Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Q4
2006
2006 #7
Table of
Contents
4 Breaking the Law of Miyamoto 42 A Day in the Life of R-Ko,
Super Mario Bros.—NES Gamestore Employee
Comic
10 For Super Players
Super Mario Bros. 2—FDS, SNES, GBC 52 Haiku for Dragon Warrior VII
Dragon Warrior VII—PS1
12 Play a Friend’s New Super Mario Bros.
New Super Mario Bros.—DS 54 Faith & Fantasy
Final Fantasy Series—NES, SNES, PS2,
16 Out of the Valley GC, 360, GB, GBA, WIN, DS
Great Abstractions in Videogames
62 Effeminaphobia and Male Intimacy:
20 To Be Frank Far Cry Only Worries when
Dead Rising—360 the Jungle Drums Stop
24 The Unintended Horror Far Cry—WIN
Fear in Games 66 Mushroom Hunting in Heels
28 Let Your Momma Sleep! Violence in Videogames
Jet Set Radio—SDC 70 Use Your Illusion
34 There’s More to Gaming than Final Fantasy, Game Design, and Me
Just Gaming 84 Zen Type
Gaming in South Korea Ridge Racer—PS1, PS2, PSP, 360
38 Behind the Green Door 88 High Calibur
The Xbox 360 Uncloaked: The Real Soul Calibur—SDC
Story Behind Microsoft’s Next-
Generation Video Game Console—TXT 90 The Next Next-Gen
Back to the Future
40 Dark Oddysey
Sound Voyager—GBA 94 Mommy, Where Does
Novelty Come From?
A Parable
98 Untold Tales from the Arcade
The Battle for the Kingdom Continues!
106 Why Game?
Reason #6: Nostalgia
1
From the
Editor Staff
Era and Time
By Matthew Williamson Editor In Chief: Staff Artists:
Matthew “ShaperMC” Williamson Mariel “Kinuko” Cartwright
This is the first time—and probably the shapermc@gamersquarter.com kinuko@gamersquarter.com
This issue is the end of an era. Not of the last—that I will use this section of the Managing Editor: Jonathan “Persona-Sama” Kim
magazine exactly, but of gaming. The Xbox magazine to ask you, our patrons, for sup- “Super” Wes Ehrlichman persona-sama@gamersquarter.com
360 is already upon us and both Ninten- port. If you are reading this section you superwes@gamersquarter.com
Benjamin “Lestrade” Rivers
do’s Wii and Sony’s Playstation 3 will be obviously enjoy the magazine and what Associate Editor: lestrade@gamersquarter.com
available by the next issue. These are the we do for it. If you didn’t know before, Ancil “dessgeega” Anthropy
final days of the current generation. the entire staff is comprised of volun- dessgeega@gamersquarter.com
It’s strange to think that in just a short teers who work many long hours with no Assistant Editor: Cover Art:
M. “dhex” O’Connor Max Martin
time, everything now current will be “last- compensation. If you have been reading maxmmart@gmail.com
dhex@gamersquarter.com
gen” technology. Whether it’s the inter- for a while you will know that we have
Copy Chief: Cover Art Color:
face or the graphics, they will be labeled taken many strides to improve quality and Jonathan “Persona-Sama” Kim
Tony “Tablesaw” Delgado
“last-gen” very shortly. It feels strange many exceptionally talented people have persona-sama@gamersquarter.com
tablesaw@gamersquarter.com
because gaming seems to be the only volunteered to help.
medium so fixated on technology, and yet If you are reading this in print while
Editorial Staff: Contributing Writers:
it’s also the most connected to it. lounging on a couch (or toilet), tell your Matthew “Mr. Apol” Collier
Heather “Faithless “ Campbell
We will finally be downloading older friends, e-mail your buddies, post on your faithless@gamersquarter.com Craig Dore
games onto newer consoles. Technically blog—but get the word out on what you Erica L. Van Ostrand
J. R. “Mr. Mechanical” Freeman John “Rud13” Overton
we already have been with Xbox Live think. If you’re reading the digital copy of
mr_mechanical@gamersquarter.com Chris St. Louis
arcade, but Microsoft doesn’t have the this and you have been for a while, take
Amandeep “ajutla” Jutla Eric-Jon Rössel Waugh
history of a company like Nintendo. So like a look in your Paypal account and see if
ajutla@gamersquarter.com
books, films, and music, games now have you have a few dollars left to purchase the
an accessible history, even if the compa- print version. If not, send your friends over Tim “Swimmy” McGowan Contributing Editors:
swimmy@gamersquarter.com Angela McInnis
nies offering the history don’t have a full for a free read—if we’ve done our job,
grasp on it. they’ll thank you, and maybe get their own Jeremy “ApM” Penner Page Layout & Design:
ApM@gamersquarter.com Ancil “dessgeega” Anthropy
In this issue, the Gamer’s Quarter team hard copy.
