Second Life suffers from Sequel Syndrome

I'll admit, I'm not an aficionado of Warren Ellis. Aside from a few random comic series and an episode of Justice League Unlimited, the most I know about Ellis comes from his guest appearance in Powers. Mostly known for being an incredible blend of pompous ass and storytelling master, his work really puts the "ook" in comic books without stretching the medium incredibly. But then again, not everybody can be an insane Scottish genius.

So it surprised me that Ellis would do tackle something as mundane as digital world correspondent for Reuters. But then again, perhaps it's the closest the creator could get to merging with his creation. In any case, the column is a surprisingly intriguing read. But pouring over old and new entries, I began to wonder: why on god's green earth would anyone want to live Second Life?

When I was in high school, we didn't even have MMOs. We had MUDs, essentially multiplayer Zork. Then, like now, you worked your way through quests, killing creatures, earning gold and buying things. There was always a certain goal in mind and a way to go about it. Nowadays, MMOs offer a narrative to go along with the activities, I suppose to placate those who can't put the effort into creating their own story. But it's still the same.

But in Second Life, the goals mirror those of, well, First Life: offer goods/services for something of hopefully equal value. There's no overarching quest, it's quite literally whatever you want it do be. And the more time you put into it, the more potential return there is. This is fine in theory, if not for the central problem of time.

Homo Sapiens are living longer thanks to advancements in medicine and sanitation. But we essentially still have a very limited time in which to experience life. Some people never experience meat. Some people never have sex or get married., and this was 30 years ago. When you add in the added distraction of a simulated world that offers more freedom and control than one's real existence, the once slightly troubling desire to escape reality becomes a driving reason in creating isolation.

Why doesn't this apply to other video games? Most interactive media is meant to stimulate oneself on a certain level, brief forays into an alternate situation that intrigues or distracts the mind. Engrossing stories, brain challenges, competition can found in all sorts of mediums, games included. But there has never been a question that such activities, books, movies, sports, music, video games, have always been meant to supplement life, not supplant it.

People earn a living playing game after game of online poker. Friends text and chat with each other abundantly, even when sitting next to each other (usually for laughs, but still!). Teens return to their respective homes in order to play online together rather than hang out together.

Thankfully, I haven't heard of someone giving up life outside to live exclusively online, and for the most part such an occurrence is still laughable. But the next generation is already living in a world where computer literacy is a primary skill and the Internet is a staple of everyday life. Who knows how they would view such an existence?

The point is, First Life is superior to Second Life in nearly every way. The rewards of engaging the tactile senses far outweigh the brief humor one might feel from making it rain dildos. As a distraction, SL might be fun for a brief time, but the people that herald it as a revolutionary breakthrough in human communication and lifestyle are either misguided or insane (in the bad way).

There's just nothing really unique to be gained from SL. Selling avatar clothes? It might take a while, but go to school and try your hand at fashion design. Selling property? Real estate licenses are pretty easy to come by. Selling physical services? Okay, this one I think is preferable online if only for fear of STDs. Just don't tell anyone whom you want to respect you that you're an online whore.

I haven't played the game, so my view is biased in that way, but the only business advantage I can see is that it's easier to start up (if you consider 3D modeling easier). But it has the exact same amount of difficulty to succeed. Less, actually, if you count the decreased population.

At any rate, Second Life the video game is just that: a game, a recreational activity, and a boring one at that (phallic storms notwithstanding). Anybody who tries to tell you otherwise, that you can pay your bills (not just supplement your income) by devoting all or most of your time to it while still coming away feeling enriched by the experience is selling something.

Of course, soon afterwards, I stumbled upon a news article detailing Playboy's plan to enter SL. No word yet about what they plan to trade in to make a profit, but if it's the laughable idea of selling sexy avatars or the images thereof, they've already been beaten to the punch.

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The RC

[ARCHIVE: Continuing the trend of video game fiction. I realize now that I guess these qualify as fanfiction. Oops. Even though failed to popularize "The RC" as an acronym for the game, I find it amusing.]

Alex lounged on the front steps of his school, alone. This was not uncommon. He had a reputation among the student body of being a recluse. It wasn't that he was outcast. Ask most of his schoolmates and their replies varied upon, "He's a nice enough guy, I guess. I don't really know him." Most people knew he was an okay guy most of the time. There were even rumors of how he would step in, helping people in need, but never staying around to receive any gratitude. The problem was his other reputation. When he got angry, he got really angry. Angry enough to throw punches. Only a few people had ever seen it, but the few and fragmented accounts of such legendary blow-ups were enough to make it school gossip. But Alex was a loner mostly by choice. It was a matter of feeling different, like he didn't quite belong because of what he thought about.

What was different with Alex sitting on the steps of his school today was that it was already ten in the morning. Classes should have been well underway, but the front door remained chained and the side entrances were all locked. It was as if classes were not meant to be in session at all today. In his mind, Alex could imagine the meetings the School Board had toiled in. He could hear the announcement in the morning informing the students; the announcement he had not heard because he had ditched school in favor of sitting under the bridge, contemplating life and lazily throwing stones into the river. He saw the copies of the letters sent out, notifying homes that there would be no school this day. He could see the single typo that put his letter into the endless rerouting of the postal service, never to land on his doorstep. It seemed like fate's kind of humor.

Like the brick flying in his direction. Almost instinctively, Alex extended his fist in its direction. The cement block shattered against his hands, sending red debris cascading to the ground. He looked at the small rubble pile without turning his head. This is what I do. I don't stop a threat, I take it apart, hurting it until it will never attack aga-
He narrowed his eyes. Under the stone fragments seemed to be a note. It had been more than an attack; it had been a message. He turned in the direction it had come from- the school.

There, in the window. Andy, one of the Dragon Twins. Ever since he and his brother Randy had arrived, the school had been plagued with delinquency and violence. Almost immediately they had risen to the top of the street gang hierarchy. Their fighting skills were unmatched; only their lack of intelligence kept them from being really threatening. If they were inside, it could only mean that they had taken made good on their boasts to take over the school. But Alex knew that they could only be muscle puppets for someone smarter.

Hopping to his feet, Alex charged out the front gate. He was strong, even scarily so, but he was only one man. If he was to help his school, help his friends, he would need help. And as much as it made his stomach turn, he knew only Ryan could be of any help. The thought of fighting alongside his rival from Cross Town High was sickening, but not as much as his dread at unleashing his inner fury, the one he had spent so long trying to control. Being alone was fine with him, as long as it was his choice. He didn't want his classmates to see him for the animal he was and lose any positive thoughts they had about him. He cursed the unknown mastermind. Whoever he was, he had already made Alex cross two lines he had hoped to never do. But he would make him pay. He would show him what happened to those who threatened River City High.

