Exfanding Your Horizons on YouTube

It's taken almost four years, but this humble little blog finally has its own YouTube channel. Before you get all excited--no, we're not really posting any content. Right now, it's really just a place for me to assemble playlists of other people's video game music without cluttering up my GeminiLaser channel. However! We've at least reserved the channel name so that, should we ever decide to make videos, we won't risk having to settle on whatever goofy approximation of our name hasn't yet been claimed, like "Expanding."

Currently on the channel are two Mega Man Megaplaylists, forming literally half a day's worth of music from Mega Man 1-10, Mega Man I-V (Game Boy), Mega Man & Bass (technically Rockman & Forte, the Japanese SNES-equivalent with the same tunes but better audio), and Mega Man: The Wily Wars. Plans are in place to add playlists for Gradius, Metroid, and at least one or two other series before I remember that I'm neglecting a half-dozen other side projects I should probably be working on instead. On the plus side, all the content here has already been created; putting together a couple playlists shouldn't take too much time, right?

This particular project came about as a response to the relative disorganization of video game music on YouTube. Entire soundtracks are posted without being grouped into playlists; finding playlists on people's channels is a chore; titles, descriptions, and search tags are a mess; sound quality is all over the place...seriously, it's like YouTube lets people upload whatever the heck they want with no quality control whatsoever. Rather than continue to sift through ugly search results and bookmark playlists whose URLs keep changing for some reason, I finally decided to construct my own comprehensive playlists--ones that I could launch and leave alone for hours at a clip, and ones that other VG music aficionados might find useful.

I'm open to suggestions as always, but until such time as we start posting actual content, this is one side project that's truly just for my own entertainment. Still, I hope you get some enjoyment out of it all the same.

Here's the link once more: http://www.youtube.com/user/Exfanding

Let's Play Game Videos

Here's a neat idea: Take the popularity of "Let's Play" videos on YouTube and give a dedicated home to the idea on a website devoted to video game playthroughs. Organize the videos by game name, system, player, and populartiy; throw in a forum; post some news updates. Instant community for gamers, and for those who game vicariously.

http://www.letsplaygames.org/

LPG is only just getting started, but what's there so far looks very promising. Thanks to TheSlumberjack for the heads-up!

Base of Operations

If you've spent any length of time reading this blog, you'll almost certainly know that I've got a YouTube channel that I primarily use for posting Mega Man videos and having discussions with my viewers. The key here is the word "primarily"; for a little while now, there's been more than Mega Man, but I get the feeling that it's been somewhat overlooked.

Not too long ago I added a number of playlists to my channel:

- Four different GameCola playlists covering my participation on the official YouTube channel of the videogame humor website to which I contribute;

- A Miscellaneous playlist to act as a catch-all for my April Fools' videos and whatnot; and

- A Collaborations playlist, collecting all the videos featured on other people's channels in which I've been invited to participate.

Now my Mega Man channel is more of a base of operations for all my YouTube endeavors, and I dig the opportunity for the cross-promotion of other channels I've been involved with.

I realize I've missed the chance to introduce several of the videos in these playlists when they were first released, so I encourage you to take a look if you've been relying on this blog as your source of YouTube updates. Here's a quick sample of a few of my favorites that, lamentably, never got mentioned here:


The end of a joint playthrough of Super Mario Bros. 2 with GameCola staff writers Paul Franzen and Michael Gray:




An unexpected installment of a let's-all-take-turns-playing-stages playthrough of Mega Man 7 with YouTube users Jeffro826, SAOyster, and Arglefumph, also notable for being the only video series thus far for which I've provided live commentary while recording my footage:




A split-screen race through the first half of Mega Man 4 against YouTube users ClassicGamesFTW, JoeReviewer, n00bzXD, and later on, SearchSnake22:

Sunday Spotlight: Origins

Today is the day. After much consideration, I have decided to follow in the footsteps of my blogging buddy Alex and start up my own weekly column on this blog. His column, Waiting for Wednesday, usually focuses on new releases and the latest buzz in the comics world (with a thoughtful/ranty/humorous stream-of-consciousness lead-in every time). In Sunday Spotlight, I plan to focus on a different thing in particular each week.

That's incredibly focused, I know.

Specifically, I'll be discussing one item at a time from any fandom I've come across. I might look at a movie, a board game, a book, or an album; I might bring up a website, a t-shirt, or a flavor of ice cream. Really. One of the first ideas I had for a weekly column was called "Ice Cream Sunday," you know.

My completionist tendencies have held me back from doing this sort of thing more often. I like to give fandoms a proper introduction before discussing them in any depth on this blog, but in order to give a proper introduction, I feel compelled to first have a profound working knowledge of those fandoms. If there are obvious gaps in my knowledge that I'm working toward filling in, then I hold off on exfanding your horizons until I've seen, read, or eaten enough to consider myself sufficiently well-versed in said fandom.

With Sunday Spotlight, I'll introduce, review, or simply tell stories about anything and everything that comes to mind, regardless of expertise or previous coverage. There are games in my Backloggery I'll bet you never knew existed. My apartment is covered with geeky posters that all have some history (and a wall) behind them. I have a huge collection of Star Trek action figures that I've barely mentioned. My wife has shared music and art with me that I'd completely missed (or avoided). The possibilities, while not endless, are certainly numerous enough to keep me going for a good long while.

