In the most recent of the Legend of Zelda game Skyward Sword, hardcore players noticed a startling change. Link could actually get tired in this game. So tired that he has to sit down, recoup his energy and collect his thoughts. As a human, I tend to do that too. Except when I kick back and relax, it’s normally with a beer.
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I remember the precise moment I truly grasped the nature of my mortality. I was in my mid-twenties, in the midst of a seven-year bout with my undergraduate degree and in the middle of a shower. I don’t think it was a coincidence that I was naked when I came to the conclusion that there was no beatific bearded man in the sky who would be able to stop the light going from my eyes when my heart stopped and the blood, oxygen and electricity stopped moving around in my brain. Everything I’d learned in catechism and halfheartedly carried with me through my teens was untrue. Someday everything, at least for me, would end. My legs wobbled when the realization struck. I steadied myself with one hand against the tile. Eventually the water ran cold and I did what every human does every day of our fleeting lives. I got on with it. (more…)
According to Steam I’ve logged over 80 hours playing The Binding of Isaac. I’m head over heels in love with this game. I can’t stop playing it. I don’t want to stop playing it. And I’m here to tell you why you should play The Binding of Isaac if you haven’t already, come back to its dark clutches if you have strayed from the path and then, once you’ve drunk from the well, put serious thought into nominating it game of the year. (more…)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is my first attempt at a Zelda game since The Adventure of Link. So yes, I missed out on A Link to the Past, arguably the best game in the series if my friends are to be believed. The 3D revolution brought on by Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask? The cel-shaded glory of The Wind Waker? Skipped all that, too. I did buy Twilight Princess, but I admit I did so solely for far more nefarious purposes. So Skyward Sword is a complete sea change for me – one that, frankly, hurts the series more than helps. (more…)
The following is the latest in a series of journal entries chronicling the author’s descent into next-gen gaming degeneracy – from getting his first television in years to trying to figure out why the @$@‚$)@ you need two goddamn directional pads just to walk down a fucking hallway.
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As much as I love to complain, I’ve gotta say I’d be hard-pressed to come up with many negatives about this Rookie of the Year experiment.
But perhaps there is one downside, one dark, dusty, cobwebby corner of my indoctrination into the hi-def world of next-gen gaming: I now dislike – nay, despise – my Wii. (more…)
The classic Nintendo series The Legend of Zelda has captured the imagination of thousands of gamers for over 25 years, thanks in no small part to the musical score of Koji Kando. In fact, now that I mention it, there is a 50/50 chance the theme song from the title screen of the original NES cartridge is now stuck in your head.
Kando’s music also got stuck in the head of Devin Fanslow, a musician studying at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Fanslow adapted and arranged a medley of music from Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask for performance by a brass quintet. Unwinnable caught up with Fanslow and trombonist Patrick Horton to discuss the project. (more…)
