Blog Entry#6 What Happened to Purple Link?

Many are asking what happened to everyone's favorite Link variant from Four Swords. In the most recent installment of Legend of Zelda games, purple Link has altogether disappeared from the Legend of Zelda series. It is a mystery, but my answer, is that it goes further than Nintendo. It goes deep down into the AMERICAN GOVERMENT,

We're onto you Nintendo. This can be the only reason for the exclusion of Purple Link from Triforce Heroes. How can our beloved hero be forgotten? Yes,the green tunic is always a favorite, but there is no reason to exclude someone based off of their color.

Nintendo, this is what I want, bring this back into our lives

Drawing via Shadow--Link

All jokes aside, it actually turns out there was a reason for purple Link's exclusion from the most recent game.
According to the Nintendo devs, Link's absence was due to the fact that the playable Links in Triforce heroes are completely unrelated to the Link clones in Four Swords. In fact, the characters in Triforce Heroes aren't even Link. They're just three guys who happen to have pointed ears, side parted hair, and sideburns. The game revolves around using the power of three as opposed to Four Sword's multiplayer. 

It could also come from the fact that in appearance, Purple Link and Blue Link are just too similar. The designers probably felt that if they had to get rid of any of the palettes, purpe would be the easiest to omit. And I don't blame them, despite his absence, the game is just as fun as if he was there. In the end, it's just a color variant. It's not important to the gameplay. 

Art by Louistrations

Blog Entry #5 Shorter Classes- The Future?

ASU is joining in on a new popular trend: quarter length classes. For those who haven't heard of this new trend, some schools are offering classes that cost less tuition and take half the time. These new classes allow students to graduate faster and can even graduate from university in three years. For students who are tough on times, these classes are the answer. For some however, this is a nightmare. The problem with these classes is that you are doing a full class in half the time. This may be a problem in an English class where an essay that would take a month in a normal class is now due in 2 weeks. For students with poor time management skills, this may be a problem.

What do you mean that essay is due at 11:59?

For others, such as myself, believe that this is the future. Why wait to take a class when you can get it done now? There is less work load, and allows you to take the classes you want instead of being forced to take required classes. When I started at GCC, I had 20 credits to take, but taking both English 101 and 102 in the same semester has allowed me to free up my schedule while allowing me to keep my scholarship and stay on track. Personally, I think more classes should be offered in this format and more colleges should offer these classes for credit.

the early bird gets the worm

Blog Entry #4 Fallout 4-A Game of Style

For those who normally visit my blog, it may be surprising that I'm doing an entry on Fallout. I'm almost exclusively a Nintendo gamer, and it's very rare for me to play a non Nintendo or PC game. That is, until Fallout 4 came out. I've always been a fan of the Fallout franchise, but have never had a chance to play it until now. And of course, if there's one thing to encourage people to play, it's the option to creation there own character.

Meet my Fallout 4 character, named after Wez from Mad Max..

That's his wife in the background, she is also a work of art.

Fallout 4 gets players immersed right from the beginning of the game. The style in this game which allows you to spend hours on a character is incredible. Some players make carbon copies of celebrities,

DecDancer via Reddit

piranhas_really via Reddit

kurosaba via Reddit

My point is here, Fallout 4 offers an incredible way to start the game. By allowing players to access their creativity, players are able to start off their game in style (or just the opposite if you want to create freak characters like I did). 

Fallout is a perfect example of a modern day game that will take itself further and allow players to have fun. It doesn't try to make itself overly serious, there's room for humor and creativity. That is something that needs to be in more games. 

Blog Entry #3 Sexism in Gaming-Too One-Dimensional

Since 2009, Bayonetta has been a character of controversy. Many write her off as a sexist character, appearing only for the male gaze.

Gomakemeasandwich.com agrees with this, and while I am an activist for feminist rights, I know slanted writing when I see it. Gomakemeasandwich is run by people who describe themselves as "cranky" feminists.

The author focuses on Bayonetta as a toy for the male gaze, but Bayonetta's creation goes far further than that. Designed by Mari Shimazaki, Bayonetta was created with the purpose of three specific traits: a female lead, a modern witch, and to use four guns. Bayonetta's design was, for all purposes, a power fantasy by her creator. The men of the team of Bayonetta felt they had no right designing female characters, and created the male characters, but went to Mari for help. She created what is now one of the most sexual characters in gaming.