Sergei “Seryogin” Servianov Benjamin “Lestrade” Rivers
looks at gaming—past, future, and where Next issue will be our eigth, mark- Matthew “ShaperMC” Williamson
seryogin@gamersquarter.com
we stand at the present. The modern his- ing nearly two years of work. Since we
Andrew “Mister” Toups Website Design & Layout:
tory of games is important, and to ignore launched, we have been featured on “Super” Wes Ehrlichman
mistertoups@gamersquarter.com
it leaves many of us treading the same MTV.com, Gamasutra, Game Set Watch,
water until we drown and ignore games all Slashdot, Kotaku, and Joystiq. But we Francesco-Alessio “Randorama” Ursini
randorama@gamersquarter.com
together. don’t have an advertising budget, and our
voices only go so far. So if you like what All content © The Gamer’s Quarter 2006. All
you have been reading—or even if you de- images and characters are retained by original
company holding.
spise us for it—start the next generation
by telling someone about us.
Breaking
Article or the Law
Super Mario Bros. its identity. They’re one in the first five seconds. The regular
also perhaps one of the most rewarding, brick-type blocks are easily discovered to
taking the player to secret rooms hidden be breakable in the beginning, too.
of Miyamoto
Section Title
underground. And yet, it’s possible to
complete the game without going down a
single (vertical) pipe. The manual does not
It’s not until world 1-2 that the player is
likely to discover that stuff can be hidden
in them. That brick above the goomba is
even mention the possibility. just begging to be smashed. The brick in
Super Mario Bros.—NES The game hits the player over the head world 1-1 is pretty suspicious too, but it
By Jeremy Penner with this one, with a short cutscene at the at least has a plausible reason for being
beginning of world 1-2 where Mario enters there—to get high enough to hit the
a pipe and heads underground. There’s question block.
Google for the phrase “Law of Miyamoto”
and you will come across the following
The Structure obviously something up with those pipes, I’ll grant that it’s potentially even
Thanks to the magic of the Internet, I was and indeed, if you take that knowledge more likely that the player would, in their
definition: “The Law of Miyamoto states
able to quickly dig up maps of every level back to the beginning, you find that the clumsy inexperience, hit the brick they
that, early on, a game must show a
of the game. Poring over them, I found the fourth pipe of the game takes you to a were trying to land on top of. Either way,
player something he cannot do.” Lies!
following structure to the level design: coin room and lets you skip most of the the game is quick to demonstrate that
Super Mario Bros., Miyamoto’s seminal
exploration game, not only breaks this first level. bricks aren’t just for breaking.
• For the first four or five worlds,
“law,” it in fact is designed in precisely
systematically introduce the player
the opposite way. For every kind of secret
to all of the kinds of secrets that the
embedded in the game, there is a place
game possesses.
where the level is designed to compel you
• After that, start turning up the
to discover it. This place always shows up
difficulty a bit.
after the first occurrence of that secret.
• In world 8, crank it way up.
Super Mario Bros. shows the player things
he could have been doing all along.
More interestingly:
This is something few people noticed,
because of the playground effect. The
• It is possible to complete the game
playground effect is simple—Super Mario
without going down a single pipe or
Bros. was so popular that you probably
finding a single hidden brick—you
had friends demonstrating how to get to
could just progress from left to right
the warp zone before you learned to jump
without discovering a single secret.
that first goomba. Kids couldn’t keep their
• For every kind of secret, there is a spot
damn mouths shut. More often than not,
where the level design practically begs
the game didn’t show you its own secrets
the player to discover it.
like it wanted to—other people did.
• That spot is never the first occurrence
of that kind of secret.
12 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #7 Play a Friend’s New Super Mario Bros. 13
strange to play a lengthy single-player
game on a friend’s DS—especially in light
of the excellent built-in multiplayer—but
having a limited amount of time to play a
game that’s going to be erased forces you
to appreciate the time you spend with the
game and encourages you to find the most
efficient way through. It also prompts you
to discuss the game with your friend in be-
tween play sessions, and to research new
secrets in order to find the fastest way
through. With the time restrictions, you’ll
be forced to focus on the singular goal of
reaching the end of the game, ignoring
the completionist stuff that was tacked
on. Dying and being forced to replay will
mean something if the amount of time you
spend with the game was limited.
Most importantly, playing on a friend’s
system will remind you of the days when
you would go to your friend’s house and
play Mario games, sharing secrets every
step of the way. Isn’t that experience what
makes the original Super Mario Bros. so
memorable? Maybe New Super Mario
Bros. is on the right track.
14 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #7 Play a Friend’s New Super Mario Bros. 15
In the same boat is Umihara Kawase. aesthetic criteria (much
On the Super Famicom it used sepia- like the situation
colored photographic backgrounds, which videogames are in
emphasized just how far we were from now), contemporary
realism. All the platforms are similarly- art critics constantly
shaped and similarly-colored blocks. The put photography and
tool at hand is a rubber fishing line with its practitioners through
To Be Frank
on a simple idea. To wit, in Grand Theft philosophy. Like many other notable
Auto, there is a single button devoted Western-designed games, the emergent
to the action of carjacking. Though the behavior of the city and the variety of
game features shooting, driving, and ways in which the player can interrupt
occasional drug use, the game can not be it form the core of the game experience.
