Anyone who knows a thing about me and my gaming obsessions knows that The Legend of Zelda series is my absolute favorite. I was still a bit too young to fully appreciate the original NES, but when A Link to the Past rolled around for the SNES, I was just old enough to appreciate the magical world of Hyrule, the beauty and wisdom of Princess Zelda, the evil of Ganon and the courage of Link. I was amazed by the fantastical world, but still, at my young age (I was barely into elementary school when I first played it), many of the puzzles and dungeons of A Link to the Past were still a bit too challenging for me to complete on my own. The first Zelda game I actually completed was Ocarina of Time and then I went on to finish A Link to the Past. Ever since then, I have been following every new addition to the series, eagerly trying to complete the various dungeons and tasks in order to save the princess, as well as Hyrule.

As much as I loved each and every game that I played (minus Wind Waker, which I didn’t really think fit into the whole Zelda scheme), I noticed that with every game I picked up, it became easier and easier to complete. Now, at first I attributed this decline in difficulty to the mere fact that I’ve grown older and thus, smarter when it comes to gaming and puzzles. But even when I tackled Twilight Princess for the Wii, I found it to be much easier (except longer) than The Ocarina of Time journey. Others found this to be true, as well. So what’s going on with the newer installments of the Zelda series?

Many people blame the fact that Miyamoto stopped working on the series and that Aonuma just isn’t doing the series the same justice that the Nintendo genius could. In fact, ZeldaBlog did an excellent article on the differences between the two game designers. While I believe that this definitely could be a factor in the decline of difficulty, I don’t believe this switch is the only reason. I mean, sure, Miyamoto had a giant influence over the Zelda games he worked on, but each game also has an extensive team which modifies each little aspect of the games. To say that a switch of one person, no matter how influential, could really hurt a game is a bit far fetched. For the most part, if the same people who worked under Miyamoto also worked for Aonuma, I feel the quality of the game should still be great.

Not that I’m saying the actual quality declined, though. I personally thought Twilight Princess was an excellently thought out game with an interesting storyline, captivating characters, beautiful scenery, and really imaginative dungeons. Phantom Hourglass also brought a new twist to the series as it utilized the Nintendo DS’s features in every way possible and was incredibly enjoyable with all the characters, dungeons, and puzzles you had to face. They were both incredibly valuable additions to the franchise, but no matter how enjoyable, as a gamer, it feels like you’re breezing through it without much of a sweat at all. Not the same sweat that poured from your body as you tried to figure out the difficult puzzles and quests of A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Link’s Awakening.

I think also the new systems and the new gaming audience can play a major factor in a game’s difficulty level, especially with Zelda. Recently, with the Wii and DS, Nintendo has been marketing mainly towards casual gamers, children, and families, hoping that the loyal core gamers will also stick through for the classic titles we all love, like Zelda, while they try to capture the new audience. In order to target them, Nintendo has been downplaying the difficulty of a lot of classic games, in hopes that casual gamers won’t feel alienated by a game that may bet too “hardcore.” By making a game like Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass accessible for everyone, they hope everyone will be able to pick it up and enjoy it. (I mean, who doesn’t love that classic hero-saves-princess story?) Unfortunately, to make it accessible, they have to make it at a level of someone who does not game as often as a core gamer, and even more unfortunately, this means downplaying the difficulty. And for core gamers, this can take out a lot of the joy of playing a Zelda title, since there is nothing as gratifying as making it through an extremely difficult dungeon or puzzle, killing that boss at the end after a struggle, and then collecting your prize. It just feels well earned and satisfying.

Also, new Nintendo systems seem to emphasize on simplicity. The Nintendo DS utilizes a touch screen (and everyone can touch) and the Nintendo Wii uses motion sensing so a gamer can use everyday actions to duplicate the same actions on the screen. By simplifying controls, however, you are simplifying the different ways of playing the game. Things become easier to control, moves become easier to execute, weapons become easier to use. And of course, any type of simplifying makes the game much easier. While they have created interesting ways of using both systems’ controls, it’s just not as difficult as the older Zelda games, with all their fancy buttons and controllers.

But who am I to say how difficult a game should be? After all, I have gotten older since I was in elementary school and my brain has become a lot more complex. If I had played Ocarina of Time for the very first time now, it probably would’ve taken me a shorter amount of time in general. But I almost feel like the Zelda series should follow in the footsteps of the Guitar Hero series, with each game becoming increasingly more challenging, increasingly more beautiful, increasingly more entertaining, and just increasingly better. Even if they are a casual gamer, I feel like anyone can appreciate a good challenge. You don’t have to be a core gamer to understand that.

