Holy crap, Skyrim is an aesthetically pleasing game. It never ceases to amaze me to see the amount of detail in seemingly inconsequential background elements in video games. Skies are always the best. Very rarely does one need to look all the way up, but even so, they pull out this craziness. Can I have a job drawing video game skies? Just the skies. I don’t want to actually program anything.
This year, I am taking one for the team. I, along with some awesome team members that I may or may not be related to, are partaking in 24 grueling hours of playing video games — all in the name of charity. We will be raising money for Cincinnati’s Children Hospital through Extra Life. This is my first year doing it, and although I joke about the omgsohard work of playing video games, getting myself to sit still for 24 hours is going to be a task all in itself. I get twitchy.
I’m excited to give back to Children’s Hospital though. As I’ve mentioned before on this site, my youngest was born with Craniosynotosis and spent those first few weeks of his life in and out of Children’s hospital. I could have been a tour guide near the end. The teams there are amazing and took wonderful care of him during that time, especially the Neuro team. There are not many times in my life where I felt completely helpless and out of control with what life was throwing at me, but the staff helped me feel at ease and were there to answer any questions, no matter how dumb I thought they were. Since kids are accident prone any way, we’ve made quite a few trips over the years for various injuries and the staff has always been awesome with them. I’m more than happy to help reward the hospital for the incredible work that they do.
To donate, please visit my pledge page. It’s tax deductible and will go to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Look at this fetching lad in Skyrim. Looking all rugged and manly. And he’s even wearing a man skirt. I do have a thing for dudes in kilts, so man skirt is right up there too. Plus, I’m pretty sure he has a sword too.
Hey..hey..HEY! I don’t know what kind of assassin ninja medieval chick you think I am, but this it entirely uncalled for. Put that leg away, Mr. Freshy Skirt, or I’ll have you sued for harassment.
I swear, if a woman can’t feel safe with a bunch of rugged warriors and scallywags, where can she feel safe??
It’s no secret that I love video games, especially those designed for the Xbox. Funny thing is, I never thought I’d own an Xbox until Left 4 Dead came out. Sure, we own a Wii and Playstation, but for me the Xbox is where it’s at. (Now only if they would stop pulling a Facebook and changing the UI on Xbox Live.)
The last game I became wholeheartedly involved in was Alice: Madness Returns
I was looking for another game I could dive right into and truly enjoy playing every sec0nd. Enter Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Anyway, after renting the game for several days and staying up way too late to get the most out of my money, the mister actually bought the game for me. It is definitely worth the price. Now that the holidays are over, I need to practice responsible gaming, so no more late nights for me. That only means that I’ll stretch out the playing time even more. Here’s the thing – you really can’t go wrong with Bethesda. Had I been pregnant and due on 11/11/11, I would have seriously considered taking up the challenge and named that kid Dovahkiin. Hey, it’s a lifetime of free Bethesda games, a lifetime of mockery be damned. The kid could always change his/her name, amiright??
Meanwhile, I’m wondering if the fact that I overly enjoy lock-picking and stealing in the game says anything about my personality.
My latest mental musical obsession is, oddly, the theme song from the Dead Island trailer. The song was composed specifically for the trailer by Giles Lamb, who sounds like he should be British. Not actually sure if he is or not, but I’ve been corrupted by too many episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the staunch belief that no one non-British would name their child “Giles”.
The piece is fairly simple and somber, with just piano and strings. Somehow it touches me.
It’s also the first time I realized that I am terrified of the zombie apocalypse. I mean, sure I have a contingency plan, but damn…zombies are kinda scary. I’ve often prided myself on my non-emotional attachment in the emergency situation, but I’m questioning how I would handle zombies on an emotional scale. If you think about it too long, it becomes a dreadful vision.
Also, I drank earlier, which could explain my fear of zombies being amplified. This usually happens.
Oh and the game? Not too bad actually. It’s set up as a quest/reward structure which is good if your a fan of that format ala Fallout and Oblivion. The free exploration has some limits and trucks are a bit of a bitch to get the hang of driving but once you do it’s all fun happy zombie plowing times. Turning on some of the NPCs would be nice too, cause some of them can be annoying!
