Mario is Dead

It’s time Nintendo.

He’s tired of being whored out. You’re tired of whoring him out, we all see it. There’s not many places you can take him now that he’s gallivanted across the universe. And, really, his spin off games are rubbish. Mario Kart Wii? Well, I haven’t played it, but I’ve got my suspicions. I think it’s time to just be that ‘non’-game company. I really do.

Maybe it’s just my mood right now. But gaming has really just lost its edge. It’s cycling over and over. The same themes, the same teams, the same games. The only thing that is fresh are ‘non’-games. Brain Age, Wii Fit, Wii Music. They’re different. They’re challenging gamings conventions. They’re reaching to the people that were out of reach only three years ago. They’re making gaming very approachable.

Honestly, it’s time. It’s time to spread it to the masses. I don’t have a good reason. But it’s time to hand one of my oldest past times to everyone. It’s not exclusive any more. It’s ready to evolve.

As the old traditions collapse something better will come from it. I think the indie scene will explode. As gaming becomes less and less “that shit for nerds”, and big budget studios dissolve, the indie crowd is going to move in and make some of the best things we’ll ever see. It’s happening now. The bite sized games on XBLA, Wii Ware, and PSN. The one man teams making crazy things like Every Day Shooter or Audiosurf. Those things are wacky and non-traditional, but still appealing to the traditional gamer.

We’re in a weird world now. Shits goin’ down.

Don’t forget what gaming was; that tradition is important. We needed that to get to this point. But it’s time for the old to decompose to give life to the next generation of this media.

Wii Fit inspired this. I got me thinking.

It’s been a strange few weeks I say. This, I’m not sure why.

Final Fantasy Tactics is Intimidating

A while ago I bought Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (the PSP port of the Playstation original). I had decided to get it thinking that I’ve always kind of enjoyed turn based strategy games. I’ve played things like the Advance Wars series, the Metal Gear Acid games, etc. I figured I’d turn up the heat by trying an SRPG. I went in expecting that this would be a more difficult game. Well, I found that it’s not difficult per say. There just a lot of things to keep track of.

My mistake was going to a message board devoted to the game. The community still playing this game is fanatical. There’s a whole world of terminology that barely made sense to me. Plus, they tore this one guy to shreds after he posted his ‘lame’ team. That kind of put me off. I’m always wondering if I’m playing this game wrong.

But the game is about customization, and trial and error tactics. So, I can’t be playing it wrong if I win battles, right?

What I do know about the game is that the job system is neat, and I want my characters to be different things. I’m working towards a certain team I have in mind. It’s difficult work, because I don’t have much knowledge about the game. I don’t know how to really apply experience points and all this gibberish. I’ve been using tutorials and it’s still this very foreign thing to me.

I like using my black mage to set dudes on fire. That’s what I know.

It’s rough, but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to comprehend this game at some point.