Bits, Bytes, and Blogs

GDC 2010: Monster Hunter Tri Preview

2010-04-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

Even though I expected to have my brain stimulated at GDC, I couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by all the tech demos and game production software on display. I love checking out giant human hamster balls and emergent physics engines as much as the next person, but whenever I needed to get "grounded" again, I would head over to the Nintendo booth and relax on their couches that included a nice little demo of Monster Hunter Tri. After getting disemboweled by giant raptors a few times, I finally started to get the hang of it and BOOM; a preview was born!

Read: Monster Hunter Tri Preview

Bottom line: If you're a Monster Hunter fan, there's no reason you should skip over this.

GDC 2010: Darkstar One: Broken Alliance Preview

2010-03-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks before GDC, I had the pleasure of watching the producers of Darkstar One: Broken Alliance demo the latest build of their epic space simulation for GameShark. Hardcore PC gamers out there might remember the original game from 2006, but this time around it's been optimized for the Xbox 360. Porting a nuanced PC simulation to a mouse-and-keyboardless system is always a tricky move for publishers, but from what I saw (and briefly played) here, Kalypso Media seems to be doing a solid job staying true to its source material.

Check the link, and let me know if you're one of the few that's dying to micromanage your galactic empire.

Read: DarkStar One: Broken Alliance Preview

GDC 2010: "Micro or Massive: It's Fricking Tough to Achieve a Vision"

2010-03-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

This little summary of a panel I attended at GDC was supposed to make its way over to 1up's Chiptuned blog, but it ended up getting lost in the hustle and bustle of the conference and never made it past my 1up page. Usually, I'd just remove the post and hold onto it for later, but I so enjoyed listening to/talking with PixelJunk Eden creator/multimedia guru Baiyon and Uncharted Co-Lead Game Designer Richard Lemarchand that I couldn't help but leave it up on 1up. Even though I'm not entirely sure anyone read it, it's still one of my favorite things that I've contributed to the site. Funny how that works, huh?

"Hey dudes, do we have these boxes backwards?"

Read: "Micro or Massive: It's Fricking Tough to Achieve a Vision"

GDC 2010: Pocket Creatures First Look

2010-03-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

One of the games I was able to spend a fair amount of time for 1up with before seeing it at GDC was Pocket Creatures -- an iPhone app created by one of the producers of Crysis that can be quickly described as the lovechild of a Tamogatchi and Pocket God. Even though I've grown out of my love affair with taking care of virtual creatures, I liked the way Pocket Creatures gave you a sandbox to play with that was extremely interactive and nuanced. If Asbjørn & co. can keep the content coming and the "wow!" moments flowing, this game could be a lot of fun for anyone who loves to have total control over the life of their creatures.

Read: Pocket Creatures First Look

1UP's "The Grind" - Ar Tonelico II Problems

2009-02-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

When I first started writing for 1UP's iPhone blog, I only had about two weeks of accomplishment before the tragic UGO/1UP merger that sent half of 1UP (a.k.a. EGM) packing. Because of this, it took me a little while to get truly "stoked" on my new digs, but I think it's slowly starting to set in. Yesterday marked my first post over at 1UP's dedicated RPG blog "The Grind" - arguably my most anticipated of the 1UP blogs due to my longstanding love of all things RPG - and I think things went rather well.

I started off my stint with an in-depth look at Ar Tonelico II and the myriad problems facing it. From a lackluster localization, to a handful of game-crippling bugs that cause freezes in some rather unfortunate places, the game came out a little rougher than intended. Even though NIS America's quality control hasn't been the hottest lately, I still feel that they deserve credit for being one of the few developers (and arguably the smallest) to put out JRPGs that would otherwise never see the light of day in the US. Let's hope they can bring the quality back to future releases, or else things are going to get rather hairy in the future.

Regardless, you should take a peek at the link below. It's a decent little post that will enrich your life beyond compare! Or, uh, it'll not suck as hard as some of the other stuff around here. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Read: Damage Control: Ar Tonelico II

Star Ocean: Second Evolution Review

2009-01-20T12:02:00.000-08:00

Keeping with today's abnormal burst of productivity comes my first true "review post" in quite some time, and it's a doozy. When I started out as an aspiring games journalist (and, conversely, an RPGamer) a little over a year-and-a-half ago, I always had the dream of getting a pre-release ROM of a Square-Enix game. Call it nerdy, call it silly, call it what you will; but I couldn't have been more happy (nay, proud?) when my editor Bill sent me a preview version of Star Ocean: Second Evolution for review. For that very reason, this game will always have a special spot in my heart, but luckily it's a good game too!