Exfanding New Horizons

When I wrote my first few posts for Exfanding Your Horizons back in late 2008, I had grand plans of introducing at least one new fandom per week. Over time, those grand plans mellowed into a goal of one new fandom per month--given the time and effort required to write a satisfactorily thorough introduction, and in the interest of not prematurely running out of fandoms to discuss, this seemed more reasonable. Once my all-time favorite fandoms were introduced, however, I found myself struggling to come up with new ways to exfand your horizons--most of the other fandoms I could talk about were ones I myself was still exploring, and I'm too much of a completionist to introduce just 60% of the Stargate TV and movie franchise.

Looking back at 2011, there's a huge gap between my introduction to Dragon Warrior and my last formal introduction before it, a post about Nabisco toasted chips (which, despite the subtitle, "A Legitimate Snack," barely feels like a legitimate introduction to me). I'd talked about other new fandoms in the interim, such as Axe Cop, but not in enough depth to feel like I was upholding one of the founding principles of this blog. I've been excited about expanding people's fandom horizons since Day One, and I've been feeling like a slacker the past two years or so.

However, it occurred to me last night that I haven't been thinking broadly enough. I recently wrote a guide to becoming a minor Internet celebrity; before that was an episode guide for Star Trek: The Original and Animated Series. Alex and I joined forces for another round of Gifts for Geeks, and back toward the beginning of the year, Alex produced a great guide to commissioning an artist. I've been too fixated on introductions to realize that guides and how-to's are just as much a way of expanding one's horizons about a fandom.

That being said, I'm now looking forward to a year of doing one of the things I do best: doling out copious amounts of unsolicited advice. There's a guide to Star Trek: The Next Generation and Mega Man tips and tricks in the works, but there's always room for more--what would you like to see this year?

So You Want to Be a Minor Internet Celebrity?

I receive a good many requests on my YouTube channel for suggestions on how to produce quality content, increase viewer traffic, and generally be better at playing Mega Man. Over the years, I've been happy to oblige—I may not necessarily be the foremost expert in any of the aforementioned matters, but I've enjoyed enough success to have at least a few insights, and I love sharing my interests, knowledge, and advice with others.

What follows is a collection of pointers and recommendations for aspiring YouTube stars, especially those focusing on video game playthroughs. I'll cover Mega Man tips and tricks in a separate post, as there's more than enough ground to cover as it is with creating and promoting videos. I make no promises about the effectiveness of my suggestions, but I hope you will find them helpful, and I welcome your feedback!

How do I become popular on YouTube?

Before we even begin to address that question, make sure you're sure of what you're asking. I make a key distinction here: If people visit your channel, that's attention; if people keep coming back for more, that's popularity. I've got plenty of ideas about how to attract attention to your videos, but it's ultimately your content that determines your popularity. Content is king. Content is the difference between a screaming baby and a screaming baby made of solid gold.

It's safe to make three assumptions about your content, whatever it may be:

1.) Someone's already done it
2.) Someone's already done it better
3.) Someone's going to do it even better in the future

These assumptions are humbling, but not crippling. Until you are being hailed by the entire Internet as "the next Star Wars Kid," let these assumptions serve as constant reminders that you are not the next Star Wars Kid. It's not the number of views that matters so much as whether your video is worth watching in the first place. Take Hollywood as an example: Avatar may have way outgrossed Serenity at the box office, but there's enough room in the universe (and in fans' hearts) for both Pandora and Miranda. Regardless of the number of fans, each of these movies brings enough content to the table that viewers find to be worthwhile.

That's really all there is to it: figure out what it is that makes your videos worth watching. For my Mega Man videos, it's the unique blend of clean humor, informative and thoughtful commentary, skillful and experienced playing, creative special weapon use, goofing around, and showing off. Other people specialize in damage-free runs or rely on gimmicks to set themselves apart. Even if you're a strictly average player with no particular experience with making commentary, enthusiasm (or outright hatred) for a game goes a long way.

Once you've determined the appeal of your videos, be careful not to ruin it with any of the following:

- Overlong introductions. Unless you're the Star Wars Kid, assume that no one knows who you are, and that no one cares. Say hello and get on with it. If you haven't told a funny joke, started playing, or done something to grab people's attention within the first 10-20 seconds of the video, you've effectively lost your audience.

- Dull or repetitive video footage. It's okay if you're not very good at Metroid, so long as you edit out the worst parts that aren't hilariously bad. Unless you've got awesome commentary, your video is going to drag if you show yourself dying in the same spot in the same way for five minutes straight. The same goes for taking your hands off the controller to talk about something—a momentary pause is fine, but any more than 5-10 seconds becomes interminable if your character isn't preparing to take a nap on the floor and mutter about pasta in his sleep.

- Excessively awkward, repetitive, or long-winded commentary. Plan out what you want to say in advance, and practice it. Pay attention to the words or phrases you use frequently (like, um, you know, etc.), and guess how many times you can get away with saying them before your audience wants to rip their ears off. And, if you're truly uncomfortable recording audio commentary, stick with text commentary.

- Unsettlingly loud noises. Please, warn people if you are going to scream at the game.

- Terrible video/audio quality. You don't need to have state-of-the-art equipment, but a Handycam recording your TV over your shoulder probably won't cut it anymore.

How do I promote my YouTube videos?

Once you've got some good content lined up, the next step is to make it accessible to the people who might like to see it. The best videos promote themselves; word of mouth is powerful indeed, but there are plenty of ways you can nudge your videos into the spotlight:

- Keep your channel organized. If viewers like your work, it shouldn't be a challenge for them to find and watch everything you've produced. Playlists are invaluable, not only for video series but for individual, unrelated videos that would get lost in the archives without a "Random Videos" playlist to hang out in. And, for the love of Xenon, choose a visual theme for your channel that doesn't leave people squinting to read the text.