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Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GCN)

[ARCHIVE: This video game review follows the OldSchoolGamers website formatting.]

Content:
Game features realistic combat, gunplay, and political intrigue. While focus of the game is arguably on stealth and avoiding detection, the battle system is well developed and often intersects gameplay. As a result, there is a good deal of violence. What makes it more offending than say, a spy movie is that the blood is often right onscreen. Wait until the teenage years, by which they've past their "violence for violence's sake" phase.

Suggested Age Level: 17+

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

Review:
Snake Reloaded
When the original Metal Gear Solid was released on the PSone, it forever raised the bar in terms of quality. Here was a game with a truly cinematic feeling. Cutscenes rivaled theatrical action movies, with dynamic angles, superbly delivered voice acting and amazing plot reversals. As if this wasn't enough, the game engine allowed a large degree of freedom. You could dispatch enemies with traditional violence, but provided one had the skill one could simply sneak past them by ducking around corners or hiding under boxes. Game director Hideo Kojima boasted that it was possible to beat the game without fighting anybody but the bosses.

With the release of the much anticipated sequel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, gamers were treated to a vastly improved game engine that increased the level of detail. Glass shattered, shadows gave away positions and tranquilizer dart efficiency depended on where you shot the enemy. Unfortunately, many people did not feel that the new story delivered as well as the original had. Jokingly, some suggested it would have been simply better for Konami to just remake the first game with the game engine of the second. Little did they suspect that that was exactly what Kojima would do.

Gameplay
Like in the original, you play Solid Snake, former agent of the American military and living legend. Terrorists have taken over a government nuclear armament facility in Alaska and are threatening to launch a nuke. Your mission is to infiltrate the base, rescue any hostages and eliminate the terrorists’ ability to launch a nuclear strike. The bad news is that you start off with only a radio, radar, and a pack of cigarettes. The good news is that you don't need to eliminate the competition, just avoid them. To this end, you can misdirect your enemies with sound, hide inside, or sneak up behind them and make them reach for the sky. If it comes down to it, you can use one of any number of weapons you pick up along the way to take soldiers out. Be wary, however, because the more you kill, the higher security will become. They've got numbers and equipment on their side ,so it's better to try that whole sneaking thing.

Graphics and Sound
The jump in visuals between the original and Twin Snakes is readily apparent. They difference between Sons of Liberty and Twin Snakes however is negligible. Silicon Knights, who handled the translation, could have attempted to make any number of small improvements (the ability to break limbs bare-handedly comes to mind) but decided instead to simply sit on their haunches. This does not mean that the game does not look great, but those looking for "the next step" will be sadly disappointed.

What has been improved, however, are all of the cinematics. The high polygon count and better textures mean that all the laughably pixelated closeups of the original have been refined to television show Game Over quality. The action direction is vastly improved, thanks to director Ryuhei Kitamura. Snake's combat prowess is now akin to Jet Li, even if it does go over-the-top sometimes. Careful attention has been spent on mood, however. You can feel the desperation in the Ninja's fight against Metal Gear, and Psycho Mantis is way creepy.

The soundtrack in Twin Snakes fits well with the game, but lacks the flair of the original score. Whereas before, the familiar melody would swell during intense moments, cinematic or otherwise, the new songs seem more subdued overall. Thankfully, Mantis' haunting chorus returns, but one would be hard pressed to hear anything else familiar.

Control
Mapping the Playstation controls to the Gamecube controller worked out pretty well, all things considered. The shoulder buttons handle inventory once again, and the Z-button is thankfully there to cover first-person mode. The control layout has been switched around to accommodate the A-button-centric scheme, with mixed results. For a while I found myself wasting bullets when I wanted to crouch. Lowering you weapon (without firing) has also be deprecated, so make sure you know what you're doing before you go on the dogtag hunt.

Flaws
The biggest flaw in the game is its almost-religious adherence to the original. The maps are exactly the same barring slight scaling differences. The enemies follow the same old patrol routes. The challenges are either as difficult as in the original or less so. There is a distinct lack of "new" in this game. The new freedom the MGS2 engine brings only further illustrates how bad this is. Areas constantly have a cramped feel to them, as if things are crammed way too close together.

Lasting appeal
There are some unlockables, so you might be able to squeeze a couple run-throughs before it begins to collect dust. Like its predecessor, the action movie, Twin Snakes is really more of an occasional play. You'll be glad to have it, and maybe pick it up again in the far future, but one completion is probably enough to satiate you for a while.

Kiddie play
This is not really a game for the young-uns. This is a game you should get for your high school upperclassman or college student if they haven't already. If you really feel ambitious, compete with your teen to see who can get the better end ranking, which involves more sneaking than kicking ass.

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Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)

[ARCHIVE: This video game review follows the OldSchoolGamers website formatting.]

Content:
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is a simple platform-RPG hybrid. Objectionable material is limited to cartoony violence, the worst of which involves swinging oversized hammers around. Fine viewing for all ages, although the challenge level may be a little too much for the youngest of gamers.

Suggested Age Level: 5+

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

Review:
From Jumping to... Jumping
Mario, perennial mascot of the Nintendo company, and his sometimes-forgotten younger brother Luigi make another run at the role-playing genre of video games. Not to disappoint its fans, the game once again revolves around kidnapping, Princess Peach Toadstool and jumping on stuff. The twist comes in the same of a new villainess, the sorceress Cackletta, who steals Peach's voice and replaces it with (literally) explosive language. With a little help from a miffed Bowser, Mario and Luigi must travel to the neighboring kingdom of Beanbean to get Peach's voice back.

Gameplay
Play is centered around platform gaming and RPG combat. While traveling around the Beanbean Kingdom you control the both Mario Brothers, walking and jumping around the terrain as well as switching lead characters. By talking to key individuals, you'll gain combo moves that the Mario brothers can do together. For instance, have Luigi jump on Mario's head and you'll do a high jump. But have Mario jump on Luigi's head and they'll perform a helicopter floating-type jump. You gain more moves and combos as the game progresses, opening up more and more of the world. At certain times you'll even seperate the two brothers and switch between them to progess. The Mario Brothers have an incredible sense of self-preservsation and won't go past the cliff of a bottomless pit, so you never have to worry that. Running around the screen will be enemies, which you can either run around and avoid or make contact with and switch to the battle screen.