As much as I love RPGs, I can hardly ever find the time (or the energy) to replay them after sinking in 30-60 hours playing them to completion. With that said, my unsavory "tradition" looks to change with this one game. Second Evolution simply exudes replayability through its multiple characters and optional party members, and the game simply begs to be played "right" with a strategy guide by your side. And as such, I think I shall - especialy since my friend Dan put all his love into making the official guide a few weeks back.

Either way, it's a great game and a totally worthy successor to one of my favorite PSP RPGs of last year. Check, check-check-check, check it out!

Read: Star Ocean: Second Evolution Review

GameShark - Reviews

2009-01-20T11:40:00.000-08:00

And now, for the reviews! As you can see, I was far from complacent throughout the latter half of 2008. And here are the links to prove it:

Wow! That's more than I expected. Feel free to check them out, and leave comments as you see fit!

GameShark - Previews

2009-01-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

Throughout 2008, I was able to make it out to a handful of press events for GameShark and get a little hands-on time with some of the year's hottest games. Even though I missed out on the Mirrors Edge press event, most games were awesome enough to write about. Well, save for Damnation, but that was more the fault of the awful venue. Ho-hum.

That about wraps it up. Feel free to leave comments; I get none via GameShark. :(

And now, onto the reviews!

RPGamer Update - Nintendo Fall Media Summit & BlizzCon Impressions

2009-01-20T10:57:00.000-08:00

Back in October, I had the privilege of attending Nintendo's Fall Media Summit and getting some much-needed hands-on time with some upcoming RPGs for RPGamer. I dutifully wrote up my impressions of the games, which can be found below:

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon DS
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia DS
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia DS

All games were great fun to play, and Nintendo was more than accommodating during the entirety of the event. This was where the DSi was first premiered to the US, which generated relatively mixed reviews from those who had a peek at it, but I remain optimistic until I get it in my hands. I'll miss the GBA slot, though! I was also able to make it down to BlizzCon, which netted the following impression:

Diablo 3 - BlizzCon Impression

Woohoo!

Long time, no update!

2009-01-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

Well, hello again! Long time no see! It looks like I haven't updated this newfangled blog since last August, which was right about when things started getting good! Seeing as this is quite the "monumentous" day, with the whole Presidential Inauguration going on in the background and all, I figured it was time that I finally unleashed the wealth of last year's writing on my poor, defenseless blog.

Now for the status update. Currently, I write reviews and previews for GameShark.com, and blog for 1up.com's iPhone and Apple gaming blog. Between those two websites (and the games that come with each) I'm kept quite busy, although I still have my position at RPGamer for the occasional press event or random preview, and hope to write more for GameSpite in the future.

I'll go ahead and update this with massive categorized updates, so that if someone happenstancedly stumbles here looking for some reading material, they won't be disappointed with last year's offering. But that's enough talk; have at you!

GameShark - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon Review

2008-08-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

After a bit of a drought, I'm back with my first of a few pieces posted over at GameShark! I've been playing Chocobo's Dungeon every second that I had for the past week or so, and I have to say that it's the most enjoyable RPG experience I've had on the Wii yet. While Opoona nudges ahead in terms of music and artistic style, the way that Chocobo's Dungeon makes the dungeon crawling experience palatable is worthy of a Nobel Prize. Seriously.

Give it a looksee and tell me what you think. I have a preview for Need for Speed Undercover coming up shortly, so stay tuned for that!

Read: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon - Review

GameShark - Guitar Hero: On Tour Review

2008-07-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it's finally here! My first review for GameShark has just gone live, right before the big E3 rush that will surely knock it off its pedestal within days. If the article feels a little awkward at first, it's because the longer introduction had to be cut short due to length limitations. Oops! It basically drew an analogy between real life guitar and GH:OT since they both are extremely painful and embarassing at the beginning. Once you get the hang of them, they're great, but it may not be for everyone.

If anyone wants to see the full review, just let me know. It's not a monster, but it is about 300 words longer.

GameShark: Guitar Hero: On Tour Review

Long time, no update!

2008-07-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

While it might initially appear that I've been a sloth-and-a-half, in reality, I've been crazy busy trying to keep up with life and its many transitions. As of July 16th I'm officially a college graduate of UCSB, and conversely another member of the "unemployed workforce." I traveled to the East Coast for a week to see my father, and am currently on another trip to Colorado with my girlfriend to see her family and enjoy the finer things in America (read: tourist destinations, traps, and everything in-between).

