Saturday 28 September 2013

Triumph and Defeat



Victory!!!


  I know, I know; the picture is pretty commando, or simply bad.  I worked pretty hard to get it, so I wasn’t going to turn the game off until I had it.  Unfortunately, all that I had was my iPod, which did serviceably well here; it was supposed to get proof of achievement, and here it is. 
No forgery, no googling, honest.

   Life feels awkward afterwards; I mean, I won!  And Zelda II did not make it easy for me, throwing eleventh hour traps and dangers at me like pits that look like normal floors, and so many Fokka Knights.  This game pulls no punches, and victory is taken from its teeth!  Painfully!
 
  And then you win, and then the clouds are clearing.  Victory!  It demanded that I pull every twitch reflex and game skill in the book to accomplish.  I started doubting my ability to do this without resorting to Game Cheats or Save States.  And in one moment of unabashedly cowering in a corner and stabbing Dark Link’s feet, I won!

  It should be the highlight of my day.  But before posting this, I absent mindedly checked out GoNintendo, and found the low point.
3 things. 3DS firmware is no longer coming October. Wii U firmware update is sooner than you think. Wii U owners need to buy Ubisofts games
I'm dead serious about the third thing too. Based on what I'm hearing, if you want Ubisoft to support Wii U, you better support their stuff.
Splinter Cell Wii U is a sales disaster both retail and digital. NPD's report about Blacklist selling less than 5,000 in retail is spot on.

  Emily Rogers is a known video games journalist who’ve I’ve followed over on NotEnoughShaders.  Her work looks thoroughly researched, though there is reason why she’s keeping low key, mainly on twitter, and not putting it front and center in a full blog.  Most likely she has access that she can’t share, but it might just be rumors, and we should leave her that claim as a possible way out.

  Blacklist’s anticipated failure is a sore spot for me, as this is Ubisoft Toronto’s inaugural game.  I wanted it to succeed, doubly so on the WiiU, but lack both then and now resources to support the game myself.  I’ve checked Ubisoft’s website looking for ways I might help out, but the website job panels focus quite a lot on “skilled” people.  Alas, all I can do is write on paper silly game designs and muck about in Petit Computer.  I’ve been hesitating strongly, attending the National Job Fair at the Convention Center, planning to go to others this coming week, and working hard on my tax prep course.  Sorry, that’s just personal stuff; why was the failure anticipated?

  Because Ubisoft is huge, the industry is contracting, and the Wii U represents a soft underbelly right now.  If true, it bodes no better for Vita, or other currently low profit centers for Ubisoft.  Certainly the company cannot help but hedge its bets, keeping its content on the PS3 and X360 for long after the PS4/X1 have launched, and possibly creating drag on the new consoles replacements.  Most of Ubisoft would survive though, especially as this industry has largely continued to grow during the last downturn.  But the industry can continue to grow without the new Ubisoft Toronto team…

  *Sigh*

  I can’t help right now.  I…I gotta keep going.  I got things to do tonight and tomorrow, all in preparation for my next class.  With the odd moment to myself, I can keep looking for a game to play here and there, but then the oath chimes back in.

  Hey, Yamauchi!  Do you see that Victory Screen?  I took that victory from a game you made.  I worked hard for it; I demonstrated the odd lessons you taught us about hard work, dedication, and never giving up, lessons straight out of the Japanese anime culture.  And it won’t be the last screen that I take either!  Maybe I can aim for one slightly less painful thought…

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