Pop Goes Nintendo
Nintendo and videogames as a cultural phenomenon.(a.k.a. The blog formerly known as Ei Ei Poo: Enter the mind of a Monkey Ball Addict)
October 2008
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- Name: Ben Wood
- Location: Ottawa, Canada
- Favorite Game(s): Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
- Favorite Developer(s): Nintendo, Ubisoft, Atlus
Blog
Dec 8th, 2007The Lost Gamer
Next: The Gamer Scale
By now, it it's been more or less established that there are all kinds of gamers that belong in many different gaming categories. I am, for example, an informed gamer, who stays on top of news, events, blogs, forums, podcasts, and the like, who is heavily Nintendo-centric (as in Nintendo fanboy without that 12-year old scent), but who is mostly a handheld gamer, playing casual and niche titles on his DS Lite and (occasionally) PSP.
For an informed gamer like myself, it's nearly impossible to imagine what it's like to not know which AAA (or even D-list) titles are coming out within the next couple of weeks, to know what big shot execs said at such and such a function, to not know what everyone thinks about the obvious, expected, yet still surprising announcement that Sonic is in Smash Bros. Brawl, and to not share your idea that one character from the top five Japanese third party game companies (ahem Sonic, Snake, Mega Man, Pac-Man, and some Final Fantasy guy) will be in Brawl. In other words, it's impossible to know what it's like to be completely out of the loop.
I however, managed that impossible. During the summer, in what I'll sum up as a near-computer-death experience, the internet, along with pretty much every other computer application, was effectively lost to me. Without this vital organ, All contact was lost with the real – I mean digital world. By the time I solved that dilemma, school started, as did my little employment gig, which boils down to zero free time.
I didn't even notice how long it had been since I was part of the whole gaming industry, until three events snuck out of nowhere. One, a gamer was at EB jonesing for a new title, and I had zero suggestions based one what's out and what's coming across all consoles. He had beaten Metroid Prime 3 twice by that point – and it had just come out. Two, Zelda Phantom Hourglass was on the shelf. I still have no idea what IGN scored that game, or any game really. I couldn't not buy it when I saw it there. And yes, Phantom Hourglass disappointed. The last event had me saying, "that's enough!" My friend and recent Wii-ite told me that he bought DDR. I didn't even know it was coming. So my natural instincts kicked in... I ran out and bought it, and decided I needed to get back into the swing of everything.
Mario galaxy? Is that out?!
And so I have, slowly. Having kept tabs on everything at N-Philes during my absence, I'm back on the N-Philes front. I also decided that maybe I wanted to blog weekly about various game-, entertainment-, and tech-related things. I did start a personal blog, but I want to try something a little more focused. Somewhere where my random gaming-related thoughts and ideas can go.
I also want to finish (re-write?) a long forgotten article about Game Boy. But that will be a site feature. Hopefully.
Ending each of these blogs will be a mini-review for music. Feel free to send me music suggestions! I love new music.
Music Mini:
Linkin Park – Minutes to Midnight (Released May 15, 2007)
Linkin Park is one of those really weird bands that are really love/hate. They're screamers, whiners, posers, repetitive. They're talented, experimental, honest, relevant. It doesn't really matter which camp to which you belong because Minutes to Midnight is worth a listen for one reason:
It's different.
I don't mean that it's so different that it isn't in the scope of all things LP, but the band known for mashing rap against rock and electric rhythms have taken a step toward the melodic. I'd go so far to say that they have a bit of bounce in their step too, as M2M comes off as more relaxed – dare I say fun – effort. You don't have to go beyond Bleed it Out, a personal fave on the album, to see that they're kicking up the fun factor. Oddly, Linkin Park also goes to the opposite, more serious on the back half, the politically-driven Hands Held High being perhaps the most socially relevant track in the band's library.
