Well, well...

I must be the Undertaker of blogging: I show up for a few posts, fiddle about a bit and then disappear for months. Then I show up again, like nothing's changed.

Wait, I guess I'm not the Undertaker of blogging after all. I'm more like the irresponsible-boyfriend-who-makes-you-fall-for-him-but-turns-out-to-be-playing-with-your-feelings of blogging (IBWMYFFHBTOTBPWYFOB for 'short').

It's been an age since I was last here. A lot of things have changed. I'm no longer the Eugene Lee who wrote so enthusiastically on "Video Games that Changed My Life", but that doesn't mean I'm an entirely different person. A lot of my previous "jerk-ocity" still remains. XD

I guess the best thing to do would be to relate everything that's happened to me since my last post. To bring you readers up to speed with what I've been doing during my... "hiatus". But I'm not going to. Because that's just cliche. And besides, that's an entire year's worth of life stories. I don't think my keyboard can survive me typing everything out. Nor do I think I can remember everything well enough to do those memories justice. So let's just have a poem, one that I'm making up right this moment and has no sentimental value whatsoever.

An Ode to 2010

January was peaceful,
Easy and slow.

February was the same,
Until the day March came:
When I received at last,
Results from exams past.

Through April and through May,
I tried to find my way.
But my future I couldn't see:
Nothing here would suit me.

But June arrived soon,
And granted me a boon.
I was to be a teacher:
A most wise and learned creature.

With a heavy heart I started anew,
In a place where friends were few.
But life is in no way cruel,
And soon I found my Friends List full.

To say the road was easy is a lie.
But it brought us together,
You and I.

United under the bright blue sky,
Whatever challenges we will try.
Never again shall we cry,
And our friendship is the reason why.

No, I have no idea what that was about, either. Let's move on. ^^

Video Games that Changed My Life Part 1

Okay, I realize that I've been neglecting this site for a long time. I could apologize and beg for your forgiveness ('you' being the non-existent reader base of this blog, as well as the blog itself) , but that wouldn't have changed anything. So let's just forget it happened, and move on with today's post*!

Video games are as a part of my life as sleeping and eating (not to mention farting, but let's not be rude). Since finishing (read: completely messing up) my SPM exams, and even way before that, I've been munching through games by the hundreds, something which doesn't really qualify as a groundbreaking achievement (like curing cancer), but I'm still flaunting it about anyway. If you're going to spend 12 straight hours thwarting the Collector threat, you might as well tell somebody about it. So they can ignore you.

Sigh, the solitude and isolation of the gamer life! But I'm straying off-topic.

Of course, having played games for nearly a decade now, I can't be expected to remember every single title I've wrapped my keyboard pounding/mouse tapping fingers around. There are however, a few titles that stand out among the rest. These are games that, looking back now, really brought me to where I stand today in the world of gaming. Although whether if that's a good thing still remains to be seen... (Please don't let me have failed my SPM!!!)

Anyway, now that I've wasted several paragraphs covering absolutely nothing, it's way time we went into the topic. So here it is, complete with glorious screenshots*, the list of Games that Changed My Life:

#1 Aladdin (1993)
by The Walt Disney Company

I never saw the movie. Yes, shocking, I know. The only thing closest to the original media that I've had experience with was the audio book, which was still able to get me hooked despite the lack of any visual presentations because of its wonderful narrating. As a plus, it carried over all the voice actors and songs right from the movie, which was awesome. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to it again and again on tape, and it definitely helped the tedious thrity minutes' ride to school every morning.

Anyway, Aladdin was one of the first games I'd ever played. Originally made for the SEGA Genesis, it was later ported to the PC, which is where I played it. The game itself is a pretty basic hack'n'slash sidescroller, with ample of 2D platforming thrown into the mix. It mainly follows the plot of the movie, meaning you first start in the streets of Agrabah and later move on to other familiar locations (familiar to those who actually saw the movie, that is) like the Cave of Wonders and the royal palace. Combat is simple but gets the job done. You have a single melee attack with your scimitar, and can pelt enemies at range with apples. Your opponents never die violently, instead vaporising into smoke when defeated, as fitting the tone of the game.

