The End

Well, I've decided to put an end to this blog. I wouldn't have made this decision if it weren't for the fact that I have to have a Wordpress blog for a publishing program I'm doing this summer. Focusing solely on video games made this blog a little too restrictive, so the new blog will examine all types of popular culture. That way I can hopefully avoid the sporadic updating and constant failures of getting this blog off the ground. I'll leave it up indefinitely, and I may even come back and reboot it one day. But for now, I'm signing off. Thanks Blogger and my mostly non-existent readers!

December Gaming Over!

What the what?! December just started and I'm finished with my December gaming already! Well, I can't really help myself when there is a new Zelda game. I had it in my hands and very shortly after that in my Wii on November 21st. I still had school for another week at that point and my semester paper wasn't quite finished, but I managed to finish up the paper this past Tuesday and finished Zelda on Thursday. After that, I thought I'd have another forty hour adventure on my hands with Batman: Arkham City, but it took nowhere near as I long. I finished up the main story yesterday and wrapped up most of the side missions this afternoon. I have no plans to play anything else over the break though I may finally play Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for DS in between reading, writing, eating and sleeping. If not, then I'll get to it and the rest of my backlog come summer. At which point I might also FINALLY be able to make this blog something worth looking at rather than the barebones, wildly inconsistent monstrosity that greets me every time I open my favorites and click "Blogger Dashboard."

Anyway, Zelda and Arkham City. Both great games, and I have a lot to say about them. Not tonight. I've had a headache all day and I want to go to bed at a decent (as opposed to an indecent) time tonight because I have things I need to take care of tomorrow.

Past and Future

I never did get around to talking about inFAMOUS 2. My bad. Though it will probably be another broken promise, maybe I'll get around to it later.

I've been putting together a proposal for my thesis advisor over the last few days, and I realized something: Twilight Princess was released nearly five years ago. Though it is still readily available for the Wii, it is ancient history in terms of video games. Know what else I've noticed? My time for gaming declined rapidly after the release of Twilight Princess. I've definitely been able to play video games over the last five years, but have never had the time or the money to do so as much as I would like. So I made a list of games released after December 2006 (yes, I purchased Twilight Princess for GameCube), and the list of games I've actually played is far smaller than the games that I have wanted to play. I've made time for some of my favorite series, and have tested the water with a few new series and individual games, but, dang, if it weren't for the fact I play some titles that most gamers would call "hardcore" I'd totally label myself as a casual gamer.

Though it doesn't list EVERYTHING here is a list of most of the games I've played over the last five years:

1. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, played through it twice upon release and clocked around 100 hours of play time between the two playthroughs.
2. Super Mario Galaxy, only one playthrough, and though I love it I probably won't ever play it again. It makes me dizzy. Probably no more than 10 hours play time.
3. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, liked it better than Metroid Prime 2, but still didn't hold a candle to the first Metroid Prime. 15 hours play time.
4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii, enjoyed it, but actually prefer the first New Super Mario Bros. for DS. Probably no more than 8 hours play time.
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl, clocked almost 130 hours on this bad boy in about a month and a half.
6. Metroid: Other M, made a post about this game after I played it. I enjoyed the gameplay, but the story was atrocious. 12 hours play time.
7. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, I usually love me some Fire Emblem but this game was so broken! 20 hours play time.
8. Dragon Quest IV, great game, but ruined by the lack of a party talk function and static characters. 24 hours play time.
9. Dragon Quest V, another fantastic game, and the included party talk definitely helped with character development though its predecessor did outshine it in some areas. 26 hours play time.
10. inFAMOUS, another fantastic game from the developers of the Sly Cooper series. I played both as a Hero and again as a Villain. Probably around 20 hours play time between the two modes.
11. Ghostbusters, so much fun, but super short. 5 hours play time at best.
12. Valkyria Chronicles, though Fire Emblem is what hooked me to the SRPG genre, this game is probably the best I've played. Played through it twice over the course of a month and clocked about 80 hours total.
13. Batman: Arkham Asylum, another great one. I had to go through it really fast because I was wanting to play other games. 16 hours play time.
14. Bayonetta, fun, though very odd. I bought it for twelve bucks and sold it back for ten because it was so short. 6 hours play time.
15. VanQuish, amazingly fun to play, but another very short one. 6 hours play time.
16. Okamiden, a decent little game, but one that ultimately disappointed me a bit. 20 hours play time.
17. inFAMOUS 2, a great sequel that definitely improved on the original in every way except story. Between both modes probably around 20 hours of play time.