- Provide descriptive, unique titles for your videos. "Let's Play [Name of Game]" is right out, unless you've got an eye-catching subtitle. Imagine how your video will appear in a list of search results—would you pay any attention to your title?

- Along those same lines, select interesting, readily identifiable video thumbnails that show up well at a small resolution. If the name doesn't attract someone's attention, maybe the picture will.

- Don't be lazy: write video and playlist descriptions. This will help you in search results, and this also provides your viewers with something to read if they start to grow weary of your video—which will buy you at least a few more seconds for your video to get to a more interesting part.

- Provide meaningful search tags. If you were to misplace your video, what terms would you use to find it? Use quotation marks if certain words are likely to be searched for together, like "Phoenix Wright" or "bologna sandwich." List everything you see in-game: trees, bottomless pits, monkeys, bazookas, etc. List everything about the game: system, release year/decade, genre, publisher, difficulty, etc. Use lots of adjectives, and don't forget to reference what you talk about in your commentary.

- Respond to comments. All of them. Creating videos is more rewarding when you're connecting with the people who enjoy them; people remember you better if they've had a conversation with you; and you can build a community of fans by simply taking a few moments to chat.

- Leave comments on other people's channels and videos. If you've got interesting things to say, or if you've at least got a cool username, people may follow you back to your channel.

- Promote your videos outside of YouTube. E-mail your family when a new video comes out, put a link to your channel in your forum signatures, embed your videos in posts on your blog, rent a zeppelin with your channel name printed on it, etc.

- Refrain from harassing your viewers. If they like you, they'll subscribe. If you're on Twitter, or Facebook, or wherever, it's fine to make those links available—just don't beat people over the head with them.

What now?

Time to put some of this advice into practice, I'd say. Let me know how things work out, and whether you've got any suggestions of your own!

Dragon Warrior: Classic Combat, Elegant Simplicity, Memorable Monsters

Swords and sorcery. Kingdoms and caves. Monsters and merchants. Boats and...blackjack? If the world's in peril and you've still got time to hit the casino, chances are good you're playing Dragon Warrior.

Nowadays you might more readily recognize the name Dragon Quest, but when this roleplaying video game series came to America from Japan back in the late 1980s, changes were made to certain aspects of the game, including the title: DragonQuest was the name of a pen-and-paper fantasy RPG at the time, and Dragon Warrior sounded far less infringatory. Personally, I think Dragon Warrior has a nicer ring to it, so I'll limit my discussion to the four NES games bearing this noble name.

If you've played Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy, Golden Sun, or any other turn-based, 2-D, fantasy RPG, the basics of the Dragon Warrior series should be familiar: fight, talk, purchase, explore. However, there are three key elements that distinguish Dragon Warrior from its competition:

(1) Every battle matters. Too many RPGs balance the presence of excessive random encounters with enemies that can be vanquished, unless you're grossly underleveled, by blindly mashing the attack button. The Dragon Warrior series gives its enemies a wide range of special abilities that require real tactics to overcome--even the most unassuming foes might be able to heal, hit your entire party with an unlikely-to-succeed instant death spell, summon reinforcements, or boost their defense power through the roof. Given that hit points and damage output are scaled back to reasonable levels (compared to games that don't use numbers with fewer than three digits), there are frequently times when a single point of damage could be the difference between life and death.

(2) Simplicity. The graphics remain comfortably similar throughout each installment. Most cutscenes, if they are present at all, are short and to the point. You don't need a strategy guide to keep track of all the playable characters. New equipment is obviously better or worse than what you currently have--it's very rare that you'll ever deliberate about what to keep. Sidequests are few and far between, and you never need to worry about being at a supreme disadvantage against the final boss if you skipped an optional sidequest. The games might seem shallower and more primitive than most modern RPGs, but I argue that the simplicity helps to keep the games focused on gameplay and progress.

(3) The artwork. I'm a sucker for the monster designs of Akira Toriyama; I suspect this is partially influenced by my love of Chrono Trigger, which he also illustrated. From smiley-faced Slimes to ghostly Rogue Whispers to those accursed demonic Bullwongs, I find the enemy designs to be creative and filled with character--even ubiquitous foes such as skeletons and simple forest animals seem to have a personality built into their artwork.

These three reasons apply to all four NES Dragon Warriors, although I can't say I like the games all equally. Each game has its highlights and its lowlights, though in many ways, if you've played one Dragon Warrior, you've played them all. Whack monsters with sticks, trade your shiny stone for a bigger helmet, chew the fat with kings and commoners, and traipse through the wilderness in search of the next plot point.

With your permission (I'll do it anyhow), I'd like to conduct a brief overview of the elements and ideas that set each game apart...for better or for worse.

Dragon Warrior

STORY: A lone hero sets out to rescue a princess and slay the evil Dragonlord who has brought darkness to the land. There's nothing fancy here--no elemental crystals; no meteors crashing into small towns; just uninterrupted monster mashing in the name of The Greater Good.

COMBAT: Don't think of the combat in this game as a series of random battles. Each fight is a sudden duel to the death. Players must be exceedingly cautious to stay alive, constantly weighing the risks of each decision both in and out of combat. When you're on your last few hit points and won't survive another hit, do you attempt to flee from your enemy, or take a chance on an unreliable-yet-powerful magic spell that could end the battle in your favor? Should you explore just a little more of the dungeon, or turn around while you still stand a chance of getting home in one piece?