The duality of this album is summed up in the title, with "Minutes to Midnight" being both the excitement at the turn of the year, and the panic before catastrophic destruction. Either way, both scenarios have you focusing less on yourself and more on those around you. Perhaps more than their previous work, they focus less on the internal and more on the moment. M2M represents welcomed growth for Linkin Park as a band, proving that there's more to them than just anger and spray paint.
By now, it it's been more or less established that there are all kinds of gamers that belong in many different gaming categories. I am, for example, an informed gamer, who stays on top of news, events, blogs, forums, podcasts, and the like, who is heavily Nintendo-centric (as in Nintendo fanboy without that 12-year old scent), but who is mostly a handheld gamer, playing casual and niche titles on his DS Lite and (occasionally) PSP.
For an informed gamer like myself, it's nearly impossible to imagine what it's like to not know which AAA (or even D-list) titles are coming out within the next couple of weeks, to know what big shot execs said at such and such a function, to not know what everyone thinks about the obvious, expected, yet still surprising announcement that Sonic is in Smash Bros. Brawl, and to not share your idea that one character from the top five Japanese third party game companies (ahem Sonic, Snake, Mega Man, Pac-Man, and some Final Fantasy guy) will be in Brawl. In other words, it's impossible to know what it's like to be completely out of the loop.
I however, managed that impossible. During the summer, in what I'll sum up as a near-computer-death experience, the internet, along with pretty much every other computer application, was effectively lost to me. Without this vital organ, All contact was lost with the real – I mean digital world. By the time I solved that dilemma, school started, as did my little employment gig, which boils down to zero free time.
I didn't even notice how long it had been since I was part of the whole gaming industry, until three events snuck out of nowhere. One, a gamer was at EB jonesing for a new title, and I had zero suggestions based one what's out and what's coming across all consoles. He had beaten Metroid Prime 3 twice by that point – and it had just come out. Two, Zelda Phantom Hourglass was on the shelf. I still have no idea what IGN scored that game, or any game really. I couldn't not buy it when I saw it there. And yes, Phantom Hourglass disappointed. The last event had me saying, "that's enough!" My friend and recent Wii-ite told me that he bought DDR. I didn't even know it was coming. So my natural instincts kicked in... I ran out and bought it, and decided I needed to get back into the swing of everything.
Mario galaxy? Is that out?!
And so I have, slowly. Having kept tabs on everything at N-Philes during my absence, I'm back on the N-Philes front. I also decided that maybe I wanted to blog weekly about various game-, entertainment-, and tech-related things. I did start a personal blog, but I want to try something a little more focused. Somewhere where my random gaming-related thoughts and ideas can go.
I also want to finish (re-write?) a long forgotten article about Game Boy. But that will be a site feature. Hopefully.
Ending each of these blogs will be a mini-review for music. Feel free to send me music suggestions! I love new music.
Music Mini:
Linkin Park – Minutes to Midnight (Released May 15, 2007)
Linkin Park is one of those really weird bands that are really love/hate. They're screamers, whiners, posers, repetitive. They're talented, experimental, honest, relevant. It doesn't really matter which camp to which you belong because Minutes to Midnight is worth a listen for one reason:
It's different.
I don't mean that it's so different that it isn't in the scope of all things LP, but the band known for mashing rap against rock and electric rhythms have taken a step toward the melodic. I'd go so far to say that they have a bit of bounce in their step too, as M2M comes off as more relaxed – dare I say fun – effort. You don't have to go beyond Bleed it Out, a personal fave on the album, to see that they're kicking up the fun factor. Oddly, Linkin Park also goes to the opposite, more serious on the back half, the politically-driven Hands Held High being perhaps the most socially relevant track in the band's library.
The duality of this album is summed up in the title, with "Minutes to Midnight" being both the excitement at the turn of the year, and the panic before catastrophic destruction. Either way, both scenarios have you focusing less on yourself and more on those around you. Perhaps more than their previous work, they focus less on the internal and more on the moment. M2M represents welcomed growth for Linkin Park as a band, proving that there's more to them than just anger and spray paint.
