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Post by ECM on Jun 18, 2011 21:14:30 GMT -5
...to this article: www.crunchgear.com/2011/06/17/legend-of-zelda/For once, I'm not going first, so one of you will have to do the 'slowly wading into the ice-cold water up to your balls where you'll linger for minutes as your delicate bits (agonizingly slowly) adapt to the temperature' bit (or you could just be brash and dive the hell in, balls-first).
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Post by feilong80 on Jun 19, 2011 16:21:52 GMT -5
I was a bit behind this guy age wise, so I can't relate to the current events of the day. I was seven years old, hardly aware of Iron Contra. Although I did know there was a game called Contra!
To me the thing about Zelda was how radically different it was. I grew up around arcade machines (my Dad used to own arcades when I was little) and was always fascinated by them, and loved them, but I was never, ever the sort of kid to care about getting the highest score on a table.
I was always the kid who would dream up elaborate stories around games, whether it was Galaga or Ikari Warriors or what have you. As a child, I had an ability to accept simple arcade games and fill in the blanks with the story; to me, putting in that next quarter was because I wanted to see how the story, or at least the crude story that the characters represented, played out.
Zelda was the first game that seemed to be made for my personality. And I knew it; I begged for the game, and an NES (I didn't care much about the NES until I saw the Zelda commercials on TV). Finally, a game that wasn't about beating somebody or competition, it was a game about exploration and discovery!
What was great about the original Zelda was that there was no internet, and Nintendo Power magazine wasn't going to give you absolutely everything, unless you bought one of their special guides. And the 900 tip line number could only be used to much, unless you wanted the rage of parents upon you. So it took me about a year or so to figure the game out (of course it wasn't the only thing I did, I played other games and so forth) and beat it. So it was an experience savored.
Perhaps that is why I have such a love affair with Twilight Princess on the Wii. It came at a particular time in life; I had just started doing the most depressing job I ever had, an auctioneer (I hated it), and getting a Wii was kind of a reward to myself for putting up with that. Progress through the game was delayed by auctioneering school and later by a bad GPU chip in my launch Wii, so just like the original, I was made to savor it. I couldn't just chomp it down on one big gulp.
Zelda tells a story without forcing you to accept whatever whimsy the designers had. So much is communicated with such an economy if narrative techniques, but it gives you enough to go on. Unlike when I was 7, I can't really fill in the blanks when playing something like Smash TV, so I need a little something, and Zelda gives that, but only that.
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Post by ECM on Jun 19, 2011 21:26:43 GMT -5
See? See what fei wrote? That's what an *adult* writes about an experience they 'remember'...through the prism of their adulthood (I'm not saying he's being self-indulgent like the author of this piece is, but there's no way fei had anything like this experience as a child and it only exists, in the here and now, years removed).
That's basically what I feel this entire article is: reminiscing about events that didn't happen, that are now granted profound significance because, as an adult (and writers, god love 'em, are particularly good at this), we ascribe all sorts of meaning to trivial childhood events like how important Zelda was to an entire generation (which is about the most ridiculous thing I've ever read...at least this week). And remember: i was super uber gamer mega nerd from basically 1980 (or so) onward, so if anyone is going to want to ascribe some meaning to NES games, it's probably gonna be me. (And when you're known a "game guy" form the sixth grade on, you really, really want there to be something profound about your hobby...otherwise you were a terminal geek...like me...*cries*.)
(It's also, I believe, why so many adults cannot, at all, relate to children: they so let their adult experiences warp the innocence/carefree-ness of their childhood that they end up seeing themselves as short adults and, by extension, all children the same way.)
/amateur psychologizing stuff
(Also, the article is cheese.)
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CHI
Stripling
The Benchmeister General
In Poland, brick hit you!
Posts: 70
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Post by CHI on Jun 20, 2011 10:17:28 GMT -5
BEST ARTICLE EVER!!!
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Post by ECM on Jun 20, 2011 19:58:01 GMT -5
You make me cry, CHI.
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Post by Justin on Jun 20, 2011 23:39:45 GMT -5
The gold carts attracted my parents. I played anything I could get my hands on.
Zelda just turned out to be a fun game, unlike Total Recall. Let me tell you, getting a crappy game for your birthday was NOT COOL. You only had 2, maybe 3 holidays tops to work with.
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Post by ECM on Jun 20, 2011 23:41:26 GMT -5
I got Excitebike for my birthday one year--that was a lot better than Total Recall.
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Post by Justin on Jun 20, 2011 23:44:16 GMT -5
Only because of the level editor!
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Post by ECM on Jun 21, 2011 0:02:11 GMT -5
Plus, it wasn't Total Recall.
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Post by feilong80 on Jun 21, 2011 12:48:24 GMT -5
Yeah, I hear ya: I'll always remember the time I ended up with Platoon on the NES, and another time that I voluntarily choose the stupid Tiger handheld Double Dragon game, because I was fascinated with it. I remember Dad saying, "uh, you SURE this is what you want?"
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Post by ECM on Jun 21, 2011 17:39:15 GMT -5
If your Dad says something like that, you just have to instinctively know it's super mega bad.
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Post by Justin on Jun 21, 2011 21:41:47 GMT -5
OMFG! You had that too! So awesome. I could never beat it though. I wish I still had it so I could turn it into an alarm clock or something.
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Post by kog3100edw on Jul 8, 2011 18:30:48 GMT -5
Hm. I offer up a fair amount of reflection on the past in my blog entries about games, but usually that's so there's a context for my opinions.
In SHORTER reviews (that ECM gets lathered up for I'm sure) you get an opinion about a game, but rarely the 'why' to the point you understand whether the reviewer has the taste in games that you can reconcile with yours. I'm not suggesting all reviews should be puffed up with weepy reminiscing, but in my case I feel like I need to provide some sort of justification for why I'm hating on a game or why I'm going to suggest it worthy of rubbing on your parts.
I really try to be accurate about my gaming history, and not too rosy or overly-sentimental. So while I'm not a fan of NGJ and its super-touchy-feely approach to a game's 'experience', I can't say I haven't waded into the waters of self-indulgence myself.
I didn't care for this article much though.
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Post by Wintery Knight on Jul 8, 2011 19:43:13 GMT -5
I thought Fei's comments were really good. I had that experience with Wizardry I on my Apple Macintosh.
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Post by hero0flight on Jul 15, 2011 14:39:38 GMT -5
Talking buying the wrong game: one birthday (I was 9 years old) I bought the Avengers gameboy game thinking it was going to be awesome (come on, it's the avengers)...worst game I ever played. I played it all the way home though so as to not make my parents feel bad. here's the game: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXxHA8bA5XY So I didn't touch my gameboy until I had Zelda link's awakening, then I knew what a good game was.
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