So aside from a few heavy hitters, a number of the games I've played over the last few years are lucky to hit ten hours of play time. Adding up the play time of all the games listed puts me at around 518 hours, or about 21.6 days, of play time over the last five years. Sound like a lot? Well, that's actually barely more than 1% of the total number of days in a five year time period. To be sure, it is still a pretty significant number, but considering the amount of time I put into JRPGs from 2001-2006, I'm very certain that 518 hours pales in comparison. The three Fire Emblem games I played from 2001-2006 probably amount to 110 hours of play time, and I played numerous other RPGs that easily amounted to 50+ hours of play time. Not to mention other games like Super Smash Bros. Melee that I'm positive I played more than its successor.

I can infer a lot from my list. I haven't had the time to play that I used to have. This is mostly because of, well, growing up. In the Spring semester of 2007 I'd finally scraped enough money together to go back to school full-time, and I was beginning to get into the more intensive courses of my Bachelor's degree. Working a part-time (and at times full-time) job on top of that didn't really leave me with the time to play video games, and especially those epically long RPGs like I had in the past. As can be seen in my list, I did make a few exceptions for Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, and Valkyria Chronicles, but for the most part the video games I played were fairly short in comparison to those RPGs, and that leads me to my next point. I was less likely to plop down $30-50 for longer games and went with shorter games instead. When I did purchase a longer game, it was from an established series and developers that I have been a fan of for some time.

So what does this say about me? Basically, my gaming tastes have stagnated significantly over the last five years due to my lack of time to play and explore new games. For example, VanQuish was my first 3rd person, over-the-shoulder shooter video game; a genre that was established by Gears of War even before I played Twilight Princess. I've not played critically acclaimed games like BioShock, or Fallout 3. These two titles, and probably some I'm forgetting, helped revolutionize the Western developed RPG genre and actually started giving the JRPG developers some competition outside of Japan. Oh, and those JRPGs that basically defined my gaming existence from 2001-2006? Yea, the JRPG genre is pretty much dead outside of Japan these days. If I were to ever want to play some of the JRPGs that have piqued my interest in the last two years, I'd either have to learn Japanese and import from Japan or import an English version from Europe where they are still (somewhat strangely) being localized to the European market.

I'm currently half way finished with my Master's degree. I haven't decided for sure, but I'm beginning to feel that I don't want to pursue a PhD at this time, if at all. I'm hoping to find a job once I'm finished with my MA this coming Spring, and not just a job, but something long term and careerish. When that happens, I hope to be able to pursue my old hobbies once again. You have no idea, dear nonexistent reader, how badly I want to read a book just to read it! I'll never forget my English major training so I'll always think about whatever I read in that light, but I won't have to write a paper about them or discuss them in class! I was able to read two books over the past summer that didn't have anything to do with school and it was such a joy. I haven't been able to read like that since 2006 either. And though I'll probably pursue a social life, I plan on catching up on some of the games I missed and I'm looking forward to what else is on the horizon.

So what do I plan on playing when I have the time? Here is a list:

1. BioShock and maybe BioShock 2 if I like the first.
2. Fallout 3
3. 3D Dot Game Heroes. I actually own this one and have played it a bit, but didn't have the chance to finish.
4. Heavy Rain
5. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
6. El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
7. L.A. Noire
8. Epic Mickey
9. Mass Effect 2. I don't have a 360, and I have no plans to purchase one. As a result, I can only play the second Mass Effect for PS3.
10. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
11. 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
12. Radiant Historia
13. Final Fantasy XIII. I'm not really sure about this one. It looks better to me in many ways than Final Fantasy XII did, but I'm very tired of Tetsuya Nomura's character designs and the excessive overly dramatic dialogue.
14. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. I have it, just haven't played it yet.
15. Muramasa: The Demon Blade. I have this one too, but haven't played it.

That list looks quite a bit more diverse than my previous list. And maybe that means my gaming tastes will catch up to the current state of games. There are also two video games coming this fall that I'll probably play come December. The first is Batman: Arkham City, and the second is The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. But until that Master's thesis is finished, the degree is obtained, and a careerish job is found those games will still have to wait.

