Why, hello there.
I realise my previous blog was a bit out of the blue and heavy as fuck to interpret, hence the lack of comments.
That's why I make a 180° turn and head into something that's less heavy, entertaining, etc.
Every year since the dawn of time, WWF/-E has been releasing videogames of their intellectual property. Unlike most game series, they've decreased playability with every coming installment ... despite promoting it as bigger, better and more beautiful.
Call me an old sack, but I firmly stand by my idea that "WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role!" and "WWE SmackDown!: Shut Your Mouth" are the best games THQ/Yuke's/WWE has ever released.
SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role (KYR) of course looked awful, movements were strained and create-a-wrestler (CAW) were ridiculously bad, but unlike many other installments, it carried the vibe of the attitude era. While I'll be on the forefront of putting down nostalgia ... not a single game has managed to recreate the vibe of rebellion that KYR did. It gave the player exactly that what was on tv.
SYM provided the fans with a ridiculously huge roster, roughly 65 superstars/divas and increased playability.
Not to mention a different path for a created superstar. The story was very fleshed out and you'd be involved in so many things. Interesting to note: the story of SYM was written by then WWF/-E writers, who were capable wrestling writers to boot.
Since then, the series has gone downhill in my opinion. Many people within the crazy fandom regard "Here Comes the Pain!" as the best game in the series, but I disagree most definitely. While I don't own the game myself; I have played it a few times, but for some reason, it didn't please me in the way that SYM did. The visual aspect remained pretty much unchanged, but never did it reach the pedestal I had put SYM on.
Perhaps this is because I bought SYM during the time when wrestling took a backseat to many other things in my life and it re-ignited my love for wrestling? I don't know, really.
After HCTP, there was SmackDown! vs Raw. I liked the game, but while playing it (mocking the fact that many wrestlers looked nothing like their real-life counterparts), it felt like a bad rip-off. Things remained unchanged in the following installments. SvR2008 brought ECW somewhat into the mix. Though if it hadn't been on the cover, I wouldn't have realised. (ECW was pretty much left out, due to the Chris Benoit murder/suicide debacle)
SvR 2009 brought us the Road to Wrestlemania. This was probably the biggest disappointment yet. They promised lots of cool additions and you ended up having to play with people WWE picked. A reasonable addition was the "Create-a-Finisher" mode. While far from perfect, it did give the fans something they had been yearning for for years.
SvR 2010 brought much of the same. Road to Wrestlemania was still shit, forcing you to choose between
- Mickie James
- Created Superstar
- John Cena/Triple H Brand Warfare
- Edge
- Randy Orton
- Shawn Michaels
I don't know, but for me this doesn't scream "MUST BUY NAO!". Of course I did, because I am a sucker.
As previously touched upon in my previous blog, I will also buy SvR2011. Why? Because the shameless promotion has promised me a huge roster, expansion, the same Road to Wrestlemania crap (with Christian being playable), expanded Create-a-Finisher, etc.
It's being released in 2 days here. I will go out and buy when I've got the time or the interest to do so. I will of course pour my findings in blog form.
Until then, good night and good news!
D~
'Sup Money?
As the title hints, I'm not going to talk pro wrestling this time. Some odd months ago, I devised some sort of a "bloggin' strategy" that would put Montgomery and Churchill to shame. This strategy entailed that I'd be writing random blogs about anything related to entertainment, not just the little niche called pro wrestling (or sports entertainment, considering I'm limiting to WWE and TNA). In previous blogs, I mentioned certain music genres and bands that I like and would love to freely plug around when I can.
Again, that's not what it's all about. Since I can only talk about what I like (or dislike) I'm taking this forum to express my undying, passionate love about a franchise that's been Hauntering my childhood, Venkman'd out for a portion of my puberty and returned like Sam Fisher in 2006. Entertainment references done.
Many people have ended up with a look of concern such as "Are you okay? Really?" when I came out for it, but to hell with it.
I'm a Pokémon fan.
This all first started way back in 1998, when I was a little tyke. All these jaw dropping monsters that you could catch in silly duo-tone balls and carry around with you while you adventured over the land named Kanto.
Purpose of the games: beat the shit out of random people who will randomly challenge you and your posse of monsters and then steal their money. Even as a 10-year old, that sounded like one hell of a time! The old Red & Blue versions pretty much hogged up most of my time.
Looking back now, these game made quite a difference to me. It got me interested in gaming and due to the necessary trades, it was also a great incentive for pretty much anyone to socialise on the school playground.
Things became even more interesting when rumors started floating around about a glitch that could multiply the sixth item in your bag. Rare Candies and Master Balls galore! It was the way to stardom and success. I actually think Missingno. (or Ketsuban in the orient) is still one of the most famous game-related trivia bits ever.
I never stopped playing Red, Blue and Yellow. This continued, albeit less frequent, while I grew disinterested with the franchise. The novelty wore off, so to speak. I got a little out of Generation II (ie. Gold, Silver and Crystal) before it just all stopped for me. I threw away all the cards I ever collected and threw the games I had aside for a while.
Fast forward to 2005. Anything between 2000-2005 that would be relevant to this story would be trivial anyway .. In the year 2005 I was flipping channels and ended up seeing an episode of Pokémon out of the blue. Feeling that jolt of nostalgia gave me the incentive to keep watching.
While watching that episode (don't know which one) it struck me that I was dealing with something beyond generation II. It was called "The Advanced Generation". Intrigued as I was by the wonderful design that was much better than any other Pokémon I had ever seen way back when, I looked up some info on this thing.
As it turned out, the Advanced Generation (Gen III) had more or less run its course by then and was gonna be replaced by the fourth one. Feeling that I had to catch up, I rabidly started playing the third generation games on an advance emulator. Quickly rushing through Ruby and Sapphire (and later Emerald) I was once again hooked on this franchise.
Something I had pledgefully sworn to myself would never happen, happened and I was watching the TV show, playing the games, joining the bulbapedia wiki.
Since that day, I've been watching the show, playing every game since then and anxiously awaiting the arrival of Generation V to the west. It's been released in Japan now, and writing about it makes my wouth slightly watery. Granted, I'm drinking water and typing with one hand now, but all the same.
I don't wonder why people look at me weird. I'm 22 years young and I like Pokémon to the point where I can distinguish a monster based on its Japanese name. It's unconventional to say the least, but I'm totally fine with that.
I've learned from experience that I'm definitely not the only adult who can still be excited about this billion-dollar franchise. And quite frankly, everyone needs their escape from the pressure of reality from time to time.
We just have different manners to do so.
fin.
On a mostly unrelated note: Politically, this country of mine is going down the pooper. It's pretty tough having two entities who couldn't be more different trying to iron out a solution that works best for both parties. The only thing we all have in common is our nationality. Go figure.
I'm interested in politics and for sure do I have my own opinion on the matter, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. It's things like this that make me want to forget about everything troublesome and just enjoy some no-nonsense fun with a franchise that has so many things to offer.
I reckon it turned out to be a pretty meaningless blog. But hell, if you're reading this particular phrase, you sure as hell read through it. Thanks for doing that
do'svidanya!
~Delrihuzz
