The History of Games: Super Mario 64

By Hobbit





With Super Mario Galaxy's release today (even though the store doesn't have my preorder yet) I thought this would be a good time to take a little look back at Super Mario 64!
Super Mario 64 was released alongside the Nintendo 64 on September 29, 1996 with great critical success; it is still one of my favorite games. It combined all the great platforming elements into one game and everything just seemed to flow together. The controls were easy to master and stayed the same the rest of the game.

The story: Peach invites Mario to her castle because she's baking him a cake. Mario shows up and Peach is gone. She's kidnapped by Bowser and Mario must unlock paintings to get stars to defeat Bowser. The gameplay is great with enemies to defeat, tough bosses, great puzzles, risky platforming, and plenty of good old fashioned jumping and it's all in 3d. You begin the game at Princess Peach's castle.

Inside, there is a room with a painting in it and you can jump into the painting to get into the first world. As you go along you unlock more paintings and secret stars which eventually lead to a final showdown with Bowser. The game has 15 worlds and 120 stars to collect total, though you can beat the game with only 70 stars. Nintendo added tons of depth to this game. Even after beating the game, many people would wander around and find many different things Nintendo had put in. Some of the great things I thought were good in this game are:

1. The Gameplay was phenomenal. It had the perfect mix of jumping, puzzles, racing, and fighting.
2. Everything feels like the same game. Nowhere does it feel like you're playing something different, yet it accomplishes this with still having plenty of new things you have to do
3. The game has an easy learning curve yet will challenge even the best of gamers to the very end.
4. It was a very fun game with lots of different things to do; something you didn't want to put down till you had beaten Bowser for the final time

Overall it was, and is, one of the greatest games of all time the amazing gameplay and easy controls make it that.

If you want to discuss this more please comment,
Till then,
Rawk on,
Nate

Different Types Of Fun in Games

By Hobbit

Everyone has their own opinion on what makes a fun game. That's why I'm writing an article on it even though Trev did already. First let's look at the different types of games and what makes them so fun.

What kind of games you like depends on what type of person you are. Let's say you're a guy who barely plays video games, you might sit down and play Wii Sports and have a lot of fun with it. Or let's say you're a somebody who plays games all the time; you might enjoy something more like LOTRO. The Wii, is a video game system that has a motion sensing controller so to play tennis you swing the remote like a tennis racket; that makes it very easy and fun for non-gamers to pick up and play. Whereas Lord Of The Rings Online is a massively multi player online role-playing game with lots of different things to do and more depth for more advanced gamers.

The Wii is obviously very fun just swinging around and playing tennis. Many people have bought it because it is so fun with it's motion sensing technology. There are also fun games out there that are not simple. Halo 3, a first person shooter, has controls that are a little complicated.

Now that we've looked at what kind of games are fun for different people and what is fun for everyone; let's look at some historically fun games. Super Mario Bros. This game was amazing! Jumping on goomba's and going in pipes was never as fun as this. Then there's Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This game had just the right amount of puzzle solving, fighting, and exploring to make it one of the funnest games of all time; even though, Trev's Mom thought it was to0 complicated. Then there's Donkey Kong 64. This game was also a great cross between fighting and exploring. Star Fox 64 had an awesome lock on targeting system and sweet boss battles. Add 4 or 5 different difficulties and a sweet multi player mode and you've got one of coolest and most fun games ever. And finally, Metroid Prime 3. This is a great FPS; to shoot you aim at the screen and pow! Plus a great storyline, tough bosses, and puzzles. This game rocked.

Well I've just scratched the surface of different games and fun; if you want to know more about this subject please comment.

See Ya Later

Hobbit

Innovation: A Fresh New Look?

By Hobbit

Nowadays, it seems like six first person shooters come out every day and there are so many Tony Hawk games, we don't even remember if there ever was a start to the series. Too often it seems when making games developers tend to copy each other, and why not? They see a game selling millions of copies and they say "I'll make the same game with maybe a slight change to the storyline and it'll sell, too."

There's also the problem of making too many sequels. When you see number four or five, you usually think to yourself, "Good grief can't you think of something new?" Sports franchises are notorious for doing this. They add a little bit of new content every year and with updated rosters, it lures us sports fans back. I confess I have two Madden NFL games for my PC and one for my Wii; The Wii is obvious why I got the game, new control scheme and such, but for my PC I fell for the trap, and one had a lot better graphics.

