Nathaniel Hoover | Guy Whose Website You're Viewing
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Gaming Outside the Mainstream

9/27/2013

3 Comments

 
As you know if you've perused my Backloggery, I'm anything but a mainstream gamer. Sure, I've played Half-Life and Sonic and plenty of other games that everybody knows, but you're just as likely to hear me talk about Demons to Diamonds, Jolly Rover, and Fallacy of Dawn. I've got my genre preferences—I'll take platformers, RPGs, and adventure games over sports games and fighting games any day—but I don't discriminate on account of a single characteristic. I've played through Star Wars: Episode I: Racer despite the fact that it's a racing game; I've played through Ultima I despite its jarringly outdated graphics; I've played through Metroid Prime Hunters despite the control scheme that gives me wrist cramps just thinking about it. It's the whole package that matters to me—how the various elements of a game compliment and detract from each other—and I think that's what sets me apart from the mainstream the most. I am not easily wooed by a few things done spectacularly well, nor do I let a few things done spectacularly poorly preclude the chances of seeing anything good in a game. For better or for worse, it's everything that makes or breaks my opinion of a game.

...But when push comes to shove, it all comes down to gameplay.

Video games are, first and foremost, games. Interactivity is the defining feature of the medium. If I want stunning visuals, I'll look at a painting. If I want great music, I'll turn on the radio. If I want a compelling story, I'll read a book. I'm willing to indulge the occasional "art game" that's high on concept and low on gameplay, but for everything else, there had darn well better be a game underneath all those polygons and plot twists.

This stance on video games often puts me at odds with the mainstream. People consistently point to Mega Man 2 as the high point of the Mega Man series, not to mention one of the best platformers in history; I point to the incredible oversights and glaring lack of polish in a few key spots, which can trainwreck the game for even the most experienced players. Star Fox 64 is a beloved classic for many; all I remember about it are fighting with the controls to get my Arwing to do anything more than get shot at, and spending the better part of a day inside Andross' mouth as he repeatedly chewed on my ship in what has to be one of the most unnecessarily long animations in video game history. Final Fantasy III (VI) is continually mentioned in the same breath as Chrono Trigger when people discuss the greatest RPGs of all time; I am continually baffled by how a game with such cookie-cutter random battles and sudden spikes in difficulty can be a contender for such an honor.

Likewise, I find myself enjoying a number of games that the mainstream frequently derides. I consider Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64 to be equally good, but for very different reasons—though 64 is ridiculously fun just to mess around with, let alone play through seriously, the oft-dismissed Sunshine streamlines the movement and camera controls that were so often responsible for the worst parts of 64 (wall-kicking at a weird angle to find the secret room you can't see in the haunted library, anyone?), and the game is much, much prettier (though poke-your-eye-out polygons are charming in their own way). Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest is one of my favorites in the Final Fantasy series because of its simplicity, not despite it—the focus is almost entirely on the straightforward gameplay, which works well for a game that's ostensibly aimed at novices. And I think it's safe to say I'm the only person in history who's rated the Mega Man PC game closer to a 10/10 than a 1/10.

Of course, I'm not always contrary to the mainstream. I'll give you the same glowing reviews about Super Metroid and Portal that anyone else will. My opinion of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial isn't any higher than yours is. I don't go against the grain for the sake of going against the grain; I call 'em like I see 'em, and sometimes I see exactly what the mainstream sees. More often, though, the mainstream and I look at games from different distances, at different angles, so my perspective usually sounds a little skewed by comparison. Doesn't matter if I'm right or wrong—as though "right" and "wrong" truly apply where opinion is involved—I think it's important to have a dissenting opinion now and then. If there's enough of a majority for there to be a mainstream in the first place, I'd rather it be because a bunch of gamers came to the same conclusion about a game after really thinking about it, than because a few particularly vocal individuals shaped the opinions of countless others who aren't so discerning, analytical, or opinionated.
3 Comments

Be My Muse

9/26/2013

7 Comments

 
I keep sitting down to write blog posts this month, and I keep deciding I don't have much to say. I've been keeping busy with more side projects than usual, and for once, juggling side projects hasn't meant throwing a few of them so far in the air that I forget I'm juggling them. There's ample subject matter to discuss...but nothing stands out as particularly post-worthy (not that that's ever stopped me before!).

Still, the urge to write is there. I've been fixin' for a philosophical post, but I don't know what about. I want to geek out about something, preferably something different from my usual fare, but I keep coming back to things I'd prefer to contribute to GameCola than post here. I have the drive to share thoughts, stories, something, but I lack a topic to anchor and inspire me. So, if there's anything you want to see me write about, now's a great time to request it. I'll talk about absolutely anything if you're genuinely interested, though anything I discuss here will need to go through my "Is this appropriate for a public blog accessible by children and potential employers alike?" filter first.

So go ahead. Suggest away!
7 Comments

Open Letter to Google

9/16/2013

2 Comments

 
Dear Google,

I do not want Google+. I am perfectly content to be in a perpetual state of mild dissatisfaction with Facebook; I have no need or desire to add another social media account to my list of things I'll forget to update. I keep telling you this, but you keep asking. And you're dishonest about it, too. You created a Google+ account for me without my consent, tricked me into linking it to my YouTube account, and let me get this close to permanently deleting four years of videos and comments in an effort to destroy this thing I've told you repeatedly I do not want.