...I knew there was a reason I decided to call this blog "The Most Outdated Gaming Blog on the Net."

Summer Gaming Part 1: Okamiden

So the semester ended in May and I started playing some games right after that. My gaming for the summer is mostly over unfortunately as I'm getting started on research for my master's thesis, but I did get the chance to get two games under my belt in the mean time. Both games did a great job of making me happy even if I wish that I could play some more to make me even happier. Those two games were inFAMOUS 2 and Okamiden. Both games are sequels to games that I enjoyed immensely, so I had pretty high expectations for both. Though I enjoyed them, my expectations weren't entirely met. Oddly enough the main reason for the disappointment I experienced is the same for both of them. That reason being the lack of a strong, stand-alone narrative.

I feel a bit of a rant coming.

Don't get me wrong, I was really happy that Okami received a sequel considering the fact it was a commercial flop and a sequel seemed unlikely. I even have tremendous respect for the director and development team as Okamiden became a reality because of their tremendous love and respect for the original. I'm hesitant to lay the blame on the dev team because of the hard work they had to do to get a green light for the sequel, but unfortunately I can't shake the feeling the problems I encountered with Okamiden may have been avoided if the original dev team, Clover Studio, was at the helm. However, that was impossible as Clover Studio was dissolved by Capcom shortly after the releases of Okami and a lesser known title called Godhand. The problem with Okamiden largely being the fact it was in many ways a carbon copy of its predecessor. Players go through the game in largely the same order as they would have in Okami, and the brush techniques are largely the same with, perhaps, some minor variations thrown in to freshen them up a bit. Some of the geographic areas from Okami were changed dramatically while others were removed entirely. I can understand these changes considering the limited memory space of the Nintendo DS cartridge even if I am somewhat bitter that Kusa Village didn't make the cut (one of my personal favorite areas in Okami).

What I don't understand is the narrative decisions the development team made. In Okamiden, players take the role of Amaterasu's cub, Chibiterasu, on an adventure to once again purge the land of Nippon from evil. Chibi, being a young god, is not as proficient with the Celestial Brush as his mother and requires companions to help him with his quest. He meets four different companions throughout the game, and these companions largely detract players' attention from Chibi stealing the show in the process. The narrative content of the game follows these companions, their development, and self-acceptance. The best way I can describe the development of the companions can be summed up in two words: cute and predictable. Cute in that they are all heart warming, and predictable for the same reason. Nevermind the questions that arise at the game's onset when Chibi first shows his admittedly adorable little face. Where did Chibi come from? Why isn't he with his mother? What is happening with Amaterasu and Waka on the Celestial Plain? These are questions that Okamiden never really asked much less answered. Instead the developer's try to turn players' attention onto the new companion characters which left me feeling even further removed from Amaterasu and the events of Okami than I already felt by playing as Chibi.

I can't deny that these complaints are a result of my love for the original, and I have my own opinions on what a sequel to Okami should be like. Yet Okamiden kind of crossed the line in that it actually has the audacity, through a time-traveling plot device, to muck around in the plot of the original to make up for its own lack of originality. Thus players see key story events of Okami from a different perspective, some events change drastically such as Susano stumbling across an unconscious Mushi while en route to save Kushi from Orochi. Furthermore, the evil essence that apparently inhabited Yami, the final boss of Okami, returns as Akuro and takes root in one of the friends Chibi makes on his voyage despite Amaterasu defeating Yami.

So while Okamiden is cute and mostly enjoyable it wasn't quite capable of living up to my expectations through its lack of original narrative content. What was there either focused on the predictable development of Chibi's companions or literally recycled narrative events from the original. I really wasn't expecting much from the game as a whole considering the complete change in development teams, and I did enjoy much of what I found. Yet the narrative just wasn't able to cut it for me and left me with more questions than answers as well as some cute new characters that I don't care to see again in anything more than cameo roles should another sequel arise.

I'll talk about inFAMOUS 2 later.

Blog Status 2011

Well, I did a pretty good job updating over my holiday break, but once I went back to school all posting ceased. I have a few unfinished drafts saved that I'll probably post sometime in the future. So as of now the blog is once again on hiatus until this semester is finished. I may update occasionally as I did last semester, but maybe not.