Games certainly are getting more beautiful, but beauty is only skin deep. I hope the essence of Zelda can still be preserved in this current trend of casual gaming, simplicity, accessibility, and … well, Nintendo.

GamerBunny

Their [Miyamoto & Iwata] idea was revolutionary in its simplicity: rather than create a new generation of games that would titillate hard-core players, they developed the Wii as an easy-to-use, inexpensive diversion for families (with a particular appeal to women, an audience generally immune to the pull of traditional video games).

So are video games a virus that women have been vaccinated for, so now we are all “immune” to them? All sarcasm aside, the general tone of the video gaming world toward women is starting to become borderline politically incorrect. Not only are women generally associated as being anti-video game, but the ones that do play video games are usually grouped with casual gamers, as opposed to the core gaming audience. Like in this article, the Wii is basically described as an ideal system for the casual gamer, and because of that reason, it has been able to grab the attention of women.

Now, as a gamer who has been a gamer before I was even a grade school student, and as a gamer who also happens to be a woman, I wish I could dispel this myth that female gamers only take up a very small sliver of that gamer pie and that most of the women in that tiny sliver are only casual gamers. The truth is, there are a lot of women who play video games. I know several of them. And while, yes, sometimes we are more susceptible to the cute, cuddly, family-friendly games like Nintendogs and Mario Party, we are also drawn to the more “hardcore” games, such as The Legend of Zelda, Halo, Grand Theft Auto, and such. We even play the fighting games and gory, zombie games and sports games occasionally.

You see, the difference between male gamers and female gamers is that males actually consciously think about the distinction, while women tend to just think of themselves as plain old gamers. We don’t just go towards the “girly” games; we look for the same quality that male gamers seek after. We actually do think about how amazing a game’s graphics will be or if it’ll be an RPG with a wonderful storyline or if the next fighting game sequel will live up to its predecessor. And just like the men who play the new Grand Theft Auto IV, sometimes we enjoy shooting people for no reason and running over pedestrians and having sex with a skanky hooker and shooting her in the back of the head afterwards. Yeah, we have that sick side, too.

Which is why I don’t understand why some game developers feel the need to “target” women when they create games. Like, put in a few kittens or make it more casual or something ridiculous like that. Targeting women has almost become synonymous to dumbing down certain games completely. It’s really baffling because we don’t want to be “targeted;” we just want the same great games that other, opposite-gendered gamers are guaranteed. In fact, targeting women is more of a detriment to the whole gaming universe. Why create more barriers in a world that is already full of them? The video game world, to me, has been a world I can go to when I want to escape the ridiculousness of the real world. Do I have to be held back because I’m a female?

I’m hoping that more female gamers will speak up, not really to try and separate us or create some kind of twisted feminist movement in the video game world, but more just to let it be known that we exist and that we really are true gamers, just like men. Sure, in the end, the numbers show that there are more male gamers out there, but the number of female gamers isn’t quite as small as the statistics show, I think. And despite the fact that games were never really “targeted” towards us in the past, we still existed and we even grew in numbers. That goes to show that we don’t want a “women-friendly” video gaming environment, but just the same old good fun we’ve always had in the past, before this whole focus on casual gamers and female gamers and all that ridiculousness.

I don’t believe in barriers, so I don’t believe in separating any gamers from each other as well. I’m hoping video game developers and male gamers alike will stop pushing this weird stereotype onto us and just develop great games for us to enjoy. We are not “special” and we aren’t “immune” to video games, so stop treating us so differently. We exist and we have the same needs as other gamers. Don’t disappoint us!

GamerBunny

Can you name the Pokemon Characters?

Basically, there’s a blank list and you write down all the names of the original 151 Pokemon (of the Red/Blue versions). You don’t even have to do them in order, you just write. It’s pretty amazing to figure out which ones you actually remember and which ones you end up forgetting.

My score was 71 out of 151. Pretty good, I think … nearly got half! I forgot a lot of the Dragon ones … and ones like Eevee’s many evolutions and Paras and Omanyte … It’s been a while since I’ve delved into that game. I think the most recent one I played was Sapphire.

If you’re a Pokemon fan, try it out and post your score! Even if you’re not a Pokemon fan now, I’m sure you were as a kid. Let the battle begin!

GamerBunny

Sadly, a lot of us were disappointed. However, I’m not going to delve into how Nintendo decided to only have 16 new tracks instead of many more (especially since the new ones were so imaginative), instead opting to have 16 retro tracks as an accompaniment, or how the Battle mode was poorly made or how the graphics could’ve been a lot lovelier or how 12 racers is just too damn much for one track.