Dead Rising—360 to survive but to “discover the truth.” If it called a shooter, a racing game, or even It is a model based upon systems and
By Andrew Toups were a survival horror game, it would be a crime simulator. Instead, Grand Theft AI routines; without them it would be
the most boring survival horror game ever Auto simply asks the question, “What nothing. Eastern design, by comparison
You might have read some reviews of made. All you would need to do to survive if you were in a city and could steal any dictates that objectives and conflict
Dead Rising describing it as a sort of is to stay on the helipad for 72 hours. car you wanted at any time?” Whatever should be clearly laid out before the
“mash-up” of different genres. You may No, Dead Rising is none of these things, sidequests, missions, and minigames player, whose role is more passive.
have even heard your friends describe and comparing them to any of those entailed by the game generally explore Dead Rising exists in the uncomfortable
it as such. You doubtless read people genres is to entirely miss the point. Dead that concept, or derive from it in some and vast void between these two styles
posting on online forums, bitching Rising is a game birthed and brought into way. of design. Grand Theft Auto’s emergent
about how the game is “unsatisfying” this world as pure concept. The game then proceeds to strip away system is robust and deep; Dead Rising’s
and “repetitive” as a “beat-’em-up,” or To put it another way: Dead Rising anything that would detract from that is paper-thin and (quite literally) brain
“disappointing” as a “horror game”. Fuck is a game about photojournalist Frank concept. Grand Theft Auto, then, cannot dead. Even the living NPCs have AI that
those people. Those people, who can West trapped for 3 days in a shopping follow a strict, level-based linear design makes me nostalgic for 1995. Grand
only view the game as a combination of mall that’s just swarming with zombies. model because the carjacking concept Theft Auto gives players situations
different genres, are worthless sods who The game is not just “about” this in the simply doesn’t make sense in that context. which are a complex combination of
lack imagination. Dead Rising is too good sense that that’s the game’s premise. The entire point of a carjacking is giving choice, random factors, and systematic
for those fuckers. The game is profoundly about being a the player choice; and the only way for events. Dead Rising’s situations are less
While incorporating elements from photojournalist trapped in a shopping those choices to have any significance is emergent and more based upon carefully
various genres, Dead Rising is not a game mall for 3 days that’s just swarming with to place them in an open, emergent world. arranged set pieces and item layout, with
that seeks to exist within any one of those zombies. Compare this to, say, Final Inserting any other arbitrary barriers or the occasional scripted sequence. The
genres. Yes, there is an RPG-like leveling- Fight which, while ostensibly a game objectives would only dilute that concept. game is non-Eastern because it relies
up system; but the game does not strive about saving your girlfriend from a gang Grand Theft Auto is a “sandbox” on the player’s initiative and curiosity
to be an RPG; the leveling system only of thugs, is really a game about hitting style game. Dead Rising, despite to be entertaining; but it is non-Western
exists to keep the game from starting transvestites with lead pipes. In Dead having “open” design sensibilities, is because the game experience is, at
off to easy. Yes, you spend much of the Rising, every element exists to serve the comparatively oppressive. The game is all times, very carefully controlled and
game hitting things with blunt objects and concept. There are no minigames. There set on a strict time limit, and at least on limited.
your fists, yet the game does not strive are no distractions. There is nothing in the first few playthroughs, it is anything The consequence of Grand Theft Auto’s
to be a beat-’em-up; the combat is dead the game which exists to simply be “fun.” but a playground. It is possible to play looseness is that one can never take the
simple and only serves the purpose of Though the game embraces a sandbox Grand Theft Auto for hundreds of hours game very seriously. The premise of being
adding tension and the constant risk of style of play, no amount of screwing and never “beat” it. Dead Rising, on the a hardened gangsta in San Andreas, for
death as you move between objectives.1 around ever escapes the game’s context. other hand, can only be played for so instance, starts to feel pretty fucking
And yes, you will kill more zombies in a A rational explanation is never far away
single playthrough of Dead Rising than from even the most erratic behaviors that
even exist in every Resident Evil and Silent the player may have Frank perform.