The obvious road to success is beating up on the easy enemies until you're respectably overpowered and bored to tears; however, an adventurous player might adopt a strategy based on calculated risks that yield faster progress...like the time I sprinted across an entire continent, relying on getting lucky running away from each and every random dragon that stood in my way (having barely survived against just one dragon as a major boss), burning through my entire inventory of healing herbs, and ultimately limping through the gates of a distant city just to buy a new sword that I had no business owning at such a low level. That was fun.

WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: Atmosphere. Kings and commoners throw around "thee," "thou," and their ilk like an attendee at a Renaissance Faire; even if it's a little hackneyed, this twist on the otherwise simple dialogue gives the game character. Caves are pitch black unless you've got a torch or magic spell to illuminate a small radius around your hero, and eventually your light will go out, leaving you to stumble around in a place where no one might ever find you again. What a clever, scary bit of realism.

The simple boops and bleeps of the music manage to evoke a sense of cheerful safety in the towns, heroic solitude in the overworld, omnipresent danger in the underworld, and mortal peril in every battle. Combined with the tension from knowing that every random encounter very well could be your last, Dragon Warrior offers an atmosphere far richer than its repetitious gameplay and 8-bit graphics and sound would suggest possible.

WHAT MAKES IT LESS GREAT: If the aforementioned atmosphere doesn't suck you in, Dragon Warrior is pretty much a game about hitting the "A" button a bunch of times until somebody dies. Usually you. Repeatedly.

OVERALL: This is the game that made me fall in love with RPGs. There's a serious nostalgia factor here that colors my opinion of the game, but even so, Dragon Warrior's accomplishments are nothing to sneeze at. If they were, however, I'd feel a sense of nosestalgia.


Dragon Warrior II

STORY: One hundred years after the events of Dragon Warrior (rather, the event, singular; not much actually happened in that game), a lone prince embarks on a quest to defeat an evil wizard. After realizing that all the monsters are impossibly difficult and keep killing him all the time, he recruits a princess and another prince so that he doesn't have to die alone. Together, the trio marches and sails around the world, getting killed almost nonstop in an attempt to figure out where the heck they're supposed to go.

WHAT'S DIFFERENT: (Eventually) three party members instead of just one; ocean travel, bigger map. Not much else, aside from new music, monsters, and locations. Oh, and even after discovering battle tactics that work and spending multiple game sessions doing nothing but grinding for XP, the game is still oppressively difficult: between overpowered monsters, attacks you can't possibly defend against, and worthless party members who either can't hit their targets or can't survive the first round of any battle, it's a wonder anybody bothered getting out of bed for this. But that's only half the reason this is one of the worst RPGs I've ever played.

THE OTHER HALF OF THE REASON THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST RPGS I'VE EVER PLAYED: The natural geographic features of the overworld map have conspired with the townsfolk of every town in the world to ensure that the player will never have any idea where they're supposed to go. Clues as to the next destination are frequently vague or nonexistent, and memorable overworld landmarks are few and far between. The entire bottom half of the world map consists primarily of vast ocean, random tiny islands that are easy to miss, and sweeping coastlines blocked off by impassible mountains. When you don't know where you're going, there are too many directions to explore; in the rare event that you do know where you're going, you can't get there!

REDEEMING FACTORS: At one point, the king tells you, "Thy strength is that of many fearsome Hibabongos." Also, there are Hibabongos.

OVERALL: While it continues the story and expands on the gameplay of the original, anything that might be considered an improvement in Dragon Warrior II usually backfires spectacularly. The concepts of a bigger world, multiple party members, more complex monsters, and greater character diversity are all fine and dandy, but most of the fun of the first game is lost in the execution. There are people who love this game, but unless you're a diehard fan or obsessive completionist, you might do better to skim through a walkthrough of DWII, bang your head against the wall a few times, and then jump ahead to the next game--it'd be almost as though you'd actually played it.


Dragon Warrior III:

DISCLAIMER: I have to confess that I've only ever played the Game Boy Color remake of DWIII; my apologies for the lack of total authenticity in this allegedly NES-only review. My understanding is that the basic game is still completely intact, with a number of additions (minigames, bonus dungeons, a personality system that affects your stats as you level up), along with some changes (a new character class, weapons that now affect multiple enemies, modernized shopping mechanics). I've seen screenshots, so I can pretend like I've played the NES version instead (which, incidentally, has a few changes of its own from the original Japanese release).

STORY: One hundred years before the original Dragon Warrior, a lone hero, Ortega, travels the world to slay Baramos, the Evil Bad Guy. Ortega is killed, but apparently never saved his game so he could go back and try again. Thus, it is up to Ortega's child, the hero, to be guilted by the general populace into finishing the job.

WHAT'S DIFFERENT: You can choose the gender of the main character, and recruit (or dismiss!) party members at will. Gone are the set-in-stone character classes: not only can you select from a number of classes for your party members (Wizard, Fighter, Merchant, Soldier, etc.), but you can also change their class after a certain point in the game.

Time passes while traversing the overworld, and locations hold different secrets by day and by night. New kinds of equipment, spells, and items are available, all of which add a welcome level of depth to the gameplay. Just as DWII added ocean travel to the mix, DWIII takes transportation one step further and allows you to take to the skies.

IN OTHER WORDS: It's pretty much the most customizable and open-ended game in the entire NES series.

WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: The balance of a fairly linear plot progression with the freedom and replayability described above makes for a refreshing "guided sandbox" experience--you can explore and experiment as much as you'd like, but the next plot point is almost always within sight. Towns and dungeons contain enough variety, both in terms of layout and aesthetics, to keep them interesting and distinguishable from one another. The quests and NPCs are just unique and complex enough to feel more like purposeful missions given to you by the real inhabitants of this fictional world, and less like this thing you gotta do because a walking billboard told you so.

WHAT MAKES IT LESS GREAT: It's the times when the next plot point is almost within sight that the open-ended-yet-linear gameplay starts to drag. Exploration can easily give way to being lost. Experimentation can put your party into tough situations where no one is properly equipped for the fight at hand (though, admittedly, not anywhere near as badly as in Final Fantasy V Advance). If you're playing well, and playing regularly enough to remember what you're doing, you'll probably be fine; otherwise, DWIII can feel like a bit of a chore.

OVERALL: While I'm willing to grant that the niceties and complexities of the GBA release are probably affecting my opinion, DWIII is everything a sequel should be--deeper, more expansive, and more streamlined. The game doesn't take too many risks, and there's very little outside of the new gameplay elements that is particularly novel, but it's a "safe" RPG without any show-stopping flaws, and I absolutely love the continuity with the original Dragon Warrior that's eventually revealed.


Dragon Warrior IV:

STORY: Set in a time and place that have nothing to do with the first three games, a lone hero bands together with a number of other adventurers to defeat the Ruler of Evil. By far, this is the most complex plot yet.

WHAT'S DIFFERENT: You don't actually meet the lone hero until halfway through the game. DWIV is broken into chapters, and each chapter focuses on a different character or characters. You'll play as a headstrong princess and her two bodyguards, a soldier trying to rescue some missing children, magical dancing sisters seeking vengeance for the death of their father, and a merchant whose only goals in life are EXCESSIVELY EXPENSIVE. Only after their chapters are completed will you take control of the legendary hero and see how all these stories tie together (though you'll certainly get little hints along the way).

Also new to the series are some sidequesty minigames: a perpetual scavenger hunt for Small Medals, and a completely optional casino featuring multiple ways to change your character class to Utterly Destitute Pauper. There are some neat, exclusive items to be gained this way, but nothing so crucial that you can't beat the game without them.

WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: Each character has a unique personality and combat style that give a distinct flavor to each chapter. The solitary solider's chapter plays out like DWI, the princess and her companions are reminiscent of the heroes of DWII (though with considerably longer life expectancies), and both the merchant's and the sisters' chapters almost feel like they could be part of a different RPG series altogether.

It's refreshing to see such variety, and the overall story is strengthened by the opportunity to run around and establish some history with the locations and characters before the main adventure truly begins. Throw in a dynamic soundtrack, an eminently navigable overworld map, the aforementioned casino and item hunt, cleverly designed dungeons and towns, and creatively challenging enemies, and you've got what should easily be my all-time favorite Dragon Warrior game.

WHY IT'S NOT MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE DRAGON WARRIOR GAME: I fancy myself a somewhat respectable RPG tactician. I am also something of a control freak. If I die in an RPG, it should be my fault for choosing poor or overly risky tactics. Otherwise, a Game Over is not acceptable. Imagine how much I enjoy continually losing to the same boss because SOMEONE on my team is on autopilot and can't think of any other action but casting a guaranteed-to-fail instant death spell seven turns in a row.

Any party member who is not a lead character in the chapter at hand is relegated to autopilot during combat. Though you can assign general combat tactics (offensive, defensive, use no magic, etc.), there will always be one person who insists on putting everything to sleep instead of blasting it with holy fire, and one person who absolutely, under no circumstances, may be trusted with the immensely powerful one-use-only healing item you were saving for the final boss, and not some random encounter 50 feet away from a town.

I have never shouted, "MORONS!" at my television screen so frequently.

The other issue is that each chapter starts you off at Level 1. It's tedious to spend so much time working your way up to the cooler equipment and more challenging enemies, only to complete a chapter and start all over again with the same kinds of mundane swords, armors, and 9-HP foes you just graduated from. Especially when you have to start from scratch five different times.

OVERALL: If it weren't for the uselessly incompetent party members (who, I'm sure, have quite sophisticated AI by NES standards) and needing to work back up from first level over and over, Dragon Warrior IV would be the definitive Dragon Warrior game for the NES. However, even with these flaws, it's still every bit as good as DWI or III, except the highs are higher and the lows are lower--in the end, it about balances out.


With ports, remakes, and an entire franchise spanning years and years across multiple systems, there's plenty more Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest to enjoy. For the NES games, at least, any installment is a fine choice for first-time players--even Dragon Warrior II. It all depends on personal preferences and gameplay styles; most elements of these early games are so similar that you'll be able to tell fairly quickly whether this series is right for you, regardless of the unique highs and lows of the particular game you're playing.

If you're a fantasy nut, an RPG aficionado, a retro game enthusiast, or just looking for something to fill a lot of time, then fortune smiles upon thee. Thou hast found Dragon Warrior.

Lithium Rocks

As a consumer, I tend to be pretty awesome. And by awesome I mean that I spend money on things I don't need and usually regret my purchases soon after they're made.

So I'm awesome for the guy selling the useless, regret-filled product.

That said, I do occasionally make a purchase that I don't regret. One such example has been my decision to add a Sirius/XM satellite radio to my car.

I have a pretty long commute to work each day, and having something of constantly high quality to listen to has helped my sanity. I can honestly say that some days, the best part of the day is spent in my car listening to a good clip of music or a killer talk show.

