After seeing The Dark Knight this weekend (a must-see, by the way!), I stopped by my local Gamestop to nab a second-hand copy of Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime for the Nintendo DS. Normally, I don’t buy used games, but after seeing the fun my brothers were having with it, I was determined to get a copy in whatever licit way I could. Seeing the raucous laughter and hysteria that ensued when they where playing the game together reminded me of the joys that multiplayer gaming can provide. Rocket Slime, which can accommodate up to 4 players in a 2-on-2 teams, encourages both cooperation and a healthy spirit of competition among its participants. It seems silly on the surface, and I won’t blame any skeptic for having reservations about such a claim, but I sincerely believe that games like this can be used to plant the seeds of Christian fellowship, and while I’m not sure if it will nurture them into saplings, my brothers have not hesitated to recommend Rocket Slime as an exemplum of a multiplayer video game.
Beyond inspiring a form of Christian fellowship (and I can attest from my personal experience that this is actually more common than one might think - games like Rock Band manage to bring people together like nothing else), many multiplayer video games also hold the promise of reconciliation. In the many moments of frustration and unjustified anger, my brothers have used games as a way to reconcile after a quarrel. Forgiveness itself requires a sort of mutuality: the cooperative aspect of some games can certainly move the process along.
Needless to say, it’s also possible that the reverse happens: rather than utilizing a quick round of video gaming to get the two warring parties reconciled, video games just turn into another excuse to quibble and quarrel. I’ve seen first hand how relatively innocuous games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl (a game featuring a comical kind of violence seen in movies like The Incredibles) actually exacerbate filial tensions rather then provide any sort of reconciliation to a tenuous situation.
By all indications, though, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime inspires the type of positive fellowship seen in the former scenario, and I hope to have a Player Diary in the next coming days. Stay tuned!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
E3 and WYD Recap
Now that both E3 and World Youth Day 2008 now officially belong to the past (and God’s eternal “present moment”), a recap and reflection is certainly not out of the question, and seeing as the date of this posting happens to be a Sunday (a day that, according to the Tradition of the Catholic faith, is reserved for God-centered meditation and thanksgiving), I hesitate to share even the most modest reflections on either. Scrupulous? Perhaps, but since I haven’t posted in a while (my current employment situation leaves me without internet access for most of the week), I thought I’d post a brief update just so no one thinks this blog has died an untimely death – patience, everyone!
So, in recognition of the fact that I must “Keep Holy the Sabbath Day” and also not shirk my responsibilities to the readers of this blog, here’s a choice selection of some of my favorite moments from both WYD and E3 – without commentary:
WYD:
- “The mission of the Church is to help people be free,” – Cardinal Francis George, at the July 20 WYD mass
- The Pope’s decision to encourage reception of the Eucharist kneeling, and preferably on the tongue (as first reported by Sydney’s very own Cardinal Pell last week)
- “My dear young friends, if you take part frequently in the eucharistic celebration, if you dedicate some of your time to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Source of love which is the Eucharist, you will acquire that joyful determination to dedicate your lives to following the Gospel”. – Pope Benedict XVI
E3
- The surprise announcement that an Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy 13 is indeed in the making
- The localization of Retro Game Challenge, a Japanese Nintendo DS game that was formerly seen as having practically no chance at ever seeing a release outside its home territory.
- Sony announcing more games for its Playstation Network, including the appropriately-titled and intriguing action game, Fat Princess.
So, in recognition of the fact that I must “Keep Holy the Sabbath Day” and also not shirk my responsibilities to the readers of this blog, here’s a choice selection of some of my favorite moments from both WYD and E3 – without commentary:
WYD:
- “The mission of the Church is to help people be free,” – Cardinal Francis George, at the July 20 WYD mass
- The Pope’s decision to encourage reception of the Eucharist kneeling, and preferably on the tongue (as first reported by Sydney’s very own Cardinal Pell last week)
- “My dear young friends, if you take part frequently in the eucharistic celebration, if you dedicate some of your time to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Source of love which is the Eucharist, you will acquire that joyful determination to dedicate your lives to following the Gospel”. – Pope Benedict XVI
E3
- The surprise announcement that an Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy 13 is indeed in the making
- The localization of Retro Game Challenge, a Japanese Nintendo DS game that was formerly seen as having practically no chance at ever seeing a release outside its home territory.
- Sony announcing more games for its Playstation Network, including the appropriately-titled and intriguing action game, Fat Princess.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
A Video Gamer's "Christmas in July"
Despite being virtually unknown to most of the mainstream public, the Electronic Entertainment Exposition (appropriately dubbed E3) is something video game aficionados the world over greatly anticipate. Not only do the major video game console manufacturers hold press conferences where they proudly display their latest wares and upcoming games, but all major game developers also showcase demos and video trailers of their products, as well. Despite a massive downsizing in the conference in recent years, the decision to move the conference to mid-summer has truly made E3 into a video gamer’s “Christmas in July.”
