Christmas went quite well I think. Even with our ever so limited budget. Because our wallets and bank accounts were so slim, I had to improvise on a few gifts this year. My mother has a cute little Pekingese named Betty, and I really wanted to get her a doggy sweater. The doggy boutique downtown had a great selection but they were charging prices a la your-first-born. So instead, Nikki volunteered her time and knitted an even cuter pink fluffy sweater for less than a cheap lunch. Yay!

Meanwhile, my mission was to give my sister a computer. She mentioned wanting one for her home office some months ago, and I thought that would be a perfect gift. Since I had enough spare parts I built her a machine suited well enough for her purpose. I commandeered an old HP, and decided to give it a little makeover. But, I wanted her PC to look new, even if it wasn't.

Supplies purchased for this mod came in under $10 for the spray paint, which was all it needed. I would have loved to add a window and cathode, but time was about as tight as money. As you may remember, the old HP cases that were somewhat ubiquitous at one point are not expecially attractive. I never really liked them even when they had just come out, let alone years later. So my vision, and challenge, was to create a cleaner look for the case and peripherals by painting the aged and yellowing plastic.


First step in this was to separate all of the case components from the metal chassis. There were actually a few more than I had anticipated. The plastic on these cases came in three colors, being gray, silver, and a transparent "charcoal" or something. The few minute clear pieces would remain unpainted as they were being used to refract LED lights.

After the separation anxiety, each part to be painted needed to be sanded down lightly for better texture, and cleaned from the dust. I ended up washing all the pieces and wiping them off. They were left alone to dry overnight before painting, just in case.


I pulled out an older Microsoft keyboard and a mouse to get painted as well. The keyboard needed it the most, due to some black marks that just wouldn't come off. I took off all the keys and dismantled the keyboard and mouse to prepare them for the painting process as well.


I was initially going to paint both the bottom and top parts of the mouse and the keyboard, but decided against it. Since the keys themselves had to remain unpainted, because I don't think my sister would appreciate not knowing which key is which, I chose to leave the bottom parts of both peripherals the original color. This would create a contrast in color that would match the difference between the keyboard keys and body.

The time for painting had arrived. I don't think I have mentioned that my color choice was white. But not the "ivory" white of old plastic mind you. Rather I chose a clean bright white in order to give the whole case a uniform and glossy finish. This would also lend the case a slight "Mac" flavor. Hey, I know that's uncharacteristic of me, but this old HP needed all the help in could get!


The mouse came out just fine and I was happy with the end result. Next up was the keyboard. After painting the cover, I noticed that all the keys were dirty (especially on the sides). Only one way to fix that. That's right, I got out my trusty cleaning spray and rag, and proceeded to clean each key individually.


There it is. One key at a time. It was somewhat tedious to be sure, but it didn't actually take that long. Besides, it was worth it to have an old keyboard transform into something that looked newer, and even smelled new when it came out of the box on Christmas Eve!


Voila! One de-Microsoftized keyboard coming up. Next up were all the little (and big) pieces for the PC case. I made sure to do multiple thinner coats to avoid drips. The transparent components were painted on the back as well as the front to avoid any light coming through the back.


While all my case components were drying, I took that time to assemble the internal parts of the case. I fired it all up to make sure everything was still operational, and came upon a no-post problem that made me more than a little mad. As it turned out, while the parts were sitting in a closet for two months, the CPU for some reason decided to fry itself. I'll never understand how those things can happen. After hours and hours of switching out RAM, video cards, motherboards, and power supply units, I finally realized it was the processor. But at least I had found the problem. I switched it out, and bingo! By then the paint certainly had plenty of time to cure.


Here she is at last! All put together, and clad in white. I think it looks pretty good actually. And to match the new look of the case, I customized the Windows user interface too. I gave her the appropriate software package: Firefox, Thunderbird, Audacity, FreeMind, Ad-Aware, OpenOffice, TuneXP, etc. And with that out of the way I grabbed a few programs from WinCustomize and gave everything a new look.


Naming the rig after its recipient, the Tina PC deserved its own wallpaper, which I created using a photo of the case itself. I then changed the UI using WindowBlinds, and put up a boot screen up using Bootskin. Add to that a matching logon screen using LogonStudio and new cursors using CursorXP, and you've got yourself a newly restyled computer both inside and out.


I think all the elements matched up nicely. I'm fairly satisfied with the result given the available resources. With more time and money I would have gone further, naturally. But I think this is an example of how and old computer that would have been tossed out by many got a new look and a new purpose.

So go and grab that old junker and re-purpose it for file storage, a media PC, or give it away to someone who really needs a computer for the basics. There is always something you can do with an old PC, no matter how old it is. It's true. Just have fun with it, and remember to be nice to all your computers!