No, instead, I am going to talk about the cheapness of those damn powerups found in the item boxes.

Now, we all know that in Mario Kart games, there is a bit of an item bias. If you’re cruising about 20 seconds ahead in 1st place, you’re probably not going to get a Bullet Bill or a Star or even a trio of Red Shells, and if you’re in way last place, you’re chances of getting a Blue Shell are typically higher. This is just to ensure that the first place people are given a bit of a challenge and the one tailing behind have a chance to catch up.

However, Mario Kart Wii goes way beyond this bias and creates an absolute circus if you happen to be the skilled player that takes the lead. Especially in the higher cups, like 150cc and Mirror Mode, you will find yourself being barraged with an amazing amount of Red Shells, Blue Shells, Bullet Bills, POW Blocks, Squids, and even Green Shells will seem to magically hit you more often. Usually, these strikes will happen consecutively and only seconds away from crossing the finish line, and you find that by the time you recover, about four other racers have already overtaken you and you’re left in 5th place. Cue wanting to throw your Wiimote at the TV screen and curse Daisy or Wario to hell.

And all this time, you’ve only gotten powerups such as Bananas, a Green Shell, or a False Item Box, which you can use as some form of protection, but some of the more powerful items completely ignore them. Plus, certain items (such as POW Blocks and Blue Shells) completely take away any items you may have been holding, leaving you vulnerable to another attack (which usually comes only seconds later). Not to mention that when these powerful items hit you, the recovery time is so long that usually a handful of racers have already passed you by the time you are done spinning around in crazy little circles from a hit. It’s really utter, frustrating madness.

Now, I understand wanting to make a game challenging. Everyone who plays Mario Kart strives for that gold medal and it’s usually pretty easy to obtain, so each game needs to be a little more challenging than the previous one. However, this barrage of destruction on first place racers takes the game from being a challenge to being nearly an impossibility. It’s not even about being a skillful driver anymore, but more about how much luck you have during that particular race. You can race your best race ever, but you’re at the mercy of the items ultimately. Even if you’re race is perfect, you can still get in 7th place because of some opportunely placed items only few meters away from winning. This not only makes the game ridiculous, but it also really stops motivating gamers from wanting to ever pick up the controller to try again. You end up getting so goddamn angry at the game that it drains all enjoyment from the race again. (And if you’re anything like me, you start developing grudges against certain Nintendo characters … *cough* Baby Peach)

It’s a real shame when such a classic game like Mario Kart stop being about actual racing and starts being more about luck and cheap shots. The powerups ideally should be a lot more evenly spread out among the racers and the more powerful ones should appear very rarely. I understand that a good Red Shell to the ass of an opponent can be a pretty satisfying feeling, but a Red Shell followed by a POW Block followed by a Blue Shell seems almost cheap, almost like cheating. I think Nintendo really missed the mark on this one when they configured the AI of the other racers and it’s sad to think that perhaps only one or two lines of programming code could’ve been edited to prevent such an error that has annoyed so many Mario Kart fans. I say, if they really wanted to make the game more challenging, they should’ve looked in a different direction … such as making the racers all faster. Now that would’ve been an enjoyable race.

Of course, in this long rant, let’s not forget about some of Mario Kart Wii‘s perks, such as it’s enjoyable online play, the great amount of unlockable characters, the huge variety of new karts and bikes, and the innovative new tracks. It’s just sad to think that this game had so much potential and Nintendo seemed to travel the same trodden path once again.

I’m convinced I will be able to beat Mirror Mode, though. I will let you all know.

GamerBunny

So this is a new pet project of mine. I haven’t had a website in a long time, but I really miss maintaining one and doing the whole blogging thing. Also, I’m a YouTube addict and always wanted to create videos. Not just normal V-logs where I talk about random stuff because those always end up pretty disastrous. I don’t just want a blog that’ll be interesting to only myself, but to as many people as possible.

Thus, I decided upon the love of my life … VIDEO GAMES. Ever since I was but a wee sprout, I’ve been addicted to those crazy gaming systems, from Bubble Bobble on the original NES to more recently The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Wii. Though I mostly stay on the Nintendo side, my love for video games spans across many different genres and systems and I try to keep up with the gaming world as much as possible.

I decided it would be great to do a mixed blog between here and Youtube, combining text and video to create hopefully an amusing gaming opinion experience, at the least. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy it too. :)

So this is it for post numero UNO! We all have to have that obligatory introductory post, don’t we? Look forward to the beginning … it’s coming soon … and if you really want to know more, I do have an About page and all that lovely stuff.

GamerBunny