I've forgotten what the ropes in the jars are for...

The game's highlight is its tone. Aladdin never forgets its Disney roots, looking and sounding uncanningly alike with its movie counterpart. The music that accompanied the game was the same as the songs in the movie (only without lyrics), and it was something I could really attach to more than the graphics, as the songs were easily more familiar to me than the character art. The game's rendition of 'A Whole New World', played in the Main Menu, had me in shivers every time. I loved that one. Also, the in-game animations and art were all done by the same team that worked on the original movie, so fans shouldn't find it too alien.

This is a particularly nasty mission that has you zooming about the Cave of Wonders while avoiding falling rocks and gushing lava. I absolutely hated this.

To finish up, Aladdin was a rare gem of a game for me at the time. I had some similar titles then, like The Lion King and that Power Rangers Zeo game, but neither of them are as memorable as this one. Which is odd, since I saw and loved The Lion King. But we'll put off my fanboy gushings for another time.

Here is a link to a video on Youtube showcasing some of the gameplay. (If you fast forward to about the ninth minute mark, you get to listen to 'A Whole New World' at the end! )

Another link, this one a Youtube vid exclusively devoted to 'A Whole New World'.

*Screenshots courstesy of games4win.com

#2 Starcraft (1998)
by Blizzard Entertainment (Duh!)

Starcraft is a legendary name in any circle of gaming. Everyone has heard of it. Its main source of praise comes from its three unique, vastly different races: the human Terrans, the buglike Zerg, and the enigmatic yet strangely noble Protoss. Now, I'm not a strategy person. Tactics is to me what a real vampire (read: not R-Pat) is to Twilight. They just don't fit. I've always found myself drawn more towards action and role-playing games, due to their more hands-on approach to gameplay. Also, I don't believe in assigning miniature units to commit mass murder for me when I could quite easily do it myself. Provided I have the constitution of a tank and the arsenal of the entire North Korean nuclear division strapped to my back.

So why is Starcraft so special to me then? I risk being labelled a blasphemer and a heretic by saying no, it's not the gameplay. In fact, I couldn't care less about the gameplay. When you have god mode on for the duration of the level, strategy ceases to matter. All that is important is churning out the cooler units and watching them stomp your enemies to death.

What I loved about Starcraft was its setting. Three vastly different spesies duking it out in an all out war for survival? What's not to like? Did I mention one of the three races has basic units with lightsabers strapped to their wrists? Or that the Terran battlecruiser eats tonnes of Awesomeness for breakfast and then vomits it out its Yamato Cannon in a wave of devastating Pure Awesome? And has any of you ever seen the rabid intensity of a zergling rush, tearing away defenses and disemboweling Terrans and Protoss alike? It doesn't hurt that the game is stylishly graphic for its time: units explode in gore and visceral when killed, and one of my favorite pastimes in the game was to build a nuclear missile (nuclear missile!!!) and then dropping it on a cluster of my own Marines, just to see them explode in a red fountain of blood and to hear their sweet, sweet death howls. Sick, disgusting, pointless, and undeniably awesome!

Boom!

Ahem. Now that we have my psychotic, mass-unit-genocide tendencies out of the way...

Another thing I liked about Starcraft was its story, packed full with twists and great dialogue. The voice acting is exceptional, and really helped establish the characters as persons rather than just some weird, talking portraits. I especially liked the voice acting for the rebel leader, Arcturus Mengsk: smooth but not quite silky, with enough steel in his tone to convey his determined personality. His subtle charisma was the reason Episode I's (Starcraft is split into 3 episodes, one for each campaign, one campaign per race) climatic plot-twist worked extremely well for me, springing a sudden and unexpected betrayal from the charismatic Mengsk, who makes a sudden turn from heroic 'rebel-crusader' (Raynor quote!) to the self-styled Emperor of the Terran Dominion (Youtube vid; watch it and tell me you didn't get the shivers!).