1 I n beat-’em-ups, by comparison, the combat is the entire focus of the game, around which all other
Hill game ever made combined, and yet If there is one game that you could elements revolve.
the game does not strive to be a survival compare Dead Rising to without being 2 Okay, okay, aside from Majora’s Mask.
horror game; the goal of the game is not completely, moronically off the mark,2 it
There’s More
Why are there such differences in just installing upgraded parts, can be
these statistics? First, the fundamental daunting to the gamers who aren’t so
natures of our cultures are completely knowledgeable about computers. The
34 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #7 There’s More to Gaming than Just Gaming 35
finish extensive gaming objectives or By far the biggest competitions in South
story lines, to inexpensive internet Korea are in Starcraft. The top Starcraft
access (averaging $30 per month player makes over $250,000 per year.
for household high-speed internet These high-stakes players, unsurprisingly,
services) to a society used to living in get lots of media coverage. There are
small apartments or homes, trying to three television networks covering
escape unfulfilling daily lifestyles.2 competitive gaming twenty-four hours
a day, seven days a week. For example,
Anthony Faiola at the Washington Post Ongamenet owns four studio facilities and
claims that gaming addiction is so ranks in the top twenty stations in South
prominent in South Korea Korea. In Starleague, Ongamenet’s three-
month-long Starcraft tournament, the best
in part because young people here players take home prizes of $20 thousand,
suffer from acute stress as they $10 thousand, and $6 thousand. Another
face educational pressures said to of Ongamenet’s year-long shows, Sky
far exceed those endured by their Proleague, consists of eleven Starcraft
peers in other countries. It is not teams, eleven rounds, and a $50 thousand
uncommon, for instance, for South prize. Attendance at the final match
Korean students to be forced by their exceeds 120 thousand people.
parents into four to five hours of The World Cyber Games is considered
daily after-school tutoring. With drug by some to be the Olympics of video
abuse and teenage sex considered games. It was inaugurated in Seoul in
relatively rare in the socially 2000. Gold medals can mean as much as
conservative country, escape can be $50,000 for a team or player. Currently,
a hugely attractive outlet.3 the Games host players from sixty-seven
nations.
Some gamers make a living out of it, Regardless of our differences, gaming
however few those gamers are. The has helped merge our cultural worlds on
Korean Pro-Gamer Association, made up some levels. Perhaps hosting the World
of 170 members, says that about 50 of Cyber Games in Seattle next year will
its members make $20 thousand to $30 bring a bit of South Korean gaming culture
thousand per year, while fewer than 10 to the United States. Despite all our
make $100 thousand or more each year. differences, the internet allows us to come
The government is assisting the funding together and appreciate the one thing we
for construction of an e-sports stadium, do have in common: a love of gaming.
the world’s first, planned for completion
in 2008.
1 J.C. Herz, “The Bandwidth Capital of the World,” Wired, August 2002, http://www.wired.com/wired/
archive/10.08/korea.html.
2 John Andersen, “Spot On: Korea reacts to increase in game addiction,” Gamespot, September 12, 2005,
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/09/12/news_6132357.html.
3 Anthony Faiola, “When Escape Seems Just a Mouse-Click Away,” Washington Post, May 27, 2006,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/26/AR2006052601960.html.
36 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #7 There’s More to Gaming than Just Gaming 37
Behind the
Green Door feel. But because the chunks aren’t strictly
in chronological order, it becomes difficult
to keep track of causes and effects. A
graphical timeline would have been
very helpful—as would an index to the
The Xbox 360 Uncloaked: The Real Story Following the Xbox 360 from its multitude of characters—but the target
Behind Microsoft’s Next-Generation conception to a few months after readership for a book like this probably
Video Game Console—TXT launch, Uncloaked takes this strategy doesn’t need either.
By M. O’Connor to an extreme. Dozens of characters But despite its intricacies, Uncloaked
react, interact, and sometimes mess is meticulously organized. Those who are
Topping 400 pages, “The Xbox 360 with each other in a blow-by-blow style interested in a detailed peepshow of the
Uncloaked: The Real Story Behind that becomes completely impenetrable major highs and lows of creating a console
Microsoft’s Next-Generation Video Game to a layperson. It’s a techno-obsessed platform—and who are willing to invest
Console” is essentially pornography Dickens novel with too many characters the time and memory—may enjoy the
for tech enthusiasts. Dean Takahashi, to keep track of. Even documenting only technological saga of the accidents and
a technology reporter for the San the major players still means following incidents of the race to launch day.
Jose Mercury News, presents a well- dozens of people from hardware and
researched, if somewhat convoluted, software divisions both within and
picture that’s surprisingly neutral in its without Microsoft. Company politics
treatment, never veering too far towards and the breakneck pace of technological
either cheerleader or doomsayer. development push different characters
There are plenty of ways to write into and out of and into the narrative
company profiles and document their spotlight.
processes and organizational cultures. Suprisingly little attention is paid
The business press often focuses on to the marketing of the 360, and the
economic details, but the people behind investigation of Microsoft’s distribution
those details are often easier to follow woes at the end of Uncloaked sometimes
through the ups and downs of a product’s takes a serious turn into an apologetica
lifespan. Tech publications, since they’re for what is otherwise an almost
essentially catering to the consumer side unremarkable story. If nothing else, the
of the business press, follow a similar book’s pace and attention to detail make
tack, mixing broad narrative lines to give a great derailment for the conspiracy-
flavor to important—if dry—economic and minded who assume anything Microsoft
technological events. Personalities are does—including their great retail
more personable than facts and figures, bungles—is prescribed by some grand
and the ever-changing statistics organize Protocols of the Elders of Xbox.
