Four-Story
Honestly, I have nothing to say here. Everything you need to know about the story without spoilers has already been said by the gameplay, characters, and music, and that is what makes this game so fantastic. Everything just fits together perfectly and builds upon each other to make something that is much greater than the sum of it's parts, and it's parts were already pretty bitchin'.
Chrono Trigger. One of the best games ever. Fin.

RESIDENT TERRIBLE

Yo so i have somewhat good/bad news for the people. First news is that apparently we have another gaming movie coming out this year....about zombies..... that's right you guessed it another resident evil movie, this time you actually get to see Wesker in action, but yes... i saw the trailer and i was completely disappointed on how the movie moved along, if you do remember where the last movie left off, it was in the desert, in the middle of mother fucking nowhere, and there was little pod clones in an underground base..... if you remember playing the game the first thing that would pop up in your mind would be "WTF i don't remember this ever happening before in the game... where did all the African people go from RE5??" So >.> I'm not gonna make you go and see this movie, I'm not gonna stop you either, but i will tell you that if you are going to go see this next movie, go see it with an open mind for the graphics, the "different" storyline, and mostly DON'T BITCH ABOUT WHAT THEY DID WRONG. Thus in all i would give this new movie a rental in advance before it even comes out in the theaters.

So, theres news to be shared...SAD GOOD AND BAD!

We here at the 16bit blog are trying to get used to this whole blogging thing. Its kind of tricky because you actually have to update it regularly. Not something I'm accustom to, and neither are any of my writier staff, but thats our problem. We'll figure it out, in the meantime i have sad news, good news and news that might piss you off.

SAD NEWS FIRST!:

I'm so late to the party with this one, but apparently there were plans of a REAL Chrono Trigger sequel called Chrono Break, Those who don't know me personally need to understand that i hail Chrono Trigger as one of the greatest RPG's of all time. Pretty much any story that can do time travel coherently and make it amazing i give mad stacks of credit to. Like that one episode of Phineas and Ferb (god i love that show), Im deviating though *ahem* The license for Chrono Break in America expired in 2003 and apparently its up for japan this year in july. Its so sad, but its for the best because most of the original team for Trigger left the company and moved on, meaning now the sequel had no chance of being made. What would blow my mind is if this all turned out to be a stunt to just build up for its release, because honestly those are some very different time frames for a license to expire. 2003 and 2010? CMON if only we could somehow go into the future to know what was going to happen and see if they were going to make it. OR BETTER YET GO INTO THE FUTURE AND CHANGE IT!

Too bad its impossible.

btw: yeah i know chorno cross exists, i just didnt care for it. Not as a sequel to trigger. Stand alone...the story was still a little contrived and i just cant get behind it the way i can with trigger.

GOOD NEWS!: 

The Good news is that we are awesome and we are going to continue to be that way.
If you want other good news you gotta be into anime, you dont have to be a weeaboo but still.

If you like zombies and anime then awesome because they are finally making an anime adaption of the only zombie manga on the market that is worth recognizing. High School of the Dead is going to be an anime and it looks amazing, complete with rotting flesh, guns, hot girls with gravity defying bouncing boobs and the obligatory sword user. I mean that is just silly, you don't use a sword in a Zombie Apocalypse, thats Noob Z day rule #1

still she looks hot and i cant really say I'm complaining, because i would so want to, its just that it wouldn't be worth my life if it fails.

In other Anime News, there is a pretty good chance that (my personal favorite anime/show of all time) Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, will have its movies released stateside by Bandai which in my personal opinion goes in the top brass on the shelf of Awesome.

For those that dont know what this show is or what its about, SHAME ON YOU! Seriously if you like anime and dont know what this is your probably too busy watching bleach and naruto to care, but probably not one piece because you dont like the artstyle....you dicks! GO WATCH THIS AND BECOME A PART OF THE SENSATION THAT IS TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN!

WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!?

BAD NEWS: 

There is a rumor that there is going to be a Fred movie. Its still loose speculation from the internet, the very same internet that said Bill Cosby died, so its up in the air, but would it really be all that surprising?