Update: I have received some nice comments on this article on Digg, and I must say I'm flattered. If you like this article, then by all means, head over to Digg and digg it!

It feels like yesterday when it turned 2006. Some of the highlights of this year, for me, include moving to Wilmington. It's a coastal city, and I have never lived so near the ocean before. It is nice to go to the beach and turn into a Radioactive Lobster, to have an almost year-round Farmer's Market, and more warm weather than you can shake a frozen Montana stick at. I feel sorry for my folks, stuck up in the Blizzard Wastelands of Billings, MT. I hear it's pretty cold there right now.

At the beginning of this year, my husband Michal volunteered work in California, for the Odiyan Center. He worked his butt off for six months, without heat in the winter and questionable garments to keep the warmth in. He injured many a muscle during this trying time. His back and his neck worry me the most, for they seem to have gotten worse since that experience. I was very happy when he returned home, some six months later.

While he was gone, I had a hectic time. I've worked many jobs this past year. My first was as a caretaker, which lasted about half a year. It was not an easy job for me. The elderly, sweet as they are sometimes, have the unfortunate tendency to pass away. It's made me sad several times, for it brings back memories of my own grandfather's death, and I tended to get rather attached to the old farts. My next job in this town was a really crappy retail job as a Cashier. The head cashier was extremely stressed and stressful, which in turn makes all his/her charges stressed as well. It was during that job that I discovered that I was pregnant. I knew that I couldn't keep on that job for long, for there was a lot of heavy lifting, and the sheer stress of not being able to go on break if I needed to was hard on my body. I found a great temp job, grading school math and english papers. The pay was awesome, but it was a brief job. There was lots of sitting involved, and very strong coffee. ;) My next brief job was being a Mystery Shopper for some big stores. It was kinda fun. It was like being a spy....hehehe. Somewhere in between all those jobs, I miscarried. I went through a period of grief, and shortly after that, Michal returned home. We moved downtown, and I found a job at a local bakery. That's been my favorite job this year, brief though it was. They shut down, I collected unemployment. Then I found a *brief* job at an Italian Gourmet Market. I think I had perhaps four or five shifts, before the boss gave me The Dreaded Phone Call. Currently, I'm unemployed yet again. My only sentiment at this point about finding work in this town is.....W.T.H.???

This year's pretty much summed up with too many cruddy jobs, too much videogaming, and not enough cuddles with my sweetie. Slowly I'm coming to terms with grief, and although at its worst I needed a little bandaid called Prozac to make it slightly more bearable, I know that someday I'll be a mom. For my new year's resolution, I promise to be more active physically and emotionally. The physical part's easy...I can walk all over downtown, and when we get our bikes to the apartment and in working condition once more, I might even sell my car. Being emotionally active means connecting with people, and that for me is one of the hardest things in the world to do. I can be aloof, quiet, and distant. It's a very old habit, one that I can hopefully change. I need more girlfriends...any girlfriends...why do I get along better with guys, darn it? >.< style="font-style: italic;">One Job to Stick With for a LOOOOOOONG time! I'm tired of the crappy ones, and I do not have enough thick skin to survive more retail! Sheesh!

Although it is tempting to make my resolution for the upcoming year to create peace in the world, I know that this is too much for one person alone. Instead, I shall try to make peace with myself. That should keep me occupied through 2007.

For those who don't remember, Christmas has very few traditions unique to its religious association. The majority of Christmas traditions, such as the Christmas Tree itself, come from the Pagan Yule celebration of the Germanic and Nordic peoples.

So here's to those who don't celebrate the Christian version of that ancient holiday, and here's to you Sarah. I wish you all a Blessed Yule, and a wonderful Winter Solstice. I will try to support all of you as best I can in the new cycling of the seasons!

Ok, the festivities are only a week away, and it still seems that there is so much work to do. Zomg, there's piles of crap everywhere!! =*( Instead of dealing with it, however, I thought a mid-morning break with some hot green tea and a Blog would be nice before I go at it yet again. I swear, I've cleaned more this month than I have in two years. Impressive, eh? (Somewhere in the back of my head, I'm hearing a voice like Darth Vader's replying: "Most Impressive.")

Yes, instead of cleaning, I'd rather just watch anime all the time. Even dubious anime, with a mild plot, is better than cleaning...for example, I was wondering what other works my favorite anime artists had been working on, and had worked on in the past. Angel's Egg (or Tenshi no Tamago) seems a unique anime that Yoshitaka Amano lent his artistic vision to, and of course I had to check it out. Amano is most famous for his character designs and artwork for Final Fantasy, which are timeless classics and gripping RPG's.