This is when the RPG elements come to the foreground. Combat is basically your typical turn-based system, where people move according to order. When its a brother's turn you can choose to do a normal attack, use an item, run away or (if Mario and Luigi are both present) perform a special "Brothers Attack" where our heroes combine their talents to do devastating attacks for the cost of a few Brothers Points (essentially mana points). Defeat enough enemies and you'll gain enough experience to level up, boosting your stats, making you stronger so you can defeat tougher enemies, getting you more experience, etc.

You can also walk around towns and buy different equipment, items for health and perform a number of different sidequests.

If you have a GBA link cable and either this game or any Mario Advance cartridge you can link up to play classic Mario Bros, either co-op or battle. If you only have one game pak you can still play battle mode with your friends.

Graphics and sound
Graphically, Superstar Saga is really cute and kid-friendly. The characters are all streamlined and simple. Even the antagonists are drawn with relaxing curves and rounded corners. The colors chemes are all pleasent to the eye, and the different objects are always easy to identify. The game makes good use of it resources; objects spin, twist and change sizes smoothly and seemlessly. Nothing to give awards for but they achieve the effect and atmosphere they strive for. There are classic foes like goombas and koopas as well as new enemies and even hybrids (the goomba-with-a-tail tanoomba comes to mind). If you look closely there are even cameos by past characters, including Professor E. Gad, Geno the doll and a barrel-chucking ape skeleton...

The sound in the game also does its job. There are a lot of familiar sound effects, from the jumping noise to the coin sound to the recognizable phrases of the Mario Brothers. The music is average midi fare. It sounds synthesized, and it is, which can add to the nostalgia effect. Nevertheless there isn't anything that sticks out as unpleasant.

Control
The overhead map is easy to figure out, although it may take a little getting used to. Essentially the A button will control the lead brother while the B button controls the back one. Pressing start will switch whomever is in the lead. In this way you can interact with the enviroment and perform combo moves. How you encounter enemies can have an effect on the battle as well. Walk into them and combat preceeds normally. But if the back brother is struck they will be unable to dodge or counter attack until its their turn. Jump on an enemy and they'll start off with a little damage (except for spiked enemies). Hit them with your hammer and they'll be stunned.

Superstar Saga takes a page from its predessesor, Super Mario RPG, and riddles the combat system with a large amount of trigger points. Hit the attack button again right before you strike to do more damage. Press the correct button sequence at the proper times and you'll increase the power of a Bros Attack. When the enemies attack, you can dodge and sometimes even counterattack by pressing the appropriate button. The high level of player involvement in combat helps to keep the game interesting.

Flaws
From playing the game I got the impression that there were two ways to win. You could level up really high and just plough your way through, but if you have good-to-exceptional timing you could probably beat the game in half the time. The difficulty of the game is simple but relies heavily on the fact that during combat you hit the precise button combinations when you need to. Otherwise the player will do significantly less damage and take significantly more. I'm not sure if this is within the abilities of the game's target audience (demographically speaking).

Lasting appeal
Although shorter than most RPGs, the game takes a decent amount of time to complete. The fact that it rests on a portable system is a plus as one can turn it on during a break, gain some experience and then turn it off (although not quite as save-friendly as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance). Like most RPGs, Superstar Saga has a unique demand life. While one may not feel the immediate need to pick the game up after completing it, there will be a lingering taste that another replay further down the line will still yield entertaining results. This is dependant of course on whether or not you're an RPG gamer.

The added GBA connect bonuses are great, especially the one-game-pak-to-play. Making the game compatable with any Mario Advance game is a great move as well.

Kiddie play
The game is good, but may seem too young for someone who can handle the difficulty level. Don't be against buying this game for your kids but be careful and well-informed as well. This is an RPG, which is very easy for younger (and older) gamers to become obsessed over so be wary if you notice a large change in attitude, scheduling or large amounts of time hiding away by themself. Otherwise, have no fear. The game is an excellent introduction into RPGs and the combat system can help your child develop their planning skills and reaction speeds.

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Who Are You

[ARCHIVE: I remember writing this in response to the current advertising campaign Nintendo had running at the time. I think I did okay, translating the game stories into epic descriptions.]

I am a hero.
I am a savior.
I am the one hope for civilization.

I am a blue-collar worker, thrust into a foreign kingdom. My enemy is a merciless despot, bent on the ethnic cleansing of a people whose only crime is being born different. I am a jack-of-all-trades, able to turn the most meager of resources to my advantage. I can fly, swim, and even wear the skins of my enemies. I traverse frozen tundra, scorching desert, even prehistoric jungles in my quest to for freedom.

I am a bounty hunter, crossing the reaches of space, shadowing mercenary geneticists. I have no family, no past. Chosen as the weapon of vengeance for an ancient and dead race, I embrace my destiny. I will cut a swath through my enemies, retrieving the seeds of their destruction from right underneath their noses. I defy physical laws, moving myself through impossible passageways and vaulting through viscous water. I assault my obstacles both living and inanimate, harvesting their own energy and munitions for my own.

I am a force of nature. I am hurricane incarnate. I am a black hole, unfillable, unstoppable, insatiable. There are no opponents that I cannot best, either with my own abilities or their own. I am a master engineer, able to utilize my enemies' weapons in combinations not thought of. I am fire, water, earth, wind. I am animal, vegetable, and mineral. I am anything and everything. And all I have to do is consume.

I am a fighter pilot, crossing the planetary system to end the rule of a galactic criminal. I risk my life in an limited-run experimental ship, able to outmaneuver frigates, dog fighters, bombers and ground gunners. I will block my enemy at every pass, eventually taking the fight to his doorstep. I can withstand urban guerrilla fighters, the creatures of endless oceans, even the fires of stars.

I am a timeless hero. Chosen by fate, only I can wield Evil's Bane and drive darkness from the land. I am a peasant boy from a reclusive people, champion of all. I alone embody the courage and the conviction to right what is wrong. I will gather the weapons of my ancestors, I will recruit the warlocks of the past, and I will find a way to once again restore peace.

I know who I am.
The question is, who are you?

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Indiana Jones and Emperor's Tomb (PS2)

[ARCHIVE: This video game review follows the OldSchoolGamers website formatting.]

Content:

This game features hand-to-hand combat, gun shootouts and the typical Indiana Jones flirting-with-the-ladies(tm). As far as explicitness of violence there's no real blood, although one of the cutscenes implies men getting ripped to shreds by a giant crocodile. There is more objectionable material to be had in one of the films than in this game.

