Video Game Characters: Part One!

Hello all!
I want to start an ongoing topic that I will cover over time. So this is Part One of my Characters segment where I talk about characters that I love and some that I hate. I won't get too philosophical with them because if I am being honest - I could talk about character personas for days. So I will keep these short and sweet! Hope you enjoy.

I am going to start with Mario!!!!  Let's-a-go!

So, Mario is an amazing character. His plot is simple. He needs to save the princess - so he does. It's a great goal because it's easy to understand for kids and the game itself is complicated enough that it won't bore an adult. As Mario evolves throughout the games his story changes. In Super Mario Sunshine (which I feel is one of the more underrated games) he has to clean up Delphino because baby bowser impersonated him and destroyed the town. You do have to save the princess in the beginning but once you save her the game continues. Mario's constantly chasing Princess Peach gives the player a mission without burdening them with layers and layers of back story.

A character in the Mario series that I cannot stand is Toad. He's constantly getting into trouble and then Mario mistakes him for the princess all the time. The only series where he is actually useful is in Luigi's Mansion where, when you find him - he is a save point. Then you're thankful to have found Toad because that means that you can continue on and worry less about dying and losing data.

Link: Protector of Hyrule!

Link is a fantastic character because he demonstrates the wise hero. Link doesn't speak much in his series (I don't know if you've noticed..) and his tacit heroism is something that I greatly appreciate.
Frankly, I don't like the American dubbed voices as much as I like the Japanese ones. Titus? Sucked. Ichigo? Lame. I feel that Link wouldn't be as successful a character if he had some wacky American voice.
Link's silence also gives off a sense of mystery. All the characters in the series find him very mysterious and I think this mystery is the reason Link and Zelda still aren't a couple. If we imagine for a moment that Link is a real person - he is obviously very thoughtful and probably very timid or shy. This makes me think that he would have a difficult time with women because he wouldn't want to make her uncomfortable. So Link stays forever friend-zoned because he's too passive and willing to serve princess Zelda (even if it means life or death).

Paarthunax

This is a totally random character that I want to write about because - I feel this weird bond with him. So at the end of Skyrim you're supposed to kill Paarthunax for aiding in Alduin's regime. For whatever reason when I reached this mission I moved on and ignored it. I went back later - hoping to 100% the game and found myself with my bowstring drawn and unable to release the trigger. Why? I still don't know. This is what I think about the character.
For one, I don't trust The Blades. While I really want Max Von Sydow (Esbern) to like me (or he might exorcise me -- get it?) I don't feel connected to that group. Paarthunax's character to me seems resentful. He's the tragedy of Lucius Malfoy. He would do anything for his master, but when his master is gone he is left to face the crimes he committed. I feel like Paarthunax has redeeming qualities that make me like him. Also, I like talking to him because he has an awesome voice actor (who, oddly enough, is the voice of many many many Nintendo characters).

Do you have any characters that you love? Leave them in the comments below!
Also, tell me whether I should kill Paarthunax or not. I still can't decide.

See you next week and thanks for reading!!

This week: Consoling Consoles

This week I want to cover some consoles. 

Recently I have been playing my 3DS and wondering, "What is so bad about Nintendo consoles?" I only hear bad things about the WiiU. I don't own one myself so I probably am not a good source of information but from what I have played on it, it seems to me that it's a pretty cool system. Looking at games that it offers alone doesn't prove my point at all. Most of these games find cheap ways to use the control screen that seem wildly unnecessary. BUT. Look at Grand Theft Auto 5. This game is working on integrating technology that will allow the player to check things on a different device while they play. Isn't that what Nintendo is already doing? While they haven't allowed the WiiPad to live up to it's true potential Nintendo can't be mocked for something that other developers are trying to incorporate. 

Looking realistically at Nintendo though - they definitely have a monopoly on the portable systems. And I'm not talking about the 2DS (which probably stands for 2 damn stupid). BAD JOKE. But Nintendo's platforms went down after the Nintendo 64. That was a great system - but the Gamecube was .... whatever. I liked it but it wasn't the best system.

3DS is still better than the WiiU long after it's release - constantly coming up with limited edition versions that sell like crazy. I own the original Legend of Zelda 3DS and have the new Legend of Zelda 3DSXL on preorder. If could have gotten the Pikachu one when it came out I so would have. The great thing about the 3DS is that it's a good size and it has a ton of features that fixed the previous flaws. Although I do wish I could assign my own background photo. The thing that I love most about the 3DS is the major improvement on the internet connectivity. I remember being on my original DS sitting on the ground next to the computer so that I could get enough WiFi and it was very dodgy even then. Now I just have to be home and anywhere in my house I have internet.
The only thing that I wish was on the 3DS is the ability to save more than 3 networks. My home, work, and fiance's is not the only 3 places I need WiFi and it would be nice not to have to go into my settings everytime to change it.

