Can Nintendo Beat Ocarina?

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time was heralded at it's time as the best game ever created. Eight and a half years and three major console Zelda releases later, and Nintendo still hasn't been able to surpass Ocarina's greatness. Nintendo's latest Zelda title: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, held a lot of hype leading up to it's release, possibly more than any game since the release of Halo 2 in 2004. In fact, the hype began at Nintendo's pre-E3 2004 press conference where they stated that they were pulling out all of their guns to create the best Zelda title ever. And most everyone took their words to heart, especially after displaying an absolutely astounding trailer for the game, showing Link fighting hordes of enemies on horseback in a realistic style that gamers had been craving. This was sure to beat Ocarina in every aspect, right?

Not quite. Things, in my opinion, started to slide downhill in August 2005, when the game was delayed from a fall release to an indefinite 2006 release. The game, then coming exclusively to the GameCube, had lost it's last major holiday release before all the next-gen systems came out, thus losing some luster to their "greatness." The game could no longer be "the best game available in every aspect, over every platform." The situation only got worse in May 2006, when Nintendo announced that the game would be ported over to their next-gen Wii system, and I knew at that point in time, that This new Zelda would not be as great as Ocarina.

Certainly enough, the game: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was released along side the Wii, and while the game was the largest and possibly the best Zelda game ever created, it certainly wasn't the greatest. And here's why:
When Ocarina of time was released in 1998, it blew everyone away. It had all the bells and whistles that a game could possibly have had at that point in time, No one had ever seen anything like it before. The presentation was flawless.
The Wii version of Twilight Princess, while fun and pretty, did not show what the system was fully capable of in nearly every aspect. Graphically the game had an amazing look - for a GameCube game, but the Wii is a next-gen system, and definitely did not fill it's potential in that part. The game also had some truly memorable music, but Nintendo opted out of giving the game any sort of orchestral sound, and stuck with the midi music style that they have been using since the 8-bit era. And the story, the most complex, emotionally involving of any Zelda yet was still told through text, using no voice work, besides the occasional grunt. And these examples are exactly what held the game back from true greatness.

If Nintendo couldn't keep up in 2006, with what PS1 games were doing nearly a decade before, then the game just can't be the greatest of it's time. This game still could have stood a chance if it was released when originally planned and on the system originally developed for. But Nintendo unfortunately needed a killer app for the launch of their new system, and Twilight Princess was an easy way to make a quick buck.

Why the PSP could be the beginning of Sony's end

I remember nearly two years ago, when Sony launched their shiny little PSP. The handheld gaming system had nearly everything going for it: the sleek look, the Dreamcast level graphics, and solid launch games from Lumines and Wipeout. When the PSP launched, it seemed to blow it's main competitor, the Nintendo DS (I pray to god that you weren't thinking the N-gage), with a six month lead and still no killer app, out of the water. There was no competition - or so we thought.

Fast forward to the fall of 2005, and the floodgate of Q3-Q4 games begin to rush in. The Nintendo DS first saw Nintendogs - a quirky sims-like game where you raise your own puppy. First seeing release in Japan, the game sold in the millions, and pushing systems with equal fervor. Followed by a solid stream of killer app-level titles in Advanced Wars, Castlevania, Sonic, Mario and Luigi 2, and the big wi-fi titles: Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing. With all the successful titles on the DS, Sony would surely pump out more great titles for their PSP. Right? Well not exactly. The PSP only saw sloppy ports of what were great games on the PS2. But Sony still didn't fear - touting the PSP as an awesome multi-media device, the system itself still sold well into 2006.

That was something that Sony's PSP always had over Nintendo's DS - it was a sexy device. Nintendo's systems always had a very "kiddy" look to them (culminating in the purple lunchbox that was the Gamecube).

That all changed in June of 2006, when Nintendo launched the DS lite. The system itself - a shiny haven of sexiness - appealed to gamers of all ages, who were too embarrassed to be seen in public playing the clam shell of the former DS. The DS lite indeed, seemed to be the last nail in the PSP's coffin.