Suggested Age Level: 13+

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

Review:
Calling Dr. Jones
If ever there was a great American hero, Indiana Jones was he. Let's face it, Superman's an alien, the G.I. Joes are army stooges and MacGuyver... okay, maybe him, but Indiana Jones simply exudes cool. Unfortunately his gaming history has been much spottier than his movie and television careers. Fate of Atlantis, a PC adventure puzzler was a great but The Infernal Machine, the console adventure entry did not see such success. The third time seems to be the charm as the oft delayed Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb lives up to the franchise.

Gameplay
The year is actually 1935. The keys to an ancient Chinese tomb are being collected by the up-and-coming Nazis and to stop their obviously evil schemes (as well as defend your treasure-hunter pride) you must beat them to it. You control Indiana Jones directly, running, jumping and, yes, whip-swinging through archeological ruins and urban period settings. As mentioned above, you get Indy’s trademark whip along with an assortment of firearms, maps, and whatever debris you can swing at Nazi scum. Indy will also don different outfits depending on the setting, from his traditional coffee colored shit, to his leather jacket and even the snazzy white-jacket tuxedo, seen in the beginning of Temple of Doom. You also get a couple health items, including medikits and the miraculous canteen. Yes, by drinking regular water you heal damage from multiple bullet wounds in the chest. Maybe it's Holy Grail water.

Graphics and sound
The visuals for the game are very good, many of them too good. There are so many details and mapping textures occupying the screen that at times the game suffers from slow down. While this would not be a problem if it ran at a constant frame rate, the PS2 becomes very fluid when the space is limited to a few close walls, you and a baddie. This only makes the slowdown more noticable when it does occurs. Not much attention has been spent on blurring effects so the game can look jaggy quite often. But the character models are all decently smooth and well proportioned. The animals especially look very good. The first time I saw the rats I panicked, although not as much as when the great white crocodile filled my screen.

The sound, like in many LucasArts games is superb. The familiar themes from the Indiana Jones movies are back and placed in appropriate times. The music swells when enemies ambush you and strike a triumphant refrain when you successfully dispatch them. The score also adds tension when you’re faced with ancient booby traps. Voice acting is top notch as well. The actor playing Indiana Jones mayb not be Harrison Ford but I would be hard pressed to tell them apart just from listening. The script is also quite fun as Jones throws off-handed quips. "This oughta even things up a bit..."

Control
Moving Indiana around takes some getting used to. You have quite a number of actions and the game manages to map them all out, utilizing every button and stick for some purpose. Sorry, digital pad lovers, but you can only use the analogue stick to move and control the camera. The rest of the buttons are pretty standard. You have an action button, a jump button, and two different attack buttons, so you can choose whether to pop a cap or pistol whip Hans and Rolph. If you've played Tomb Raider, you have an idea of what to expect.

Flaws
The game can be hard to control. Hit detection, say when jumping from vine to vine is especially unforgiving. The camera is pretty good for the most part but slow to pick up the slack. You'll find youself shifting the camera just to keep Indy on screen. And the horizontal control is direct rather than inverted, which can cause some confusion at first. But once you get into the groove of things you'll have no problem getting around.

Lasting appeal
It’s an Indy game, it rocks. The atmosphere from the movies is carried across extremely well, making the game as fun to play as it is to watch the movies. A huge part of the appeal is that yes, this is one of the beloved movie icon and you get to guide him through an all-new adventure. The game is pretty lengthly as well, so you'll get your money's worth out of it.

Kiddie play
Unfortunately, this is where the game falls short. It is obviously a game meant for somebody who knows and appreciates the Indiana Jones Character. As such, younger kids might not get as much fun out of it as older kids. But your teens and college students should remember the character and have fun with the game. Since it's single player, there's not much you can do in terms of co-play, but it's not a game you should have any worries handing to your pubescent children.

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StarFox Adventures (GCN)

[ARCHIVE: This video game review follows the OldSchoolGamers website formatting.]

Content:
Basically child friendly, the game features basic close-quarters combat, huge dinosaurs and some space laser battles. The most objectionable part (and this is shaky at best) is the main female lead's objectification as she sports nothing but a bikini during her very rare appearences.

Suggested Age Level: 10+

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

Review:

Old Fox, New Tricks
Back in the heyday of the SNES, if someone said StarFox, one thought of a flight shooter with crappy polygon effects. Ahead of its time, the original StarFox was the first game to utilize the Super FX chip, an ineffective endeavor to somehow up the graphics power of the SNES. But behind the plain-looking objects and the midi-heavy soundtrack was a solid concept. The problem was that Nintendo didn't yet have a machine to properly present the forward-scroller. This was proven with the release of StarFox 64, the revamp/remake/special edition for the Nintendo64. Finally Fox McCloud was given a game with production values that would assure his place in console game history. StarFox Adventures is actually a retooling of another project, Dinosaur Planet, which was developed for the N64 but moved to the Gamecube. Not really a "true" StarFox game, it's primarily a third-person adventure in the Legend of Zelda vein.

Gameplay

You play as Fox McCloud, head pilot of the StarFox team. Dinosaur Planet is flying apart and you have to, well, put it back together. Easier/harder than it sounds. You must tool around the planet and its various orbiting islands, fighting baddies and collecting Spirit Stones which keep the planet together (apparently they don’t invest heavily in gravity).

Tacked onto the game are the flying stages you need to go between different chunks of the planet that have broken off. They play like a watered down version of previous StarFox games. No targeting, no charging and the scoring system is much different. Its functionally equivalent to the Gummi Flyer in Kingdom Hearts.

Graphics and Sound

Visually the game is solid. The computing power of the Gamecube really shines through in nearly every aspect of the game. The landscapes range from warm grasslands to charred volcanic caverns to powder-covered snow fields. All the colors are vivid and perfectly fitted. Plenty of attention has been spent on the little details, from the ripples in the water to the weather effects to the way Fox's ears move in the wind. Texture mapping has progressed to the point where pixilation only occurs during extreme close-ups during cut-scenes, all of which are in-engine. Illumination effects are handled quite nicely, playing from the appropriate light sources and tints. However the character designs take some getting used to. Peppy is really old now and Fox actually looks younger despite the fact that this takes place eight years after the previous game.

The sound is good in SFA. Familiar strands of the StarFox themes fly by during appropriate times. The sultry, sexy sax solo that is Krystal's theme is pretty hilarious since it's obviously trying to make her seem desirable (parents, make sure you have the furry talk if you’ve already had the talk). Anyway, the sound effects are deftly interspersed. Electric crackles, prehistoric roars, even self-rumbling mushrooms are nicely done. The voice acting is also pretty good. The actors aren't the same ones in StarFox 64, but they're close enough to be passable. Scottish and British accents are rampant among the dinosaurs, inferring I don't know what. The only time I winced was when Krystal spoke in "dino talk." Maybe it was because she was talking in a made-up language but she really didn't get any of the inflections right. But once you get your translators working and everybody is speaking English everything works out.