Because of all the life transitions, I'm currently looking for more paying positions. I've recently been hired over at GameShark.com for reviews and other miscellanea, and hope to find a few more positions or internships in the nearby future. Until then, I'll keep toiling away at my few websites, hoping to see where things take me over the next month or two.

If you ever need to reach me, you can do so by leaving me a comment or sending me an email (found here).

Thanks for reading,
Cole

RPGamer – 2008 NIS Press Event Impressions

2008-07-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Almost a month ago (!) I had the privilege of heading up to San Francisco to cover the 2008 NIS press event for RPGamer. I bumped elbows with some internet friends and rivals, enjoyed some delicious food on the house, hosted an interview, and was lucky enough to get my hands on a few new RPGs from NIS that are coming stateside this year. I wish I could have broken this into a few separate updates to make myself seem more productive, but since this event occurred three days before my last final and graduation, I obviously had no time for that.

Anyways! Take a look at the impressions below. It's always fun actually playing something before writing about them and I think they turned out rather well. Especially A Witches Tale, considering I saw no actual footage of the game. Enjoy.

(I also covered Disgaea 3 again, but I wanted to save those impressions for the big preview of the game I'm writing this month. Now that I can go in-depth into the storyline, churning out another "I walked here and threw this" impression would be absurdly redundant.)

GameSpite - Link's Awakening Review

2008-06-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

I thought I posted this a while back, but I was wrong! Here's my article about Link's Awakening posted over at GameSpite. It's a bit short, but has some good stuff in it. Peek if you dare.

GameSpite: Link's Awakening Review

RPGamer - Disgaea 3 Impressions

2008-05-21T06:21:00.000-07:00

The second half of the Run to the Sun meetings I was able to attend consisted of a trip to NIS America to meet up with a few staff members and play an early build of Disgaea 3. While embargoes forbid me from going into too much detail at this time, things are certainly shaping up well for fans of outlandish Tactical RPGs. Disgaea 3 was rough around the edges, but left many of us happy with NIS's progress so far. While it didn't score too high in our overall rankings, a lot of that can be chalked up to the early build we played and the ways that D3 can't really be picked up and enjoyed like a good shooter or fighter can be. I have high hopes for August.

Here's my impressions. A in-depth preview will be going up sometime during the first week of June, and I'll be attending a press event for NIS to spend some more time with their upcoming lineup and do an interview. Things are looking up!

Read: Disgaea 3 Impressions

RPGamer - Summon Night: Twin Age Impression

2008-05-21T05:56:00.001-07:00

Yikes!

In one of my more memorable strokes of luck, I had the chance to meet up with a few other fun fellows from RPGamer down in Southern California to talk videogames with two huge RPG publishers - Atlus and Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) America. The latter was a complete stroke of luck, as I was only originally planning to meet up, talk with Atlus, and help relieve some of the coverage pressure from the publisher's eight+ games. Luckily I was able to tag along and go to dinner, and even get asked to go to a press event in SF next month. Exciting!

Here's the first game Atlus let us get our hands on, Summon Night: Twin Age. It's an Action RPG through and through, but looks to be surprisingly fun and fresh, allowing for neat exploration, item conjuring, and other interesting things to do in comparison to your usual hack-'n-slash. I wrote up more of my impressions over at RPGamer, so go take a look over there.

Read: Summon Night: Twin Age Impression

MyWiiNews - WiiMiidia Homebrew, and Wiikly Wii Releases

2008-05-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

Finally found the time to update this thing with my two latest pieces for MyWiiNews. Both are news stories, one tells the tale of a homebrewer's valiant efforts to port XBMC over to the Wii, while the other is simply a quick Wii release update. Both are solid and worth a peek.

I'll be heading down to Irvine tomorrow to meet up with Atlus for RPGamer. It should be fun! Time to dust off that copy of Etrian Odyssey!

Read:

DailyNexus - "Wii Kart Unites Casual and Hardcore"

2008-05-10T03:01:00.000-07:00

My latest Daily Nexus article went up today, and it was actually featured in the physical newspaper two days ago as well!

This is my second article to be promoted from an online-only column to an actual piece within the opinion section, and I was even asked to join the columnist staff for the next year. Unfortunately I won't be around UCSB to work for the Nexus, but it's nice to know that my words are appreciated.

This piece did two things I had been meaning to do for a few weeks: talk about Mario Kart and casual gamers. I had a complete article on casual gaming all edited up and ready to turn into the Nexus two weeks ago, but I restarted my computer and everything instantly vanished. Apparently my hard drive decided to die without giving me any real warning, taking the last five months of data along with it into the depths of Hard Drive Hell. Along with this completed article went my Summon Night DS preview, and a 80% piece for My Wii News on the Wii's rechargable battery problem, making for quite the depressing past two weeks.