While I personally won’t be attending the festivities (and, as such, won’t be writing extensively about the event as various other video game websites are doing), I’m still anxiously anticipating the new game announcements, demo impressions, and – courtesy of the internet – videos of the various press conferences held by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. It also provides a great insight into the “culture” of video games, making it an invaluable tool for anyone interested in understanding more about the video game industry and video gamers themselves. As far as this video gamer is concerned, E3 really is the closest thing you’ll ever find to a Rosetta stone. Merry Christmas, indeed…
While I personally won’t be attending the festivities (and, as such, won’t be writing extensively about the event as various other video game websites are doing), I’m still anxiously anticipating the new game announcements, demo impressions, and – courtesy of the internet – videos of the various press conferences held by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. It also provides a great insight into the “culture” of video games, making it an invaluable tool for anyone interested in understanding more about the video game industry and video gamers themselves. As far as this video gamer is concerned, E3 really is the closest thing you’ll ever find to a Rosetta stone. Merry Christmas, indeed…
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Player Diaries: Boom Blox
Boom Blox, a Wii exclusive, has great single player and multiplayer modes, whether you want to play cooperatively or competitively. You basically use the Wii remote as a hand or other item to move or blow up blocks or block animals to complete the puzzles, play “shooting gallery” minigames, or play “don’t topple the tower!” games like Jenga. There is also an addictive “Build” mode in which you create your own “stage.” You can make almost anything you want, from castles, monkey and dog fights, sculptures of dinos…even Rube Goldberg machines. The only problems with this game are that you can’t really make stages with a multiplayer focus, and there are certain types of blocks used in some game modes that you aren’t allowed to use in the “build mode.”
You’ll need a steady hand to beat this game and if you play multiplayer be sure not to have any sore losers. Boom Blox uses all of the Wii’s features, too. It’s a perfect game for newcomers but has enough tough stuff for those of you who finish games completely, too. Highly recommended!
You’ll need a steady hand to beat this game and if you play multiplayer be sure not to have any sore losers. Boom Blox uses all of the Wii’s features, too. It’s a perfect game for newcomers but has enough tough stuff for those of you who finish games completely, too. Highly recommended!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Burnout!
It figures that, after specifically promising to post more frequently, I fail to post for 5+ days. The classic "better late than never" excuse certainly does little, if anything, to dismiss the sheer risibility of the situation. Thank God for his mercy!
Speaking of mercy, I’ve recently been playing Burnout: Revenge, a game whose title seems to prominently denote a deficit in the aforementioned quintessential Catholic value. As if that isn’t enough, the game description on the back of the game box makes matters even worse, stating that “mercy is for wimps.” Hmm. Sounds hardly Catholic, to say the least. Time to scratch this one off of the “to play” list?
Well, not quite. Burnout: Revenge is probably best described as a remedy for revenge - the modern-day equivalent of the “punch the pillow” technique recommended by mothers everywhere as a stress reliever/anger management tool for their children. While that might seem odd for a game touted as “battle racing ignited”, Burnout is a far cry from a typical racing game: it’s not enough to simply outrun other racers to the finish line; no, you need to make everyone else crash into walls, pillars, oncoming traffic…anything to take them down, really…and you’ll be rewarded with some nitro to boost your cars speed along the way. It takes multiple crashes before a car is completely and utterly totaled – and that’s where the “revenge” part comes into play. If you can take down the same vehicle that rammed your car into oblivion, you’ll be rewarded with a “revenge takedown” – providing you with even more nitro to help you outrun and takedown the competition.
You’d think a game all about crashes (and very realistic ones, at that…while the bodily carnage of crashes is not replicated in the game, the physical damage to the race cars certainly is!) would be counter productive to a racing simulator, but the game never forgoes the intense speed that makes racing games so much fun. Plus, if you’re not in the mood for racing, you can try out the “traffic attack” modes, where you’ll go bumper-to-bumper with highway traffic, tasked with causing as much monetary damage to these cars as possible within a set time limit.
If you truly want to become an insurance company’s nightmare, however, I would suggest giving the “crash” mode a shot. Here, you’re assigned with the goal of causing massive 50-car pile-ups, millions of dollars in damages, and generally causing as much havoc as possible.