Control
Your main weapon is a staff which you can (supposedly) perform combos with by tilting the stick in different directions. There is a working but underdeveloped auto-targeting system in fighting. You can't initiate a lock-on until the enemy is close enough and you have your staff drawn. What's most troubling is the inability to switch targets. Once you're locked on to a guy you either have to defeat him or put your staff away.

An interesting feature is the use of the C-stick to access the inventory. By jimmying the stick you bring up your inventory and then scroll up or down through the objects. You can also assign one inventory item to the Y button for quick access. For ease, things are separated into three categories: supplies, special moves and sidekick commands (more on this later). Rather than just have a map onscreen, you have the PDA device which features not only a zoomable(!) map but also an information setting (for when you're near interactive objects) and a fuel cell compass which helps in finding, er... fuel cells.

At first glance, the coolest innovation is the sidekick commands. During your adventure you meet Tricky, crowned prince of the Earthwalker Tribe (a race of protoceratops). Once you rescue him he follows you around during your adventure. If you keep him well-fed, you can command him to perform tasks like dig up secrets or breathe fire (but it's useless during battle). He also serves as an early warning system, telling you where secrets are or when enemies are near. It boils down to just having another set of moves but its kinda fun to see the little guy following you around.

Flaws
The passing of time, although handled well, doesn’t seem to serve any purpose. In fact the only thing it seems to do is make things hard to see in the twilight. The combat system also a bit to be desired. Executing battle moves seems to be more about dumb luck than actual combos. Fighting is fun at first, but with limited secondary weapons you get tired of seeing Fox pull the same roundhouse swing repeatedly. The camera is also pretty limited. It vaguely stays behind you, but for cinematic and hinting purposes, it may stray. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. The Arwing levels feel extremely nonessential, like they were added only so that the Star Fox label could be added to the title.

Lasting Appeal
On the whole the game is good if not memorable. I feel bad because it's a solid effort that will undoubtedly be forgotten. The action is par but nothing special. With the exception of Fox and Tricky, none of the characters stand out. And while there are secret features that you can unlock they are all achievable on the first play-through. The only reason to play again would be if you enjoyed the experience. But with so many similar but better games out there, there’s no reason to.

Kiddie Play
SFA is a nice game that kids would enjoy. The puzzles are on level with its contemporaries and the built-in hint system will keep them from getting frustrated. But to a parent I would recommend against buying this game. I might be tempted to if it was in the bargain bin but it’s only truely worth a rental or two. While the game presents a nice packages it’s nothing your kids will think of as classic.

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Metroid Prime (GCN)

[ARCHIVE: This video game review follows the OldSchoolGamers website formatting.]

Content:
Game features strong amounts of laser-gun violence, implied genocide,
and big-n-nasty monsters. If your child doesn't like alien movies, look
for some other game.

Suggested Age Level: 12+

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

Review:

Adding a Dimension
Nintendo milks its mascot characters for every cent they're worth. The premiere titles for any Ninendo machine have almost always been first-party productions. What was lacking in quantity has always been made up in quality. Case in point with Metroid Prime. Hotly contested almost since the announcement of its development, Prime is the fourth installment (or fifth, due to a simultaneous release with Metroid Fusion) involving the bounty hunter Samus Aran. Once again, those pesky Space Pirates are at it and it's up to you to stop them.

Gameplay
You'll be fighting in full 3D environments, a total change for the traditionally side-scrolling adventure game. Armed with only your blaster and your space suit, you’ll traverse the many environments of the planet from ancient ruins to snow-covered plains to underground lava caves. Along the way you’ll pick up the traditional equipment including the charge beam, missiles and the wave beam. You’ll also get nifty visor enhancements allowing you to see in data scan mode, thermal imaging and even X-ray vision. And of course, what Metroid game would be complete without the morph ball, transferred intact with energy bombs and spider-sticking ability.

Graphics and Sound
The graphics are fairly strong. The levels are executed with careful attention to detail, from the steam jets to the jungle mists to the iris-design doors. But its strength lies in the creature designs. Old enemies have been successfully expanded another dimension. Mainstays like zoomers and geemers have not only been retained, but in some cases improved upon. The first time a beetle popped out of the ground made me cry out in a high pitched Pippen-like yelp. The Space Pirates themselves are no longer lethargic humanoid praying mantises but strafing, ambushing, believable nasties. Aside from the obvious initial suspension of disbelief, many of them look like animals we might find on another planet. Everything from their color scheme to their anatomy has been thought out and well executed.

Little effects have been thrown in to heighten things. Steam condenses on your visor, frost cakes up on your gun when you charge your ice beam, sparks even appear as your Morph Ball rolls over metallic terrain. Unfortunately, time devoted to details could have been better spent on the landscape. Mounds of dirt still come off as lumps under a brown blanket and rocks are suspiciously flat surfaced. Which is a shame because other structures, like lab fixtures and trees are well done and only point out the shortcomings of the others. One thing that stood out for me was the excellent rendering they did for the data log pictures of creatures. Whatever techniques or filters they used, they look exactly like they were scanned with an electron microscope.

Sound is unfortunately the weakest part of the game. Most of the music is limited to background atmosphere, so there are no memorable pieces. What's nice is that they're primarily remixes of the old Metroid soundtrack. Right from the get-go you get a nice breakbeat (re)interpretation of the original opening. But the lack of cinematics means there's never a real time to sit back and enjoy the music, which the developers must have taken into account because the sound fades back into a supporting role. It picks up when there's a slew of enemies, punctuated by the guttural alien screams of the Space Pirates. But it's equivalent to a tiger with a music box. For an intergalactic scourge, the pirates don't have much of a language nor do they do much besides stand around waiting for Samus to attack. I would have liked more of a sense of intelligence and language between the pirates, like in Wolfenstein when you over hear snippets of Nazi conversation. Similarly, all the creatures share pretty much the same roar modulated a few wavelength and decibels to be appropriate.