Sad? You try being a book editor, then you tell me.

Anydepression, this week I came across a channel on Sirius that I'd previously never heard of. See, I'm one of those people who, once I set my channels in the car, I keep them that way for the long haul.

So when a buddy mentioned that he listens to a station called Lithium pretty much nonstop, I was intrigued but a little hesitant to not be so set in my ways.

But after flipping through the stations on my way home the other day and coming up mostly empty in terms of a decent song, I decided to give this new station a try.

When I tuned to Lithium, I was immediately transported back to the mid-90s, my glory days of music listening.

Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, Soul Asylum, Gin Blossoms, Smashing Pumpkins, Blink-182, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, The Offspring, Counting Crows, Green Day, Temple of the Dog...it just kept going.

And it was good stuff from these bands--Gone Away, Ants Marching, The Man Who Sold the World, My Hero, Rain King.

I know it makes me sound old, but sitting in the car heading home and listening to bands I grew up with really took me back.

With Lithium, the 90s don't seem like they're that far away.

Axe Cop Sunday

I was a summer day camp counselor and babysitter for several years, and one of the best parts of working with kids is that their imaginations are unrestrained by such inconveniences as logic and realism. If the idea of a 5-year-old writing a comic illustrated by his 29-year-old brother doesn't immediately make you want to read whatever it is I'm talking about, then you should probably skip the part of this post where I mention Axe Cop.

You should go read Axe Cop.

Exfanding Radar: Champion! Magazine

I'm a big proponent of new, exciting ways to deliver content.

Working in publishing, especially, has taught me that, instead of fearing new and coming digital advancements, we should embrace them and use them to deliver content in the coolest, simplest way possible.

I'd even argue that, in some cases, the delivery of the content is more important (in terms of sellable product) than the content itself. Often, we get products featuring one or the other--great content with a bland, old template or flashy and impressive delivery methods with very little substance.

It's a rare occurrence when both delivery and content prove to be worthwhile, new, different, and, frankly, exciting.

Enter the editors and developers of the new Champion! magazine (yes, they have an exclamation point in their name; no I won't hold it against them).

Created by an editorial department made up of many former Wizard employees, Champion! offers--in my opinion, at least--revolutionary content delivery.

Stories about the comics industry literally come to life with video and audio features that truly enhance the "reading" experience. Product previews are handled especially well. In one of the issues I read, a Wolverine statue is hailed as an upcoming product. The magazine's interface allows the user a 360-degree view of the product--you can spin the statue around and heck it out from all angles.

Downloading the app--which is, for now at least, iPad only--is free, and each issue can be downloaded for free within the app.

Fans of Wizard should absolutely jump on this, and anyone with even a passing interest in the evolution of digital magazines has to pick this up. So go on, check it out already!

Total Studs and Total Duds: A Review of the LEGO Movie Games

Today's post comes from none other than returning guest writer Neko-chan, who is also engaged to half of the writers of this blog.

As readers will know, Nathaniel and I have been playing through the various LEGO Movie games as a couple. Now, LEGOs are something that he and I both cherish. We both have our respective collections, we both get excited every time we pass by a LEGO store, and he even proposed with LEGOs, so of course we were going to buy and play through each LEGO video game together, especially since these games are based around some of our most-loved fandoms.

To date, we have completed Star Wars I+II, slogged through all of Indiana Jones, and have played a few hours' worth of Batman. You would think that each game would improve upon the last, keeping the things that worked, and touching up the things what needed fixing, but unfortunately that has not been the case.


LEGO Star Wars I+II

Plot: Broken into two sagas (on the GameCube; combined into one complete saga on the Wii), the Star Wars games follow a condensed and oh-my-gosh-kids-can’t-see-violence-let’s-make-it-funny-instead version of each movie from the original epic through the less-than-satisfying third prequel.

Characters: Fans get to play as all of their favorite characters, and even the secondary characters are unique and interesting to look at. Sure, there are a few more Stormtroopers than necessary, but the fact you can play as a Jedi with force powers, an evil Sith Lord, a crossbow-shooting Wookiee, a bomb-throwing bounty hunter, or a robot that can fly, totally makes up for any extraneous characters. You can also use the character editor to customize your own character using costume parts and weapons from any character you have unlocked thus far.

Gameplay: This is a very family-friendly game. Level designs are just interesting enough to offer multiple pathways, exploration, and a decent challenge, but not so confusing that you are often at a loss for where to go. Aside from the usual running around and attacking enemies, there are simple puzzles, a little bit of minor platform jumping, some swerve-and-dodge podracing scenes, and a few chances to blow up starships with other starships. As you play, you can attack plants and other destructible background items to earn “studs” (coins), which can be spent to unlock characters, hints, and game modifications that either make playing the game easier or sillier.

Most moderately-okay gamers should have no problems with the difficulty level, and even the worst players can join in and have fun. You are granted infinite lives, so if your character dies you just respawn in place, losing nothing but studs and pride. Also, the game gives hints in the form of arrows if you are unsure what to do with a particular object you have picked up.

As with all of the LEGO Movie games, there are two modes–“Story Mode” and “Free Play.” In story mode, you get humorous cut-scenes, and can only play through levels with the characters indigenous to that scenario. In Free Play mode, you can replay through levels with characters of your choosing in order to unlock secrets and bonus areas that were inaccessible, or that you missed, on the first playthrough. In effect, this gives you infinite “do-overs” and the ability to keep racking up in-game currency, so eventually players of any skill level will be able to beat the game, having unlocked and collected every secret.