I've owned a Playstation 2 but that's it. I only played Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts on it and I never had money to buy the PS3 and my dad bought the Xbox 360 instead so ... that is a system I have neglected. But, I have nothing against the PS3 and look forward to the new one. PS2 was my introduction to more serious games so I thank Sony for that.

Xbox 360 has been a love/hate relationship. I love Xbox because a lot of my favorite games are on it (which I realize is a lousy argument because those games are also on PS3..). I hate Xbox because it does shitty things as a company. No backwards compatability on the new system? I almost flipped my lid. But before I make this a Xbox One vs. PS4 debate I will just end it there. Xbox has been something that I've had for a very long time and that alone is the reason that I would maybe get the Xbox One. But, my wedding is coming up and Hawaii won't be free! SO. I probably won't get one of the new consoles for a while. I think in the end my fiance and I will get the PS4 just because it's overall a better system.

When the consoles first got announced I was all in for the Xbox One. Again- because I like consistency. (That's why I have 2 legend of zelda 3ds's..) My fiance insists that we get the PS4 because it really is the better choice. My argument was only that I play more video games than he does so I should pick which system we get. But after many articles and podcasts I have softened up the PS4.

That's it for this week. Please leave a comment below and follow/subscribe/orwhateveritisyoudo. :)

This week: Fable 1, 2, & 3 - Also: Comikaze 2013 - see you there!

So lots of things are happening this week. We got Halloween on Thursday and then Comikaze on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. My group of friends will only be going to Saturday and Sunday (mostly because we all work 5 days a week) so if you're there I will be dressed as Catwoman! 

I realized that since Stan Lee is the host he probably will want to see more Marvel heroes but ... oh well. 

This week I want to talk about Fable! I covered it a teeny bit last week but I want to go into detail. Fable was the first xbox game I played. My cousin let me play it when we stayed for the week at my grandmas for the Christmas/New Years break.

This game opened up a whole new world for me. Partially because it was a new system and a new controller and partially because it was definitely a more serious game. Even more serious than Final Fantasy I would say. 

I fell in love with the series but (as I sort of covered already) I wasn't allowed to play around my mom. She didn't like the violence and cursing (even though it's mild) and thought I should be playing more appropriate games. This was one of the first instances where my mom had to restrict me from a game. One of the other games that I played that year was Morrowind. Another game that my mom felt the need to keep me from playing. Although I will give her that one. I was prone to ravaging towns and stealing homes from innocent people. 

After that week of playing I never was allowed to play again. I didn't see my cousin for some time after that. Maybe because he was so much older than me and a boy... so my mom thought it was best to keep me from him because he was a bad influence. But I disagree. He was just sharing what he loved and since he was an only child for a long time he needed someone to share with when we were with family. 

I didn't play Fable again until a couple of years ago when my boyfriend at the time got a new xbox 360 and wanted a game. I recommended Fable 2 along with Oblivion and Fallout 3 but he chose Fable 2. He began playing it and quickly got addicted and then I found a copy of it for $5 so I picked it up myself. We literally only played Fable 2 for like 3 months (okay maybe not that long). Repeating the same quests over and over. Downloading the DLC and playing through those was the first time I actually downloaded a DLC. They were great DLCs and expanded the game a good amount. What I mostly liked about the game was that it reminded me of my formative years and reminded me why I love video games so much. 

And now my boyfriend (now my fiance) and I can play video games. I will point out that he is not as interested in video games as I am. The only game I can get him to play is Borderlands. There are some exceptions. But he just doesn't get hooked on much. 

Anyways -- when we finally got Fable 3 we were both really eager to play. We had to switch off playing because we only had one copy and we didn't live together (and still don't) so it was a little bit longer of a play through for me. Fable 3 was WAY more intense than Fable 2. At least for me. I found it sort of haunting at certain parts too. When you're running through the desert and that guy keeps popping up with no eyes in front of you scared the SHIT out of me. I'm kind of a wimp though when it comes to creepy things. I'll say it! I'm not ashamed! 

Fable 3 was also a bit more complicated. Forcing you to make tough decisions that decide the fate of the game. I failed. I was in millions of debt trying to help everyone and at the end everyone died... 

My boyfriend ended the game completely even. Doing the exact right amount of good and bad. I don't know how he did it honestly but oh well. 

Anyways, that will wrap up my post for this week! Be sure to follow me. You can find me on twitter and instagram @katieishh :) 

Comments below are welcome! Leave me lots of love and hate.