I just got my Mac back with a fresh HDD and I'm ready to get back to blogging business. Expect a lot more from me in the next few weeks, and I'll be sure to back everything up before submitting articles and restarting computers. :(

Rant aside, the article is a goodie. I talk about the prevalence of casual gamers, the ways in which Mario Kart Wii is Nintendo's first forray into kart-driven Communism, and even namedrop Ghosts n' Goblins and the real SMB2 to show how cool I am (yeah, right). It's always nice to get printed in a real publication, so take a peek and enjoy!

Read: Daily Nexus - Wii Kart Unites Casual and Hardcore

GameSpite - Golden Axe Warrior Review

2008-04-30T05:42:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Another review! I can't help but get excited whenever something I put a lot of work into sees the light of day, and this Golden Axe Warrior (GAW) piece pretty much personifies this feeling. Jeremy Parish decided to switch over to a weekly digest format after I submitted this piece; making it sit all alone for almost a month. This was actually a blessing in disguise, as the initial draft I wrote up was extremely rough and needed a good amount of polish to get to the stage it's in today. Jeremy did a good amount of edits, but most everything stayed true to my original words and visions.

I thought GAW was a really neat, if unoriginal, game that deserves more attention than it seems to get, so go and read the darn thing and find out for yourself! I promise you'll giggle at least once at the screenshots.

Read: Golden Axe Warrior Review

P.S. I have a preview for Summon Night: Twin Age DS coming up at RPGamer soon. The game just got pushed back, so I couldn't have picked a better time to do a preview! Woohoo!

Daily Nexus - "The Makings of a Classic"

2008-04-30T05:37:00.001-07:00

Last week my mind came to a screeching halt when I finally sat down to start writing something for the Daily Nexus, and for some reason my mind was suddenly inundated with plumbers. Super Mario Bros. is arguably the game that changed videogaming into the industry it is today, with the whole "bringing videogames back from their premature 1983 death) thing, and I felt it was due time to talk about the importance of that monumental game. In the article I give a brief history of what games looked like in the early 80s, how things have changed, and the innovations that SMB brought to the table. I could have written twice as much in my sleep about this subject, but I think it worked well in its slightly truncated form.

See for yourself.

Read: "The Makings of a Classic"

Daily Nexus - "The Makings of a Classic"

2008-04-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

My Wii News Update

2008-04-30T05:24:00.001-07:00

I haven't had the time to update this thingamablogger for a while, so here is a list of my recently published articles over at My Wii News. I was 90% done with an exclusive feature I was working on before my laptop harddrive crashed, and as soon as I can find a way to get my files off of my Mac's harddrive I'll post it on the site. It should be a goodie, but entertain yourself with these stories until that time comes.

Read:

Daily Nexus - "Hyperreality Challenges Gaming Future"

2008-04-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, haven't updated this in a while. I'll have to do some mass posts for everything I've done and had published in the past few weeks, as it's a lot more than just a few blurbs here and there. To start with, here's my penultimate gaming column posted by the Daily Nexus, which actually found its way into the actual newspaper.

That's right! This article was actually published in the Daily Nexus, but I had no way of knowing until today when my friend told me that he enjoyed reading my article. After a bit of sleuthing, I found out that it was published in the physical Nexus newspaper on April 11th, with pictures and everything. Wow! I just wish my editor would have told me so I could have had someone pick up the article when I was out of town.

Even though it's the same as last time, you get to see the cool pictures drawn specially for the article. Either way, it makes for a good read. See for yourself.

Read: Daily Nexus - "Hyperreality Challenges Gaming Future"

MyWiiNews - Opoona Review

2008-04-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

After a week of plodding through Opoona, my review has finally gone live on MyWiiNews. It's a bit of a monster, but I feel like I could have written well over 2000 words without much repetition. I also saw some ways I could have cut it almost in half, but considering the extreme dearth of information about the game currently on the 'net, I felt a pinch of verbosity was required. Opoona is a rather niche title, and I've had at least 3 or 4 people keep in constant contact with me about the game, trying to get a feel for it because so little information was really out there. I don't know how people will feel about it, but I'm hoping it will be useful for at least a few prospective gamers.