Luckily, despite the focus on physical destruction, Burnout deliberately neglects to add a human face to the game. You’ll see no human carnage, blood and gore, or any kind of human violence in the game. In fact, Burnout: Revenge carries an “E10+” ESRB rating (recommended for ages 10 and up, in other words, which makes sense given the intensity of the crashes seen in the game). I would suggest parents give it a shot before letting their kids have fun with it, but despite the game’s title and rather violent take on street racing, it’s actually quite kid-friendly. It doesn’t require a heavy time investment like many role-playing and adventure games, and is, in fact, arguably nest played in short 15-20 minute sessions. The game is available on the Xbox, Playstation 2, and Xbox 360, often going for $30 or less. Give it a shot if you’re looking for something different from a racing video game.
Speaking of mercy, I’ve recently been playing Burnout: Revenge, a game whose title seems to prominently denote a deficit in the aforementioned quintessential Catholic value. As if that isn’t enough, the game description on the back of the game box makes matters even worse, stating that “mercy is for wimps.” Hmm. Sounds hardly Catholic, to say the least. Time to scratch this one off of the “to play” list?
Well, not quite. Burnout: Revenge is probably best described as a remedy for revenge - the modern-day equivalent of the “punch the pillow” technique recommended by mothers everywhere as a stress reliever/anger management tool for their children. While that might seem odd for a game touted as “battle racing ignited”, Burnout is a far cry from a typical racing game: it’s not enough to simply outrun other racers to the finish line; no, you need to make everyone else crash into walls, pillars, oncoming traffic…anything to take them down, really…and you’ll be rewarded with some nitro to boost your cars speed along the way. It takes multiple crashes before a car is completely and utterly totaled – and that’s where the “revenge” part comes into play. If you can take down the same vehicle that rammed your car into oblivion, you’ll be rewarded with a “revenge takedown” – providing you with even more nitro to help you outrun and takedown the competition.
You’d think a game all about crashes (and very realistic ones, at that…while the bodily carnage of crashes is not replicated in the game, the physical damage to the race cars certainly is!) would be counter productive to a racing simulator, but the game never forgoes the intense speed that makes racing games so much fun. Plus, if you’re not in the mood for racing, you can try out the “traffic attack” modes, where you’ll go bumper-to-bumper with highway traffic, tasked with causing as much monetary damage to these cars as possible within a set time limit.
If you truly want to become an insurance company’s nightmare, however, I would suggest giving the “crash” mode a shot. Here, you’re assigned with the goal of causing massive 50-car pile-ups, millions of dollars in damages, and generally causing as much havoc as possible.
Luckily, despite the focus on physical destruction, Burnout deliberately neglects to add a human face to the game. You’ll see no human carnage, blood and gore, or any kind of human violence in the game. In fact, Burnout: Revenge carries an “E10+” ESRB rating (recommended for ages 10 and up, in other words, which makes sense given the intensity of the crashes seen in the game). I would suggest parents give it a shot before letting their kids have fun with it, but despite the game’s title and rather violent take on street racing, it’s actually quite kid-friendly. It doesn’t require a heavy time investment like many role-playing and adventure games, and is, in fact, arguably nest played in short 15-20 minute sessions. The game is available on the Xbox, Playstation 2, and Xbox 360, often going for $30 or less. Give it a shot if you’re looking for something different from a racing video game.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Onward and Upward...
Well, I finally finished off The World Ends With You this morning. Having played the game to completion, I think I can safely stand by my initial impressions that I posted last month. It's a superlative example of an action-based role-playing game, and I highly recommend it, but be sure to take heed to the "T for teen" ESRB rating - it's well deserved, as both the complexity of the game and the thematic content are far more compatible with the sensibilities of an older, experienced video game enthusiast than with the young gaming newbie or the "casual" crowd that's accustomed to games of a more quaint and quiet variety (sudoku and Brain Age, for example).
I’m not sure what game I’ll be covering next here on the blog, as I have plenty of older games that I bought months or even years ago that I still need to finish. My copy of the Xbox 360 game Lost Odyssey that I received for my birthday nearly 4 months ago is still sitting on a shelf in the basement, waiting to be played. At the same time, there are other recently released games that I’m also anxious to try out! Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 was just released this week, and the game’s publisher, Atlus, inc, is notorious for printing and distributing their games to stores in extremely small quantities; couple this scarcity (rarity?) with high consumer demand, and it’s not hard to see why Atlus holds a unique place in the gaming industry: while most games see a depreciation in price with the progression of time, it’s not at all uncommon to see used copies of Atlus games sell for more than the original suggested retail price for a new copy, even months after the original release.
I’ll keep the blog updated with anything new, but I’ll be watching my “gaming time” with more scrutiny now, as well.. Amidst all this excitement about video games, I can’t let my hobby turn into a sort of “gaming gluttony,” and I’m resolved to refuse to let this hobby become a distraction from the call to holiness. It ought to be integrated into my spiritual life, not detract from it!