Control
Controlling Samus is fairly easy. It harkens back to the old days of /Goldeneye/ with its one-stick configuration. A nice addition is the lock-on mechanism which allows for accurate shots on a single enemy. All the buttons have been mapped out nicely with major functions on the face buttons and strafing and lock-on assigned to the shoulder buttons. Something I found nice was the application of the little d-pad and the C-Stick which let you shift through different visors and beam cannons respectively. This makes it very easy to switch between X-ray, thermal and scanning visors and can come in handy when the cloaked enemies drop down on you. Similarly, the old Metroid-buster combo is back and better than ever. Now you can freeze them with the ice beam and then shatter them with a missle with a quick flick of the stick (no, that's not innuendo). The grapple beam makes a return, and boy is it fun to execute. The only problem I could find was my predilection for strafing. Sure there's the L-button which puts you into sidestep mode, but there's no way to really circle around a corner. But this is less of a problem since the game focuses more on the adventure aspect rather than death match tactics.

Lasting Appeal
Like in all Metroid games, players are rewarded for quicker run-throughs and collecting all the power-ups. This time the incentive is not to see Samus without the suit on (a guilty pleasure/motivation in my opinion), but to unlock several conceptual art galleries to not only Prime but Fusion as well. If you’re a Nintendo Groupie(tm) you can get some extra play using the Game Boy Link Cable. Completing Fusion first gives you a palette swap option in Prime (to play as the infected-suit Samus). Completing Prime first allows you access to the original Metroid! On its own the game is an intriguing adventure, and beating your friend’s best clear time is satisfaction enough.

Kiddie Play
It’s fairly obvious that Prime was designed not to draw in new players but to cater to fans of the series. For this reason I don’t recommend giving it to youngsters. The complexity of the game is enough to frustrate most preteens and the rewards are not apparent enough for them. The sometimes tense and spooky atmosphere can also be a bit much for little ones. Wait until they’re at the teen level to give this to them, when they’ll have the patience and the experience to polish it off.

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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)

[ARCHIVE: This video game review follows the OldSchoolGamers website formatting.]

Content:
Objectionable material is limited only to sword fighting, minor explosions and vague threats. The game style is modeled after an interactive cartoon, lacking any real blood or gore.

Suggested Age Level: 7+

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review:
Generational Story
In the land of Hyrule there is a legend of a boy. Fighting great evil and insurmountable odds, he rescues the Princess Zelda and her kingdom (Which begs the question, where are the rest of the royal family?). Similarly, Nintendo supplies every one of its major consoles with at least one Legend of Zelda game. Always similar but unique, the story of Zelda, Link and Ganondorf quickly became one of the mainstays of the Nintendo brand. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker continues this proud tradition on the Nintendo GameCube.

Gameplay
In this incarnation, you once again assume the role of Link. Armed at first with only his trusty sword and shield, you must battle foes and solve puzzles in order to progress in your quest. Along the way you will gain more objects to add to your arsenal. I purposely don't use the term weapons because not even half of the items you can use are really weapons. True, you come across old favorites like bombs and arrows but new items like the grappling hook (not to be confused with the hookshot) and the Deku Leaf can also be used to explore areas, not just pacify enemies.

The addition of sailing adds a new and extremely significant dimension to the game. You need to hoist your sails, use the wind and consult your maps to get where you want to go. Sadly, Epona the horse does not return as a horse at sea would be as useful as a screen door, battleship style.

Graphics And Sound
When people talk about video games as an artistic medium, you can be sure they will be talking about Wind Waker for years to come. A huge break from past direction and expectations, the game is rendered like a cartoon. Bright, vivid primary colors fill the screen, bringing life to equally charming character designs. Link's expressions in particular are fantastic as you see his face go from sneaky to determined to utterly panicked. Light and particle effects have gotten the same treatment. Rather then striving to become more realistic, everything has been boiled down to their iconic characteristics. Swirly smoke clouds fade in little puffs. Fire and Lava are rendered with strong and defined yellows and oranges but flicker and ripple with the same chaotic energy of their real life counterparts. A big draw is the replacement of the vugly pointy-nosed Great Fairies with stunning Shiva-like manifestations. Heavy investment must have gone into blur and camera effects because there is barely a jagged, pixelated edge in sight.

Audibly this is the best game in the series yet. The synthesized sonatas of previous games have been improved to almost perfect quality. To the trained ear one might recognized the violins (which dutifully performs out the new version of the series' theme song) as artificial, but coming from my television speakers I was hard up to identify the differences. Old melodic strands return, some of them unchanged, some incorporated into new songs. The beginning of Windfall Island's song bares striking similarity to Lon Lon Ranch. The effects have also received a tune-up and incorporated nicely with the mood music. The convincing crash of ocean waves, the squawk of seagulls, even the grunts and cries of the enemies all come off convincingly. In a nice touch, audio cues accompany fights, sounding off every time you strike a foe, adding to the action atmosphere.

Control
The game borrows heavily from Ocarina of Time. There is a primary action button, a sword button as well as the much-celebrated Lock-On feature. Secondary items can be assigned to the three other face buttons from the item menu. New tricks include stealth maneuvers, including hiding inside barrels, crawling on your belly and wall sidling. Just seeing Link press himself against a cliff and peer around the corner with narrowed eyes is worth at least a rental fee. But the game really shines in its combat system. Combos have been extended and made flashier. You can even make your enemies drop their bigger-than-thou weapons and then wield it against them.

Instead of musical instruments, you get a maestro's baton this time around. While inventive, conducting will take some getting used to. Boating on the other hand is a simple affair. Provided the wind is in your favor (as indicated by the big ole arrow at the stern of the boat), simply lift your sails and point in the direction you want to go.

But the camera, ah the camera. Able to make or break a game, camera control has been very well taken care of in Wind Waker. Again following its previous incarnation the camera generally stays on Link well, centering behind him with a click of a shoulder button. But the designers went above and beyond my expectations, devoting the entirety of the C-Stick to the camera, allowing you to places the camera from any angle with a good range of distance. Imagine if Mario64 had possessed such capability.

For the team-player in you, Wind Waker also utilizes Game Boy Advance Cable technology. The second player can Link up to the Gamecube and play as Tingle, the flamboyant fruity midget from the N64 games, flying high above the action in a balloon. The plus is that he gets a real-time map, can give hints and supply you with help ranging from healing you to bombing your enemies into submission. The bad news? Everything he does costs money. And if your pal is vindictive, dumb, or just plain doesn't play right he can bomb you to bits also.

Flaws
Changing the wind gets old. Fast. Half the non-dungeon puzzles involve having the winding going your way, sometimes meaning you have to whip out your stick multiple times for a single objective. Sailing also becomes tedious. Each location is literally an island unto itself so getting from one place to another takes at least five minutes, more if it's not just the next sector over, and you'll face down some sharks or giant squids. Sure, this is lessened later in the game when you gain warping ability, but not totally eliminated. There are still times now when I set Link towards a destination, break to pick up coffee down the street and come back before anything happens.