On another exciting note, I've recently been promoted to "Editor" of MyWiiNews. Up until now, there was one person who edited and published everything ("Bucky"). Since I've initiated a few cool changes and been generally reliable for my time there, he asked me to help out and work alongside him. I must say that it will be nice to get more experience editing for the future, even though I don't know where I'll be working 3 months from now. I will be in the Bay Area, though, so if you need a staff writer, I'd love to know.

Blabbering aside, the review is worth a peek.

Read: Opoona Review

Daily Nexus - Exploring the Uncanny Valley

2008-04-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

This was something a little different. I actually wrote this almost a month ago, but due to finals week and spring break, my piece was postponed until Monday of this week. It's nice to see it finally go up, as I tried to put a little extra into it, discussing important questions about the future of videogame graphics and presentation.

I don't think we'll have to worry about being scared to death by the uncanny valley in all our videogames anytime soon, but it's a reasonable thought in the next 5-10 years. It's crazy to think how much of our lives has changed in just ten years, and how much it possibly could in ten more. Just look at this crazy mock-up of what ComputerWorld thinks our computers will be like in 15 years, and think about what people thought life would be like now, 70 years ago. Technology is some crazy stuff, and really hard to pinpoint what will be reasonably coming next. A terabyte of storage? I had 4 GB ten years ago when I got my first computer. Crazy how things change.

Anywhoo, onto the reading.

Read: Daily Nexus - Exploring the Uncanny Valley

MyWiiNews – More Updates on the Zelda Homebrew Hack

2008-04-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to see chipless modifications do so much in so little time. After a little more than a few months, we've already got homebrew programs and applications running on the Wii. I don't see small-scale emulation far off, which will be monumental (and possibly catastrophic) for homebrewers everywhere. Obviously Nintendo doesn't want Wii owners having a free solution for emulation when they would prefer for consumers to buy games on the VC, so this may turn into quite the storm if things get out of hand. After all, if a down-grader or workaround is released a la the PSP, Nintendo could have a monster on their hands.

Times, they are a changin'.

Read: MyWiiNews – More Info on the Zelda Homebrew Hack

MyWiiNews - Opoona Impression

2008-03-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's a busy week, and it's only going to get busier!

Knowing that I probably wouldn't be able to finish Opoona by the time the game was released (I got it this past Friday evening), I wanted to put up a little something to spark interest for the game, as well as for my future review. I chose to do a working "impression" of my six hours with the game to share my initial thoughts of the quirky intergalactic adventure.

The impresion is rather charitable to Opoona, as I only had a few hours with it and didn't feel it would be right for me to rip into it for whatever shortcomings it had. MyWiiNews has a different fanbase than say, RPGamer, so I had to alter my RPG writing style a little bit. I'll be a bit more critical of the game come review time, but the impression definitely lets people know what the game is about, and how the copy they might pick up should treat them in the first few hours. Take a peek, if you like.

Read: Opoona - Impression

MyWiiNews - Okami Preview

2008-03-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

At last this thing goes up! I've been working on this preview for Okami between classes and papers for almost two weeks now, and finally had the extra time yesterday to put the finishing touches on it. Since I slept on Okami the first time around (I was PS2-less until late last year), I'm extra excited for the Wii adaptation.

In the preview I did my best to explain the game's mechanics and style without giving up too much information for gamers (like myself) who are completely new to the experience. I really wanted to emphasize the fact that Okami was missed by far too many people the first time around, especially for how good of a game it was/is, and I think it came through pretty well.

Another fun fact: I created the image for the title with a few images, filters, and Photoshop magic. I wanted something a little different, and I think it didn't turn out too bad.

With that out of the way, onto the long-awaited preview!

Read: Okami - Preview

MyWiiNews - Wiikly Wii Releases: 3/9 - 3/15 & 3/16 - 3/22

2008-03-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the gaps in publishing these updates! I've been crazy busy with presentations and finals for the past two weeks, so my avocational stuff had to take a backseat to matters involving my degree. It usually only happens about once or twice a quarter, which is great for the other 8 weeks, but it seriously cramps my style when it happens.

Regardless, here are some (hopefully) informative little blurbs about the upcoming Wii titles. Many of the games (especially ones that are simply casual "shovelware") have really funky and flexible release dates that seem to come and go, so trying to figure out the exact release date of classic titles like Indoor Games and Space Station Tycoon prove to be more difficult than they should be. That comes with the territory, I suppose.

Read:

MyWiiNews - No More Heroes Review

2008-03-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Well here is something completely unexpected, but ultimately great. I've been playing No More Heroes since I got it a few weeks ago and wanted to write a little something about it. Feeling absurdly inspired for 2am, I hurried over to my 1up blog and pounded out a little over 1100 words in about 2 hours. It was wonderful.