Now, I do not know much about the Egg, but it does seem to be very important in this anime, whose heroine is a young girl with sad eyes, oodles of hair, and who runs barefoot through a post-apocalyptic cityscape. She bears a striking resemblence to several of Amano's other heroines, ne? Ah well, my reprise is short-lived: Time to Clean again! =/

This fall, gaming site Gamasutra released their picks for the Quantum Leap Awards: Storytelling. Users from all over the net sent in their nominations, and many of them went into the honorable mention portion, as only five would be chosen for the awards. The thing is, many of those games I never played. Some of them I tried and didn’t like. So I decided that it was time for my own list.

The following is a completely subjective and entirely personal account of what games were the most significant for me primarily based on their storytelling aspect. This is a personal history in a way, as I have put this list of games together in the order in which I encountered them. Since I often times had very limited access to games, some of these may seem strange to you, and some of them I’m sure will. So without further ado, I hope you’ll enjoy this peculiar account and selection.

• Part 1: My Low-Bit Beginnings


• Part 2: Births and Deaths in 32-Bits


• Part 3: Rise and Fall of 64-Bit


• Part 4: Return to the Prodigal PC


• Part 5: Moving Towards the Fringe

• SimCity
• Final Fantasy Adventure
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Final Fantasy VI (formerly III)
• Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger
• Riven: The Sequel to Myst
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Vandal Hearts
• Final Fantasy VII
• Omikron: The Nomad Soul
• Seaman
• Shenmue
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Gothic
• System Shock 2
• Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
• Indigo Prophecy

• Secret of Mana
• The Terminator: Future Shock
• The X-Files
• Final Fantasy VIII
• Final Fantasy IX
• Arx Fatalis
• The White Chamber
• Façade

Upon relocating I found myself working for the same company, and in the video game biz, yet again. Soon my enthusiasm returned, and when you're surrounded by games it's hard not to start buying them. I was happy to finally come upon a console game that took its story seriously and thus found a new subject for my gaming affection.


Atlus had brought us Persona and Persona 2 before this, which I enjoyed as being fascinating Japanese adventures. It must have been these previous familiarity combined with a love of the new art style that was put forth in the next Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. The mechanics had some similarities to the Persona games, and as I was otherwise uninitiated into the full-fledged SMT universe, I grew to love Nocturne. Like I said, I loved the art style, and the presentation of the game was beautiful. The story of the game also had some fantastic elements, such as the destruction of the world occurring within the first ten minutes of the game. Nocturne almost seemed to try and blend the necessity for choosing a path from Gothic, while adding some of the choice variables of KotOR. The result was a sufficiently complex story with multiple outcomes. In essence, Nocturne called for an adaptation of a philosophy on the part of the player in order to determine the ending.


As I come closer chronologically to the present, only a few games remain that have made it into this list for me. Since Nocturne is a fairly recent title, there isn't much left after it that has made a significant enough impact in terms of storytelling in my world. Though there are a few more games that fit the bill. One of these pleasantly surprised me, and not very long after my enjoyment of Nocturne. I suppose "surprised" would be an understatement. I think it more appropriate to say I was sneaked up on and smacked from behind by this game from French developer Quantic Dream. Yes, you know what I'm talking about.


Indigo Prophecy, known as Fahrenheit in Europe, came out completely without me knowing about it. That is, until I opened a shipment box one morning and saw the game in it. I was ecstatic when I realized it was by the creators of Omikron. The game swept the magazines and websites with rave reviews. I had soon acquired a copy of it, but only got to play it for a short time before another move interrupted my gaming adventures. Many months later, after things had tried and somewhat succeeded in normalizing themselves, I would play this game again. That time it was for real, with the iron resolve of finishing it. Check out my Indigo Prophecy post here.


Indigo Prophecy also took to heart the importance of grabbing the players attention from the get-go. It did so quite well. And as the story was essentially the most important aspect of the game, which is a rarity these days, I was thrilled to have that wanting-to-know-what's-next feeling of days gone by again. I was diligent in my playing of Indigo, and finished it with that bittersweet feeling you get at the end of a great story.


Most recently I have been looking closer at the independent gaming scene. I believe that this is where innovation is more likely to come from than the big companies and their trite franchises. Among the indy games that use story as the primary aspect of the experience I came across a game which has been around for probably some time now. It’s called The White Chamber, and the package delivers a classic point-and-click adventure. What makes its story worth noting is that neither you nor your main character know what the heck’s going on. Harkening back to the days of System Shock 2, The White Chamber creates a great deal of dramatic tension as you piece together what has happened to you and the vessel that you find yourself on. The White Chamber deserves an honorable mention to be sure, but due to its brief play length falls a little short of a full award.