The 7th Guest was one of my favorite computer games in the mid-90s. It was a horror-themed game, but puzzled based. A friend and I used to hang out at her house and try to team up on the puzzles in the game. She later went on to have issues with me, some which I couldn’t blame for for, and refused to speak to me. None of that had to do with the game, but it’s an interesting side note. Any way, I was hoping to find an emulator recently to play the game again, and instead I found something better. It’s now available for the iPad and the iPhone. Even better, they are also working on porting The 11th Hour, the sequel to 7G.
I downloaded 7G on my iPhone as I read at the time that the iPad version was still slightly buggy. Game play so far is good – similar to as I remember it – but I think the game would benefit more from a larger screen. As for the puzzles, some are quick solves, but as the game goes on, they get a tad maddening. While this isn’t the horror in the sense of the typical genre games, it’s definitely creepy, complete with weird visions and the occasional ghostly spectre. Not a spectre like the one in F.E.A.R 2 that keeps me from playing more than 5 mins, but a non-threatening one.
In a series of completely un-related google searches tonight, I found myself on the wiki page for another PC game I played back in the day. It was called “The Colonel’s Bequest”. The premise of the game was very Agatha Christie-like, which was perfect for me as I was quite into Agatha Christie back then. (Although, the first time I read And Then There Were None, I managed to completely skip over who the killer was. Yeaaah…classic.) The player gets to interact as the character Laura Bow, which, being a main female character, was also a bonus for me. Basic plot synopsis is such – you’re visiting with your friend at her uncle’s plantation. The uncle is loaded and close to death. He announces to the fam that everyone stands to inherit equal shares of his money. That’s when the plotting begins…and the deaths. You get to snoop around and try to discover who the murderer is.
I spent hours on this game, and I remember being really creeped out as a kid. Not only are people around you getting killed, but their bodies would disappear before anyone else could see what was going on. I never did find out where the bodies where hidden. I’ll be honest…that kinda irks me still.
Watching these videos, it’s amazing how much of this is so familiar. I remember it like it really wasn’t 20 years ago. (Eep!)
Here’s the basic intro:
As for the game play, the interaction was mainly command-based. Spelling = good!
And you COULD die in the game. Many, many ways:
Here’s the first murder in the game, along with the subsequent body disappearance!
I decided to google some more to see if I could find out where the bodies were hidden. Turns out, there was a whole other secret passage I never found. That actually irks me even more.
I’ve had the Gaming category for a while now, but had yet to actually make any gaming posts. I find it rather to fitting to start this category off with a post about the game that really defined my entrance into the gaming world. In 1990, Lucasfilm Games (now LucasArts) realized a pirate adventure game that opened my eyes to the wonder of gaming – The Secret of Monkey Island. Up until this point, the games I had played were largely text-command based with few graphics. I remember it was (of course) the monkey part that appealed to me, followed by the fact that this was a PIRATE game. I can’t remember if I got it for a present or what, but I remember having it. Back then, if you got stuck on a game, you called a 900 number for a hint or saved up for a book. Yay for the internet. I spent 30 hours one weekend pouring myself into this game on our PC. It was humorous, it was fun..I felt like the game understood MY sense of humor for once.
Of course, computing changed dramatically and the new computers weren’t capable of supporting these old games. While Monkey Island spawned a few sequels, the original had a special place in my heart. Imagine my jubilation when I found out that LucasArts was releasing The Secret of Monkey Island : Special Edition on Xbox Live Arcade this year. When it was finally released, buying it on XBLA was the first thing I did the following payday. I was amazed over how much I remembered from damn near twenty years ago. Of course, the game has updated graphics (although you can switch between the new version and old school one) and now it has an in-game hint system. No more 900 numbers! Except for…well…YOU KNOW. (Ha..sex line jokes…)
Now I doubt the game will really mesh well with the young generations of gamers. It’s slower moving and command-based. Sword-fighting involves exchanging the right combination of insults to win, not fancy combo moves. But for us old school gamers, the ones that grew up with this, being able to play this game again is just incredibly awesome. I wish other companies would follow suit and re-release updated versions of their classic games.
Check out The Secret of Monkey Island on their website – http://www.lucasarts.com/games/monkeyisland/. Or just take my word for it and buy this awesome game. Pirates. Monkeys. Jokes. What more could you possibly ask for?