Games of Christmas Past, Part 2

As I was saying, I've played a lot of great games over the years for various systems. Some were Christmas gifts, a lot weren't. There are far too many for me to go in detail about, so I thought I'd just mention a few for the various systems I played during the late 80s and 90s. And the cool thing is a lot of these games are readily available for download on the Wii Shop Channel, Playstation Network, or XBox 360 Arcade, and they're usually quite cheap. So if any of my very few readers are still looking for Christmas gifts for siblings, children, or themselves then these would all would be a great addition to anyone's library. I'll also just list a bunch worth checking out too. So, without further ado...

Nintendo Entertainment System

Super Mario Bros. 3 boxart. Image taken from Wikipedia.

Perhaps the most acclaimed video game for the NES was Super Mario Bros. 3. While the American Super Mario Bros. 2 featured drastically different gameplay and setting than the original SMB, Super Mario Bros. 3 was really the sequel fans of the original game were looking for. It took the platforming fun and colorful levels of the original and expanded on their example exponentially. There were countless new additions and gameplay mechanics to be found in SMB3, though the most popular was the addition of the new Super Leaf power up that transformed Mario and Luigi into their raccoon form pictured above on the box art. Inexplicably, the ears and tail of a raccoon allow the heros to fly for short periods of time adding a whole new world to explore amongst the clouds without the necessity of climbing on vines. Another new addition was the map screen that separated the various levels into stages that the player could go around, take shortcuts to or from, or simply skip over if they possessed the right item in their (also new addition) item inventory. When it comes down to the nitty gritty, it is hard to compare SMB3 to the original SMB. While they feature many of the same play mechanics, enemies, and a similar setting, there are so many new additions to SMB3 to make it stand on its own above perhaps all other Mario titles until the advent of three dimensional graphics in Super Mario 64. Even after 20 years and various reissues, SMB3 is still a fantastic game for its age that (if the more recent New Super Mario Bros. titles are any indication) can still be enjoyed by young and old(er) a like.

The other two, big Nintendo franchises also had their beginnings on the NES, but unlike SMB3 neither Zelda nor Metroid really hit their stride until their Super Nintendo iterations. They are both still great games, but they are difficult and have some frustrating play mechanics. If you like burning every bush in Hyrule with a candle to find the elusive dungeons in Zelda, or like falling into an unescapable lava pit in Metroid then by all means give them a play, but if not then give them a little time to appreciate their humble beginnings and move on to their more developmentally mature sequels.

Really there was only one other game series I can think of for the NES that really reached its pinnacle on that system: Mega Man.

Boxart for Mega Man 2. Image also taken from Wikipedia.

There is some debate as to what the best game in the Mega Man series is with most arguing for either Mega Man 2 or Mega Man 3. In all honesty, I can't choose which of the two I like better as they are both fantastic, but since MM3 really only builds on the foundation established by its predecessors, I'll only talk about MM2. The first Mega Man game was interesting on its own, but there were some obstacles and enemies that seemed nearly impossible to overcome (Yellow Devil anyone?). On top of its difficulty, there was no way to save progress, so players were just S.O.L. if they had too much trouble overcoming those enemies and obstacles. The sequel retained the same gameplay style, but was nowhere near as insurmountable as the first (though it was still very difficult), and it offered a password system that allowed players to not lose their progress when they turned the power off. These changes coupled with great level design, better bosses, memorable weapons, and fantastic 2 channel music made MM2 an instant classic both in the series and in video gamedom in general.

Some other games for the NES worth checking out, but nowhere near exhaustive are: The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man 1-6, Bubble Bobble, Super Mario Bros. 1-2, Castlevania 1-3, Ghosts N' Goblins, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior 1-4, Star Tropics, Battletoads, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1-3, Excite Bike, Blaster Master, Contra, Donkey Kong, Gargoyle's Quest 2: The Demon Darkness, Duck Hunt, Paperboy, River City Ransom, Ninja Gaiden, Super Dodge Ball, Tecmo Bowl, and Tetris.

Game Gear

As I mentioned, I had a Sega Game Gear as a kid. I had quite a few games for that little system and most of them were Sonic games. I think all of Sonic's Game Gear titles were not as appreciated as they should have been thanks to the fact the Game Gear didn't perform nearly as well as the Sega Genesis even amongst Sega fans. My favorite Game Gear Sonic title was Sonic Triple Trouble.