Another honorable mention goes to a game, or interactive drama, called Façade. This one is perhaps more innovative in its delivery of a narrative than any other game. Although the experience is brief, it’s never the same. I’ve gone through it about four times I think, and each time the story was quite different. It’s almost like a different take on Seaman. Façade has you interacting with a married couple in the role of their long time friend. You play the game primarily by typing your responses and questions, much like a real conversation. The drama unfolds all depending on what you say and do, and thus is very dynamic. Not something that has been done in any other game to this degree that I am aware of. Now if only this technology could be incorporated into the narrative of a larger game and its world.


When Gamasutra posted their Quantum Leap Awards for Storytelling, I was somewhat surprised to see that Deus Ex made number one on that list. That got me to thinking, and remembering, how I could never get into that game. I dusted off the jewel case and threw it in my PC. I thought that, surely, there must be something I’m missing. Very soon I found myself running into the same problems of apathy in Deus Ex. I am currently still giving it a chance, but the going is slow. One thing’s for sure, Deus Ex has no initial hook. I am hoping a few more missions in I will be more enthused about it.


In the meantime, I am also playing Cave Story and the re-released and improved Another World (initial thoughts here). I suspect that when I get through those three games, at least two of them will be moving into this hall of fame for my personally most significant games in terms of storytelling. Until then, I hope I haven’t bored you to tears, but rather that you have enjoyed my somewhat different account and perspective.

In summary, the games which get the oh-so-prestigious Mentis Award for Storytelling are Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and Indigo Prophecy. Honorable Mentions go to The White Chamber and Façade.

Now that I am done, I’d love to hear what games have made the top of your personal list for storytelling.

The light at the end of the tunnel was not on the PS2. It was once again on the PC for me. And that light was shining brightly from the developers at Bethesda. Though I had never played Arena, Daggerfall, Battlespire, or Redguard, The Elder Scrolls had finally caught up with me. Morrowind blew into the stores, and I knew it was going to be big. It was during the school year, and I knew that I could not get it just yet. I knew, even before I had played the game, that it would consume me. I could not afford that in the middle of a semester. I bid my time and when summer came I finally got the game, and was in the clear to play it.


I was not wrong. I was also very wise to wait till summer to get it. Morrowind was like love at first sight. It was my rabbit hole. More immersing than anything before, Morrowind took the hours from me without my being the wiser. I still remember the first day, when I started the game. I created my character and started to try and figure out what the heck I was supposed to do and where I was supposed to go. By the time I had gotten to the next closest town, Balmora, almost six hours had passed. It went by so fast, I couldn't believe it. Where had that time gone? I had no idea, but this would be an occurrence that would repeat itself time and again. I would sit down to play it, and suddenly half the day was gone. Morrowind was a time warp.

For me, this remains the most immersing game of all time. You can do anything, and go anywhere. This complete openness in Morrowind made for an incredible story for me. Over 400 quests made the experience very unique, as I would just go and get caught up in them, ending up who knows where. Morrowind was my love for about two years. I don't know that I have ever played a game for that long. In the end of my reign over the land of Morrowind, I still had the same character. Nothing existed in that game that could withstand my mighty sword, and I was playing on maximum difficulty for some time by then. Two expansions and countless downloadable content mods online fueled my thirst for more Morrowind. It was a mighty wind indeed.


As hard as it is to imagine, I had finally exhausted the possibilities in Morrowind. It was at last time to put it to rest, and find something else to play. Something else to get obsessed with. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, it didn't take very long to find the next great story in a game. The console games still had me wanting in that department, so I kept to the PC games. I was about to be reacquainted with an old franchise that I, as any respectable nerd, had always been fond of. Star Wars is the name. Granted that the gaming market has been somewhat over-saturated with Star Wars games, but they are not all bad.


My new love was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I believe that anyone who has played it will attest to the power of its dynamic story. KotOR introduced something not really seen before in a game's story, at least not to that extent. Each quest would give the player the ability to follow the path of light, or darkness. You had the option of being good, or being bad. This would ultimately change the outcome of the game, where you became a good Jedi or a Dark Jedi. Each choice would either give you Light Side Points or Dark Side Points. Once more I was so taken by the story of the game, that I was powerless to get away from it. Put another one on the finished list.


During this PC craze I also managed to pick up copy of Gothic for a great price. The game went down to budget prices all too quickly, but I suppose that was good for my wallet. Along the lines of Morrowind, Gothic had a great expansive world and a comparable difficulty level. I prefer the types of roleplaying games that are more challenging, as long as they give you the option to run away! Though not quite on the scale of Morrowind, Gothic presented you with three different factions to side with, and that in turn would give you a different ending. This generated a variable experience for the player, and more so due to having to move up in rank in each of the factions. Having to choose a side also makes for interesting personal dynamics for me. As far as the effects in game, choosing one faction also determined how the other factions reacted towards you. Seeing as how I'm all about variable game experiences by this point, Gothic was another fantastic addition from a less known game developer out of Germany.