Tell you what though, if they made a movie and Fred Savage was in it, i might go see it. I mean the guy has been working on Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and has a lot of other awesome stuff under his belt so i would trust he could make something good.

You hear that Fred Savage? Make a movie so i can watch it and double the effect of my boycott if that stupid high pitched asshole makes one. Please?

I am a monster truck that walks like a man, and I have a great deal for you

BILLY MAYS IS IN BRAWL

Hi, Billy Mays here.

Wait, what?
For those of you not in "the know", get out now. You aren't cool enough. The rest of you then already are aware that the above image is a texture mod of Ganondorf from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, made possible through Brawl +.
Brawl + is like CS Source, only not intended to be as such. I'd say I'm sure that Nintendo didn't intend-o (and on that farm, there lived a Miyamoto) to make the Wii so easily soft modded, and in fact menu updates seem to support that, but I'm not entirely sure.

Follow me here. You are The Nintendo, a being made of quarters and excess sugar rush energy. Well, of course you want to make arcade games to get more of these things, but what is this? There are other forms of money which can be converted to quarters, allowing you to consume them like some sort of capitalist cubivore AND sugar rushes occurring outside of wherever arcades are located?! "Gimme some'a that" you'd say if you spoke anything other than a confusing language composed of mostly english words as dictated by my dad after he came home from the place that sells happy juice. Thus, the NES was born, or as many people call it, the Ness (I also call STD's studs, which results in hilariously zany mix-ups). So, good job so far. Continue this for a while, upgrading the consoles as necessary. So, suddenly, a new market opens up, namely people who don't really play videogames. These are known as casual gamers or, as you might better know them, the person who thinks Ninja Bread Man looked like a good game. Well, if that's where the money is, then sign me up. But wait, what about the people who gave you their money for so long, and have grown to love the parasitic eldritch entity that you are? Nostalgia and easy modding.

See, I still love Nintendo and my Wii. They deliver good games (and a lot of bad ones, but who's counting?) and a welcome break from the modern games of XBox 360 and PS3 which seem to be too serious and extremely focused on online play, even when it is completely out of place...Ghostbusters. Beyond that, I hold the minority opinion which I may have just made up that Nintendo intentionally left the Wii easily mod-able. They knew that it would sell like crazy, and that most of those people would not have the skill or know how to hack it. This way, they get money, and keep their most loyal fans happy and hacking. I mean, how much money do they really need?

Okay, so I've gotten a bit off topic.
Modding. You remember grade school? You remember tag? You remember X-Men TAS? Okay, the first two are important for this exercise. Tag was awesome! But then, someone realized there were, dun dun da, other kinds of tag! Freeze tag, tv tag, safety tag, and I'll bet you made up some of your own versions of tag. Congratulations, you are a modder.

2nd law of Modding Dynamics: As time increases, all game mods tend towards Calvinball.

Yes, modding is as simple as taking something which already exists and "modifying" it within it's pre-defined reality. This works very easily with tag because everything is within our defined reality. With games it's a tad more complicated, though there really should be no sarcastic emphasis on the word "tad'.

Within the world of a specific game, modding must take place within that reality (the game's source code). This is much easier with PC games and, by extension, ROMs. Imagine then my surprise when I found out about a moddable hack of Brawl called Brawl +. I played a very bare bones mod of it, and had more fun with Brawl than I ever had before. Characters were rebalanced, Sonic was amazing, speed and gravity were upped, hit stun turned up, basically it was what I had wanted Brawl to be from the beginning.
I shared this with my younger brother and softmodded his Wii for him so he could do it himself from there. Well, imagine my surprise when I came home for Easter to this.

I did not mean/to blow your mind/but Brawl+ does it/all the ti-I-ime.

It's like Mugen, but a mod for a home console! Do you have any clue how awesome that is? This just blew my mind. They made a Hyper Sonic mod, new stages, ridiculous costumes, new menus, and a HYPER SONIC MOD! It is so much fun. I talked about how some of the fun of MvC2 was its brokeness? Same goes for the god mods in Brawl+. Hyper Sonic cannot lose. I mean, he could suicide, but if being played by a retarded monkey with one working hand, he will win. Not quite as true for some of the other super mods, like my beloved Storm Fox, but that should not take away from their supreme awesomeness.

