During the four-or-so months leading up to school I was writing for GameRant.com—you can see my pieces by searching for my name directly on their home page. I had to quit shortly after school started, but it was a good experience that gave me a greater appreciation for the news cycle and for that particular gaming news site. They focus on article depth at Game Rant, really digging in to the research for any given story.
With my writing background, I've been leery of each new class in the story stream here at VFS. After all, I took years of classes at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton learning to write, and I focused on the creative streams, especially scriptwriting. As a medium, games borrow heavily from film to tell our stories. And, as an art form, the quality of a written work is often subjective; it is rooted in the audience's experience. Sure, there are best practices and rules to follow, and these tools are extremely helpful in dissecting and improving written work, but it's far from a science when other people are involved.
So I've been worried as each new class begins that my instructors will hate my writing style and harpoon my chances at graduating with honours. That hasn't happened. Quite the opposite—my average over the story focused classes since term one is hovering around a perfect grade. That still didn't stop me from being worried on our first day of Games Journalism class, however.
Our instructor introduced himself as a notoriously hard marker with decades of games-industry writing and editing experience. He looks, sounds, and teaches like he has a real appreciation for classical art, which I almost universally detest for the praise we heap on it. He's direct—which I actually really appreciate, thank you—but when you're on edge and new to a person the 'wrong' criticism might sour your impression of them forever.
It's three weeks in, and nothing has changed, though as usual my fears were unfounded. Well, sort of. Jules has made good on all of his promises—he *is* a tough marker and he is rather direct in his criticism, but none of it is personal, and all of it is targeted to improve our writing. Frankly, I should have known. After all, a writer's ongoing job and the first responsibility they need to learn is to take nothing personally. Jules probably perfected that when I was still flicking chocolate milk on the roof of our classroom during recess. I shouldn't have worried that he would hate my written voice and sink my chances. Though it's still going to be hard work to impress this guy. I'll see what I can do.
Jules said my first piece was "publishable," though he rightfully pointed out that I was lazy and didn't cite my sources. I also let an easily missed grammatical error slip in. Can you find it?
Also, do you like the piece? Let me know with a comment.
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Bloody Memory Lane: How I Killed All of my Favourite NES Characters in one Afternoon
A bit of media made especially for you is a rare delight.
Seldom over the last decade has a movie, book, or videogame been so pitch-perfect that I felt the creators were some alternate-universe versions of me, delivering a labour of love whose goal was to make me happy. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (the movie) was one of these. Let's talk about another.
Abobo's Big Adventure (ABA) is simultaneously a free Flash game and a concentrated dollop of sense memory from my formative years, with each level more surprisingly delightful and familiar than the last. As a 29-year-old gamer raised on Nintendo but who was forbidden to play videogames during school days, ABA
As Abobo, the lumpy-headed miniboss from the Double Dragon games who busts through background walls to pound on the Lee brothers, you walk, swim, shoot, wrestle, and fly through eight varied levels ripped directly from several of the most beloved games of the NES era. The core mechanics of each level are different, and no matter the superstar status of a particular game character, Abobo irreverently makes them pay for the kidnapping of his son (Aboboy)—the object of desire throughout Abobo's rampage.
These murderous interactions provide a good deal of the charm in ABA ABA
In short, the game drips charm, graphic pixel violence, and crude humour, and it allows for many "older" gamers to relive their childhood glory days where one-hit kills and lengthy passwords were inherent to the medium. The team of three indy developers behind ABA
As brilliant and refreshing as ABA is, firing it up again after "wrapping" it, as we used to say, is bittersweet. Credit is due to a pixel- and byte-perfect re-creation of games that will, forever, occupy some small part of my brain, but as the surprises fade you see that ABA is simply a tribute. The “ultimate tribute to the NES,” in fact, where the 'what' has all been done before. Fortunately, the 'how' is mostly new.
The sweet, concentrated execution of so many classic ideas has maybe never been done so well in one title, but there's little on offer here for certain audiences. Younger gamers in particular—or at least those whose formative years were filled with the Master Chief rather than 8-bit Mario—might be turned off by retro aesthetics and unforgiving, pattern-based gameplay. In addition, the default keyboard controls, which feel backwards thanks to my console upbringing, can't be changed (though there is an option to play with a NES gamepad if you have the proper hardware).
At this point, I hope my recommendation for this game is clear. For fans of 8-bit Mega Man, Contra, and The Legend of Zelda, Abobo’s Big Adventure is a no-fail, laugh-out-loud way to re-experience your childhood, if only for an afternoon. Simply recognizing the tunes and characters as you progress is an enormous part of the appeal of ABA, but take all of that rosy pigment away and you still have a clever title that plays well, and best of all, costs nothing.
Intrigued? Check it out at http://abobosbigadventure.com/fullgame.php.
You're dead on with ABA. It's homage, but mechanically it's kinda-sorta meh.
ReplyDeleteI also have little appreciation for classic art on the virtue of it being classic.
It's homage, but mechanically it's kinda-sorta meh
ReplyDeleteAddicting games for girls[
I am glad that you introduced Hopscotch to the students
ReplyDeleteCool flash games