There is still some hope though, games like Elebits, a game where you must track down Elebits, little power things that are the source of the world's power. To capture them you have to push, pull, lift and generally hunt for them.

Some people disagree though; They say "Why can't we have it where the only games we own are Madden 08,07, 06, and First Person shooter games?" Or, "What's the matter if they make a second Car's?", A Pixar Animations Film game, even though there was only one movie.

But I think there is a place somewhere inside us all that wants more than just one genre. A game that hardcore gamers (and when I say hardcore I mean you Halo freaks) and casual gamers alike can enjoy is Animal Crossing. Animal Crossing is a game where you start as a broke villager in a sleepy forest full of animals. You're given a house with a mortgage on it. What made the game so unique though was the Gamecube's clock. Time passed in real time, there were 24 hours in a day, and only one Christmas. I have seen many different types of people from my sister, to an Xbox 360 owning friend, sit down and enjoy it.

I'm not saying those games with so many spinoffs aren't fun. All I'm saying is every once in a while we need a little change. You could look at it like this, your life is never always the same. Just when you're getting into a comfortable pattern something totally unexpected is thrown into your life.

That's why the Wii is so successful. It's innovation. but we're not going to suddenly take a vow to never play anything except Wii again, it's just innovation and change that makes it very fun, besides the fact that it's very easy to pick up and play. The Innovative games are usually very fun and sell well, but we still need Halo and Madden. So innovation is a usually a refreshing new look on gaming that makes us appreciate the developers for doing something new!

If you want to discuss this subject further please comment

Till then, Rawk On!

Nate

Graphics Vs. Fun

By Hobbit


There is a lot of division over this topic; which is more important fun or graphics? My personal opinion is fun I mean, you can have either great graphics and a sort of fun game or not so good graphics and a really fun game.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is still considered today one of the best games ever and look at it's graphics. It's considered great simply because it's so fun. By today's standards these are terrible graphics. Just Look at Tony Hawks Proving Grounds. Amazing Graphics-- it almost looks like real life! Yet it's not half as much fun to play as Ocarina of Time.


Let's look at what other people think of graphics vs. fun. The Wii, as of 10-20-07, was outselling the PS3 266, 329 units to PS3's 107,930 units and Microsoft has sold 180,177 Xbox 360 units. The 360 came out on 11-22-05, the Ps3 on 11-17-06 and the Wii on 11-19-06. While the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are big consoles with amazing graphics, the Wii is smaller with the emphasis on fun not graphics. It still has good graphics just not breathtaking like the other two.

Also good graphics mean different types of games. While 360 and PS3 have more adult games, Wii has more family oriented and games for younger players, like Wii Sports, compared to Halo 3, a sci-fi First Person Shooter game for 360 and Metal Gear Solid Four, a Third Person adventure shooter game, for Ps3. When we look at graphics vs fun we're also looking at different types of people. The people who tend to like graphics more are usually 18 to 30 year old males who like violent and gross games with great graphics; whereas the more fun oriented people are like kids and older people who are just looking to have a good time.

In my opinion more people want fun than graphics, but there are those who love realism over fun. Whether your fun or graphics, there are options for both of you. I personally would rather play a really fun game than a great looking game. I just hope video game makers will continue to cater to both audiences so we can all play video games and enjoy them no matter who you are.

Tell me if you want to discuss this more.
For now Live Long and Prosper
Nate

Hobbit: A New Member

By Hobbit

Hi, I'm Hobbit and I'll be posting on this awesome blog by Guybrush. Okay so first a little bit about me; I'm a Nintendo fan over Sony or Microsoft. My Top ten games are
10. The Hobbit
9. Mario Kart 64
8. Madden 07 Wii
7. Star Fox 64 and Assault
6. Super Mario Sunshine
5. Halo 2
4. Super Mario 64
3. Animal Crossing
2. Metroid Prime 3 Corruption
1. Super Smash Bros Melee.

Also top 5 games I'm anticpating most.
5. Star Fox Wii
4. Super Mario Galaxy
3. Mario Kart Wii
2. Animal Crossing Wii
1. Super Smash Bros Brawl
I would also list The Legend of Zelda games except for the fact that my parents won't let me get them because they think they could have some satanic stuff in them. I personally have no problem with them, I've played them a little and they're a lot of fun. So I'm just telling a little bit about myself I'll start posting articles soon.