From this I realized that I already did most of the dirty work, and with a little work and time, I could turn it into a completely viable Review. So after a few days of editing, MyWiiNews now has its first official review. And it's my first real "buy it or not after you read my opinions" kind of review, so that's a huge step for me.

Take a few minutes and give it a read. I took some time getting the formatting all set and making it as interesting as I could, so let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Read: No More Heroes - Review

MyWiiNews - Wiikly Wii Releases: 3/2 - 3/8

2008-03-04T23:56:00.000-08:00

Here's something I'm pretty stoked about: MyWiiNews's new section of Wiikly Wii Releases. I apologize for the abundance of silly titles that litter this workblog, but after seeing the "New Virtual Console Games" section grow more vacant by the week, I realized that a complementary piece covering the week's Wii releases was in order.

Spearheading a new section is always exciting, so feel free to see what I was working on. It's nothing too fancy at the moment, but I'm hoping to give it a little more pizazz as time goes on.

An Adventurer Is You!
Read: Wiikly Wii Releases: 3/2 - 3/8

Daily Nexus - "Game Conference Concerns"

2008-03-04T23:34:00.000-08:00

Long time no post! School hit hard last week, so I had to respond accordingly. That didn't stop me from getting a little work done, as I was able to churn this piece out by last Thursday to have it posted by today. It's not my favorite piece so far, but I wanted to stay current so I opted to talk about conferences and GDC. I think it was an interesting enough take, but take a peek for yourself.

Read: Daily Nexus - "Game Conference Concerns"

RPGamer - Opoona Preview

2008-02-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

Alright! Here's something a bit more substantial: a full blown preview! I've been a fan of Opoona since it was announced for Western shores and jumped at the opportunity to write a preview about it for RPGamer. I tried to do previews last year, but after an unfortunate mishap with a Fire Emblem write up, I retreated into hibernation. Alas, I am back and in full effect, and I hope you will enjoy.

The preview is a bit "by the numbers," but considering it was written for RPGamer and intended to by a synopsis of my internet sleuthing combined with press releases, I think it turned out pretty well. I should hopefully be getting a review copy for MyWiiNews sometime around the time that Opoona launches, so look forward to my hands-on impressions of the game sometime soon.

Onward! To Obscurity!

Read: RPGamer's Opoona Preview

Daily Nexus - "Giddy as a Five-Year Old"

2008-02-21T04:49:00.000-08:00

Oh, the Daily Nexus. Sure it's fun writing for your campus newspaper and all that, but it's been a bit difficult trying to ascertain what are exactly my expectations as a columnist. While that continues to work itself out, I'll keep plugging away at my column, trying to write about something a bit more interesting than the usual messageboard drivel.

Regardless, my second piece for The Daily Nexus went up. Even though the editor changed around my text a bit, elongated my title, and completely tossed my blurb out the window, I wasn't too perturbed. I think I need to stick to a single point a little more, but the Nexus is a great way for me to just force myself to think for a few hours and see what comes out.

So see what came out:

Read: "Giddy as a Five-Year Old ["for fresh videogames"]"

Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #4 - Innovation and Potential

2008-02-09T11:47:00.001-08:00

Whew! It's finally over!

The fourth part of my series on the Wii in 2008 has finally been completed and posted on the internets. I worked on it over the weekend, lost time due to papers and midterms that snuck up on me, and then it took a day to two to finally get up on MyWiiNews. While this makes my once week-long retrospective a two-week affair, I think the extra time did the column some good, as I was able to flesh out a few more ideas than I was previously expecting.

The post was featured on N4G for a little while, and even got up to 240* on their heat meeter! I think that's a good thing? Take a peek for yourself:

Read: Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #4 - Innovation and Potential

MyWiiNews - "Homebrewers Sucessfully Hack the Wii!"

2008-02-09T11:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a piece I was working on at the same time as the Rock Band piece, but ended up going up a little bit later due to a news flood that hit MyWiiNews. In it I talk about the new Zelda exploit for the Wii, which has finally allowed hackers to crack into the Wii and launch their own stuff. This is pretty huge for the homebrew community, so I basically ran to talk about this.

Also, it apparently caught on with StumbleUpon and got a ridiculous amount of hits. I wish people would comment little more, but I'm just happy that someone's reading.

Speaking of reading...

Read: Homebrewers Successfully Hack the Wii

MyWiiNews - Rock Band for Wii Announced!