While the authors of the article and like minded gamers have a good point, many make their point without understanding the intention of this character. I personally am not a Bayonetta, while I acknowledge her purpose, as a character, seeing a woman so sexualized creeps me out. Despite this, I acknowledge that her sexualization is not a result of the male gaze. She is a sexualized character, but there is reason behind her sexualization. She is a strong female character in the sense that is traditional and as well as a more modern take on what it means to have your own power and to take pride in your own sexuality.

 Part of my problem with the article comes from the fact that they place such importance on the male gaze as if that's the only reason why a woman can be sexy in media. Women with sexuality who show it are often looked down upon in society. You're either a whore, or a prude. It's not that simple, and simplifying a character based on her sex appeal shows that exact mentality. It's a lack of understanding as well as a misguided view. 

Blog entry #2 Fatal Frame: Maiden of Blackwater demo

Halloween is over, spirits have gone to rest and jingle bells are ringing. But let's go back a week. October 25th, I hadn't played my WiiU in a while. I was being overwhelmed with homework, and I finally had time for a break. While with a friend, I noticed a game I had been waiting for had finally dropped. It was the newest installment in the Fatal Frame series. For those of you who have never heard of it, Fatal Frame is a horror series that focuses on capturing and purifying ghosts with a tool called the camera obscura. 

I am unfortunately short on money, but still decided to give the game a try. Luckily, a free demo of the beginning of the game was available on the Nintendo Eshop. I decided to give the game a try. And I must say, the game is actually scary. There are some horrifying cutscenes as well as ghosts and moments. I remember screaming every time I couldn't escape from a spirit. The game inflicts genuine horror onto the player. The story is interesting and comes from three different perspectives, one of the characters you play as is related to a character from a previous game. My largest gripe though was the graphics and controls. Characters moved awkwardly, hair physics didn't exist, and while the graphical differences between the cutscenes and game were barely visible, the leap between cutscene and game was too obvious for a modern day game. It was almost cringe worthy.

This, combined with shitty controls for the camera obscura and clunky character movement led to really downgrade the experience of this game. I was genuinely scared by the demo alone, but when it failed to live up to expectations, I had honestly hoped for better. Even worse are the character costumes. There is no need to add extra costumes to a horror game. It makes the game feel as if it doesn't take itself seriously. 

Nobody wants their horror game to turn into an interactive playboy magazine.

Overall, this game gets a 6/10 from me. Great on the horror aspect, but needs work on everything else.

Entry #1 Blogs, blogs, and more blogs

Social media has taken the world by storm. And that's not a bad thing, social media is fun to partake in. It allows the world to communicate with each other and combines social aspects with what we consider fun like writing, video games, and art. One of the earlier attempts at social media was blogging. Blogs are written posts on the internet similar to diaries. But unlike diaries, are public and often contain trivia, pictures, videos, and more. Blogs are a fun way to share information and the whatnot. While a dying media, many popular blogs still exist, and many show creators still use it to post updates.

One blog I really enjoy is GoNintendo, a video game centered blog that focuses around the blog creators' reviews and lets plays. While this blog focuses a little too much on personal opinions and not enough on information for my liking.

One blog I absolutely admire is the Keep Beach City Weird blog. Run by the creators of animated series Steven Universe, Keep Beach City Weird is the name of the blog run in show by side character, Ronaldo. This blog is run be animators and writers from the show, and follows the series through Ronaldo's perspective. Ronaldo is a fun, weird, quirky character. He doesn't have much friends, he's weird, a conspiracy theorist, dons a hideous fedora, and is the exact epitome of that boy in your class who claims he's a "nice guy" but complains when woman don't want to date him. He's a fun parody of a very real person, and his character adds interesting conflict to the show. The way this blog is run offers a different perspective to every episode, and even gives the serious episodes a lighter feel.

I can't get enough of fun blogs like these. But where there are good blogs, there are also the bad. For example, some people may be interested in blogs such as Pink is the New Black. Nothing seems as boring, stupid, vapid or whatever adjective I can add in as this blog. While I hate and couldn't give a shit about celebrity gossip, for some people, it's a way of life. Maybe I shouldn't be so judgmental, because we each have our own tastes. And that's part of what this blog project is, experimenting with our own tastes and learning about each other. In the end, that's what it comes to. It's not about who has the best blog, the most interesting blog, it's about the learning experience that us as classmates will gain from each other.