the trials and tribulations of dozens of The larger saga is broken into bite-sized
people into a framework within which to chunks, which is great for being able to
understand their actions. quickly locate specific incidents in the
360’s life cycle and gives the book a serial
Zen Type
a steering wheel. When hitting a wall or for what it is. The mechanics are entirely
getting a tire in a rut, the dial will either unrealistic, what with drifting into corners
push back or need a bit more force to at over 150 mph being intentionally the
turn. With your car in the air, the controller best way to drive. Using the breakes
would go slack because there was no usually means that you have done
Ridge Racer—PS1, PS2, PSP, 360 Scott owned the store. He drove a resistance on the wheels. The controller something wrong. Most of the other
By Matthew Williamson Corvette with his name on the vanity plate, was exactly what I had been looking drivers are about as aggressive as a
and it was always parked in front. The for in many peripheral items related to butterfly, and you never see more than
On certain nights in the late 1990s, I could location was fairly close to the video store games—it allowed me to become more two of them on the screen at the same
be found at a distance from my TV, which where I was working, and I would make submerged into the game’s world. time. Eventually you get to the point
my mother would have told me could frequent stops on my way to or from work. Since the game was in Japanese, I had where you even realize that the cars travel
“ruin my eyes.” But since I was no longer In December of ’98 I was working no idea what was going on between races. on a very distinct and designated path
living at home, I didn’t have to listen to extra hours at the video store because Depending on which racing team you with little deviation. Stripping all this away
her anymore and could sit as damn close of the holiday season. This resulted in selected, there was a different manager brings you to the realization that you are
as I wanted. The blur of tail lights reflected extra money that Scott loved to help me who would say, well, something to you. not racing as much as you are just passing
in my cornea. I had that glazed-over spend. His games were always priced It wasn’t until many years later, when I cars as fast as you can.
look in my eyes, the look that anti-game at the release MSRP no matter how old picked up a used English version of Ridge I have taken up what I learned in R4 and
evangelists talk about as “dangerous.” they were. This particular day, I happen Racer Type 4, that I found out what was applied it to my life. I take many drives
This look shows no spark of life, no to notice a small stack of yellow boxes going on here. Each team has a different, that are five or more hours in length. I
cognitive recognition. prominently displaying R4 on them. Upon and overly melodramatic, story to unfold. usually spend most of them trying to pass
With good reason I sat that close to the asking what was in the box, Scott told There would be slight variations of the the person in front of me while listening
television—I was racing a car, and the me that it contained a T-shirt, the JogCon banter that the team manager spouted out to music. I do a pretty good job of it, and I
television tube was my windshield. I held custom controller, Ridge Racer Type 4, at you based on what place you achieved never realized why until my last couple of
Namco’s JogCon in my hands, thumbs very and a new version of the original Ridge in the race. But it wasn’t really something trips from New Orleans to St. Louis to visit
carefully rested on the force-feedback Racer. that I felt I had missed out on. It was the my wife. I had just recently finished Ridge
dial, fingers on the shoulder buttons. I am a sucker for collector’s boxes. racing itself that became the driving force Racers for the PSP.
“Lucid Rhythm” played for the hundredth After getting back to my apartment, I of the game. The game is what sold me a PSP, and
time as I drifted around the same corner opened it with great anticipation. Inserting Racing over and over again, through the honestly it was worth it. The game takes
I had taken hundreds of times before. To the disc into the Playstation and pressing same tracks, in the same order, seems like advantage of the PSP’s shortcomings and
ensure that nothing distracted me, I wore the on button, I was introduced to the it should become monotonous or boring. makes them work. The blur of the taillights
my oversized headphones, which were world of Ridge Racer. Saturated in a dark It never did. For a couple years, I would on RR goes hand in hand with the PSP
intended for studio use. I could escape to hue of yellow (called “positive yellow” bring the game out on a regular basis and screen’s low refresh rate. The main reason
Ridge City, a place that doesn’t exist, and by Namco), I navigated menus, picked seat myself close enough to the screen to that I was sold on the game was because
has almost no description. But it was still a racing team, and watched as a grid encompass as much of my field of vision it was similar to a greatest hits album of
one of the greatest cities imaginable. of spheres outlined the upcoming race as possible. The game demanded it of me: a band—it took all the best courses from
course for me. My induction was a little I needed to get into the “zone” or “zen all the previous games and parts of their
rough: I was playing the game like a racing state” for the game to really grab hold. soundtrack, and threw them into a new
game. Braking for sharp turns and trying This was what Ridge Racer did. It wasn’t game with new mechanics. R4 was in
Ridge Racer Type 4 was a game that to stay to the inside of the corners got me unlocking the 320 cars that kept me there too.