2008-02-01T15:29:00.000-08:00

Another quick news post for MyWiiNews. I found out last night that EA finally officially announced Rock Band for Wii, a move that took far to long considering there's no reason for the game not appear on store shelves, and it's already appeared on practically every other console out there. The big question remains about the World Tour mode and downloadable content (which were both absent from the shoddy PS2 cash-in) will be present, but we'll just have to wait and find out whether EA was using its time effectively.

Oh, and I made the mock-up box art. Kinda cool.

Read: Prayers Answered: Rock Band Announced for Wii

GameSpite - Little Samson Review

2008-01-31T20:06:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty excited about this review since I finally finished it about a week ago, and it's good to see it finally go up. It's a bit of a "nontraditional" review, since I don't break the game down into its distinct categories and give it an overall score, but I think it still gives readers a good feel for the game and whether or not they will enjoy it.

Being a part of GameSpite is something that I've wanted to do for a while, so I'm feeling pretty good right now. I've picked out a few older titles I want to do pieces on, so here's to hoping that my piece was good enough to warrant more in the future.

Take a peek. It's probably my favorite thus far.

Read: Little Samson Review

Daily Nexus - "A Gamer's Paradise"

2008-01-31T17:33:00.000-08:00

My first piece for The Daily Nexus has finally gone up! Apparently it's been up since the 24th, but I swear I've checked it multiple times since then and not seen the article up. I guess I must have been hallucinating, but I'm glad everything is finally going well with the Nexus.

I pitched the idea of a gaming column that focused more on gaming culture than straightforward reviews, even though this first one came out a bit "review-y" for my liking. There are a handful of great ideas in here I'd love to develop into a full feature, but we'll have to find out how all that goes. It's kind of fun to be an online columnist for my college's newspaper. Take a peek, if you're so inclined.

Read: "A Gamer's Paradise"

Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #3 - Saturation of Casual Games

2008-01-31T17:01:00.000-08:00

These things just keep coming, don't they? Third part of my four-part series, talking all about how Nintendo needs to strike a balance between the casual and the hardcore. Well, they currently need to create a larger market, and then strike a balance. Quite frankly the casual market is strangling the Wii faster than an astronaut without a space suit, but 2008 is looking to be a little better for hardcore gamers everywhere. Regardless...

Read: Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #3 - Saturation of Casual Games

Oh, and this story was actually finished up on Wednesday. It just went up today because of time constraints with the editor. Which is fine, cause I needed a little break.

Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #2 - Third-Party Support

2008-01-29T18:57:00.000-08:00

This is the second part of my four-part series that focuses on the problems facing the Wii during its second, and arguably most formative, year. I take a look at third-party support thus far, and talk about the ways that it needs to improve in order for the Wii to maintain momentum and stay in first place in this console race. I think this one turned out pretty good, but tomorrow's just might be better.

Read: Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #2 - Third-Party Support

Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #1 - Shortages

2008-01-28T12:12:00.000-08:00

The first of my four pieces on the outlook of the Nintendo Wii in 2008 just went up today over at MyWiiNews. I've been thinking about this piece for almost a week now, and ended up finally putting parts of it together over the weekend. It was originally going to be one big piece, but I didn't feel like tt could be thorough enough if I had to truncate the piece down to one manageable blog post. So instead I'm turning it into a four-day feature! Comments are definitely appreciated.
as are suggestions.

Read: Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #1 - Shortages

RPGamer Editorial - Classic Gaming: Great or Gilded?

2008-01-24T15:14:00.000-08:00

It sure has been an involved week. Between working on my first review for GameSpite, churning out a piece over at MyWiiNews about one of my personal loves (Guitar Hero), and other random things like school and work, I sure was busy. One of my pieces that I felt pretty invested in finally went up over at RPGamer, where I discussed whether or not classic games are legitimately good, or just simply nostalgia-fests. I felt pretty strongly about the topic, especially when I look back at games that I love (but not everyone can) like the original Zelda. I feel like there almost has to be a different mindset for people to really appreciate these old games that truly emphasize exploration and adventure, rather than the way that later "adventure" titles tell you where to go, what to bomb, and how to make it through the landscape safely. Quite frankly, the original Zelda beats your ass; there's practically no guidance at all (save for a few cryptic old men) and all the pressure lies on you to create your own adventure and explore the landscape.

