1 minute Dragon game

So I’ve got another “1 minute” game for you.  This time, here there be dragons.  Yep.  Those big winged flapping lizard-like creatures.  You have 1 minute to list as many video games that have dragons in them.  Be they bosses, pets, or just in cut scenes.  It should be easy, right?  So . . .

On your mark . . . .

Get set . . . .

Go . . .

You got started off really fast.

You’ve named a couple but are you sure they really have dragons in them?

Oops, is that a duplicate?

Come on keep going.

You’ve run out of ideas already?

Okay . . . and time’s up.

How many did you get?  Here’s my list.  I have a few maybes on it and I’ll have to explain those.

 

My list:

Legend of Dragoon

Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy VII

Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age 2

Skyrim

Spyro the Dragon

Spyro the Dragon: Ripto’s Rage

Sypro the Dragon: Enter the Dragonfly

Blue Dragon

My maybes:

Dark Stone

Balder’s Gate

Champions of Norath

Summoner

Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade

Gauntlet

So I got 10 that I know of for sure that have dragons.  I could have probably listed all of the Final Fantasy games but I wasn’t sure if they all had a dragon in them.  I’m not even totally sure with FF7 but I’m hedging my bet that it does.  And I'm know there are more Spyro games that what I have listed but I can't remember any more than what I put down.

As to the maybes I have various excuses or doubts about including them.  I might have to do some research to see if I’m just imagining things with these games or I got it right.  Unless someone wants to do it for me and put it in the comment’s section. 

It’s been a very long time since I played Dark Stone and then I didn’t even get very far in the game.  I’ve been meaning to go back and what I remember of the game it’s perfect to have a dragon.

It’s also been a very long time since I’ve played both Balder’s Gate and Champions of Norath.  They are also a couple of games that have got to have a dragon or two.  I’m pretty sure that my brother dain and I have finished both of those games but nothing comes to mind specifically about dragons.  Even if not a boss but just something terrifying to look at in a cut scene.

Summoner is the game dain and I are supposed to be finishing for the PS2.  When I think of “summoners” I think of magic and summoning dragons.  So there’s got to be a dragon in that game right?

Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade is a game I’ve been playing on the PSP.  It’s another game that I’m not very far in but seems perfect to having a dragon in the game.  If not a boss, then some eye candy instead.  There’s another game in the Untold Legends series that I have but I can’t remember the name so I didn’t count it.  Warrior’s Code.  Or maybe, Warrior’s Guild.  Or something like that.  Since I can’t remember what it’s called, I’m not counting it.  Even as a maybe.

Gauntlet is a game my brother dain and I have finished a couple of times.  On the N64.  On the PS.  And on the GameCube.  And maybe more systems and versions of the game.  I can’t remember if there are any dragons in the game.  If there are they’re probably fought while on the ground.  At least I don’t remember any aerial combat battles in any of those games.  And since I can’t remember any subtitles for any of those versions I’m only counting them as one game.  And that’s only a maybe too.

Personally I’m disappointed with myself.  I thought I would have done better than that.  Especially since one of my favorite genres of video games is RPGs and those are usually fantasy games.  And aren’t dragons, in one form or another, a requirement in fantasy games?  Maybe if I played more of those games . . . or at least played more IN all of those games that I have I could have done better.  How well did you do?  Leave your results in the comments.  And if you’ve got some ideas for more “1 minute” game ideas leave those in the comments as well.  I’ve got a few more ideas I want to explore but it won’t hurt to have more.

Not again

So in an effort to recapture some of that excitement of playing video games I decided to dust off my PS2 and play some old school games. I had good intentions, but things didn't turn out so good in the end.

First I had to find all the cords and equipment I would need to play on my PS2. It's amazing how the Dualshock 2 controller feels so foreign in my hands when it use to feel so comfortable. After I got everything hooked up I put in my first disk.

I decided to start with a great game that I spent more than a hundred hours playing and even more watching dain play as well. That was Final Fantasy X. It's one of the few games that I've finished yet I still go back and play it every now and then. I was hoping this would be one of those times. Unfortunately my PS2 said it couldn't read the disk.

After a few failed attempts I tried to put in another game. This time I picked up Dark Cloud. I was so close to the end the last time I had that game that I'm eager to get there again. It's one of the few games that I don't mind replaying all the earlier stuff to get back to where I was. Thankfully that game worked and I spent a couple of hours fighting my way through the dungeon levels and rebuilding Narrune.

Unfortunately I got a little cocky while battling an enemy and I thought I would defeat them before my weapon broke with still plenty of abs left to repair it, but I somehow miscalculated and my weapon broke and is now lost forever. It was a mighty powerful weapon. Let us bow our heads in silence for the lost of my shiny, strong sword.

And we're back.

After awhile I decided that I wanted to play something else. I played a little Final Fantasy IX but thought I should really be working on Final Fantasy VII since that is the game dain and I are suppose to be playing. I put disk one in for Final Fantasy VII but that game wouldn't load either. At this point on Saturday I turned everything off and went to my parent's house of dinner and to watch the hockey game.