Lasting Appeal
As mentioned earlier, the game is a wholly unique take on not only the game series but also the gaming medium itself. If cartoon-adaptation games looked this good, they might not be quite as terrible (but maybe not). But behind the visual candy is a tested and true adventure story. While some might roll their eyes at the tongue-in-cheek clichés, Wind Waker provides enough reinterpretations and new material. The game stands out as being truly fun to just watch, even if you're not playing. For the completist, there is a camera-type gallery for those brave enough to take a picture in the middle of boss battles. But don't worry about those baddies you vanquished before getting your Photo-Box. The second play-through will allow you to keep it from the get-go, as well as an alternate costume.

Kiddie Play
The bottom line is that this game is great for a kid with a good brain on his shoulders. The puzzles are challenging enough to make it interesting but not too hard as to completely stump them. The presentation is completely family friendly and the story, with traditional heroism and valiant acts, is similar to the basic Arthurian legend. It's not something you would mind your kids running off into the backyard to reenact.

My suggestion to parents is to actually let your younger children watch you play. The graphics rival many children's cartoons with a much better script. If your child is old enough to handle it on his own, be the spectator yourself. If you have the right equipment, maybe even take a spin as Tingle, dropping hints to the kid and helping him out rather then just reciting the walkthrough when he gets stuck.

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On Nazis

[ARCHIVE: This was a short explication of a long-standing observation between myself and my peers. I kinda like it, but I'd probably have to put in a lot more references and citations to make it a real article. Also, I am not saying the Nazis weren't evil, just that they are so readily and unquestionably accepted as so.]

Last Wednesday, I was playing the new Wolfenstien for a good number of hours. It's a lot of fun, and a good stress reliever. I play both Allies and Axis, and usually I tend to be Axis, since my chosen player class (Medic) is better suited for defensive work. But for that particular gaming run, I found myself on the side of the Allies the majority of the time. And though I did pretty well (not an l33t m4st3r, but not a newb either), I got myself frustrated sometimes. And when I got particularly emotional, I found myself spewing insults like, "Die! Die, you elitist Aryan fucks!"

So after that I watched The Twilight Zone (the new one, with Forest Whitaker). The premise was that this woman went back in time, and became Adolf Hitler's nanny. She has this one opportunity to kill the child and save the future lives of millions. She spends the entire episode trying to justify to herself killing a baby. In the end, she grabs wittle Adolfie and jumps in the river, drowning herself and the child (apparently, she doesn't know how to swim). The kicker is that the other housekeeper sees her, and instead comes back to the Hitler household with a baby she bought off a homeless Jew on the street. and that's who Adolf Hitler was.

And I thought to myself, "Man, the Nazis were the greatest thing to befall fiction."

Now, hear me out. Current American society is trying to vilify Iraqis as "evil." I mean really, we all know that's what Dubya is trying to do, so he can go forth with "Gulf War II: This Time it's Personal." But even with all that propaganda he's trying to push down our collective throats, different viewpoints are still considered. There's enough journalistic material in magazines, newspapers, and websites that, at the very least, pose the idea that not all Iraqi's are evil, just a very vocal/powerful minority. Which is as it should be. In any conflict, all sides should be presented, no matter which side you're going to choose. And sometimes, as in the present case, this makes people consider the shades of moral gray, when it could be easily (thought wrongly) cast in strictly black and white.

Except Nazis. Think about it. When a story calls for a group of human villains that are undeniably evil, you get Nazis. More creative writers have employed other groups, like a ragtag band of ex-soldiers-turned-mercenaries, or psychotically deranged cults. But the easy way out has always been Nazis. Nazis are universally understood to be inherently bad, except when thought of by other Nazis. This has been tenuously proven by media reports. Consider the medias vilification of games such as Counter-Strike and Soldier of Fortune. These games have been constantly cited by the media as violent games that desensitize children to violence. But Wolfenstien has been less than a footnote in such articles. Why?

Angry Jerry Falwell: "These games our corrupting our nation's youth! Look at this: weapons of mass destruction, blood everywhere, it is unforgivable. How can you condone the massive amounts of death?"
Activision: "Well, you shoot Nazis."
Angry Jerry Falwell: "Oh. So what's the problem?"

Okay, so it's not exactly like that. But just think for a minute. How many people would contest that the Nazi regime was evil? (Except for that one wacko who keeps trying to prove that the holocaust never happened).

[07:57pm] Wed, Dec 11th, 2002
To followup on the previous post, I got this excerpt from an Activision Press release, which illustrates my point rather well (said point being that everybody finds death and destruction to be perfectly acceptable as long as Nazis are the targets).

"For fans of Return to Castle Wolfenstein and new players alike, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory gives gamers an entirely new opportunity to devastate the forces of the Fatherland," said Larry Goldberg, executive vice president, Activision Worldwide Studios.

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The Two Towers (PS2)

[ARCHIVE: This is an old post I wrote up about LotR: The Two Towers PS2 game. It was right in the middle of the trilogy's release, so demand as well as supply was high. I think it's the first "article" I wrote up about a video game.]

So to kind of retouch on the issue of epic video games from a few posts back, I bought The Two Towers video game over break. My video game library had been stagnant for a while, so I picked it up on a whim.

NOT an epic game.

Imagine Dynasty Warriors. Now imagine Dynasty Warriors set in Middle Earth. That's the basic jist of Two Towers, in nearly every aspect. With a few minor exceptions, you play as Aragorn, Legolas, or Gimli starting in the last half of Fellowship up through the battle at Helm's Deep. It's very much an action game through and through. There's a rudimentary level system, in which you receive experience in accordance with how much finesse you dispatch enemies with. You can then trade in experience points to buy new combos and moves.

Graphics wise, the game is pretty good during gameplay. The problem is that the cutscenes (at least, those that are not supplied by movie footage) are also done in engine, and while the results may have been acceptable in years past, they don't stand up to the standards set today in lifelike body language and facial detail. This is compounded by how heavily the game relies on movie visuals to move the story forward. All the character and set designs are taken almost directly from the movie, and a majority of the cutscenes are just clips of the films yoinked out. This makes the in-engine scenes look even less unpleasant. The camera stays a fair distance away during play though, so the visuals are passable enough to the eye.

