Blog Banter: Gaming Resolutions for 2008
Blog Banter is a group of bloggers passionate about anything and everything video games. We enjoy getting together once a month to write about the same subject. You will be amazed at the different viewpoints so many people can have on the exact same topic! Links to all the participant’s articles can be found here. If you are interested in participating, contact bs angel for more information. Enjoy our stories!
My resolution for 2008 is the same as millions of people… assassinate Ashlee Simpson. Hold on, I forgot this is about my gaming resolutions. Where is the fun in that? Oh well…
My plans for gaming in the new year is to be a designer. There are a couple aspects to that resolution so I’ll break it down.
1. The Ideas
These ideas are my gold coins to the game industry’s gold coin hoarding dragon (No clue what that meant but it sounds fun, go with it). They need them and I got them.
My current idea is a Mech TCG. Right now the difficult decision is to have one mech with add-ons or multiple mechs with special attack cards that help random mechs. Thats what I love. One choice changes the gameplay completely.
There are many more ideas. I have a notebook full of concepts. Then when a new idea pops into mind i’ll write it down and glance at other writings for inspiration. Maybe one concept works better with a different game type.
When all said and done I have yet to make a fully working prototype. Thats why I want to see an idea go from paper to table. This is a big goal of mine. I need to balance out the game with fun and challenging. Give rewards to those that risk. So this is gonna take some time and who knows I might sell a few.
2. School
Hate it but I need it. This ear I am going to try and go beyond. I’m thinking ask more questions, get involved with school activities, organize LAN parties, and etc.
This goal is mainly to help hone my soft skills to further help my hump into the game industry. It seems everywhere you read you need to be remember able to even get considered for a job. I’m hoping my soft skills will help me get recognized but not just that. Its always nice to make it easier to carry on conversations.
Well those are just a few resolutions that deal with my dream of getting a game design job. Other resolutions include limiting myself to one (or two) games a month, not worry so much about the online aspect but more of the story in single player, and to find out who signed Ashlee Simpson (Seriously!!! Who?!!?).
Blog Banter: Old School, Middle School, New School
Blog Banter is a group of bloggers passionate about video games. We enjoy getting together once a month to write about the same subject. You will be amazed at the different viewpoints so many people can have on the same exact topic. If you are interested in participating, contact bs angel for more information. Enjoy our stories!
I could start off by talking about how I found my love of cooking by playing Burgertime on the Atari 2600, my astonishment when the princess wasn’t in level 7-4 in Super Mario Bros, or my reckless driving days in Super Mario Kart. No, that would be too ordinary for myself and well… average just doesn’t coincide with me.
My first memory starts off on the early morning of December 25, 1994. I stayed up making sure that Santa brought what I really wanted. Long story short there is no Santa, it was just my mom! After finding out this terrible news I fell back to sleep. When I awoke I found the prized Donkey Kong Country in my stocking. Ripping that box to shreds and tossing Mario Paint to the side I played till my little heart couldn’t take it.
The real memory is after beating it a thousand times I could pick specific songs from my mom’s cd collection (60’s through early 90’s) and play a song that would go along perfect with each level. If I did everything right I could beat the level just when the song ended. My favorite was the final boss battle (King K. Rool). I played a Bryan Adams song for the first part. The song ended around the time when the credits were done playing which brought out the second time you had to fight him. The next song on the cd was low and mysterious just like the astonishment when finding out you had to beat him again. This is where my appreciation for the music scores began. When timing the music just right you just get that warm fuzzy feeling inside (cheesy!).
I am going to change things up and stop around 1998. A couple blocks from my house at the time was a bowling alley. At said bowling alley was an arcade. Said arcade had a machine. Said machine was the addicting arcade version of Gauntlet Legends. I swear to this day that I will have the arcade cabinet version in my house someday.
After playing it for awhile the first time I got a few friends together to try it out. They each loved it just as much as I did. I played as the wizard while the others fought between the warrior, valkyrie, and archer. We all met up on Tuesdays to play till no one had quarters. The bond we created together was amazing. We pooled together all the money we could come across during the week so that we could all play together. Plus each other had a set realm to read up on during the week. That way one of us knew where the rune stones were, how to beat the boss, and all the other extras found throughout the level. The teamwork we possessed was just incredible. It taught me a lot about working with others to get the job done.
Now we come to the end with my newest memory. In Halo 3 the creators, Bungie, decided to add a little bit more replay value. They added a meta-game that would calculate your kill and give you points upon difficulty and skill. Static and I were helping our friend Saint run through the first mission to get the 15,000 point achievement for it. It was probably one or two in the morning when the insane antics happened.
We let Saint run ahead while we helped out when needed. To pass the time I had ran upstairs to reheat some breakfast sausage. When I came back Static was just standing there. He was surfing the internet. This was just not okay with me. What did I do? I killed him. Then again, again, again, and again. You get the point. After awhile he started to retaliate back. This is where the fun started. When killing the other we would scream at the other like, “Oh yeah! I bet you loved the feel of that plasma!!” It went back and forth for awhile.
In the end I had looked away to eat one of the sausages which caused me to get assassinated from behind. He comically stated, “You’re a big man now huh!! Huh!!! Yeah, come get some big man!” I was laughing so hard that I started to almost choke on the food. Not being able to clearly tell them what was going on on my side, all they heard was, “… choking… sausage…” Yes, it was late and we had perverted minds. When I was able to calm down Saint chimed in with a, “What are you guys doing back there!!?!?”
Thanks to the co-op feature I wouldn’t have had such great relationships with these two guys. We hang out in RL when we can but it is usually at night on Xbox Live when we truly have fun.
Video games have made an impact throughout my life. Whether it is taking notice of the small things, learning the importance of teamwork, or just building a better friendship. I love video games and I hope to be a part of them for the coming generations.
Other Blog Banter Articles :
Boffman22’s Memorable Gaming Moments (Boom Stick Brigade)
I love you Intellivision! (Boom Stick Brigade)
Just how much fun LAN can be! (Cat’s Blog)
Memoirs of a Young Gamer (Gaming with Baby)
Memorable Gaming Moments (Hawty McBloggy)
To Memory Lane and Back (Play Your Station)
Hit the Reset Button (Thoughts and Rants)
Memorable Gaming Moments (Zath Games Tech)
Becoming an Ace and Dealing With Minsc (Delayed Responsibility)