Starcraft was the first game I played with a real story, a concrete narrative that helps move the campaign along. In fact, the only reason I played it was to further the story, because even though mass murdering helpless marines with nuclear weapons is fun (Starcraft 2 vid), it eventually does get old. The story in Starcraft, as I've mentioned before, is full of twists and turns and loads of xeno killing. The cinematics in the game are nothing compared to today's standards, but some were exceptionally well done, notably Emperor Two-Face's inanugaration speech and that marine expedition onto a deserted science facility.

All in all, Starcraft is a remarkable title, regardless of whether you're merely here for the cheap action, deep story or the strategic gameplay. Me, I just like a good story. And to blow things up.

**Screenshot from www.eliteownage.com

#3 Warcraft 3 (2001)
by Blizzard Entertainment

Warcraft 3 was the first game in my list to demand a computer upgrade. The game refused to run on my obsolete, dinosaur-era graphic card, and I had to badger my poor mother for an upgrade. I'm not ashamed to admit that several underhanded tactics were employed, including threatening suicide by covering my head with a plastic bag. Don't ask.

Like with Starcraft, it was Warcraft 3's story that held me, along with its colorful and vibrant graphics. And its cinematics too. Boy, oh boy, the cinematics. Starcraft had some competent pictures back in its day, but Warcraft 3 completely blew them out of the water.

Gameplay wise, I can't comment much because like they did with Starcraft, Blizzard conveniently and very thoughtfully provided me with cheat codes that allowed me to breeze past the missions like a breeze on a breezey day. Not the most perfect analogy, but we're not here for poetry or any of those actual literary stuff. That'd just outstretch my limited abilities and highlight the fact that I'm nothing but a useless meatbag whose sole contribution to the world is game piracy. Anyway, back to the point: you build stuff, you kill stuff, and then you do it all over again. Of course, there's this enigmatic and elusive (as far as I'm concerned; haven't actually seen it yet) element called strategy involved, but I don't try to be Sun Tzu and just cheat my way through.

Now the reason Warcraft 3 held such a special place in my vile, shriveled up husk of a heart is because it was the very first 3D game of my life. Granted, my 8mb video card didn't pack enough of a punch for me to appreciate the game's graphics properly, but even at low settings the game looked beautiful and inviting and all those colorful big words that I'd like to use to dazzle you right now but sadly can't because I've spent too much time on games and too little time memorising the dictionary. One other thing about Warcraft 3 I enjoyed were the neutral monsters (or 'creeps' as the game called them; I thought creeps were people like me who spy on little girls building sandcastles at the beach so that we can stomp on them the moment they finish) that guarded specific locations like gold mines or neutral shops and dropped treasure when killed. That lent the game a very refreshing RPG flavor that I found myself gravitating more to than the actual strategy aspect of the game. In fact, I would sometimes just load up a huge 8-player map, let the computer fight among themselves and go treasure hunting with my cheatcode-enhanced, one-hit-kill-dealing Paladin. The bright and cartoonish palettes used in the game made in so much nicer to just walk around and taking in the sights instead of amassing an army of bloodthirsty cowmen hellbent on whacking your enemies senseless with massive, elaborately decorated telephone poles. Which begs the question: why can't we all just get along and have a massive summer beach bash at the local Fountain of Health?

Because that would go against the whole point of the game and completely mess up its name, dumbass!

******

I think this might just be my longest post ever, and it's not even finished yet! I've spent the entire day on it, starting in the afternoon and it's now 10pm at night! Most of the time were spent looking for the outsource materials to supplement this post (meaning that if you didn't click on the links above, you're wasting my time! Bad! Go click!), and while this isn't Shakespeare, I think that I've done something rather remarkable here (Which is creating an excessively long post about something people won't care about and probably won't read, for my own amusement).

Will be back with Part 2 tomorrow. Also, long due reviews of Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins and other recent gaming gems.