I’ve been a bit lazy with posting as of late (my trip to Mexico not withstanding), and I’d be lying if I said that a laxity in my physical and spiritual life hasn’t been a factor in my rather brief contributions as of late. If I wrote about games as much as I played them, I’d be averaging far more than 1 new post every other day. I’ll try to more astute about this from now on. St. Catherine of Siena, St. Paul, and all holy men and women, pray for us!
I’m not sure what game I’ll be covering next here on the blog, as I have plenty of older games that I bought months or even years ago that I still need to finish. My copy of the Xbox 360 game Lost Odyssey that I received for my birthday nearly 4 months ago is still sitting on a shelf in the basement, waiting to be played. At the same time, there are other recently released games that I’m also anxious to try out! Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 was just released this week, and the game’s publisher, Atlus, inc, is notorious for printing and distributing their games to stores in extremely small quantities; couple this scarcity (rarity?) with high consumer demand, and it’s not hard to see why Atlus holds a unique place in the gaming industry: while most games see a depreciation in price with the progression of time, it’s not at all uncommon to see used copies of Atlus games sell for more than the original suggested retail price for a new copy, even months after the original release.
I’ll keep the blog updated with anything new, but I’ll be watching my “gaming time” with more scrutiny now, as well.. Amidst all this excitement about video games, I can’t let my hobby turn into a sort of “gaming gluttony,” and I’m resolved to refuse to let this hobby become a distraction from the call to holiness. It ought to be integrated into my spiritual life, not detract from it!
I’ve been a bit lazy with posting as of late (my trip to Mexico not withstanding), and I’d be lying if I said that a laxity in my physical and spiritual life hasn’t been a factor in my rather brief contributions as of late. If I wrote about games as much as I played them, I’d be averaging far more than 1 new post every other day. I’ll try to more astute about this from now on. St. Catherine of Siena, St. Paul, and all holy men and women, pray for us!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Kid-Friendly Games, Parent-Friendly Prices
Thanks to everyone for your prayers during my border awareness mission in Mexico. The experience was intellectually and spiritually edifying, to say the least. Thanks be to God for such a powerful blessing!
Many thanks to my brother Martin, as well, who graciously served as my proxy during last week's interlude. It was also his first real experience in the cyberrealm that is the blogosphere, and he made no secret of the challenge involved. Feel free to browse his comments on the Space Invaders blog from last week.
I had the privilege of seeing WALL-E (the latest film from the acclaimed PIXAR animation studio) yesterday. This review from Catholic Exchange is right on target. It truly is a Catholic masterpiece and appropriate for anybody of any age group. The video game based on the movie is available in stores now for just about any platform you can imagine – but I hesitate to recommend it. For one, I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, but more importantly, I don’t really want to. Video game adaptations of movies rarely turn out well, and even less often do they manage to emulate what made the parent film so great.
That’s not to say that high-quality family-friendly games don’t exist. They do. Take the Xbox 360 game Blue Dragon, for example. Sporting a colorful aesthetic, endearing characters, and a charming sense of adventure, Blue Dragon may just be the video game equivalent of a PIXAR film. It sports a “T for teen” rating, due to some very, very brief instances of foul language, but there really isn’t any morally problematic content beyond that. In fact, it’s one of my favorite games from 2007. Best of all, you can buy the game new at most stores for $30 or less – half the price it was when it first released nearly a year ago.
I’ll try to make “kid-friendly games, parent friendly prices” a regular feature if I can. Let me know what you think of it!
Many thanks to my brother Martin, as well, who graciously served as my proxy during last week's interlude. It was also his first real experience in the cyberrealm that is the blogosphere, and he made no secret of the challenge involved. Feel free to browse his comments on the Space Invaders blog from last week.
I had the privilege of seeing WALL-E (the latest film from the acclaimed PIXAR animation studio) yesterday. This review from Catholic Exchange is right on target. It truly is a Catholic masterpiece and appropriate for anybody of any age group. The video game based on the movie is available in stores now for just about any platform you can imagine – but I hesitate to recommend it. For one, I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, but more importantly, I don’t really want to. Video game adaptations of movies rarely turn out well, and even less often do they manage to emulate what made the parent film so great.
That’s not to say that high-quality family-friendly games don’t exist. They do. Take the Xbox 360 game Blue Dragon, for example. Sporting a colorful aesthetic, endearing characters, and a charming sense of adventure, Blue Dragon may just be the video game equivalent of a PIXAR film. It sports a “T for teen” rating, due to some very, very brief instances of foul language, but there really isn’t any morally problematic content beyond that. In fact, it’s one of my favorite games from 2007. Best of all, you can buy the game new at most stores for $30 or less – half the price it was when it first released nearly a year ago.
I’ll try to make “kid-friendly games, parent friendly prices” a regular feature if I can. Let me know what you think of it!
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