Now you harass me every time I log in. Change your name, you tell me. I like my name the way it is. No, really, you say. You've got options. It's a choice, you say. Then why are you still bothering me after I've told you a half-dozen times that I want to keep things the way they are? Is that choice, which you extended to me, not a valid one? And if I truly have a choice, why does every option result in a Google+ account I did not ask for being linked to my account? Either force the change on me like you always do, or leave me alone—this pretense of choice is a waste of my time.

Google, I'm sure you know about the roughly 2,790,000,000 search results that come up on your popular search engine for the phrase, "i don't want google+". That's around one hit for every three people on Earth. Going strictly by the numbers, there are more people who don't want Google+ than people who don't want to go to war. About 1,880,000,000 results for "i don't want to go to war", Google. I realize I'm bandying numbers and taking liberties with how I use your data, but you've been taking liberties with my data, so I feel it's only fair.

If you'd like to argue that it's my choice to use your free services, that's fine. In that regard, I don't have a leg to stand on. If what you're doing is that big a problem for me, I should take my business elsewhere. I assure you: the moment that precariously balanced scale tips so that the bad grossly outweighs the good, I am gone. But I don't want to leave. You offer a service that makes it easy to share my creativity and connect with people all around the world. That's why I'm telling you all this. You were a better business, Google, when "don't be evil" was a creed to live by. Now you resort to the tactics of snake oil salesmen and fast-talking used car dealers to push your innovations on us. Now it's your decision, not ours, whether or not we like what you have to offer. Don't be surprised if you wake up one day to find someone whose creativity and quality of service are appealing enough for the masses to turn away from you, the biggest name in town. After all, Google, how many search engines have been banished to the forgotten corners of Wikipedia since you showed up? Do people still use Lycos?

Listen to your users, Google. Listen to the people who like Google+. Listen to the people who are screaming at you to leave them alone. And for Pete's sake, listen to me when I tell you for the seventh time that I don't want to change my username.


Yours reluctantly,

-Nathaniel Hoover
2 Comments

Retrospective: August 2013

9/1/2013

0 Comments

 
As you know if you've been following me for any length of time, I keep myself busy with plenty of online projects, and I like to recap what I've done each month in a handy link post. I'm not one to suddenly break with tradition, so here you go:

This Blog:

Not that I wrote all that much, but August was characterized by reflections and analyses. Anime, conventioning, and the joint geek blog I worked on before coming here received the kind of writing attention they seldom do. It was a nice change of pace, and I'm glad to have sorted out my thoughts on virtual paper—writing is just as often a chance to share my thoughts as it is to figure out what my thoughts are in the first place.

- Retrospective: July 2013
- Videotakon
- Blech Lagoon
- Reflections on the Horizons
- Series Opinions: Mega Man I-V

GameCola:

This was an all-time low for me. In the four-and-a-half years I've been writing for this videogame website, I've never been so lazy and uninvolved. Granted, most of my creative energies were focused on YouTube, but that doesn't excuse this poor showing—my mundane Q&AmeCola response was submitted at the end of July, so I officially only wrote two sentences. My goal for next month is to get back on the obscure gaming horse and resume writing and editing articles like I mean it.

Columns:
- Q&AmeCola: NES Games Remastered

Videos:

- GC Podcasts #47-49 on YouTube: The Best Uncut Games Pronounced "Crystalis"

YouTube:

This is where my attention was. The looooooong-awaited beginning of my Mega Man 7 playthrough, collaborative commentary with the GameCola crew that makes me out to be a terrible person, and the first half of the game I've been looking forward to seeing most from the all-day livestreaming Mega Man marathon my buddy and I did at the end of last year. It's exciting to have my recording efforts feel more like a side project again than a side note like they've been.

GeminiLaser:
- Mega Man 7 - Part 1: Empty NES Syndrome

GCDotNet:
- Podcast #62: Game Companies Hate the Players
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Part 1: No Right Way to Joke About a Murder Case
- Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Part 10: The Worst Sesame Street Episode Ever

DashJumpTV:
- Megathon 2012: Mega Man 9 (Wii) - Part I

The Backloggery:

Having been on an adventure game kick for several months, and having recently completed the all-consuming Mega Man X: Command Mission, I was ready to break into the collection of vintage RPGs gifted to me back in April. Old games I don't have a problem with; awkward interfaces and gameplay that's markedly different from what I'm accustomed to can be a challenge.

I'm normally anti-walkthrough unless I get hopelessly stuck, but this latest batch of games has inspired me to adopt a policy of (a) consulting the manual before tackling anything remotely puzzle-oriented, and (b) referring to a walkthrough at the first sign of trouble in any game that's not my usual fare and/or is starting to overstay its welcome. I've been much happier for it.

New:
- Chrono Cross  (PS)

Started:
- Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth  (WW)
- EarthBound Zero  (FC)
- Icewind Dale  (PC)
- Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals!  (PC)
- Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness  (PC)

Beat:
- Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth  (WW)
- Leisure Suit Larry 2: Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places)  (PC)
- Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals!  (PC)
- Mario Party 4  (GCN)

Completed:
- Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness  (PC)

That about wraps it up for August. If I can divide my focus a little more evenly between recording and writing, I'll be in good shape for next time. But hey, recording was fun.
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