I got a new chair!
I got a new chair. It's blue, like my old one, but this one has a significant advantage: the cover on it is intact and it doesn't leave chunks of yellow foam all over my floor. I still have the other chair in my room though, so the foam problem hasn't really been eliminated. But the new chair is nice and comfortable. I thought you ought to know that. No real reason. Just to rub in the fact that I have a new (well, second-hand but in very good condition except for a small tear in the fabric on the back, you can hardly notice it, really) chair and you, probably, don't.
I think I kind of consciously took the day off from doing anything very much today. The whole family got dragged out for a walk around Culzean country park, which is a nice enough place, I just don't like being dragged anywhere. I was planning on discussing it at greater length, but I'm tight for time again and I didn't manage to get a copy of some photos that I wanted from my brother. Meh. I may discuss it again.
Probably not tomorrow though, since that's a day for working and for playing Phantom Hourglass.
It's weird. Normally, I'd be really hyped up about a new Zelda game but for some reason, I'm not. I'm sure it's a great game and I'm going to play it three times through and love it to bits, I'm just not excited about it right now. There's been no real hype for it. I've seen it advertised on TV a couple of times, only really paying attention to it because I noticed that Zelda music was coming from somewhere in the kitchen.
I know it's been out in the US for a while now (Sam's doing the next Nintendo Report and has made it quite clear that no spoilers will be tolerated from his co-hosts across the Atlantic) and I've heard some good things about it. Very high score in my latest NGamer, though I haven't read the full review. I did the same thing with Twilight Princess, since I didn't want any of the plot spoiled.
One thing I will say that I already like about Phantom Hourglass – the graphics. It follows the same style as Wind Waker and I can't get enough of it. Partly because it allows for such a range of expression and characterisation as well as hugely impressive environments but also partly because it isn't brown.
No, really. So many modern games go for that “realistic” style where everything is dim and some shade of brown. Gears of War is the perfect example here. Twilight Princess sometimes suffered from this as well, though Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, the previous “realistic” Zelda games managed to avoid it. I remember seeing an image a while ago, after an E3, maybe '05 or '06, with a load of new game screenshots shrunk down and put side by side. When pixelated, it was mostly browns and greys.
Ah, found it here.
As a few people point out, it's not exactly scientific but it does point out the problem that some games have.
For an even better example, compare the original Halo with Halo 3. The series wasn't exactly comedy to begin with, but as it established itself as a serious franchise, the art direction changed slightly, becoming that much darker and less vibrant. It seems to stem from some idea that too many colours makes the game look “kiddy”, an instant nail in the coffin of any game trying to appeal to “hardcore” gamers. Ah, hardcore gamers. If only your skulls weren't as solid as your cores.
Anyway, to come back to my original point, the diversity in colour and animation is why I like the Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass look. And that's all I have to say for today. Tomorrow, who knows. But today is almost over and I'm going to get some sleep.
I think I kind of consciously took the day off from doing anything very much today. The whole family got dragged out for a walk around Culzean country park, which is a nice enough place, I just don't like being dragged anywhere. I was planning on discussing it at greater length, but I'm tight for time again and I didn't manage to get a copy of some photos that I wanted from my brother. Meh. I may discuss it again.
Probably not tomorrow though, since that's a day for working and for playing Phantom Hourglass.
It's weird. Normally, I'd be really hyped up about a new Zelda game but for some reason, I'm not. I'm sure it's a great game and I'm going to play it three times through and love it to bits, I'm just not excited about it right now. There's been no real hype for it. I've seen it advertised on TV a couple of times, only really paying attention to it because I noticed that Zelda music was coming from somewhere in the kitchen.
I know it's been out in the US for a while now (Sam's doing the next Nintendo Report and has made it quite clear that no spoilers will be tolerated from his co-hosts across the Atlantic) and I've heard some good things about it. Very high score in my latest NGamer, though I haven't read the full review. I did the same thing with Twilight Princess, since I didn't want any of the plot spoiled.
One thing I will say that I already like about Phantom Hourglass – the graphics. It follows the same style as Wind Waker and I can't get enough of it. Partly because it allows for such a range of expression and characterisation as well as hugely impressive environments but also partly because it isn't brown.
No, really. So many modern games go for that “realistic” style where everything is dim and some shade of brown. Gears of War is the perfect example here. Twilight Princess sometimes suffered from this as well, though Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, the previous “realistic” Zelda games managed to avoid it. I remember seeing an image a while ago, after an E3, maybe '05 or '06, with a load of new game screenshots shrunk down and put side by side. When pixelated, it was mostly browns and greys.
Ah, found it here.
As a few people point out, it's not exactly scientific but it does point out the problem that some games have.
For an even better example, compare the original Halo with Halo 3. The series wasn't exactly comedy to begin with, but as it established itself as a serious franchise, the art direction changed slightly, becoming that much darker and less vibrant. It seems to stem from some idea that too many colours makes the game look “kiddy”, an instant nail in the coffin of any game trying to appeal to “hardcore” gamers. Ah, hardcore gamers. If only your skulls weren't as solid as your cores.
Anyway, to come back to my original point, the diversity in colour and animation is why I like the Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass look. And that's all I have to say for today. Tomorrow, who knows. But today is almost over and I'm going to get some sleep.
Labels: alasdair, rant, videogames
posted by Alasdair Corbett at
11:32 PM
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