I happen upon in an over-priced and nowhere, and I found out that Ridge Racer coming back. It wasn’t to beat the special I had played Ridge Racer 5 when it
well-hidden import store in the northern is an arcade game that just happens to races. It was because I could invoke “zen came out. It even worked with the JogCon.
suburbs of Chicago. A short man named involve cars. state” brain patterns exceptionally easily I don’t know why, but it left a bad taste in
High Calibur
quick hit, or kick. Soul Calibur gives a last second, he caused me to come out of
handful of options and possibilities for a slide, be hit in the back of the head, and
every situation the opponent puts you in go flying out of the ring. I did something
and vice-versa. The trick is to play ahead, amazing—with him at half life and myself
Soul Calibur—SDC meet people that eat, breathe, and drink and keep in mind what your opponent at near death, I jumped over an attack,
By John Overton fighting games. If it’s the first case, I will has previously done. It’s like a faster knocked him down, and hit him while
win. The latter will promptly beat me while version of chess, only with a big-boobied down, thereby countering his next attack
I enjoy fighting games. I harbor an calling me their bitch. ninja girl.3 The quicker thinker determines and hitting him to his defeat.
unhealthy obsession with King of Fighters. I love an even fight, though. When whose soul still burns. In the end he had proved to be the
However, I never took the time or made facing my friends, I try to balance the Recently, I set up my Dreamcast ASCII better fighter. I felt good, because I hadn’t
the effort to become competitively good, odds. I cannot play to my fullest ability. arcade sticks with a friend who is more held back. When he left, he looked me
because I had no reason to. My friends I have to hold back so that they can win, interested in cars then videogames. While right in the eye, pointed his finger, and
don’t play fighting games. Despite because I hate always winning.2 So I hold he cherishes his WRX, he has no love for said, “We are doing this next weekend.”
spending almost no time on Shoryuken. back and they win more than they should any particular videogames. We set up Soul I said, “All right.”
com or any sort of in-depth skill FAQ, I can while I lose more than I should. In the back Calibur to the previously stated rules and
compete against the artificial intelligence, of my mind, I hold a bit of regret about the
and I’m damn good. whole affair. But there’s a cure for this,
Like many others, I have natural video something which can easily determine
gaming skills. I’ve found myself able to one’s skill at videogames in comparison
adapt, overcome, and confidently play to another player. This game is called Soul
much more quickly than anyone I’ve Calibur.
met. When I played Kingdom Hearts, the There are specific rules to follow in
supposedly “hard as hell” platforming order to get this scientific result. You
made me wonder if any of the complainers absolutely must set the characters and
had actually played a platforming game stage to random, and the match time
before.1 During middle school, Goldeneye to sixty seconds. At the end of thirty
matches generally pitted me against the matches, you’ll clearly see who is the
three other people in the room. I would better gamer. Soul Calibur does not rely
win. on knowing all the moves or characters.
This isn’t to say I’m the best at any It relies on pure videogame skill. A button
game I play. If anyone plays a game long masher can beat someone who only
enough they’ll be the best. I don’t believe plays one character, because that person
I could accomplish some of the stuff becomes so stunned that their character
I’ve seen in speed runs, shooters, and is losing that they choke. They say, “This
fighting-game tournaments. That sort of is my character! How is this punk beating
thing flabbergasts me as much as the next me?” The answer? You probably weren’t
hardcore gamer. that good in the first place.
There are generally two ways I get to try Corner traps in 2-D games are self- 1 A terrible example for videogame skill, but work with me here.
multiplayer competition in fighting games. explanatory: you’re backed into a corner, 2 Which may something about my school and life performance.
3 I’ll admit that not all the characters are equal to one another, so it’s not as balanced as chess.
One happens when I convince a friend to trapped, with generally no way out. With
It’s more of the same feel and mindset.
play a fighting game; the other is when I extensive playtime of Soul Calibur, you
94 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #7 Mommy, Where Does Novelty Come From? 95
There Is No Friend those moments of perfect absorption in
their play, when they were unconcerned
Anywhere with the politics of fanaticism and the
There was never any Garden of Eden. It draw of novelty? When the play was truly
was only kids with games, but now those the thing, there was nothing else but
kids have kids and look into the mirror that moment: infants in love with their
wondering where the time went. Novelty reflection.
is a thief, and its sting steals time away
from our lives. The pursuit of novelty not
tempered by compassion and reason
There Is No Enemy
is a self-abusive hedonism, a modern Anywhere
mirror held up to the face of a thousand The real next-gen is a mixture of novelty
packrats. What will they see when they and competence, when the moment
search for the time that slipped through arrives and competence is no longer
their fingers? Will they find wrinkles, debt, surprisingly novel. Even graphics play a
and carpal tunnel syndrome? Will they go part. I’ve seen it myself.
so far as to write essays to try and capture
96 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #7 Mommy, Where Does Novelty Come From? 97
boss, move across a bridge, and go to some brilliantly designed stages evoking
the next tower. In some cases, you can some of the most exotic and mysterious
discover a hidden passage and ascend the atmospheres found in my first fantasy
tower from another route, with all the risks sessions, back in the glorious D&D times.