An honorable mention should also go to Arx Fatalis. This game had for me a great nostalgia factor. It was a modern style RPG in first person, yet it had the feel of an old dungeon crawler like Eye of the Beholder. Mixed in with that was a good story and great gameplay, along with well done visuals. The developers did intend for this game to have that nostalgic flare because "Arx Fatalis was intended to be Ultima Underworld III, however they could not obtain a license for the UW name" (Wikipedia article). I finished this one too, so that must mean it was quite good. Right?


Somewhere during all of this I was talking with a friend of mine about great classic games, and he brought up System Shock 2. I had actually never played the game, and when I told him that it was all he needed to hear. The next time I saw him he had found his old copy of SS2 and told me to take it home and play it. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. System Shock 2 is entirely unique in the experience that it provided me with. Never before, or since then, have I loved and hated a game so much and all at the same time. The reason for this was the story. It was gripping, to the point where I played the game just to find out what the hell was going on. I hated it, because it had me scared and on the edge of my seat the whole time while playing it. It was so eerie. Especially the “midwifes” and when they’d say “oh the little ones, they grow up so fast…” Because you knew when you heard that sound that you were in for a beating. But I loved the game also because of the fantastic story, ambience, and atmosphere it created. I just couldn’t stop playing. I had to find out what happened there. And when I did, when at last I had defeated the true cause of all this terror, I was jubilant. I rejoiced for having overcome the game’s obstacles, and I rejoiced because I knew I didn’t have to play it anymore. I vowed never to touch System Shock 2 again.

Following such an intense experience, my gaming and game enthusiasm ebbed slightly. Things were happening in my life that took precedence over game obsessions, and I had quit working at the game store. Our wedding came before my gaming needs, and took a fair amount of time out of our days then. Soon after we readied ourselves for and made the big move east.

In summary, the games which get the prestigious Mentis Award for Storytelling are The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Gothic, and System Shock 2. Honorable Mention goes to Arx Fatalis.

In the next part of my completely subjective game awards, I'll be exploring the next generation of underdogs and the gems that never came into the limelight. Stay tuned!

On September 9, 1999 the earth stood still. All eyes were on Sega and the launch of the Dreamcast. All were mesmerized by the next generation of gaming, and all were hypnotized by Soul Calibur on the store TV screens. This was also the day I started working in the video game retail business. I guarded the precious reserves of DC consoles stacked high in the back of the store. Sega had sent out so many systems that the back room was full, and they had to be piled up on the floor.


I too was won over by the mind controlling powers of Sega that day. I too had gotten my hands on the Dreamcast. Never before had I seen so many original games as those we had for the DC, and never would I see so many again. I admit that I was aching for some good RPGs on the DC, but that only made me explore the other options more.

The first Dreamcast game which had a great story and an original concept was Omikron: The Nomad Soul. One of the things that Omikron did differently, was maintaining the existence of the player as just that: a player of the game. That may sound confusing, but it's true. The characters of Omikron remind you that, though their universe is "real", you are accessing their dimension through the game. You, the player, are using the body of someone in their world.

Perhaps it was this somewhat different take on the player's role in a game that made it so fascinating for me. But combining this with a beautiful design and a world with dystopian tendencies made the experience addictive. I spent many hours on Omikron. Reviews and friends were not entirely positive about Omikron, and it had its flaws. For how ambitious the concept was, the execution didn't quite live up to it. I was not deterred. I loved this game so much that years later I saw the PC version in a store somewhere and snatched it right up. This was not that long ago, and my replaying of it on the PC was an even better experience in many ways.

Omikron was truly innovative in the way it told its story at the time. I would not say that it was the most innovative Dreamcast game though. It would also be hard to come up with the most innovative DC game, as that's a more subjective issue. Nevertheless, I think most will agree that one of the most innovative games, even to date, was Seaman. This game, one could say, didn't have a story at all. At the same time, it had a tremendous amount of story, because it was generated by the player. Much as other games, i.e. The Sims, that depend on player generated content, Seaman created a different experience because of the unique method of interaction.

Though it was all very limited initially, as your Seaman grew so did its conversational abilities. I distinctly recall talking with Seaman about my girlfriend, for one. This is precisely why the story of Seaman was so good. It was entirely unique to my experience. I talked with Seaman about things relating to me, and this would be different each day. I don't think that the experience would be easily duplicated. The next time I would start the game from the beginning my interactions with Seaman would be different.