On Sunday I wanted to try my PS2 again. Final Fantasy X still wouldn't work. Final Fantasy IX wouldn't work either. And now Dark Cloud wouldn't load up. I finally got a game to work. That was Muppet's Party Cruise but when it started to load the first screen of the game after I logged in it froze. When I tried to reset the PS2 it wouldn't read the disk again.

While on the phone talking to dain I finally found a game my PS2 would play. Balder's Gate Dark Alliance. I played that for awhile and found that I had to backtrack through a lot of areas that I had already been. Why I was back at the Inn I can't remember. At least the game worked.

The game I really wanted to play was Final Fantasy IX. Actually I really just wanted to play Tetra Master the mini game that you can play with villagers. I pulled a disk out of my case and put it in my machine. Much to my surprise the game loaded up. Unfortunately I had put in disk 3 instead of disk 1. After 4 or 5 failed attempts to get my machine to read the first disk it finally did and I spent a couple of hours fighting my way through an open field and an ice cave before I finally got a village. By then I was too tired to keep playing so I turned everything off for the night.

I had to send my Xbox 360 back three times in one year because it started to fail at reading disks. Now I'm having the same problem with my PS2. It's only a year old and hardly been played at all. And it's been stored in a nice dry dust free environment when not in use. Why is this machine having the same problem as my 360? And most importantly WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME AGAIN?

All I want is a nice quiet evening playing a game with a great story, engaging characters and fun game mechanics. I don't need life-like graphics and nonstop action to make me happy. For someone who's use to the level of realism in current generation consoles it was a shock to go back to the spiky hair, Popeye-like biceps of the characters of FFVII and even FFIX. We've come a long way since then in graphics and power and such. Why can't we have also come a long way in making consoles that actually read the disk that they're suppose to?

It wasn't like I was sticking an Xbox game in my PS2. Those games I tried were meant to played on that system. Maybe it's not the console but the disks themselves. It's possible. It they were my original games I know they would work. I take great care with my game disks. They're the closest I'll probably get to having kids so they get all of my love and attention. Unfortunately when I had to replace all of my games I had to take what I could find on some of them. Not everyone loves their games or takes care of them as much as I do. Either way I miss playing MY games on MY machines. I'm getting deja vu all over again and I don't like it. Please no more 'disk read errors'. Not now. Not again.

Poll Results - Play as a female character?

So, I was playing online when one of my friends got a little riled up when he didn't get to play as the female character and that got me thinking. Which created this poll. Which created these scientifically sound polling numbers.

Do you play as a female character?

Yes, I am a girl in real life = 1 vote
Yes, I love the eye candy = 2 votes
No, girls are sissies = 0 votes
No, I need to show how manly I am = 3 votes

For starters let me say that I am incredibly relieved to see that no one voted for the "sissy" option. You can all remain on my friend's list.

I guess it's pretty obvious which option I picked. I am a girl in real life after all. But I don't go out of my way to pick a girl to play just because I am one. If I can only choose once (meaning the sex of your character has no bearing on the game play) than I pick whichever character is prettier. Yes, I know, how shallow of me. But if I'm going to be looking at that character for 20-50 hours of gameplay (or more) I want something aesthetically pleasuring to my sense of style and taste. Sometimes that would be a cute little female character in Fable II or sometimes it might be a male soldier in Borderlands. But then again if the characters have specific attributes (and I'm not talking about those that made Laura Croft famous) that are more suited to my gameplay, than I would pick that character.

So Borderlands is a combination of a nice, strong looking gentleman with the strengths and characteristics of how I like to play a game (at least the first time through). It also didn't hurt that his name was Roland which is the name of my favorite character from The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. But that's besides the point. Once/If I ever finish Borderlands with my soldier Roland I'll go back and play it through with a different class. Maybe that time I'll pick Lilith.

But what started all of this was a night playing Zombie Apocalypse and Beamer wanted to play as the chick. I'm pretty sure I picked the chick, but I'm use to that in multiplayer games. Whenever dain and I would play together (Balder's Gate, Champions of Norrath to name a couple) he would always pick a male character and I would always pick a female character so we could tell the difference. I think that's mostly because we almost always picked the same class of character. When we played Hunter: The Reckoning I would pick the girl because after he picked his character the girl was the best choice of who was left.

Now, if it didn't matter whether you picked a male or female character and the game was in a first person point of view so you couldn't see your character on the scene, would those that voted for the eye candy still do so? Are they trying to let their inner divas out? And what if the story/achievements were different depending on the sex of your character? Would you play as male first then female second, or vice versa? And if you're so happy to play as a female character why aren't you happy to have a female avatar? Come on, I dare ya to do it.

And for those that need to show how manly they are, there is an easier way to prove that. Just send me a picture to . . . um . . . prove your manliness and I will happy to vouch for you. I'll be thorough and critical, but I'm sure you'll all . . . measure up just nicely. ;-)

"Bioware has done it again"

"Bioware has done it again." That's what my brother said as he was putting in his Mass Effect disk in his Xbox 360 to show me what the game was like. I had just bought the game but I hadn't had a chance to play it yet. I didn't know what he meant at first but then he said Bioware was the developer who did Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Ah, now I understand.