The game is allegedly designed for two-players. Certain puzzles need two characters to simultaneously pull switches or attack targets, and certain boss battles require cooperative strategies to win. Both players have independent control of their characters, so each player has the free ability to attack, interact with objects, or collect studs. However, due to screen limitations, the characters can only run so far apart. This means that if one player decides to explore the far side of the screen, and the other is standing on a platform, the second character will be dragged along and most likely fall into a pit of despair.

Also, the camera angles on two-player mode are awful. For certain levels, the camera is not only skewed, but is zoomed out so far that it is almost impossible to accurately judge platform edges or to distinguish objects from one another. Players must alternately drop in and out of one-player mode to zoom the camera far enough in for detail, and for many sections of the game it is simply easier for the second player to drop out entirely.

Gimmicks: In these games, each character has a specific weapon or ability; for instance, some characters can use Force powers, and others can high-jump or use specialty weapons or computer terminals. The abilities are built-in and inherent to that type of character. Certain secrets require a specific ability to unlock, so if you see a control console in story mode, and don’t have a droid in your party, you know you will have to come back later in free play to get in.

There are also hat disguises that you can get from random hat dispensers, which allow you to sneak through enemy territory and bypass checkpoints. In Free Play mode you will have characters that are automatically equipped with these disguises, but in story mode it can be a pain because a single hit from an enemy removes the disguise, and then you have to wander halfway back through the level to re-equip one.

Bonuses: There are numerous secrets to unlock as you play and replay through levels. Some secrets involve unlocking game modifications, some unlock bonus missions or cut-scenes, and some are merely for fun or decoration. There is a percentage counter that lets you know how much of the game you have unlocked, and you can see at the start of each level which bonuses you have yet to clear. Almost every secret is worth going for, and the rewards you get, either in awesomeness or in laughs, are proportional to the effort you put in.


LEGO Indiana Jones

Plot: I don’t know many American children who didn’t at one point run around the house pretending to be Indiana Jones. He is an iconic figure, and I was super-excited for this game to come out, if only for the chance to play as him and destroy everything on the screen with a whip. However, this game somehow managed to capture the events of the movies while removing any sense of excitement or adventure.

Characters: There are really only a handful of characters in the game. Besides Indy, Short Round, Sallah, Indy’s dad, the female love interest du jour, and the guy with the yak on his head, every other character in the game was a generic thug, a generic thuggee, a guy in a uniform, or a screaming female. There were far more palette-swaps than original characters, and it wasn’t worth raising the in-game currency to unlock them, as they did not add any new abilities or visual interest.

Gameplay: This game had the same problems with camera angles that the first games had, and compounded those issues with non-coherent level pathways that made it difficult to figure out not only where we were supposed to go, but how to get from point A to point B in the first place. This game was also heavily glitched, crashing at random points that caused you to lose an entire level’s worth of gameplay, having places where you could literally fall of the map of the level or fall into areas you shouldn’t have been able to get to...and then there was the infamous “elephant drop.” [Editor's note: Don't ask.]

Additionally, certain sections popped you directly into a cut-scene if your timing was off, making it nearly impossible to collect a few of the secrets. Furthermore, a couple of the boss battles are illogical to the point where Nathaniel and I had to use a walkthrough to figure out what in tarnation we were supposed to be doing. Moreover, it was difficult to determine which of the secrets we could get in story mode, and which we would have to go back and get in free play, because it so often looked like we should be able to make a jump or get to an area when in fact the bounding boxes made it impossible. Finally, this is a poorly designed game that will result in fights and one of you sleeping on the couch.

Gimmicks: LEGO Indy uses a tool system. A character can carry one tool at a time, and certain characters are always equipped with a specific tool such as a wrench or a shovel. During story mode, you must bribe monkeys with bananas in exchange for tools, and sometimes you will find a tool randomly on the ground; however, whatever tool you procure will not be necessary until more than halfway through the level, so if you accidentally drop it, or decide to take your chances by picking up a different tool instead, you must then run all the way back to the beginning to get another one, but most of the time it is no longer available and you are out of luck. Free Play is more tolerable because you can choose to have the proper tool-bearer with you if you know in advance which tool the level requires.

They also added torches, which usually burn themselves out in-between when you pick one up and when you find what you are supposed to use it on, so you have to go back and wait for the flame to respawn. This is a joyful process in battles than require fire, especially when you try to throw your torch and miss.

Oh, and they kept the hat system, but took away the dispensers, because a whole level built around scrambling through piles of random drops that disappear within 10 seconds of hitting the ground is fun.

Bonuses: Most of the useful bonuses require you to beat story mode, go back through each level in free play, find a random block, run to and fro through the level looking for a hidden postal box, mail the block, complete the level, run back to the in-game store, realize you don’t have enough money to unlock it, and cry. Almost all of the other bonuses are not worth getting. There are a few cameos that make you pine for the first two games, there is one cameo that is just strange (and glitched), and the bonus missions are simply not fun to the point that we gave up on achieving 100% completion.

LEGO Batman

Plot: Seeing as there is so much source material to draw from, this game does not seem to be following any particular movie, TV plot, or comic, but rather is extrapolating a plot in accordance with the spirit of the characters and the setting of Gotham.

Characters: You play as Batman and Robin. If you play far enough, you can unlock a few of the villains, but otherwise, you play as Batman and Robin. This should feel limiting, but somehow it wouldn’t feel right to play as anyone else. [Editor's note: Except Batgirl! Maybe we haven't met her yet.]