Unfortunately, the all too-familiar problem of camera placement rears its head here, although it's more aggrivating than usual. The POV is a mixture of predetermined angles and player tracking, which works surprisingly well most of the time. But sometimes the camera will continue tracking you, even when the view is completely blocked. But the biggest gripe is the angle switching. At one point in the game, the camera flips complete 180 degrees when you pass a certain threshold. This caused me to switch back and forth between two angles many times, because down was forward in one screen but back in the other. Most of the time, the camera does a fairly good job. But when it's bad, it's really bad.

The controls are fairly straightforward. You have quick and fierce attacks, as well as ranged weapons, finishing moves, and parries. A noteworthy innovation is the use of the right analog stick for attacking purposes. Horizontal movement will result in quick attacks, while vertical moves are interpreted as fierce attacks. I'm fairly certain this was an attempt to employ a method similar to the sword control used in MGS2, although far less developed. In my opinion, they should have cribbed it directly so that you could actually control the direction of your blade.

A nice addition would have been some sort of targeting system. Many times I tried to stab a downed opponent, only to smite the dirt next to him. It would have been nice to have some sort of guarantee that my attacks were directed towards an opponent at all times. Since this is a melee style game, I can understand why it's important to be able to pivot and engage multiple enemies at one time. And while I agree that having a totally tunneled field of damage would be detrimental, some sort of either soft or optional lock-on system would make the game a little less frustrating. Past games like Kingdom Hearts and to a lesser extent Eternal Darkness have executed such a system with great success.

The strength of the game is in gameplay, and the strength of the gameplay comes in the level designs. There are no jumping puzzles to be found here. The level challenges (so far) have been fairly well thought out. In the first stage, the only way to damage the Naz-Gul is with a lit torch. The first battle at Helm's Deep requires you to not only to dispatch the attacking orcs, but to kick down their scaling ladders. Playing through the levels is pretty fun.

The game is also rather fair about keeping the player well equipped. Your heath is running low? An orc will drop a health vial. Need arrows to get past the next few enemies? You'll find an extra quiver in the next treasure box. So only by playing very poorly will you ever die during the levels. But interspersed every now and then are boss battles, which suck the fun out of the game and cause the momentum to come to a screeching halt. The bosses all have a certain particular pattern to be exploited or they will be impossible to beat. So the battles are not challenging in a rewarding sense but in a meticulous, boring, wearing down sense.

All in all, the game is fun to play, if not particularly groundbreaking. If I had to rate it, I'd give it a three out of five.

[Looking back, I think I'd rather change my rating to two out of five.]

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On Current Society

[ARCHIVE: This was supposed to be an "Final Fantasy VI is awesome" post but turned into something bigger]

So I've reestablished my rapport with video games. But what it took was a rediscovery of my gaming roots. There were just no new games out (at present) that could grab my attention and rivet me in front of the television. So like a librarian trying to enjoy reading again, I went back to my game library and picked out a tired and true classic.

Final Fantasy VI. Considered by many to be one of the greatest games of all time, and thought of by most as the benchmark against which RPG video games are compared against. This is the closest thing to Lord of the Rings that the gaming media form has, and I say this fully aware of the claim that makes. The game is epic, masterfully done, and riveting. The cast of characters is diverse and captivating. Everyone can identify with a favorite protagonist from the cast. The story ebbs and flows, with moments of action and tension, as well as wonderful moments of intimate characterization. It is an epic.

(yeah, so I'm a bit Tolkien crazy right now. So what?!)

It worked like a charm. I've played the game through several times, and though I know what the next step is, though I know what town to travel to, I find great satisfaction in working my way through the story. And I've put in less than ten hours of gameplay so far!

The game is so ambitious that it includes an opera scene. Granted, it's a midi-format, synthesizer-driven version of the music, but somehow you get past all that, and you see a genuine story, told as well as could be told with the limitations of the technology of the day. This is provable, because certain scenes, like the aforementioned opera, were revisited and redone with full motion computer graphics, with phenomenal results.

But anyway, I replayed the opera scene. There is a little mini-story, about love denied and fought for, very reminiscent of a classic Romeo and Juliet tale. There's two warring factions, the East and the West, and the war-torn lovers, in this case Draco & Maria, although here there are both Westerners. It is the Eastern Prince that is from the East, and interlopes in their relationship. It's not the first time I've played the scene, but this time when I played through, I was immensely drawn to it. I felt an entire gamut of emotions flowed through me. Hopelessness. Forlornness. Surprise. Renewed faith. Everything that I felt over months of my life was suddenly compressed into ten minutes.

And suddenly, I realized that this was part of the reason why I'm so fscked up. Granted, that's a very opinionated view of how I am, but sans judgment, I'll still put forth that it's affected how I've grown up.

Most people think that if you grow up with video games, you grow up with a very nineties mentality. You're jaded and cynical. Your mind is supposed to be realistic and grounded. You don't dream of idealistic things like love or heroism. You work in the here and now, surrounded by corruption and grays. You're a product of popular media. And they're right.

But.

They're in the thick of it as well (they being the psychologists and social commentators). The problem is that they're older. All they see within us is corruption and Columbines waiting to happen. They see the extremes, the things that appear on the news. To their credit, they're called in usually to analyze the problem kids that make the evening news. They see the terrible/tasteless things that are in modern day media, like Dave Mirra BMX XXX and Cool Devices. If there's one bad thing that could influence our development, it must be the only thing that we're watching and being affected by. They forget.

They forget the great stories that we also see. They forget that we too can have heroes and morals. We may live in a modern world, but the modern world has its own mythology as well. We have Spider-Man. We have Star Wars. We have stories that can transcend social boundaries. We have ideals and beliefs that we can get behind. It's not quite as clear cut; good and evil aren't as black and white as it used to seem/be presented. But it's still there. I still believe that things will turn out for the better in the end.

But that could be because I, too, am in the thick of it. I've grown up exposed to the good and the bad. But the stories that speak to me are not the ones that incite discourse, but the ones that relate the great things in life; courage, perseverense, love. I choose to be optimistic; not necessarily for how things will turn out for me, but in general. I hope that my story will happy, but I don't expect it to. So even though I know something won't work out, I always have that small little corner of myself that's banking on the one in a million chance. It's unrealistic, but as someone who is perpetually optimistic, I can never stand to kill it off entirely, even when I know I'm being unreasonable. It's a state I like to call "General optimist, personal pessimist."

Why do I not extend the same hope I have in humanity to myself? As a people, I believe that our race has individuals who can and will rise to the occasion when called. But I do not see that for myself. I see myself as one of the faceless masses, one of the ordinary people who never rise into prominence. But still hope that it won't. I think that history will pass me by. But that doesn't mean that I don't wish that it wouldn't.

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