Not surprisingly, the next big story was also on the Dreamcast. It was delivered to us by none other than Yu Suzuki, and the game was none other than Shenmue. By this time storytelling had come a pretty long way I think. Even now we don't have much that rivals the story of Shenmue. What makes a good story good, is perhaps the way you get hooked on it right off the bat. This might be called a trick, but it works. A good story should hook you quickly, and Shenmue employed this technique well. The premise has your main character, Ryo Hazuki, witness the death of his father at the hands of the game's villain. The bad guy gets away, and that's it. You don't know why it happened, you don't know where the assailant has gone to. This has you emotionally invested in the characters from the beginning, and provides the motivation to follow the clues. The fact that the world is big in Shenmue, and you can go just about anywhere makes the task daunting. So you just follow the little information you have. Somehow I find this lends a good deal of realism to the experience, and it is this immersing quality that makes it worthwhile.

The last years of the millennium were also the time that I built my first computer. Since then it's been one long and never ending upgrade. Many good games came and went on the PC, but after the powerful stories of Dreamcast games, none of them quite seemed to compare in that respect. I did enjoy great RTS games like Age of Empires II, which had good historical story elements. I played a lot of Unreal Tournament, which had really no story. Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption did well enough in delivering an enjoyable tale, though I did not spend much time with it to know of its entirety. In the end it was Diablo II that occupied most of my time, but I always thought the story was one of its weakest aspects.

So the PC scene lacked good stories for me at the time. I know that there were probably games out there that would have qualified, had I played them. Of the ones that I did play, story was not the most notable element. The Dreamcast was just about dead by this time, and the PlayStation 2 was the next big thing. Still in mourning over my beloved Dreamcast, I was not impressed by the PS2 and its meager assortment of games. Even when Final Fantasy X came out, though impressed, I wasn't drawn in by its story enough to warrant an obsession. It almost seems like the entire desire to create good stories in games had gone up in the smoke of the Dreamcast's funeral pyre.

I suppose that working in the video game retail business had me somewhat tired of games too. Tired not so much of playing them, as I was of the same old formulas used by big companies to just keep profiting from a franchise or genre. Just as story seemed to have died away, so too did innovation. As it often seems to happen, a period of prosperity tends to be followed by a period of recession. This was perhaps what I saw happening. Yet recessions come to an and as well.

In summary, the games which get the prestigious Mentis Award for Storytelling are Omikron: The Nomad Soul, Seaman, and Shenmue. Only a few this time around.

In the next part of my completely subjective game awards, I'll be exploring the next generation of immersing adventures that consumed our days and nights. Read on!

< Back to Part 2 | Index | Go to Part 4 >

The industry was changing, and the 16-bit giants were about to fall into the bottomless pit of nostalgia. A new CDROM fueled era was upon us. Sega unleashed it's Saturn, and then was crushed by the mighty PlayStation. I, however, wouldn't have any of it. I played around on an old Windows 3.11 machine that we bought at a pawn shop (for probably way more than it was worth). And when the time came to get a new console, I debated the then already dying Jaguar. But that old cat was not meant for me either. No, I was a true follower of the underdog, and had my heart set on a used Goldstar model of the 3DO. Yes sir, back in the day when independent used video game retailers still lived and supplied us with good deals.


I remember that we got a decent deal on that 3DO, which cost us about $100, plus a game. And this, my friends was the epic that became another milestone in my underprivileged video gaming history of bargain bin finds. This was none other than Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. Since I already liked Wing Commander from playing the poor SNES rendition, it didn't take much to pique my curiosity. And when I saw Heart of the Tiger in action, I was one ecstatic little teenage boy.


To this day there are few games with the caliber of the glorious Wing Commander saga, what with the genre practically dead and all. WCIII never disappointed me, well except maybe that it was a bit too hard for me at the time. And though I liked the gameplay, it was the story that truly drove WCIII home for me. Oh what a blow it was when Colonel Devereaux turned out to be dead! This was one more game which had me yearning for more. And it was one more game which had me replaying it, this time to see the minimally different endings. Say what you will about the days of FMV filled games. WCIII did it right, and they actually had an all-star cast!

I remember many long nights with my trusty 3DO. I didn't need no stinkin' PSX. I was convinced that the 3DO was superior. And, well, it was. Just not for $700. It's demise just meant that all the games were dirt cheap, so I scored again. Other classics I enjoyed on that console included Myst, Alone in the Dark, Shockwave 1 & 2, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, The Need for Speed, and Dragon Lore among others.


Eventually, in '96 or so, I got a new computer. Of course it was also overpriced. But a new PC meant access to all those crazy games out there that I hadn't yet a chance to play. I know I messed around with the likes of Doom and Duke Nukem, but I found them painfully boring with no storyline to speak of. And although many computer games even before that time were very enjoyable to me, games like Ultimate Domain, many of them were not especially ground-breaking in terms of storytelling. I think Terminator: Future Shock should get an honorable mention though. I've been a fan of that franchise for a long time, and Future Shock faithfully reproduced the universe while managing to tell the story from a different perspective and create an immersing universe for the player.