Now, I like to have something important to say about whatever my topic is. To that end, I wanna use this as a continuation of my previous comment on game balancing. Yes, game balancing is important. I don't think anyone wants to be "that guy", the one who looked at Metaknight and said, "Yes, this is will be a perfectly well received addition to a game with a history of competitive tournament play." I enjoy Brawl, Brawl+, and the super modded variation of Brawl+. I also enjoy the original Super Mario Bros. as well as the insanely unfair mods of that game. I play Devil May Cry on Easy, Normal, and Dante Must Die all for very different reasons.

What I'm trying to get at is that there are a wealth of different ways to enjoy games, whether it be the basic run through, the "I am a magnifying glass among ants" run through, or the "more infuriating that the Valley of the Kings" run through (get that reference, and I'll send you a pack of nerds jelly beans). Developers can only put so much work into a game, and only design a few different ways to enjoy it. While I usually am happy with the end result at the very least, I would love to see more games get the Brawl+ treatment. I look forward to a future where level editors (would have made Mirror's Edge sooooooooooo much better), open source games, and mods are common place. Where game designing is an open exchange between developers and gamers. Where everyone loves Suda51 and gives him money (hey, it's my idealistic future). And finally, where Billy Mays is a playable character in every videogame ever.
A toast, to the future.



So, what do an architect, a male model photographer, and a whore have in common?
They work with studs all day! And have existential depression; just like all of us.
:'(

Happy April Fools Day BITCHES!

Go outside and confess your love to someone and then take a second and say april fools, greatest prank ever. If they say they love you too before you get to say april fools, greatest-est prank ever.

LAIUSGLFIUBASHLKJDGAWJBHGKDFSAGMSNBFHAS

HOLY MOTHER OF THE SON OF THE BROTHER OF THE SECOND COUSIN OF THE SISTER-IN-LAW OF THE CREEPY UNCLE OF THE COOL GUY WHO ISN'T REALLY YOUR UNCLE BUT YOU CALL HIM THAT ANYWAY OF GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, okay, gotta...gotta breathe.
Warning: The following post information may or may not be true, but god I hope it is.

The Good News

Let that sink in for a moment.
Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Holy shit.
I mean, MvC2 was the game. It's up there with Melee for me. Melee may have been a little more polished balance wise, but how much fun is it to just say "Fuck it!" and play with Dan, Servbot, Sentinel (because you are a bitch); or Cable, Magneto, and Sentinel (because you are such a bitch that if you got near a Metaknight main-er, the amount of bitchness would collapse into a bitch singularity). Personally, my team is Tron Bonne, Venom, Megaman. Why? CAUSE IT'S MAHVEL BABY!
Lets get this out there right now, MvC2 is broken. It's broken like the universe after the end of Akira or Evangelion; it's broken like the logic behind the book Liberal Fascism; it's broken like the bones of all those MMA fighters you see in cringe worthy gif's; but damn it is fun. Who cares about the infinites, the cheapness, or anything else, when the game is so damn fun? I'll tell you who. Anal retentive jerks who ruin everything good by complaining about it; and probably accountants (I really don't know any accountants, and so have no reference here. They are a rare breed, often sticking to the shadows to avoid detection by more adapted predators.).

Hey, if you look at it upside down, the .). looks like Doug Funny.

The jump from MvC to MvC2 was crazy. What could they possibly have in store for 3?

Now, the other side. I love Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Yes, there are less characters, less assists, and they are less recognizable. In spite of this, it is a more balanced game; perhaps even because of this. Certainly, having a massive roster of characters, assists, and team combinations would make balancing a nightmare. The more manageable roster of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom makes a big difference. The other changes are nice as well. The music is much more apropos, I love the way the background disappears when you hit with some of the better specials, the Baroque canceling and Mega Crashes are nice; overall, good stuff. Also, Zero circa X4 and Rockman Volnutt are in the game, both of whom are among my favorite Megaman characters. But, the Tatsunoko characters aren't as recognizable, the grandiose feeling is missing, and overall it just doesn't give that same sense of excitement as MvC2 does.
So, what does all this mean? Let's recap.
1) HOLY SHIT MvC3
2) MvC2 Was fantastic, fun as hell, but broken.
3) Tatsunoko is more balanced, but simplified, and doesn't provide the same level of fun.

