Happy Birthday Mr Miyamoto (k3nshi)

Yes thats right, the "Nintendo hater" is saying Happy Birthday to Mr. Nintendo himself. Look he even has a shrine (click the link fools).

Clearly the man has a touch of games designing genius. Whilst I never have been fond of the Mario aesthetic, there is no denying that fact that the series has encompassed some of the greatest games made. Mario 64 is still untouchable as a 3D platformer, Mario Sunshine failing to get anywhere near its quality. And as for Mario World and the others in the 2D series, in a word: AMAZING.

In fact I am currently playing (on and off), one of my favourite games of this generation: Mario vs Donkey Kong on the spastic box. Whilst I dont think Mr Miyamoto had a hand in this one (actually I have no idea), his influence on this excellent little game is clear. In some ways a bit more limited than its GB forerunner (Donkey Kong), the newer game still features incredibly tightly designed levels and is fantastically playable. In fact it harks back to all the great things of Mario games, and the playability overcomes the retarded and incredibly annoying art direction. Sorry Mr Miyamoto, but the best character you designed was Donkey Kong.

Any way, the guy has created some amazing works and brought pleasure and frustration and delight to countless gimps around the world. And that's quite an achievement. So happy birthday, and I expect a guest editorial post by the end of the week. Do you hear me now?!!!

Beyond Hype and Syncophantary* (k3nshi)

(* may not be an actual word)

Yes I completed a game the other week. Ubisoft's critically acclaimied commercial flop: Beyond Good and Evil. You could read q's ridiculously sycophantic opinion of the game here or you could just read a review of it from Edge or something. The two are usually interchangeable (more or less).

The game itself is a pretty nice adventure game, the bulk of which consists of some sneaking around action. I actually liked this bit the best and so really enjoyed a lot of the game. The controls put MGS to shame, I might add. The difficulty curve for the most part is pitched on the easy side, and its a nice no-fuss kind of game to play. Its not all sneaking action though, there are some genuine surprises with some sections, which are done to a good standard. Yes thats vague, but any more and were deep into spoiler territory. AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!

Of course it all goes pear shaped on the end of game baddie level. I almost gave up at this point. From a primarily stealth based game, to a lame, stupidly boring boss level. Still the urge to complete the game (I want closure dammit!!!) meant I tried again later and managed to do it. Cue a cutscene or two for a lame ending to the story, and the hint of a sequel that will never be released. Nice.

Oh and I cant leave this blog post without talking about the atmosphere of the game. Qazimod might harp on about the emotional attachment he had to the characters, but you have to remember that he is emotionally stunted to begin with. I mean, he forms emotional bonds to his consoles, so what do you expect? God knows what would happen if he ever saw a Disney film - there would almost certainly be tears. The only game that I would say has had any kind of emotional resonance or impact on me was Ico. And BG&E is no Ico. Not even close.

The art style of BG&E is far too twee for my tastes, as are some of the characters. Its a kid's cartoon basically. There are some nice touches though, and it distinctly has a European flavour to it, which is a Good Thing. Maybe Ubisoft will do some kind of follow up but make Jade darker and give her some attitude (ie turn her into bikinni clad game slut with boobs at least three times bigger). They might sell more than 3 copies that way. Hey it worked for the Prince of Persia...