But I didn't really understand. Not at first anyway. Then I watched him play. He replayed the first couple of missions so I could see how the game was set up. I was impressed. And eager to play. But his "Bioware has done it again" comment got me thinking. What else have they done? And did I like any of it?

I looked up Bioware's inventory of games and I was pleasantly surprised. I knew about almost all of them and I not only did I have most of the them I loved them too. Balder's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR, Jade Empire and now Mass Effect. These are all great games. KOTOR came out in 2003, Jade Empire 2005 and now Mass Effect in 2007. What great game are they planning on releasing in 2009?

Usually it's the game that gets the attention and then you see who the developer is. If I mentioned Final Fantasy you'd think of Square (Squaresoft, Square Enix or whatever they're calling themselves these days). If I mentioned Crash Bandicoot you'd think of Naughty Dog. And if I mentioned Jak & Daxter you might be a little surprised to realize that Naughty Dog developed them too. And I'm sure you know Ratchet & Clank are done by Insomniac Games. These are all games or a series of games that gets you interested in what the developer is going to do for the next game in that series. But what about new games?

And then there's Bioware. Yes, they've done expansions for Balder's Gate and Neverwinter Nights but they're expansions. Other than that each new game that has come out has been a new entity. A new world to play in. A new chance to be blown away again. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. I hope the next time I can say "Bioware has done it again" . . . and again . . . and again.

My Favorite Games - Playstation 2

One thing I love about the Playstation 2 was that when it came out it was backwards combatable. There was no need for system updates, or downloading files in order to get your old Playstation games on a new system. It just worked. I’m sure that’s one reason why Sony led the video game industry for so long. I don’t even think Nintendo even heard of the words “backwards combatable.” At least when it comes to their consoles. Here’s my list of favorite games for the Playstation 2:

#1 Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2
I played. I cried. Then I played some more. The story for this installment of the Final Fantasy series is wide in scope and breadth but intimate and tender at the same time. It’s been said that die hard fan boys cried in Final Fantasy VII when Aeries died but I wouldn’t blame them if they did the same sometime during this game. And who can forget Blitzball. If this sport could actually happen I’d love to go and watch it. I wish I could play, but I can’t hold my breath long enough.

#2 SSX Tricky
“I am King of the mountain!” Who hasn’t wanted to shout this just before gliding down the mountain turning Uber Tricks left and right? Nailing all those different Uber Tricks in one run can be tedious or a riot of laughter. Who wouldn’t want the laws of physics that govern this game to apply at the next Winter Olympics? I still haven’t mastered every mountain and every type of run but they’re all unlocked and they’ve given me many hours or elation and despair. That's why I keep coming back for more.

#3 TimeSplitters (all of them)
This was my first adventure into the shooting genre of game play. I was hooked right away . . . and dead. I can still remember when I finally started to get the upper hand in matches with my brother. I was no longer the perpetual respawner because of all the times he killed me. Now I could roam around and pop him off a time or two before having to spawn again. The characters are hilarious to look at and their behavior in the selection screen under the spotlight is just another chance to laugh before getting into the game. Just remember the zombies only die if you shoot their heads off.

#4 Dark Cloud
Who knew that being the only member of the Village Planning Committee could be so demanding? You fight through a dungeon in order to save a part of your village and when you go to restore that person you’re met with thanks and then a request to make their life better . . . and subsequently yours. Pretty soon you have a laundry list of things the villagers want and getting all the pieces in the right place takes a lot of trial and error. Is it worth it? Yes. And fun too. You’ll find yourself going back to past dungeons over and over again in order to get more treasured jewels to attach to your weapon to make it stronger. And have I mentioned you have to figure out how to keep fish from rotting so you can do more things in the game? Ice, ice, baby.

#5 Lego Star Wars I & II
So that’s what it looks like when a Wookie rips the arms off of someone . . . if you’re a block constructed action figure. Use the power of the Force to move something or your blaster to blow it away. It’s action packed and demands replay just so you can go back to areas that you couldn’t access before. But be prepared to laugh. Try walking down the hallways in Bespin City when Lando keeps grabbing Leia’s hand to kiss it. “The Force will be with you . . . always.”

#6 Racer Revenge (Star Wars)
Finally, a game that shows the true power and speed of pod racing. And just how making repairs mid-race really affects things. The landscape will zip by you when all you want to do is stop and admire the scenery. But don’t do it. Sebula will win and you’ll be labeled Bantha Poodoo. You don’t want to happen now do you. The only down side is it only supports 2 players in multiplayer game play. I would love to see this game support 12-16 humans players in a real race.

Honorable Mentions:
Balder’s Gate: Dark Alliance 1 & 2, Champions of Norrath 1 & 2, Ever Grace, Jak & Daxter/Ratchet and Clank, Maximo: Ghost to Glory, Super Bust a Move, Xenosaga I, Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, and Muppets Part Cruise