Yet the bigger impact in terms of storytelling was made by Riven for me. I was hooked by Myst on my 3DO, and when Riven came out I picked it up pretty quick. Though Myst had very little actual story, and thus forced you to piece it all together from very sparse bits of clues and info, Riven made up a bit in that department. More cinematics fed you greater and tastier morsels of the narrative, and it had me in the game for more. I confess that the puzzles wrenched my brain a little too hard at times. It was in a way a love and hate relationship. I wanted more story, but those puzzles drove me crazy. What made the story in the Myst and Riven universe so strong was the fact that Rand and Robyn Miller wrote it all into the Myst series of books. I still have all three novels, and it was reading them that made the stories in the game so compelling. So I suppose that without the books, I may not have been quite as interested.


Another honorable mention should go to The X-Files for PC. Not too long after my excursion into Myst and Riven I was fortunate enough to get my hands on The X-Files adventure game which was released in the late '90s. I had found the game to be very engaging at the time, and not too difficult to figure out. So it was balanced well, and by the very nature of The X-Files, the story was sufficiently intriguing.


Meanwhile, another big hit was about to creep up on me. My sister was playing around on her N64, which had a limited selection of quality titles at the time. All of that was about to change when Nintendo released Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I can't remember exactly where I was at the time, and when exactly it was that got my hands on the game. This is because none of that mattered. All that mattered was Zelda. Just as before, with a Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time had me daydreaming about Rupees and Skulltulas. I was so absorbed that I had to get everything. Every item, every mini-game. I reared in frustration in the Water Temple, trying to figure the darn thing out. In the end, Zelda went on my very select list of games that I actually finished. That list would continue to decrease in percent as the years went by.


As the prices on PlayStation consoles kept dropping, I decided it was finally time to buy one. The first game I owned on the PSX was a bargain bin find called Vandal Hearts. It was cheap, but that says nothing of the game's quality. The characters were very well done, and the story full of depth. Vandal Hearts had captured my heart, and I pressed on with each individual mission. This was the first isometric strategy RPG on the system, something I felt FF Tactics would later come to copy. I became greatly interested in the characters of Vandal Hearts, and it was sad to say farewell when the story came to an end. One other thing that VH did so well actually was the ending. It was a nice complete denouement to the epic tale, and even gave a slight hint of something else to come (being the sequel). Just looking at the screenies now makes me remember how good the dialog in VH was.


After that, the days of the PlayStation are filled with epic RPGs. More than any others in my mind are the Final Fantasies which graced that console in numbers only rivaled by the SNES days. I find it difficult to choose one as being more significant in terms of storytelling than the others. I loved them all greatly, but I suppose that the best story belongs to the ever popular Final Fantasy VII. Other aspects of the game may have been done better in other FF games, but the story still holds a special place in my memory. I think anyone who has played FFVII will remember the powerful moments between Cloud, Sephiroth, and Aeris. The untimely demise of Aeris itself has been noted as one of the greatest moments in a game in gaming history (by an article in a gaming mag that I can't remember now, does anyone else?). So too I was moved by it and by the whole game. In the end, I cannot help but give another two honorable mentions to the Final Fantasy VIII and IX games. Graphically they both surpassed VII, and part IX I will always treasure for its fantastic musical score.

In summary, the games which get the prestigious Mentis Award for Storytelling are Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, Riven, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Vandal Hearts, and Final Fantasy VII. Honorable Mentions go to The Terminator: Future Shock, The X-Files, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy IX.

In the next part of my completely subjective game awards I will be looking at the next generation of 64-bit sensations that flew through our homes and hearts. Read on!

The first game that I owned, was Sim City. When I got my first computer it wasn't a game machine like the Amigas and Commodores my friends played with. No, I had to get an "IBM Compatible PC" which was supposed to also be useful for me in some way. It took a while before I even got that Sim City game, so I was mostly twittling around and trying to figure out how to use DOS.

Sim City was significant in terms of storytelling because there really wasn't any story. I never spent much time with the scenarios, as I just liked to build my own cities. I would design the street layouts so that they would look like something when you looked at it from above, on my sweet "amber" monitor. This meant I had to make up my own stories about these cities. I wasn't especially interested in making the cities work well either, I just wanted them to look a certain way so that they would fit into my idea.

Sometime later, I got a Gameboy, and then an NES. I played a lot of Mega Man 2, Super Mario Bros, Tetris, Probotector, Nintendo World Cup, and Duck Tales. But the first game that really had a story, and sunk its claws into me was on that archaic Gameboy. This was none other than Final Fantasy Adventure.