EDIT: Sorry about the alternating font. I tried to uniform it, but somehow Blogger rejects my changes and reverts back to the previous settings.

New Year Resolutions...

So, it's the second week of the new year already, eh? How time flies. I'm still not a doddering old man though, and unlikely to die of age in the next 24 hours. Sorry to disappoint.

Anyway. It's a new year, so I suppose I should set myself some goals and then forget about them.

Goal No. 1: Do Not Fall For Anyone
This is a biggie. The biggie, really. Ever since Maker knows when, yours truly has been falling for girls right and left. Guess I'm no champion of fidelity. It's gotta stop. Pining for someone all the time is not the way to live.

There are happy endings; I've seen them. Just not for me. Even Morrigan dumped me, and she's not even real!

Goal No. 2: Do Something With My Life
That is to say, do something other than a) saving the world from darkspawn, b) fighting for the lost, and c) annoying people. Tough list. But I'm just going to forget this anyway, so no harm done. ;)

Goal No. 3: Write A Novel/ Create A Dragon Age Campaign
Okay, so this should be grouped with "living like the average boring meatbag" in Goal No. 2, but since this is something that I'm willing and hoping to see it through, I thought it deserved a special mention. A career in writing is what I'm looking for. So I guess I have a year to practice for it.

Before I head onto the real thing and fail spectacularly. Y'all are welcome to visit me at my place in the gutter, by the way.

'ey!

"Well, lookee 'ere chaps, seems like we got ourselves a Grey Warden 'ere..."

Maker's breath, fellows! How long has it been? Two months, creeping onto three? It's been rather a long time, eh? Bet you guys missed me.

No, really, it's alright. I know how much you must have missed bashing my blog and laughing at everything I put up here. Not without good reason too, I might add.

Anyway, while you've been pining away for my ridiculous musings, I've been quite busy with... stuff. Important stuff. Like saving the world from Darkspawn and having a blast while at it.

But before that there was, of course, the wretched SPM. It was a surreal experience, to be completely honest. I spent half the time scrambling (in vain) to catch up with the work that I'd neglected for the past two years, and there were some sleepless nights too. Not something I want to go through again. In the end though, I'm not quite sure I did okay. At all. But that's something I'm going to have to face up to. In three months. Can't wait. Mum is going to murder me.

Thankfully, the guys from school organised a trip to Genting right after the SPM, which helped considerably in taking my mind off that gloomy subject. It was fun all the way through, though the knowledge that this was the last time I would ever see some of my friends was a sobering one. Still, it's hard to dwell on the negatives when Cho's cracking jokes (and also a few ribs) right and left. I also had the chance to try my hand at archery, which was a fun but slightly frustrating experience as I struggled to grasp the techniques. Rather unfortunately, Chee Keong, who happened to be standing beside me at one point, did not end up skewered on one of my 'stray' arrows. Oh well.

We stopped by Times Square on the way back. Acquired The Saint and Dragon Age: Origins!

The latter is a mixed bag. Sure, it's true Bioware with the characters, dialogue and the fleshed out setting complete with extensive history, but it's also a rather more complex and frustrating experience that any of Bioware's previous titles in my opinion. Combat is trying in almost every encounter, even on Normal setting, and I find myself constantly gasping for air everytime I have to unsheathe my sword (Which incidentally has 1.5 armor penetration, spell resistance and +4 Electricity damage; ownage!). Maybe I just haven't grasped that winning technique yet.

Plenty more to talk about, but I'll leave it here for now. Expect to see me back soon. Some time. Maker's blessings*.

*Or 'the Emperor protects', if you prefer that one.

Like Elvis, Eugene Has Left the Building

Starting tomorrow (20th Oct), I will be handing over my PC's power cables to a close friend for safekeeping. Have decided that I can never truly study with my PC sitting so tantalizingly close nearby.

Do not despair, for I will be back! In two months. So I suppose you have a call to rejoice now? :D

Until then... be nasty, and insult anyone who strikes (or rather, doesn't strike) your fancy. The Emperor protects!