It has been a while.
Work has kept me busy, and even time off has felt full. Still, I’ve taken quite of bit of time
re-evaluating the blog. The audience
goes in unison: “Oh no, not this again.”
The blog’s main topic is gamer culture, and despite a lot of
recent stories on this subject, just off the top of my head, women’s issues in
game, yet another sleazeball stalking women in
online games just to drive them out of “his” territory, the new flare up of
public “inquiry” regarding violence in media, including the destruction of the offending material, and the
corresponding call to arms of video gamers
determined to protect our beloved games, and every story on the net you could
think of on the evils of gamers of every sort.
(update: Southington Conn has since cancelled
their game burning plans, claiming that they already have created a big enough
scene. I’m inclined to agree).
I’ve tried several
times to sew up a blog article about these events that would add something to
the discussions at hand, but they always came out bland, like I had nothing to
contribute. And then, it hit me. None of this stuff is what I want to blog
about. Most of it isn’t even
tangentially about the gaming I love, mostly dealing with online or shoot’em up
games, and the general culture that is lining them up for a take-down. I’m going to come off as a old fogey for
saying it, but the type of gaming I most enjoy is partisan to Nintendo, which
shares some of these problems, but is usually thought of last in these challenges.
So, here’s the only blog post I can write, and I’m going to
blow off my supposed responsibilities to other types of gamers on the Internet
to write a feel good newsie, a report on all of the good things recent and on
the horizon.
The biggest recent news is the launch of the WiiU, which I
have yet to purchase. (Critics: How can
you be a hardcore Nintendo fan without a WiiU?)
I’ve been busy, much too much so for a new console, and the 3DS has been
a great 30 minute time waster. It’s also
been great for ducking into and out of the fictional worlds it builds swiftly
and cleanly, a godsend for stress relief.
But I haven’t sworn off buying a WiiU; Pikmin 3 and Lego City Undercover
both look like must haves!
As a 3DS owner, the best news was revealed just the other
day: new Pokémon games are confirmed October, Pokémon
X and Y respectively. I’ve fallen behind
again; I played and loved Blue and Red for the Gameboy Color, then rented, but
never bought Gold. I never did follow up
on Pokémon until White, just three years back.
It was another classic, and well worth the time investment, which coincidentally,
was about 160 hours, greater than Monster Hunter Tri and Wii Fit Plus (separately,
not both together). Despite craving Pokémon
White or Black 2 and Pokémon Conquest, I just never found the time for such a
large scale RPG. I wonder if I can
change that for next October?
Nintendo Power ended its long, long run just this New
Years. December was its last issue. The end of the era prompted a lot of emotional
farewells. I once subscribed, but only
for a year; I didn’t have much money when younger, and soon wondered at the
wisdom of spending money to read about video games that could otherwise have
been spent on buying and playing video games.
Still, not all of the news is sad, as the full might (or so
it seems) of Nintendo press agents in North America have come out to support a
new publication, called Nintendo Force. So far it looks a bit like rushing into the
fire zone. Nintendo Power didn’t just morph
into an e-mag. It dried up, suggesting
word from higher up on its closure.
While I certainly appreciate the passion Nintendo Force brings to the
table, can they really fill the breach? And pay the bills? Is this gamble just crazy? Nintendo Force’s debut issue is due out in
just a few days. Should I support this,
which appears to be a true community effort (just what I was looking for,
incidentally) themed on Nintendo (bonus)?
My money happens to be spoken for this month, for as of
January 25th, 2013, the formal translation of the Hyrule Historia goes on sale. This hardcover tome features developer
stories and memories creating the many games of the Legend of Zelda, and
developer concept art. There is a
timeline effort from Nintendo besides, but I consider the effort to be
wasted. Don’t insult us Nintendo; we
know that there is no timeline connecting the LoZ games together, and there
never was. We know this, we appreciate
how that lets you focus on telling better stories, and we appreciate it. Still, having an unwanted feature won’t stop
me from enjoying the rest of the book!
And that’s just about all of the Nintendo news I know of for
January. It’s a full month, even without
the baggage coming from outside. Still,
it’s also a little exciting. This is
time Nintendo seems the most alive, and the fan base is reciprocating.
Harassment
of women to chase them out of online gaming.
Southington SOS, as reported on by Polygon.
Southington cancels
game burning.
The phrase Call to Arms here
references the majority of what I’m finding on the net anymore. Joe Biden, VP to Barack Obama, called all
parties to participate in a dialog
on the violence. Here is Kris
Graft of Gamasutra suggesting that should Game representatives even attend
or send an attendant, it would compromise gaming’s place as would an admission
of guilt. And here is one articulate
gamer, Kamicasey,
responding that failing to speak up for gaming is the equivalent of letting
freaks like the NRA blame
gaming, the makers of games and people who play them, effectively defining
what gaming is all about. Kamicasey and
Kris Graft between them make a good point, though divided on the Joe Bidden
invitation: We need to stand up for this medium, and not let outsiders,
especially those with an agenda, define gaming.
Video gaming may have its own learning curve to go through, and Casey
Lynch at IGN does a nice job framing that work.
Audrey Drake’s Everything we know
about Pokémon
X and Y.
The Game Overthinker was instrumental in collecting all of these links. Props!
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