In my opinion, the PSP could potentially be the downfall of Sony's gaming empire. Their philosophy of packing every multi-media bull crap into their systems proceeded into their PS3. I see this as a selfish attempt to paste all their products into one, hoping it will appeal to most everyone. It would be a novel idea, if was actually done well. Back to the PS3 - Sony's last hope for a profitable gaming department. The problems continued with the sky-high price point of 600 dollars, and Sony's forgetting that this is actually a gaming device, with the lack of good games to warrant the high price.

Does Sony really have any hope? There is a lot of damage control, but it's possible. They have to realize that their systems are directed toward the core gamer, and they don't give a flying shit about a UMD or Blu-ray, all they care about are games, and good ones at that. Focus on getting good developers to develop great exclusive games, whose licenses won't be sold over to Microsoft six months later. Start off by pampering the gamer, because no casual consumer will ever spend 600 dollars on a gaming system. Ever.

First Day of College

Wow, a new beginning has never felt so familiar, so I guess I should just call this an extension of my high school experience. If you're wondering what I'm going on about, I have just begun my college career at the highly accredited Grand Rapids Community College (this is meant to be a joke). It's enjoyable, but if you are looking for a complete left turn from the ho-humminess of high school, one might come up a little disappointed. Honestly I don't mind, I see community college as a simple diversion from the real deal if one didn't exactly excel in their previous years of education, or if the university route is simply too expensive. But for most, including myself, we see community college as a second chance to academically do well and make up for our shortcomings in high school. Its fine, two more years and I'll be off to"bigger and better" things.
Today is also marks my re-entrance into adult society. How scary! For the past three months, I have been in recovery from reconstructive foot surgery and was free of the "burdens" that school and work so willingly supply. Having no real adult obligations was fun while it lasted, but I am really ready to move back on out to the "real world."
Now that I'm home from the "big CC" (I think that's a decent name for it), I feel like booting up a nice warm cup of World of Warcraft. I'm a fan of the game, but I wouldn't say I'm exactly addicted. I feel guilty playing WoW because I am so close to beating Twilight Princess it's sickening, but everyone knows the pick-up-and-play accessibility that is World of Warcraft.
Hmm... a dilemma, well I think this calls for some hardcore thinking. Good day.

I Heart next-gen.biz and Dragon Quest

Yea, so there is this site, and it's called next-gen.biz. It's cool. And if you have any interest whatsoever in the world of video gaming, then you will visit it. now. Or not whatever. I was reading an article on this site about Yuji Horii's decision of bringing Dragon Quest IX to the DS. See, the Dragon Quest series is Japan's most popular video game franchise, (I would actually argue Pokemon, but we'll just go with DQ for the sake of the general consensus of the Japanese gaming public) and I could imagine that many a Japanese fanboy are in an uproar over Horii-san's decision, I mean if my most coveted gaming franchise, The Legend of Zelda, was only to see life on a handheld for the foreseeable future - I would admittedly be disappointed, but personally I am excited to see what the DQ development team can do with Nintendo's little cash crop. Wi-fi multiplayer has already been announced, and is supposed to run in concurrence with the main story.
In my humble opinion, the DS would be my exact choice to play the next installment in this monster of an rpg, granted the PS2 iteration was enjoyable and gorgeous to boot, but with the power of my ds (and a wireless internet connection) I can fend off all the slimes I want with my wifi friends around the world while stuffing my face with a BigMac and fries.
It also makes sense from a financial standpoint - The DS has managed to sell in 2 years, nearly 40 million units, and is still selling out in stores across Japan and the US. Square Enix and crew just decided to jump on the bandwagon, and strike where it's most profitable (seeing as the PS3 is currently a budget whore) and honestly I can't blame them, actually, I commend them for pulling something out of left-field and surprising us with a series, that is all but unsurprising.
-Oh and for those fanboys, you know you're still going to buy the game, so stop your bitching and actually wait for the game to come out this time.