Working Title 11.22.07: Working Filler - Games I Am Thankful For
Posted by Jordan Williams on 11.22.2007
Today is the day everyone completely destroys thier diet, watches football, and just feels good. So this week we get a nice little bit of filler to go with your Thanksgiving dinner. Five games I am thankful for.
Welcome to the #1 Column to actually forget that today is TURKEY DAY, WORKING TITLE. Yeah, I know I am currently in the middle of the (highly successful, if I am to go by the feedback) series of Massive Effect. But because today is Turkey Day for those in the states, I decided to put up a bit of filler today due to the fact that a majority of the readers will be out and about, and the same goes for your beloved writer. So, instead we get a nice little list about five games I am Thankful For with Massive Effect: Harry Potter going up next week. I hope everyone else is okay with that.
So, I'm sure everyone has a set of games they are just SO HAPPY that were made. Well, I have a list of five personally. Now these games may seem a bit odd, but there a definite reason behind them. So, so I can get back to cooking. Let's just go ahead and get this thing on the road.
Working Filler: Games I am Thankful For
In no particular order
Final Fantasy IV (II US)
Now, for those of you who didn't read "Mystic Quest is AWESOME" you may not know the soft spot in my head this game holds. Despite it being completely horrible when you think about it, this game actually taught me how to read and use a bit of a vocabulary when I was younger. I used to get so annoyed watching my older sister and brother play this game when I couldn't understand what was going on outside of the battles that I eventually began to power through it myself and piece bits of words together. Being one of the only six year olds in the world who could say "Bahamut" was an awesome feeling.
This game also has a bit of an emotional bit because it was one of my older sister's favorite games. She passed away about ten years ago after a fight with Lupus. So I am thankful she had a very fun game to play and this game always lends a lot of memories to that.
Street Fighter II
This game was my lifeblood during the Arcade Era. I used to walk about two blocks (in the snow, uphill, and both ways, followed by mountain lions) to a local mall and blow about 10 bucks a weekend at the arcade with this bad boy. It changed the face of fighting games for the rest of its life and also introduced me to the awesome that is GUILE. Fuck Ryu, Fuck Ken, Fuck Chun Li. Fuck 'em all. Guile was the true badass of that game, hell; he was the true badass of that series. Guile appeared in almost every damn SF game after that (or by proxy by Charlie) and continued to kick ass with only TWO MOVES. He didn't have any button combos, no weird stall moves. He only had SONIC BOOM and FLASH KICK. Sure, if you were a cheap bastard you could use the handcuffs but only lamers did that.
I'm thankful for Street Fighter II because I'm pretty sure during those few years I pumped so much money into Capcom that I own a small stock in it.
Phantasy Star Online
This game is one of the more recent ones simply because it actually is responsible for a lot of the friends I had in high school and a majority of the fans I still have today. I remember buying it on a whim on my birthday because it was cheap. For a game that was nothing but a glorified grinding quest, it literally ate up my life.
I remember bringing to my school's Sci Fi Club (Yes, we had a Sci Fi Club how fucking sweet is THAT?) and we sat around and made the four of our characters before we actually set out on the adventure. From then on Thursdays were known as PSO day. We would sit around and grind to our hearts content. We eventually beat Episodes 1 and 2 up to Very Hard. It might sound like an easy thing but when you have four very different people and four people who really love to hog all of the items; it's a VERY different prospect.
I still had fun, and it still stands today as one of the few games I still dust off the gold Gamecube for. Even if you hate PSO because of what it did to the Phantasy Star franchise, you can at least admit that this game was fun.
Final Fantasy VI (III US) The world did not want me to find a good boxart of FFVI, so you get a picture of Bill Cosby instead.
Yeah, you might see a bit of a pattern here. This game was makes me Thankful because it's SO EFFIN' AWESOME. There really isn't any deep and profound reason here. Back when I first played it was one of the coolest games I had and it had a pretty big story and a wonderful cast of characters.
Really...
That's it.
No, seriously. There's no weird sentimental story about why I am thankful for this game. It's really just here because I really like the game. Stop trying to read between the lines.
No, I'm not going to take a cheap shot at Final Fantasy VII, so don't even write the e-mail.
Arcade Era Beat-Em-Ups (TMNT, The Simpsons, X-Men)
This one was a bit too close to call, I figured I'd just lump them all into one overarching genre. These games were also GREAT to play in the Arcade Era because it was like fighting a modern war. You'd team up with people you didn't know at all simply to beat the game. If someone went down on the field of battle and didn't have any more tokens, you would load it to them simply because you wanted to beat the game. I can't tell you how cool it was to be in that mad dash during a boss fight to spot some kid you didn't even know a token so you could get back to trying to beat up Mr. Smithers.