(many) and the rewards (many as well) At the same time, it was the ultimate
100 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #7 Untold Tales from the Arcade 101
fantasy dreams of my youth. The game (There is one more mysterious hero to be The gameplay kicked me hard, though. As road paved with bones; there is a vast
represents the most linear and solitary mentioned, but I’ll leave that for the next much as I liked the title, I never was able variety of enemies, humans and meta-
vein of the of the many fantasy-based article, in which we will cover the Ozma to go through all stages; I was never able humans alike. And in all of this, there
titles of those days. While other titles wars.) to complete the game in less than three was an awesome mage who is kicked to
preferred gory atmospheres (Cadash) or But if fantasy can be cheesy fights credits. cast spells! Ok, this is probably a cheesy
distant esoteric worlds (Magic Sword), and lizardmen and wizards, it can also But still, I was enthralled by the aspect, but we’re not here to celebrate the
this title had all the flavor of the first represent the struggle of one man in beautiful atmospheres of Rastania: the serious elements of the game (the null set,
campaigns of D&D, played while drinking his violent search for his own destiny. snowy peaks, the dangerous shores, honestly).
orange juice and eating cookies at friends’ This quest had another, and sadly final, the bewitching “Spiral Life” song with I don’t even want to celebrate the title
houses. chapter in the excellent title known as... its incredibly evocative and nostalgic at all, I think. Everything is covered with a
I must confess that I never learned to pace. I was Rastan, fighting for a glorious veil of nostalgia when my mind wanders
play with the three short-range fighters:
in my cheapness, I focused on the elf
Warrior Blade—Rastan’s future, and at the same time wondering
if my spiraling progress was really
back to this title. I played this title in a
weird phase of my life. Maybe this title
or on the mage, since they also offered Saga, Chapter III progress at all. Wondering if, captured brings to mind my weird moments—the
occasions to have marathon scoring The story of how I became a king is so long by the bittersweet melody composed by musings of things past, and my desire to
sessions. Years passed, and I discovered that I cannot tell it in just one night. Masahiko Takagi,5 the spiral ascension wander around and find a kingdom to be
MAME, and I learned to one-credit the However, I will keep telling it as long as could have been some kind of weird the king of. That desire was ever present
game with the fighter, the cleric, and even I can, of those days filled with danger and metaphor of my life. when I played the title, with the added
the dwarf. At the same time, I realized that treasures. Warrior Blade was, and still is, a irony that I was never able to conquer
on the standard difficulty (so easy!), all of I can still see myself, with the eyes of pretty hard game, with some tons of the game properly, a small defeat that
my scoring efforts were ridicously inflated my memory, approaching the Warrior secrets. I never was able to discern somehow haunts me still, after all these
by the much higher amount of hit points Blade cab, back in those lazy, hot summer all the possible tricks to get the extra years.
by enemies, much to my frustration. days. I was mesmerized, because my stages, and neither could any of the And then, the end. I really adored
And I went back to those happy days uncle hadn’t told me anything about a new numerous fans. I remember a pretty big the final stage: a volcanic isle with a
when I spent my afternoons playing this Rastan title. I just entered the arcade and number of enthusiasts and none could mysterious ruler. The final fight occurs
title, alone or with my friend “Furcio,”2 heard this voice. A rush of emotions went complete the game unless playing in at the center of a place that’s a sister to
before going to play Greyhawk or through my chest as I slowly realized who team. Still, I remember fondly its sheer R’lyeh, and beatiful parallax effects evoke
Forgotten Realms adventures at our was pronouncing those words—it was a class and elaborate fighting system, with the stormy tropical seas of Rastania, on
local RPG club.3 My future would be new Rastan game! the capability for huge combos and the a warm, sunny day of glorious battle.
different, of course. I had yet to discover A new chapter of this melancholic beating of five or six enemies at once. By Finally, the infinite square where Lord
Chaosium, with Call of Cthulhu, and the saga entered my blood and veins, and for Crom, Taito really understood the spirit of Dupon6 waits, to tell us:
king of (Gormen)ghastly landscapes, his months I was Rastan, with his chiseled the Conan novels. You want to be a hero, too, but you
Majesty, the Emperor of Melniboné, Elric. muscles and his incredibly long sword.4 The game perfectly recreates the have the same fate as I.
atmosphere of perils and wonders that lies And then the final battle against the
behind Conan’s wandering adventures. demonic creature. I wonder what his
The kingdom of Rastania, much like the final words were meant to be. As silly as
kingdom of Deerzar, comes alive thanks it sounds, I think they must have been a
to all small but classy details scattered bad omen, especially for the series. And
across the game. The world map is finely perhaps for the player? But, of course,
detailed; there are great touches like, the that would be silly speculation, wouldn’t
2 I t’s not really an Italian word, and no one (including the guy himself) knows what the nickname really
means, making it even more kick-ass.
