Alas, this final update for Issue Seven has no thematic thread connecting its entries, beyond the obvious “they are all articles about video games.” But let’s not be banal, shall we?
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Lumber Baron pens another essay on the intricacies of a seemingly shallow selection. It is a journey of discovery, bathed in the cool light of a living sheet of graph paper and many, many neon explosions.
Metal Gear
Please ignore the link text and article title. This is not really an article about Metal Gear. I’m not really sure what it is, to be honest. It started off with a small tangent, but then that tangent became the core of the article, and then the article never really went anywhere with the tangent. It is, in short, an aimless collection of words.
Shenmue
If you’re looking for sailors, may I recommend visiting San Francisco during Fleet Week? Lots of action to be found there, I hear. Failing that, you could simply wander around virtual Yokosuka, quizzing everyone you meet. Kolbe tells us why Shenmue was better on paper than in silicon.
Really enjoyed these articles, more so than usual. You were spot-on about the Metal Gear comparison, and the Geometry Wars was an interesting read about progression and whatnot.
As for Shenmue, well… I’m a big fan. But I can’t quite put my finger on why. The first game was deeply flawed, but at the time, it was a technical marvel. And the second game fixed up the problems of the first (namely, the improved pacing and general lack of pointlessness in the plot), but technically, it wasn’t all that impressive. Yeah, I’m one of those who still pines for a sequel. Thank God for Yakuza. It’s probably the closest we’ll ever be to a sequel.
I’m a big Shenmue fan too, but I had to be honest and point that, well, it didn’t age well… which for me it means it wasn’t good from the beginning. I do hope for a sequel too, though, and even if it doesn’t come to exist, Yakuza is a worthy (and better in so many ways) succesor and I’m content with that.
Whatever the Metal Gear one was, I liked it.
I also love Shenmue, in spite of that game’s lack of anything fun to do in it.
There needs to be a support hotline for people like us.
Shoot. Now I want to buy Geometry Wars.
can’t spell banal without anal. aren’t you glad I’m reading your site now?
It should’ve been called G.I. Joe vs. Metal Gear. That’s a crossover I would like to see.
You’re right about the live action Joe and MG movies, but just think how amazing it would be if they actually turn out to be good! I could die a happy man if a well-made G.I.Joe movie was produced.
Solid Snake VS Snake-Eyes? Or maybe they could be fused together into Solid Snake-Eyes.
But then since I’m lazy I’d have to do a find and replace on some Chuck Norris jokes.