I would be very happy to see MvC3 (assuming it is coming) implement some of the things Tatsunoko vs. Capcom introduced, however I'm loathe to say it should be more balanced. That might be good, but wasn't part of the charm of MvC2 being able to play skilled with some characters, and be a bitch with people like Juggs. Balancing isn't always everything. But who knows; maybe there is a perfect middle ground somewhere. Balanced, but still varied enough to be completely ridiculous.
Like I said, I would be ecstatic to see MvC3 come out with new characters, new innovations, and incorporate all the things Capcom did different in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Honestly though, Capcom could put two new characters into the game, add new music, change nothing else, and I would still pay $60.00 for it, because it would be awesome.

To grind, or not to grind

So, I'm playing Jump Ultimate Stars last night and, as with any game, I wanna get everything, here being read as level up all my komas. Now, you can all start praising me as the gaming god that I am for maxing out all the playable characters and being able to occasionally win online without abusing the fuck out of Trunks, but it got me thinking; here I am, playing this game for hours, farming gems, just to get the satisfaction of maxing everything out. There are a couple of points I'd like to go over from that statement.
1) Playing this game for hours
2) Farming Gems
3) Satisfaction of maxing everything out

Now, lets talk about #1 for a second. I have invested untold hours into this game. I have played this game for more hours than I have put into some classes. Compared to the job security that good grades would assure me, the rewards I would get for putting that time into a relationship, or even the satisfaction I would get at learning a new instrument or language, it seems almost silly.
About #2, how can something like this be fun? I would venture to say that about 1/3 of those countless hours mentioned above were spent farming. What is farming you ask? Okay, so you need green gems. How do you get them? Why, go to a level with green gems as enemy item drops. But, you need to pick the best level to maximize your intake. So, you are playing the same level, over and over, getting between 200-300 gems on average. Now, do that for about an hour. Congratulations! Now, go do it for red gems and green gems, and then realize you can max out about 5 good koma, if that. Speaking of that...
Maxing out everything, our #3. What is the satisfaction in maxing things out? I mean, it's virtual stuff. How can getting virtual rewards give actual pleasure?

In the end, it's just a matter of psychology. #1 is clearly about both immediate rewards and the pleasure of accomplishment. Beyond that, a lot of what people do isn't directed towards long term goals. Movies, board games, crosswords, even most reading doesn't really help you in the long run. It keeps your mind active, and without some of those immediate rewards, you would probably go insane. #2 Is a Skinner Box type deal. Press the Button, Get Bacon as it were. Instead, I press the buttons, and get my gems. Finally, to the people who subscribe to the "#3 is stupid school of though", fuck you! Did you know that once currency was taken off the gold standard, it only had value because a bunch of people said "Yeah, this paper is worth something. In fact, it's better than that other kind of paper over there for some very boring and complex economic reasons" (note: clearly I am oversimplifying macroeconomics here). Even when it was on the gold standard, it was only valuable because gold was a limited resource that people wanted. Gems are both a (somewhat) limited resource that I need to earn and someone has given it a real world value by assigning buying power to it, even if that buying power is for virtual things.
When it comes down to it, I love level grinding. I really do. And I think most people love grinding (heh, sexual innuendo) to some degree. It's a psychological matter. Some people might think that just because games seemed designed to take advantage of our evolutionary mental structure they are somehow bad. Well, eating ice cream is the same way. So is sex. So are drugs. When done in moderation, all are great things, because they feel great. It's fine to enjoy pleasure in moderation without slipping into full on hedonism. Your body was designed with so many ways to feel pleasure. Take advantage of it.
So just remember, videogames are good. Even grinding is good. But drugs are bad, m'kay?

Just kidding. Drugs are awesome. Go do them. Now.

And so it begins

Today marks the start of the 16bit blog, basically we started thinking, HEY we have alot to say, and news to share, but we dont really have a way of doing it. Then we thought BLOG so from now on if we get some news early on, we'll be sure to share it here for now.
Look forward to updates in the future.

Justin L.