Boxart for Sonic Triple Trouble. This image also taken from Wikipedia.

Really, STT isn't different than any other Sonic game, but, similar to my reasons for enjoying Mega Man 2, STT retains the difficulty of the series without making the Chaos Emeralds a complete pain in the butt to obtain. Unfortunately, STT and all the other Sonic Game Gear titles are difficult to find these days. They were released as bonuses in the GameCube version of Sonic Adventure, and some saw rereleases in Sega compilations like the Coleco Sonic, and, I think, some of the Plug and Play series (I can't find a good link explaining what the Plug and Play series are, but basically they are controllers that plug directly into a TV that contain numerous classic games. I don't know if they're still around or not, but Target had them when I worked there 4 or 5 years ago). If you can track any of them down, all of the Sonic Game Gear titles are worth checking out.

I never really spent much time playing the Sega Genesis outside of Sonic games at a friend's house, so I can't really comment on that system. Outside of the Sonic character directly competing with what would later become the the Mario franchise, the Genesis didn't have the clout of Nintendo's SNES when it came to iconic games. That isn't to say the Genesis didn't have fantastic games, because it did. I've come across Sega fans who've familiarized me with Ristar, Shining Force, Alex Kidd, Ecco the Dolphin, and Phantasy Star. I've played numerous of those titles now, and I can safely say they are enjoyable even if I haven't had the time to complete them. Most of these games are available on the Wii's Virtual Console and some may be available on XBox Live Arcade or PSN.

In my next post I'll discuss the awesomeness that was the Super Nintendo, its successor the Nintendo 64, and Sony's upstart Playstation.

Games of Christmas Past, Part 1

When I was six years old, my sisters forced me to sneak down the hall Christmas morning to spy out the presents under the tree. It was a dangerous mission that led past my parents' bedroom and the threat of my dad yelling "Get back in bed!" The deal was we children had to wait until 6:00 a.m. and not a minute before to go check out the loot, but we spent a good two or three hours awake before 6:00 making attempts to get past our parents' open door and sneak a peek at the presents. I was the smallest, so I obviously had the best chances of success.

My young mind formulated a plan. I would crawl out on my belly slowly, slithering snake-like until I made it to the stairs just before the living room where I would hide safely from the line-of-sight gaze my dad possessed of the hallway from his bedroom. I fully expected defeat on my journey. The Christmas tree lights were on, and I knew they would enable my dad to see my silhouette as I snuck toward the living room. I crawled forward as quietly as possible, and I don't know if my dad had fallen asleep, hadn't seen me, or allowed me to get that far and sneak a glimpse, but I made it to the stairs and had my first look at the presents waiting under the tree.

Most were wrapped, and stacked individually for me and both my sisters with our stockings placed alongside each pile denoting which presents belonged to whom. My eyes were drawn, however, to the one present that stood apart from the rest and wasn't wrapped. It was a large black box, and though I couldn't read at the time I recognized the Nintendo logo that I'd seen on commercials while watching cartoons (probably Ninja Turtles). The best way I can describe the elation I felt at the discovery was akin to the awe of Bilbo Baggins when he espied the Arkenstone in Smaug's horde.

My mission accomplished, I snuck back to my sisters' bedroom to report my findings. My return trip was much faster than the way out. I was debriefed upon my return.

"I think we got a 'intendo," I whispered in six year old "psghetti" talk.

There were some stifled exclamations of excitement on all of our parts. And when our clocks reached the agreed upon 6:00 a.m. we rushed out to the living room to see the loot. Sure enough, we'd been given a Nintendo Entertainment System for Christmas by "that bearded fellow who goes 'Ho, ho, ho!'"

It wasn't until a few hours later we had it set atop our television in the kitchen (from which it would take many spills over its lifetime), and we were playing Super Mario Bros. My turns came and went as I failed with consistency attempting to jump over the VERY FIRST GAP in world 1-1. When we tried Duck Hunt I had to hold the Zapper right next to the TV screen in order to hit ducks, and I was at a total loss while playing Al Unser Jr.'s Turbo Racing. So for a while, all I could do was sit and watch as my sisters played, which really was still quite enjoyable.