Known to me in Germany as "Mystic Quest," I played this game like an addict. Like an adolescent addict, squinting at that tiny and blurry Gameboy screen. All the time. I ran around gaining my experience like it was crack, and saved up enough money to get the best weapons. But it was the story that kept me in there. I wanted to find the Mana Tree. I wanted to save the world, and in the end that's exactly what I did. Then I went through it all over again. I loved that game.

It wasn't until several year later than I would find another game which was as compelling. I would see games like X-Com, Alone in the Dark, and Ultima VIII on the PC at friends' houses, but it wouldn't be till much later that I would get to play them. The next games that made a big impact arrived in '93 on Christmas. That was the day I got my SNES, and several big games, including Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, FF: Mystic Quest, and Zelda. Ah yes, it was Zelda: A Link to the Past that did it. I had ached to play Zelda for a long time, and at last that time had come.

Once more I was wrapped up in the story, the characters, and the world. I had Zelda on my mind all the time. At school I couldn't think about anything else. I needed to figure out that next puzzle, get that next item, and just keep on living in the wonderful world of Hyrule. In retrospect, the story of that game isn't all that involving, as Zelda focuses more on game play. But somehow that combination turned that game into another addiction for me. Mystic Quest, though enjoyable to me, did not stand a chance against Zelda, which dominated the 16bit cartridge slot of my SNES for long time.

Zelda’s hold on me was not quite as powerful as that of FF Adventure, since I only played it once. Afterwards I got hooked on numerous gems of the SNES era. Among them were Wing Commander and Starfox. One honorable mention for storytelling has to go to Secret of Mana. I remember spending quite some time with that game as well, but I regret that I never finished it. Not much later than that I managed to borrow Final Fantasy III, which we now know as VI. And what kind of gamer would I be if I didn't get obsessed with the story of that game? Not a very story-oriented one, that's what.

FFIII certainly had one of the most powerful and intricate stories in its day. And even though I was a late comer to that game, it still grabbed me with the ferocity of a proper FF game. Much to my demise, however, it was a borrowed game. And so, the entirety of FFIII was not meant for me as I had to return it. This was certainly detrimental to my experience of the games storytelling powers.

This Xmas, we are hosting the festivities in our wee apartment. This means my husband's extended family living in the same town as us will come over here, shred presents all over the floor, and perform amazing feats of gluttony in our kitchen. Oh Joy! Lately I've spent a day cleaning and setting up the fake plastic tree with lights and glittery things, even though I was sick with a cold and coughing up phlegm-balls, and slightly feverish... That day, my mother-in-law was supposed to come visit my husband. Needless to say, she canceled her visit that day, and canceled the make-up visit later that week, too. I'll restrain my urges to biatch-slap my Polish family this Christmas, and save my aggression for in the kitchen, where I'll get to play with all sorts of dangerous sharp objects and kitchen appliances. Hehehehehehe....

Since Xmas is a time for giving, and since we've not got a lot of extra 'dough' to go shopping the traditional way, I think this year it'll be a budget Xmas. Everyone gets a card saying..... "Peace on Earth ... Better luck next year!" (Just kidding. That was last year. This year, we have festive Bondage Gnome greeting cards.) Hubby gets some sort of electronic doodad, mother-in-law gets fuzzy pink slippers since she never wants to leave the comfort of her home, and sister-in-law and her boyfriend either gets baby gifts or gift certificates to buy new swimsuits. As my hubby force-feeds me lemony cough drops and we cuddle up under glowy twinkle-lights from the tree, I think to myself: "Maybe this won't be so bad after all. I'm looking forward to eating all those yummies, anyhoo......."

And for all the little children out there, dreaming of presents and Santa, Wii wish you a merry Xbox and a happy new year!!

I feel the need to apologize for my lack of posts this week. So here's what's been going on. My top secret project is still ongoing, and I have been creating content for it. I made a few promo walls for it as well, and I would like to share one with you. The image above is a 1600 x 1200 desktop wall for this project, so I hope you enjoy it.

In the meantime, Mentisworks has been undergoing some transitions and modifications. We just switched to Blogger Beta, and I spent a good chunk of last night redoing our layout. When you switch to the new layout style of Blogger Beta, your old template html becomes invalid. But switching to the new format means that you loose all your customizations. So why would anyone want to do that you ask? Well, the new layout managing interface is a lot easier to use. No longer do you need to rummage through your template's html to make custom changes, but instead you can use the new interface. It was well worth for the convenience of the new features.

On top of all that, Christmas is fast approaching. And since we are hosting our family at our place this year, that means more work for us. So this week is pretty much crunch time for a lot of things. I do have a big article that finished for the blog, but I still need to edit it and make sure my fact and links are right and present. I can tell you that it's a big one. In the very near future, look for the Mentis Game Awards for Storytelling to appear on this page!