Video Games

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Our latest show, Episode 44 – The Wii Battle, got me thinking.  What kind of gamer am I?

Dictionary.com simply states:

gam⋅er/ [gey-mer]  noun:  a person who plays games.

Well, by that very loose definition, we all could be considered gamers.  But, no, that's not what I mean.  We throw around terms such as Hardcore Gamer, but I don't feel like I fit in either of those categories.  Several years ago, I probably considered myself a hardcore gamer.  I'd buy the latest games at launch.  I'd play them for hours without end, sleep and other tasks I should have attended to suffering for it.  I'd connect to Xbox Live for intense firefights in Halo 3 or the casinos of Las Vegas in Rainbow Six.  Show me a Wii and I'd laugh you out of the room.

Then something changed.  I can’t say it’s when I became a father or a husband, because I played in the hardcore style even then.  Did I grow up, even though I claim to be too old for it?  Did my tastes change, for different games or different entertainment?  Did the other things in life finally demand my attention more than the game?  Or did I simply change.

That last one, Did I Change, is a simple way of saying all of those things happened.  Life does have other responsibilities.  Not only am I a father, but my kids are getting old enough to want to play, and have the ability to understand the games.  I’m watching more Blu-Ray movies, reading more comics, and playing different types of games.

Through all that, I’m still a Gamer.  Not a hardcore gamer, or even a casual gamer, but a Gamer.  I doesn’t matter if I’m playing all night shooting Locust Horde or swinging the Wiimote getting beat at tennis by a 5 year old girl, I’m a Gamer.  Dictionary.com had the right definition after all.

 

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Remember the days of video game music consisting of beeps and MIDI tunes that quite frankly you thought sounded better than anything you'd ever heard before in your life. Back when a very careful programmer could make just about any combination of one tone notes stream together and sound like the theme song from your favorite movie or TV show. For many video gamers two of the most popular video game themes that have been etched in our mind would probably be the themes from Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda, oh how many hours were spent on those two games. You probably didn't think at the time that, 20 odd years later, you have that same tune be the ring tone for your new cell phone!

Today however we look at video game music in almost the same way that we look at theatrical movie scores, perhaps even more so. Let’s face it you spend a lot more time with most video games than you do with even a two hour movie these days. Some of that music you hear is even worth listening to outside of the game. Some of the most notable musical scores are those attached to any of the many Final Fantasy games or any other major role playing game for that matter and it was surely that way for me.

I've spent a good amount of time playing through the world of World of Warcraft and because of that have grown attached to the musical score and can certainly appreciate and listen to it outside of the game. Perhaps listening to video games scores outside of any give games is better since you can listen to the entire score of a certain track that may be limited while playing the actual game. By the way both the soundtrack for the original World of Warcraft game and its expansion The Burning Crusade can be found on my Zune (yes I'm a Zune person not an iPod guy).

Some of the earliest game soundtracks I came across and I believe the first one I had came with Killer Instinct for the Super Nintendo probably as a promo for at the time the most expensive game ever! Later I would get a nice soundtrack to a famous Japanese RPG (and one of my favorite games) Grandia II as the soundtrack came once again packed in with the game.

Much later on I would purchase my first game soundtrack, the soundtrack for Halo. Halo has some of the most inspired, exciting and relaxing game music I've come across in a long time. As it continues today game scores have really reached a new level of excellence.

When Halo 2 came along the soundtrack featured more music inspired by the game and while it’s a great soundtrack it’s not music you hear within the game. Perhaps it showed though how far video gaming in general has come as popular musicians create music based on games they play and appreciate. A long time ago back in the early nineties a game called Mortal Kombat hit the scene and introduced a sort of “dance song” for the game and who could forget yelling “MORTAL KOMBAT!” as the song beat played on.

I'd be remiss in talking about music inspired by video games if I didn't mention Buckner and Garcia and a little album named Pac Man Fever! This album from the eighties featured songs based on Pac- Man, Asteroids, Defender, Donkey Kong, Berzerk, Mousetrap, Frogger and Centipede. Of course if you'd like to hear more about this album it's featured in Episode 24 of Too Old to Grow Up!, which you can find at www.totgu.com.

If you're looking for something a bit funnier you can head over to Palette-Swap Ninja's My Space page and check out some funny songs they've recorded including Padding Your Gamerscore, Three Red Lights and The Viva Piñata Song. These songs are funny mostly because they're true.

I'm sure I missed a lot of great video game scores and music in this brief overview but hopefully I've jogged your memory or got you interested in video game music a little or perhaps if nothing else next time your fragging away you'll at least for a brief moment take a minute and enjoy the music!

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I debated if I was going to purchase Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii; admittedly I am not a very good fighting game player as I am more a button masher if anything. As the release date approached I still hadn't had my reservation for the game at my local Gamestop. It wasn't until literally two days before the release when I read the review on IGN.com and there it was, a picture (this time actually from the game) of Mario fighting Sonic in the Green Hill Zone! How cool is that! At that point I ran over to Gamestop and put down my $5.

As someone who has been playing video games since before the Nintendo Entertainment System and actually remembers Game and Watches, Super Smash Bros is more than a game, it’s a history of Nintendo, and this time around they've even included Sonic and Snake into the mix. When the last Smash Bros came out EGM did an April fool’s joke that indicated Sonic was in the game, he wasn't and lots of gamers spent a lot of time trying to unlock him!

There's roughly around 35 characters and tons more supporting characters and loads of stages to play in that take you to all sorts of famous Nintendo places from games of old. There's even a single player game that has a story that can only be described as what "fan fiction" might come up with.

Although I haven't been able to spend too much time with the game thus far what I've played has been very enjoyable. Nintendo has always been able to create loveable and memorable characters (in an almost Disney like way). In today’s age when games don't reach astounding sales unless they are riddled with violence, language and nudity it’s nice to see that Nintendo still stays close to its roots.

So for the most part I didn’t buy a game as much as a way to reminisce, perhaps even going back to some of the games I never did finish after getting a taste of them once again in SSBB. In any case I look forward to unlocking the many characters and stages in the coming weeks and finally being able to settle that age old question of who would win in a fight, Mario or Sonic!