We had a lot of fun with the NES. Our game library increased quite a bit after we each received fifty dollars from my Grandma for that same Christmas and we made our way over to Toys "R" Us. I remember purchasing the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game, and it was my video game primer. I learned how to time jumps and familiarize myself with different game mechanics through it, and when I finally picked up the controller to play Super Mario Bros. again I jumped over that first gap with relative ease.

We rented NES games we couldn't purchase, and through those rentals I first experienced Zelda, and probably a number of games I've thankfully forgotten. Outside Zelda, I discovered most of the "rad" games through playing at the houses of friends who often let me borrow their games. My friend Casey introduced me to Mega Man, Metroid, and P.O.W., and my friend Randall introduced me to the first Robocop game, and Gargoyle's Quest 2: The Demon Darkness. I'm also pretty sure one of them let me borrow Battletoads as well. All of which were great, though I didn't ever complete all of them (I STILL haven't completed the first TMNT game! It's so hard!).

The NES was only the first of a few game systems, and the included games were only the first of many games. Our family never had a Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis, so I was reliant on playing SNES and Genesis games at friends houses. Yet during the Game Boy, Game Gear disputes a few years after we received our NES I sided with Sega and Sonic over Mario. During the Playstation/Nintendo 64 era I jumped back to Nintendo until I realized it was plausible for me to own both of them after getting my first job as a teenager, and I've usually possessed two separate systems since then. It might be sad, it might be nerdy, but in some ways I don't remember my childhood as what year in school I was in, but what game systems and video games I was playing at that time. I played some great ones over the years! But that will be my post for tomorrow.

The Holiday Plan

I've been home all of three days and I've already finished up Metroid: Other M. I have a post about it in the works that I'll probably get up tomorrow or the day after. Next up on the list of my games to play is Batman: Arkham Asylum. From there I don't know exactly what I'll play. I have Bayonetta and Vanquish, but I may hold off on those until next summer in favor of Epic Mickey, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Regardless, I'll be playing a lot of video games over the next month and posting my thoughts and impressions about them here on the blog.

I also have a post on inFAMOUS that has been kicking around for a year that I'll try to get up on the blog some time over the next month.

So all of my nonexistent readers have some content to look forward to over the next month.

Metroid: Other M and the Vulnerable Female

Cover Image ganked from Wikipedia

Before I get started, I should just forewarn anyone (if anyone bothers to read it that is) who plans to play Metroid: Other M that this post is full of spoilers.

Metroid: Other M is Nintendo's second relaunch of the Metroid series, and takes place chronologically after Super Metroid and before Metroid Fusion. Samus Aran, the protagonist of the series, has evolved a lot over the last decade since the release of Metroid Prime and Fusion, and Samus occupies an interesting position in video gamedom as being one of the few, strong female protagonists the medium offers. Unfortunately, Metroid: Other M is a step backward for Samus.

Nintendo's decision to give fans of the series a look at Samus's past is well intentioned as she has always been somewhat shrouded in mystery. All that was really known about Samus prior to Other M is that the Space Pirates orphaned Samus as a young child and she was rescued by the Chozo. The Chozo trained her as a warrior and gave her one of their enhanced Power Suits. After leaving the Chozo, Samus became a soldier in the Galactic Federation under commanding officer Adam Malkovich, and eventually left in order to become a lone wolf bounty hunter. Other M explores Samus's past with the Federation, her "relationship" to her former CO, and the thoughts and emotions she has regarding the events of Super Metroid. However, Nintendo's intentions to explore Samus's past transforms Samus from the powerful, if reserved, character she was in the early 2000s into a far more vulnerable and troubled woman.

Samus's newfound emotional doubts and weaknesses and the presence of male characters that have remained mostly absent throughout the series, further problematizes Samus's in-game appearance and she falls prey to Laura Mulvey's notion of being an object of the male gaze (found within her essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema"). To be sure, Samus has always been objectified throughout her 24 year video game history. Ever since the first Metroid, the series rewards players for completing the various games within certain timeframes or completion percentages with a fan service shot of Samus without her armor and scantily clad.