3 It later turned out to be a shady place for neo-Nazi recruits, but that’s another story.
4 I didn’t care for the other two available characters. They were actually fun to use, but not Rastan. A
Rastan game must be played with Rastan, by Crom!
5 Also known as MAR, of Night Striker fame.
6 This is apparently an homage to Phelios, in which the god Hades, for absolutely unknown reasons, is
called Dupon.
102 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #7 Untold Tales from the Arcade 103
it? After all, we’re the makers of our
destiny, and all comments we can make
about life are trivial (and those inspired by
videogames are triviality squared).
I think back often to those days. More
than the games, and the fun, I think at the
kid I was. Much like Conan and Rastan, I
dreamed of and fought for a better future,
but at least mine was not paved with
violence (and lizardmen). I also listen to
the Warrior Blade OST, and I go back to
my personal Rastania, the snowy peaks
of the mountains surrounding my city,
the mysterious forests, the thrills of the
savage world surrounding me. Have I
become a king? Not yet, but …
If I have the time, I will tell you about
one of my other adventures.
This was the last adventure that Rastan
was able to tell us about. I always wonder
what could have become of his story, if
Taito had made an F3 version, or even
one for the FX-1. Sadly, they didn’t. But
at least I will still be able to tell you of my
adventures for a while, of those days filled
with dangers and wonders. And arcade
thugs harassing me while I played games.
Which brings me back to the beginning.
104 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #7 Untold Tales from the Arcade 105
two months have passed since that
day—going through the motions of my
grown-up job. If only I’d been born a blue
16-bit hedgehog.
To give another example of why games
give our lives meaning and to further
sentimentalize my existence, I’ll recall an
Why Game?
incident from last New Year’s Eve. On that
day, I had bought Final Fantasy IV Advance
at the videogame store run by a real-live
North Korean not too far from my house.
As I watched Cecil fight his shadow,
Reason #6: Nostalgia enjoy the present, then remembering the I wondered if I’d ever be able to defeat
By Sergei Servianov past is one of the few pleasures left to the the evil that dwells within my soul. I
melancholy. immediately realized that I was being
A month ago, I was writing a letter to this On my first day of work at my new job, utterly pompous and melodramatic, as
magazine’s infrequent and wildly unstable I felt horrible because of the nervousness well as ridiculous. I mean, where the hell
contributor Brian Roesler in which I of finding myself in unfamiliar territory, did my critical thinking go? I suddenly
mentioned the bitterness I felt as I was and because I was running a high fever. found myself swimming in the LCL known
returning home after a sour date. In that I was sweating, trembling, and coughing as memories. I returned to the time when I
letter I stated that for some reason, drunk so hard that I had ended up smoking had played it first and thought it to be the
and wobbling around midtown Manhattan only one cigarette that day (as opposed most profound thing in the world.
at four in the morning, I began humming to the two packs I usually enjoy). I felt And it damn sure was at the time. If
the first stage music from Mega Man X5. afraid, hopeless, and utterly depressed; you had told me at that young age, like
That scene above is precisely why I as I typed in another long list of data into my parents did, that videogames were
have yet to assign games to my mental the worksheet, I suddenly found myself silly distractions and that videogames
dustbin; despite my best efforts they humming the theme of “Hydrocity Zone were lies and silly lies at that, I would’ve
continue to influence my life, even when I Act 2” from Sonic 3. My heart cooled and thought that you were a liar and a jealous
don’t want them to. Every generation has seemed to sink a few inches as I recalled bastard with no sense of beauty or style.
an art that gives its youth meaning, and playing the game at my cousin’s house And, well, they were. And for most of us,
for us (and by “us” I mean the pitiful nerds when I was twelve, the smell of his dog hell, they still are.
reading this magazine) videogames have who circled around the TV, and the bright Ahh, fuck Marcel Proust and his cake,
ended up being the purple cloak in which summer leaves swaying on the tree games are the real catalyst for reminding
our hazy, nostalgic youth is wrapped. branches outside the window. And then us of things past.
Despite the utter ridiculousness of most I saw myself as a seven-year-old, sitting
of the things that videogamers admired on a fold-out chair next to some bragging,
at the time (and continue to admire), we loudmouthed upperclassmen, watching
remain loyal to videogames, because to them complete Sonic 2 at my school’s
stop playing is to admit that our youth is videogame club. I remembered the
now over. I can think of no other reason feelings: the blind optimism for a future
for the growing trend of people continually filled with adventure and sorrow, friends
buying games and not playing them for and laughter.
more than five minutes. I then realized I was at work, using the
I won’t say that I enjoy videogames same keyboard that I’m using now—
anymore. I have yet to play a game that exactly two months later (I noted the exact
has truly captivated me in more than a time of that memory on a notepad and
year; nevertheless, I enjoy them for the oddly enough, as I’m typing this essay
nostalgia that they trigger. If one can’t on Thursday, September 7, 2006, exactly