Bump on a Blog is a new feature on useful or interesting sites across the internet. I spend a ton of time each week looking for headlines for the show or ways to increase At the Buzzer’s networking, and certain … Continue reading Bump on a Blog: Little Sister Gaming
Two days into this year’s E3, there have been surprises and disappointments. After tackling some of the individual stories yesterday, Chris and Shaun are back to pick apart Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft’s press conference offerings and give grades on their … Continue reading Chris and Shaun’s E3palooza — Day Two
E3 is kind of a big deal every year, and the two of us decided that we needed to talk about some of the announcements, especially since this shiny new website lets us promote posts like this more easily. Rather … Continue reading Chris and Shaun’s E3palooza — Day One
E3 is back in full swing, and with it comes a boatload of news about Nintendo’s Wii U system, expected to launch somewhere around the end of this year. I could spend my time talking to you about some of … Continue reading Wii U @ E3: Microsoft’s Subtle Jab
If life has taught me anything, it’s that everything needs classification. Cliques in schools. Personality types. Movie genres. Doesn’t matter. With that in mind, I’ve devised this ingenious gaming quiz. Based on facts compiled from dozens of scenarios that I … Continue reading The Gamer Quiz: What’s your type?
I always told myself I wasn’t going to turn into an old man who sat on the porch and tilted his rocking chair back and forth, popping his dentures in and out of place while discussing the finer points of … Continue reading Diablo III: A Lesson in Ownership
I live and breathe Zelda. It’s no secret. I’m not ashamed. I write fan fictions. I spend hours theorizing over timeline possibilities. And I immerse myself in each and every title in the series as deeply as possible. You’re starting to get weirded out, but stay with me.
Last year, I wrote an article about suggestions I had for Skyward Sword. Much to my surprise, Nintendo incorporated very few of them. Somehow, the game still managed to be a great success, blending sharp motion gameplay with an intriguing story and a thing I like to call Zelda magic.
With the new Zelda game being worked on for the Wii U, I think it’s time for another round of ideas and speculation. Shigeru Miyamoto has said that Skyward Sword is the “last Zelda of its kind,” suggesting that series is in for an overhaul. Here are some changes I would like to see that would radically change the formula, take advantage of the tablet functionality, and yet stay true to the Zelda spirit. Continue reading “9 Changes I Want to See in the Wii U Zelda”
Frequent show contributor and At the Buzzer movie review Gary Sundt and I are working on a few scripts to break our way into Hollywood (admittedly, Gary is doing a better job than I). I need this to happen, because right now I feel like I’m the only person on the planet who knows how to write a good ending.
Good endings aren’t hard. All you need to do is find the right blend of the ENDING TRIFECTA (patented by me). The ending trifecta is composed of resolution, satisfaction, and artistic closure. Like the perfect recipe, you need a little of each to really have a great ending. If you resolve everything by explaining what happens to every character, but the resolution is that every character is killed in a horrible fashion, this satisfies the resolution and artistic closure of your ending, but offers no fan satisfaction (unless the fans hated your characters). Likewise, if you attempt to satisfy your fans by offering a cookie cutter happy ending, you might sacrifice true character and event resolution, as well as the final exploration of your artistic themes.
It’s a tough balance. Except it’s not. Watch me cover some universally maligned endings and demonstrate how they easily could have been made better. Continue reading “Watch Me Make Endings Better (Spoilers)”
For those of you who know me pretty well, you won’t be surprised about today’s topic. American McGee’s Alice and its sequel Alice: Madness Returns are two games that, upon my discovery of them, quickly turned me not only into a die-hard fan of the games themselves, but of Alice in Wonderland as a whole. With the exception of MMOs and long RPGs like the Mass Effect and Persona games, no other game series has eaten more of my time. And it’s the only game I’ve decided to play through a third time. Trust me, folks, that doesn’t happen often. Most games are lucky if they can make me play them twice.
So what is it about American McGee’s unique take on Alice’s adventures that has captured me so? Well, I’ll tell you. Hope you’re ready for a trip down the rabbit hole! Continue reading “Games you shouldn’t miss: Alice & Alice: Madness Returns”
Lost Odyssey was one of those games that kinda flew under the radar. Even though it was released at a time when the 360 and PS3 were still relatively new and lacking in the RPG department, I’m not sure it got the attention it deserved.
LO was a solid, if unspectacular, game. It featured an engaging turn-based battle system with timed attacks to help keep the player engaged. The skill learning techniques were fun, but it also limited your party — when your immortal members could learn so many skills and your mortal folks were stuck with just two or three from equipment, it wasn’t a tough choice picking who to bring along. The story was decent, but where the game really excelled was in its side storytelling: a series of vignettes called “A Thousand Years of Dreams” that chronicled Kaim’s heartbreaking immortal existence.
Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi was the driving force behind Lost Odyssey, and in putting together the soundtrack for the game, he brought along a familiar face: Nobuo Uematsu. Uematsu, of course, was the mastermind behind every Final Fantasy OST through X, 
and he’s contributed a handful of other tracks to the series since then. More importantly, Uematsu is one of the best composers in video game history, and arguably the most recognizable.
Uematsu’s music in LO represented something of a change of pace. Limited by the technology of 8- and 16-bit video game systems, his earlier productions were much more based on melodies and ambiance, milking every last note he could out of bleeps and bloops. Fast forward 20 years, and Uematsu found himself with a full orchestra and advanced synthesizers to work with. The result is a strange hybrid of symphonic and progressive rock tracks with some piano and techno thrown in for good measure.
All of that added up to a 56-track, two-disc compilation featuring what might be Uematsu’s best work, even if it didn’t get the attention or accolades that many soundtracks from Final Fantasy did (and don’t worry, this feature will get to those eventually).
As usual with MtME, let’s take a look at five of my favorite tracks with commentary on each. Continue reading “Music to My Ears: Lost Odyssey”
Gray Areas 