Parting shots of Samus, from left to right: Metroid (1986), Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991), Super Metroid (1994), and Metroid Fusion (2002). Image ganked from Metroid Database

Yet Other M goes a step further thanks to the male presence within the game. Now players meet a Samus who is not only vulnerable, but also subject to male authority. Samus's finds her former CO, Adam, shortly after the game's onset who agrees to allow her to help him and his team of Galactic Federation troopers find survivors and solve the mystery behind a distress beacon sent out by a GF research "Bottle Ship." However, Adam's "condition" for allowing Samus to assist his team is that she follow all his orders unquestionably and only use her full arsenal of weapons and abilities when Adam allows her. Thus Samus, who by this point in the series timeline has saved the galaxy several times without the assistance or intercession of male authority, is disempowered by the presence of Adam who destroys the threat she imposes on the male hegemony both he and the player represent.

As if all that wasn't enough, Samus feels as though she disappointed Adam when she left the Galactic Federation and part of the plot involves her redemption in Adam's eyes. So Adam first disempowers Samus, then he becomes the male figure that the once fearless bounty hunter seeks to impress. Accordingly, Samus's character develops through her relationship with the male characters. Contrary to the depiction of Samus as a traumatized, vulnerable, and indecisive woman, the male characters are steadfast, confident, and strong. Samus (re)gains her own confidence through the influence and sacrifices of the male Galactic Federation soldiers. For example, for the first time in the history of the series, Samus hesitates when facing a resurrected Ridley although by this point in the Metroid timeline she has already defeated Ridley in numerous forms in previous games. In Other M, Samus has a flashback of the Space Pirate attack on her homeworld that implies it was Ridley that murdered her parents, and this memory turns Samus from the fierce, cold hunter she was in previous games into someone paralyzed by fear and trauma of loss.

Character artwork for Ridley as he appears in Super Metroid. This image also ganked from Metroid Database.

Were it not for the actions of Samus's friend and former comrade, Anthony Higgs, who nearly loses his life trying to protect her from Ridley's onslaught, Samus would be unable to overcome her fears and past in order to defeat the enemy she has already conquered on multiple occasions. Therefore, Samus is not only subject to the will of male authority, but she finds strength and solidarity in the male characters that allow her to develop and progress as a "stronger" character and once again become the galactic savior she was in times past.

There are two other female roles within Other M's story to consider as well, Madeline and Melissa Bergman. Madeline Bergman is the scientist aboard the Bottle Ship in charge of the research and development of biological weapons modeled after and cloned from the now extinct Space Pirates. These weapons include genetically and bionically enhanced Space Pirates, the eponymous Metroids, as well as a cyborg, called Melissa Bergman by her creator, whose artificial intelligence the researchers modeled after the evil end boss of Super Metroid, Mother Brain (OMG they have the same initials!).

Samus fighting Mother Brain at the climax of Super Metroid. Image taken from this place.

As one might expect, Mother Brain's advanced A.I. and telepathic capabilities lead the little female cyborg down a path of anger and destruction, and Melissa becomes the real threat to male hegemony in Other M through the power she wields as the telepathic controller of the various enemies aboard the Bottle Ship and the threat her powers pose to the Galactic Federation. It becomes the job of Samus and Melissa's creator, Madeline, to put a stop to this hegemonic threat. To be fair, it is Galactic Federation soldiers who actually kill the cyborg, but it was Madeline who shot Melissa with an ice beam making her vulnerable to GF attacks. Thus Madeline and Samus, who was protecting Madeline from Melissa at the time, become complicit in ending the danger Melissa represents to the galaxy and the male hegemony within the galaxy.

The depiction of Samus and the other females places Metroid: Other M firmly within the lines of sexist representations of women that the series has always somewhat resisted. Prior to Other M, Samus was a strong, if mysterious character even if she became objectified at the conclusion of almost every game. I say "almost" because there is one exception found in 2002's Metroid Prime. After completing Prime with a certain completion percentage, Samus removes only her helmet and not her entire Power Suit. There is no skimpy clothing or sexy pose to be seen under her armor; there is only a helmet-less and introspective Samus surveying the scene of her last battle against the game's final boss. Longtime (and most likely male) fans of the series have a tendency to consider the ending of Prime as the worst in the series because it does not objectify Samus in the voyeuristic way that previous and subsequent games have. Furthermore, there is no male presence in Prime that forces Samus into subservience. Seen in this light, Samus's depiction in Prime is her strongest as it presents her as an empowered female more than capable of surviving on her own and without a male presence in hostile environments. Of course, her role as a female avatar for a primarily male audience somewhat complicates Samus's presentation in Prime, but that is perhaps another topic for another post.