Gameplay: The camera angles continue to be a problem, and in fact, I think they got worse. Also, the designers made each level dark and foggy to fit in with the feel and aesthetic of Gotham, which is nice in theory, but makes it less playable when you are trying to see the edge of a tiny platform stretching between rooftops. However, this game seems to be easier and more straightforward than the first three as far as level design paths and boss battles go, and ::cross our fingers:: so far it has not been glitchy. It is also really fun and satisfying to wave the Wiimote around and Batarang everything on the screen, which I guess makes up for not being able to see what you are Bataranging.

Gimmicks: Instead of special abilities or tools, Batman and Robin have special suits. Scattered throughout the levels are teleporter platforms that allow you to switch suits, gaining new abilities like gliding, tech panel control, magnetic metal-walking, and janitorial dustbustering. Most of them are fun, and it is incredibly obvious where you are supposed to use each one, but Robin’s dustbuster suit can be annoying when you have to backtrack through the level picking up random blocks, and then backtrack even further to find the machine to dump them into, so you can then build a vehicle that you have to ride halfway across the level with, just to unlock one secret.

We have not unlocked all of the villains yet, but it seems like each one has some sort of ability related to their superpowers, as is to be expected. The Riddler is actually quite fun to play as because they gave him Yoda’s staff-physics in addition to mind-control powers. Good times.

Bonuses: It seems as if there are almost too many things to simultaneously unlock. I’m not sure what the rewards will be for our efforts, but so far we have unlocked a few bonus missions, have access to the villains’ lair, have a couple of less-than-but-not-equal-to-good game modifications, and have picked up a couple of different suits and vehicles. We have also collected a few different styles of LEGO minikit components, but at this point it remains to see what they will build.


Right now, LEGO Star Wars I+II are still reigning supreme. We genuinely had fun on each and every level, despite some bad camera angles. LEGO Indiana Jones had some enjoyable moments strung together by many moments of pain and frustration and boredom, but I’m still glad we stuck with it and gave it a chance, even if it didn’t really deserve one. LEGO Batman is shaping up to be mindlessly fun in that, “I want to satisfyingly smash something after a long day” kind of way, but it doesn’t have the presence or the atmosphere that Star Wars did. I think that is part of it.

As much as LEGO Indy and LEGO Batman try, neither one has really captured the feel of being in the world of its subject, neither one fully engages the imagination. Hopefully we’ll have better luck with LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, and LEGO Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but it seems the more I play through LEGO Batman, the more I want to go back and replay the Star Wars I+II.

The Amateur's Guide to Displaying Collectibles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures. Hand-painted Warhammer figurines. A painstakingly assembled model Aston Martin. Kitschy convention knickknacks like a Chrono Trigger keychain and chibi Hellsing stickers. There's no end to tangible displays of geekery--but there's a distinct premium on display space.

Unless you have a dedicated He-Man showroom, showing off your geek swag may require a little bit of creativity. There's a fine line between displaying collectibles and putting collectibles wherever there's a bare surface, so allow me to discuss a few options for displaying your belongings in a manner that is both aesthetically appealing and a practical use of space.

Perhaps the most obvious place to start is with any surface that never, ever gets used in any way. If you've got a setup like I do, there should be plenty of space on top of/just in front of major electronics such as a television, a computer, or a computer monitor. Even the floor can be used for display purposes, provided that a newly placed object won't hamper your movement, be eaten by the dog, or mysteriously disappear after you carelessly vacuum the carpet.

Even places that see regular use can become display areas for your collectibles. People don't necessarily use 100% of their coffee table and kitchen table space. Chances are good that there's a ledge or corner in your bathroom or kitchen that could use a dorky touch. Bookshelves that aren't crammed to the edge provide ample space for objects that are easy to see past/move out of the way when you go for a book.

As a rule, I like to keep anything I might spontaneously play around with in an easily accessible location. If you don't mind your guests playing around with your collectibles, a PEZ dispenser next to the lamp or an oversized Transformer that permanently occupies a seat on the couch can provide entertainment when you're entertaining and spark discussion.

Naturally, fragile and irreplaceable items should be solidly placed out of reach and away from the blast radius of a dropped bowl of soup or the reach of Mother Nature--a good blast of wind or a spatter of rain through an open door or window can easily ruin your day, and your priceless origami Predator.

Along those same lines, anything that's particularly small or easy to knock over should be kept in a place where you can quickly retrieve it if it gets pushed around, and where it won't break or knock over something else if it falls. Seems like obvious advice to me, but sometimes you don't think about these things until your prized plastic dinosaur is face-down in the garbage can next to your desk.

If circumstances permit, consider putting the walls and ceiling to work. Wires and string can be draped over a hook and tied around a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man that can hover in your kitchen. Plastic army men can dangle from a nail just as well as any calendar. Especially if you throw a few glow-in-the-dark stars up there with them, adhesive putties are great for fastening tiny Star Wars ships from the ceiling, as long as the Millennium Falcon doesn't drop out of orbit and onto your head.

If you've got an item you're less-than-proud to own, or any kind of object that you can't bear to toss but don't want to have in plain view at all times, there's no shame in putting something "on display" inside your closet or desk drawer, provided there's enough space to make it look like it's on display and not in time-out. Surprise your visiting relatives with a scandalous Onegai Teacher statuette next to the box of Froot Loops in your pantry. Guard the bottles of shampoo in your upstairs closet with that Bill Gates snowglobe. The possibilities are endless!