It was a rush. I remember the times where you would have to play as two people at once while the other person made a quick run to the change machine or had to deal with something. It eventually got to the point where my brother, sister, and I were able to go to the arcade and run through TMNT without using more than three dollars collectively. It's a shame the Arcade died out because it really sucks to think that a lot of these kids aren't going to have the joy of going down to the mall and playing a game that isn't Pump it Up, DDR, or an on rails shooter.
C'mon, someone bring back the Arcade!
Working Feedback
Well, I actually had two feedbacks this week. But the second one is rather long so I'm going to save it for next week. However I will post the shorter one right now.
This one is from a fellow who only refers to himself as The Wolfkin:
I don't know how I even got to your site. I found a cookie and was investigating. That led to your Transformers MMO article which led to Avatar MMO article (way to go. I wholeheartedly agree and... Avatar Rocks.) That led to your Rant Article which led to this.
Don't feel bad. Some of the best things were found by accident. Like the age old sport of Hooker Clubbing. Who would've known that a game of mailbox baseball in the Red Light District would work out so well?
1. I'm a HUGE Mario Kart fan. I remember when Donkey Kong looked like he was wearing Diapers. It was the bee's knees. I remember the Feather. I want the feather back. I didn't want to buy it at full price but I got it on discount somewhere so yeah I TOO is one with the Mario Kart DS nation. Unfortunately I don't work at a job with other geeks. Never have. So I still have to explain to most people who see it what my DS is. Which is quite frankly why I still maintain that DS is the 2nd worst name for a Nintendo title? It just doesn't roll off the tongue when I have to explain it to someone who only plays Madden/Halo. I bought my DS phat at launch and gave up trying. I just tell people it's a gameboy and they understand. Sometimes I tell them it's an upgraded gameboy.
That really is a shame, but I know how you feel. For every one person who knew what my DS was, there were at least two who called it a "Nintendo". After a while I gave up explaining it and just said it was a super advanced cellphone. I agree that the feather should return, and they should destroy the fake item box in its wake. Shit never works.
2. Split screen WAS the awesomeness. I've heard a few arguments but I agree with you that split screen should never have been 'filtered out' as a primary gaming option. I loved playing with actual people. There was a nick ad a while back in the time of Snick and all that jazz. It was one of those pro-'get out and play' commercials. It started with this kid playing video games or watching TV or something and being bored. I don't remember the exact words but the voice over started something like this...
"Tired of virtual reality? Try actual reality" then cut to the kid playing basketball with his friends
"Feel the wind thru your hair
Because you're actually outside
Feel the rubber of the ball
because it's actually there
feel the high five of your friends
because you actually scored"
it was the greatest commercial ever.
Man, I remember that commercial. However it reminds me of those commercials that always paint gamers in this light they are all lazy sods who don't do anything. This is only 75% true. I do think that split screen should return. Because even though Xbox Live has millions of people. There's still some that don't use it (and I can see why) and there really is just something about whacking your friend with a controller for screen peeking that you just can't do online.
3. I don't care about SF but I mostly agree with your assessment of SSB. I do consider SSB a rather deep fighting game. That's about the only point where we differ. Everyone wants to talk about the skill in the game and you know what I have no skill for wave-dashing but I can throw a fan half-way across Hyrule with pinpoint accuracy. Most people don't know the fan is weak as an attack weapon but deadly when thrown. I customize like most people. I don't like the hammer or the big recovery items but if someone wants to risk turning their back for rice ball. I want rice balls in the game. Nothing beats the sheer joys of smacking someone with the SuperScope into a wall and watching them bounce back. There's just so much fun in the game. I'm worried about the changes they're making but I thought it was bad when throws weren't the killing move in Melee turns out the game was great anyway and I'll wait and see for Brawl as well.
That's pretty much the point I was trying to make. People think there's the 'right' and 'wrong' way to play and it just isn't true. While I'll never do tournament style, I'm not going to toss those who do play it under the bus; I'm just not going to deal with it. Also, I tend to turn off Mr. Saturn, healing items, and the cloaking device. As cheap as The Hammer is, there's always the chance YOU can get it and use it to. That's one of the things I try to drill home to one of my tournament playing friends. He complains that the weapons make the game unfair but how exactly is it unfair when you have the same chances to get the item as well? Brawl looks really promising, but now I'm starting to get a feeling that this may be the final game sense they sure are putting a lot in this game and it's looking seemingly impossible to top next time around. We'll just have to see
In closing... Right on brother... preach on.
Thanks for the feedback
That's all, folks!
Well, there you have it. A nice filler wrapped up in a tidy package for you. Now go back to eating, watching football, or in my case having a marathon game of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Resident Evil 4. Either way, have a good one.
I'm Jordan Williams....and Working Title things TOFURKEY IS FUCKING DISGUSTING.