Robot Unicorn Attack

I really shouldn't be here right now. I should be working on a big paper for one of my classes. Yet I can no longer resist the urge to post about the crazy, cool game, Robot Unicorn Attack (RUA), and its even more psychedelic rehash, Robot Unicorn Attack Heavy Metal. They're both Flash games developed by Adult Swim Games and are available to play on iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and the Adult Swim website. And though it is (most likely) another rehash of the same game, it's also worth mentioning that Adult Swim just today released Robot Unicorn Attack: Christmas Edition for iPhone and iPod Touch.

In a hilarious twist, I actually stumbled onto RUA back at the beginning of September or end of August when a Facebook friend noted that entering the Konami code onto the BYU Physics Department webpage magically revealed RUA and allowed you to play it in your web browser. Some sneaky web designer or hacker actually embedded the code for RUA into the BYU website. Needless to say, after only a few hours someone caught onto the "problem" and corrected it. Yet the damage was done, and I was forever and irrevocably changed.

RUA has been a great way to relax and de-stress after doing schoolwork for hours upon hours, and most games will end in a few minutes making it very easy to play during a quick break. I can't definitively comment on the new Christmas Edition as I haven't played it, but I think it is safe to say all three versions are essentially the same game. The only differences occur in visuals and sound. They are also very straightforward and very easy to play without being "masterable." That is there is no ending or ultimate goal; the player simply controls their unicorns until they crash into something or fall into a pit. There isn't even a need to control the directional movement of the unicorns as they run on their own and the game auto-scrolls with them. All the player need worry about is jumping from platform to platform and dashing into stars/pentagrams/snowflakes. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not really as simple as it may seem as the auto-scroll gets progressively faster the longer the player keeps their unicorn alive. Also, Robot Unicorn Attack, like many other Flash games, is somewhat of a throwback to the old arcade games where points are all that really matter. The only way to rack up points quickly before the auto-scroll defeats you is by destroying stars in consecutive order. With each consecutive star destroyed the player receives 100 bonus points for the total number of stars they have destroyed without missing one. So destroying three stars in a row nets the player 300 points, and so on.

If anyone cares, I have two quick tips to getting higher scores. First is to destroy as many stars as possible and in consecutive order. It can be quite difficult at times but try hard not to miss any! Second is to never jump higher or longer than needed. Butterflies, Hell Butterflies, and Christmas presents mark the beginning of the next platform, so release the jump button when you see any of these floating items.

The first RUA was crazy enough on its own. The player controls a pretty robot unicorn that leaves rainbow trails behind it as it jumps and dashes over grassy, purple platforms floating in the sky with the song "Always" by Erasure playing in the background. Thankfully the player can silence Erasure if they wish and focus solely on racking up those points. The Heavy Metal remake puts the player in control of a red-eyed, flame-maned robot unicorn running through a hellish (and much more detailed) landscape. Though some slowdown can occur once you get moving too fast or surpass a certain score, RUA still plays exactly the same in this iteration. However, thanks to the more detailed backgrounds and platforms the player will find the speed seems about ten times faster than the original RUA. All of this coupled with "Battlefield" by Blind Guardian for the soundtrack make this iteration of RUA much more intense than its sissy(?) counterpart. Again, I can't comment on the Christmas Edition, but it appears to be more of the same only the robot unicorns now wear a pair of fake antlers and tread across far more wintry terrain. Here are some comparative images - linked so I'm not ganking illegally- for the perusal of my nonexistent readers:

The original RUA

RUA Heavy Metal

RUA: Christmas Edition

Even after describing it in detail RUA sounds very simple, and perhaps even stupid. Unfortunately I can't argue those points at all. It is simple and stupid, but it is ridiculously addictive! I'm not sure why...maybe it is its very simplicity, or maybe I just like games requiring quick reflexes, or maybe it is just the sheer insanity it quickly becomes! I can't account for it, but it is a great Flash game worth playing if only for a few minutes.

In other brief news, I'll have numerous video games to play in about 2 weeks when Christmas rolls around. Should hopefully have a lot to write about then.