Nerds ♥ Games: Part 1
No matter how much I want to fancy myself an intellectual, and regardless of how much I hate popular culture, there are facets of it that I can’t seem to escape… nor do I really feel the need to do so. One of these is electronic gaming.
My relationship with video games was very simple for the majority of my life so far. I played them almost any chance I got. I rarely finished them, but I got a taste of them all. This was the way things were until about 3 years ago when I swore off television. Something inspired me to do away with television altogether. (More details of that decision will probably be forthcoming in the next post or two.) Left with only a computer for gaming, I liquidated all of my console gaming gear–peripherals, games, and consoles. I went without console games for several years. I then purchased a TV to use as a computer monitor. (I remain faithful to my permanent TV turnoff.) A few months later, the Wii was launching, and I got caught up in the hype. I bought one which is presently connected to the TV/computer monitor. It’s lots of fun. It has some sort of mystical powers. I was actually able to convince Tiffany to try it. We play together and enjoy it. I don’t play as much as I did, but I think I will always love gaming.
I tend to gravitate toward quirky games. They are the most interesting. I don’t need to see another WWII FPS or fantasy RPG in which I have to save the damsel in distress. In fact, I’m going to make a list of all the cool, quirky games I can remember. If you have some cool ones, you can list them in the comments.
Earthbound
Platform: SNES
Earthbound is an eccentric RPG. It’s set in modern times; it has lots of crazy sci-fi elements; and the cast is a group of kids! You’ll take on rabid dogs, aliens, and cultists with weapons like yo-yos and baseball bats. It plays like a lot of RPGs, but the setting and story are very refreshing. It’s also quite colorful and has a wonderful sense of humor. If I had to date a video game, Earthbound would be my first choice.
Only one game of the series was ever released in the US. Evidently, it didn’t sell as well as Nintendo would have liked. There is still a rabid fanbase even though the game came out 12 years ago. In fact, the fanbase has an awesome web presence at Starmen.net. They’re always running various campaigns to try to get the attention of Nintendo and urge them to localize the latest chapter of the series. In fact, they just finished producing a fan-art book that is beautiful. The efforts of Starmen may be paying off. Nintendo has announced that Earthbound will be released for the Wii Virtual Console! Any further US Earthbound releases will most likely hinge on the sale of that title.
Katamari Damacy
Platform: Playstation 2
I’m sure the US release of Katamari Damacy was nearly aborted on several occasions. It’s a bizarre premise–roll a sticky ball (the katamari) around picking up objects until the ball has reached the target size. It doesn’t even have the hyper-realistic graphics we want here in the states. Your hero isn’t a badass with a five o’clock shadow. There are no guns or weapons of any kind. The humor is really twisted. There was little localization done to this title if there was any. Namco seemed so sure of the imminent failure of the title they even priced it at $20–a pricepoint usually reserved for titles which truly deserve it.
The genius of Katamari is in its simplicity. It doesn’t simulate anything one might try to accomplish in real life. It knows that it is a game and, therefore, it doesn’t have to play by the rules of real life. Your character has a singular focus: to roll up as much junk as possible into the katamari. It’s so simple you don’t even have to press any one of the 12 buttons on the PS2 controller during gameplay. It’s always satisfying and always fun!
That’s all for now, but there’s more to come! I’ll tentatively commit to finishing this post tomorrow, but I may post some other things between now and then. I hope you like it!