An Affair with Zelda

It is apparent to me now why Nintendo moved forward with naming the latest The Legend of Zelda game for the Nintendo Wii with the subtitle of Skyward Sword. Sure, the whole sky theme is pretty prominent in this game since you started off the adventure on a floating island but it's the sublime beauty of the game that has made my very own sword pointing skyward in excitement. This is an extraordinary looking Wii game, the best on the console, even perhaps the best across all platforms this year. What puts it over the top is the perfect character animation and design. How the characters are able to clearly emote without the use of full voice acting is an art that only Nintendo is capable of mastering. Yes, I am very impressed with the striking visuals of this game and I am only 2 hours in. Hopefully things will remain impressive the further I play the game but I am sure that I have seen the most beautiful thing that this game has to offer when it comes to the visual splendor: Zelda herself.

Good morning, hun.

From that first time she showed up in front of me, the game had suddenly taken a completely different meaning. That grace, that warm expression, those eyes... This is Zelda at her finest. Of course it helps that the hair graphics in this game rocks - the people at Bethesda need to study this game so that they can learn how to make convincing looking hair in their The Elder Scrolls games. After this initial interaction with Zelda, I am convinced now that I must complete this game and make it a priority to do so. I hope the Wii U is going to be capable of upscaling Skyward Sword to high definition but even at 480p, what a beautiful, beautiful game you have crafted for us here Nintendo.

My Pin Badge Collection is Here!

I have finally received the eagerly awaited Mario & Friends Pin Badge Collection from Club Nintendo for achieving the Platinum status during Nintendo's 2011 fiscal year. There are 25 cute pin badges in all and they are neatly stored into 6 separate boxes that can be stacked together to create 3 retro Nintendo Images. To ensure that you can proudly display these boxes without the fear of them tumbling down whenever there's slight movement in close vicinity, the boxes are stacked inside a large, transparent sleeve. What I really love about this year's reward is that it can serve as both a decorative piece as well as being functional. I will certainly be wearing the badges whenever I feel like I want to geek it out while I am out and about - as long as my spouse doesn't freak out about it.  Thank you Nintendo for such a cool gift. One thing though: please don't mail a special reward like this in a large envelope in the future. Please use a sturdy box instead. The box on the top of the cascade was slightly crushed during the transport. I will be massaging that area all night long to mold t it back into place again but such a thing should not have happened in the first place.

I will take some photos of me rocking out the pins in the future.

Games Played 11/28/2011 - 12/04/2011

- 11/28/2011 -
Alien Zombie Megadeath - PC
Bulletstorm - PC
Dungeon Defenders - PC
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - PC
Fortix 2 - PC
League of Legends - PC
Renegade Ops - PC

- 11/29/2011 -
League of Legends - PC

- 11/30/2011 -
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - PC
League of Legends - PC
Renegade Ops - PC

- 12/01/2011 -
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon - PlayStation 3
Alien Zombie Megadeath - PC
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 12/02/2011 -
League of Legends - PC

- 12/03/2011 -
Brink - PC
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - PC
League of Legends - PC
Fortix 2 - PC

- 12/04/2011 -
De Blob 2 - PlayStation 3
Kirby: Mass Attack - NDS
League of Legends - PC
Numen: Contest of Heroes - PC
Skydrift Demo - PC

Steam's Easy Giveaway!

Do you like free games? Not only that, do you like free games of your choosing? Steam is having another awesome, no purchase required contest again in the form of the Daily Wishlist Giveaway! In a show of awesome generosity, Steam will be awarding 10 people per day with the top 10 games on their wishlist! The giveaway starts today and will end when Steam's Holiday Sale commences later this month. And wait until you hear this: all you have to do is visit the promoted sales page on Steam for the day. That's it. Well, you do have to make sure that you have at least 10 games listed on your wishlist. You don't even have to buy the game being featured for the day nor do you have to do anything else. Once you have visited the featured game page, which is easy to find because they have placed it right on top of the screen, you will receive a notification on that page that you have been entered for the day.

These Steam contests are so easy to qualify for... It's like Valve really wants you to win!

The coolest part about this contest is that the winners will be selected within 48 hours of the end of the qualifying day. I haven't been lucky with these Steam drawings in the past but I am hoping that perhaps lady luck will be on my side this time around. And by the way, for those who does know what Steam is, it's a free digital game distribution service. You don't have to pay anything to use it. Even if you don't have a gaming computer, you can download it and use it to stay connected with your friends who have Steam accounts. Just sign up and join in on the fun. If you win the free games, they will stay in your account until you are ready to install and play it on your gaming personal computer.

Third Person Skyrim is Great But...

Last night, I made a major change in the way that I wanted to experience The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Personal Computer. I have originally vowed to play the game exclusively in third person because it works very well in the game but I have noticed that I have been missing something that just cannot be replaced when playing the game in the first person perspective and that very special something is called "immersion".

Observing a scene in the third person perspective is different...

...than observing it through the character's - I mean - my own eyes.

The reason why I was so obsessed with the idea of playing a game like this in third person is because of the "cool" factor of being able to see my character but to continue down that path means that I would be missing the very point of this game: It's all about being immersed in a fantasy world, to live and breathe its cultures, its mysteries, its dangers, and its adventures. The only problem here is that the first person perspective itself is not perfect. You can't see your own feet nor your own body and you don't even cast your own shadow. You are just a floating spectre with a set of arms when you are in combat stance. Still, the first person view is truly the right way to play the game as I have come to realize now. This was never a problem in the previous Elder Scrolls games before because the third person view was just so atrocious, it was impossible to play the game in it. In Skyrim, the third person view is so functional that it becomes somewhat of a distraction. I think it would be cool if Bethesda would fix the floating apparition situation for the next game by only allowing the player to "see" his or her character in the game menu, when he or she is looking down, as well as on reflective surfaces around the world while removing the third person perspective all together. Now that would be true immersion.

I'm only going to see admire my character when crafting and horse riding.

Killing things up close and personal is a lot more exciting too!