As I noted on the boards, the original Zelda is extremely liberating in the way that it allows you to embark on an adventure where you're actually exploring every inch of a world for the first time, just like you would in real life. Sure, you probably can't make homemade pipe bombs and go exploring in the same way that you do in Zelda, but that's what videogames are for, right? They provide us with a way to live out those childhood fantasies in ways that you might never be able to in real life. Instead of feeling muddled because there are no rupee-laden arrows showing you which way to go while playing the original Zelda, embrace the fact that every wall and every bush holds a potential secret to uncover. It's difficult for me to do as I make my way through the second quest for the first time, but it's an amazing feeling when I do stumble upon something new.

It's really difficult for gamers nowadays to pick up and enjoy older games in the same way that many of us did as kids. I believe it's chiefly due to the amount of independent exploration and trial-and-error experimentation that these games require, rather than holding your hand through the same ten levels. GamaSutra did a nice little piece that relates to this, talking about the verisimilitude of classic games which are constructed in the way that makes the player think that the world that they are interacting with is an actual LIVING, BREATHING, environment through hidden gems and randomization. While Zelda is a helluva lot more forgiving than the random mess known as Rogue ever was, the basic idea of interacting with a world that has hidden elements that need to be uncovered through exploration and experimentation is one that is shared among a lot of retro games and alien to a lot of current-gen titles. I think that this is one of the biggest reasons that games older than the 16-Bit era have difficulties reaching a wider audience, and just might be something to write about for a future column for RPGamer.

Hello World!

2008-01-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the blog! I just started this little workspace up to link to all my writings that get published across the web, mostly because I'm an unpaid slave to videogames that hopes to build up a portfolio worthy of a paying position. Hey, it could happen, right?

Silly early-90's catchphrases aside, I'm looking to put all of my stuff in one place along with any other applicable rantings to try and keep track of what I'm up to. I'm currently rounding out my fourth (last) year at the University of California, Santa Barbara, majoring in Philosophy and Sociology, and love videogames. As long as I can remember I've been playing and reading anything about them that I could get my hands on. As I prepare to graduate and enter the "real world," I'm looking to possibly try my hand at professionally writing about them, and thought that there's no better way to get started than to simply "get started."

So, finally, welcome to my simple workspace. Any comments are welcome and encouraged, as I'm sure I'll need all the help I can get.

Bits, Bytes, and Blogs

GDC 2010: Monster Hunter Tri Preview

GDC 2010: Darkstar One: Broken Alliance Preview

GDC 2010: "Micro or Massive: It's Fricking Tough to Achieve a Vision"

GDC 2010: Pocket Creatures First Look

1UP's "The Grind" - Ar Tonelico II Problems

Star Ocean: Second Evolution Review

GameShark - Reviews

GameShark - Previews

RPGamer Update - Nintendo Fall Media Summit & BlizzCon Impressions

Long time, no update!

GameShark - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon Review

GameShark - Guitar Hero: On Tour Review

Long time, no update!

RPGamer – 2008 NIS Press Event Impressions

GameSpite - Link's Awakening Review

RPGamer - Disgaea 3 Impressions

RPGamer - Summon Night: Twin Age Impression

MyWiiNews - WiiMiidia Homebrew, and Wiikly Wii Releases

DailyNexus - "Wii Kart Unites Casual and Hardcore"

GameSpite - Golden Axe Warrior Review

Daily Nexus - "The Makings of a Classic"

Daily Nexus - "The Makings of a Classic"

My Wii News Update

Wiikly Wii Releases - 4/20/08

Okami Watermark Fiasco - Is IGN Involved?

Skip the FreeLoader - Buy Twilight Princess Instead!

Wiikly Wii Releases - 4-6-08

Daily Nexus - "Hyperreality Challenges Gaming Future"

MyWiiNews - Opoona Review

Daily Nexus - Exploring the Uncanny Valley

MyWiiNews – More Updates on the Zelda Homebrew Hack

MyWiiNews - Opoona Impression

MyWiiNews - Okami Preview

MyWiiNews - Wiikly Wii Releases: 3/9 - 3/15 & 3/16 - 3/22

MyWiiNews - No More Heroes Review

MyWiiNews - Wiikly Wii Releases: 3/2 - 3/8

Daily Nexus - "Game Conference Concerns"

RPGamer - Opoona Preview

Daily Nexus - "Giddy as a Five-Year Old"

Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #4 - Innovation and Potential

MyWiiNews - "Homebrewers Sucessfully Hack the Wii!"

MyWiiNews - Rock Band for Wii Announced!

GameSpite - Little Samson Review

Daily Nexus - "A Gamer's Paradise"

Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #3 - Saturation of Casual Games

Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #2 - Third-Party Support

Four Problems Facing the Wii in 2008: #1 - Shortages

RPGamer Editorial - Classic Gaming: Great or Gilded?

Hello World!