This site has featured Zelda landscapes created from Legos in the past. This site has featured CG animated Zelda video adventures in the past. Now, finally, comes the Lego Legend of Zelda adventure video. Yes, this is stop motion. Yes, this is crudely done. And yes, it is pretty cool despite its flaws. One question left, though. When will all the video game Lego madness end?
Have Legos been on the minds of gamers a lot lately? Apparently, but this one looks almost like a real play set you would buy off a store shelf. Are you listening, Nintendo? There are a ton of Nintendo nerds who would snap up such a line of products. One can only imagine the horror, though, of getting up in the middle of the night to accidentally step on a tiny, jagged Kirby. Click on the image for a full sized version.
If you’ve spent much time browsing about online, odds are that you’ve seen those evolutions of Mario complication images. Some have even included Link from The Legend of Zelda. This new one, however, is above all the rest. Not only does it feature Mario, Link, Samus, Donkey Kong and Kirby, but it features a certain blue guest star. Will someone eventually top this one? Yes, but that’s probably a bit much for most. Click on the image for a full sized version.
While it is certainly easy to pick apart games and gaming culture, it is just as easy to note the things done right by games. If you have a friend who just can’t wrap their mind around the idea that gaming can be good, let them settle in for five points on why gaming is not all bad for you.
They bring people together.
Say what you will about video games keeping kids indoors and away from outdoor sports and activities, it’s hard to argue that playing video games is not a group activity. Classic multiplayer titles such as Contra to modern multiplayer legends like Super Smash Bros. show that gaming is something best done with others. While the recent push into online gaming may have made many worry that gaming was soon headed back under the rock of isolation, it also welcomed new party games such as Rock Band and Buzz: The Trivia Game.
Madden Football is a party game with its own unique atmosphere surrounding it. Step foot into any college dormitory across the nation and you are likely to find a group of young men playing Madden tournaments. Just like real sports, it even invites onlookers and fans who root for either team. While real football games are in no danger of being replaced, many other social activities such as playing cards seem like relics of the past to many young people. (more…)
Link of The Legend of Zelda fame is among the most iconic of video game characters. His adventures, from the original NES tale to A Link to the Past to Ocarina of Time are remembered fondly by many gamers as their first, or best gaming experiences. This original CG animated film not only looks amazing, but it recaptures much of that sense of wonder and awe the Zelda games inspire. Plus, kudos to the creator for the choreography not being too over the top, which often happens in such fan films.
Plenty of films get adapted into video games, but yet there are some that manage to slip through the cracks. They might not all be blockbusters at the box office, but they’d all make for interesting games. For once, let’s take films and make unique new gaming experiences out of them.
Sudden Death
Much can be said of the films of Jean-Claude Van Damme, and much of that negative. However, it’s hard to deny that during the 90s he made some very enjoyable action films, including this one. The marketing pitch had to be “Die Hard in a hockey arena” and it shows. Van Damme spends much of the film in brutal one on one fight scenes and crawling around hiding from terrorists. Somehow though, if one can turn their brain off for a bit, it works at being entertaining.
Electronic Arts should snap this one up now while also snapping up exclusive rights to the NHL. Then, brand this game with the official NHL license and watch the money pour in. Sure, the NHL might not like being linked with a terrorist filled action game, but they’d love the scene where Van Damme suits up and heads on the ice. It’s a perfect match for EA Sports’ hockey game engine. One caveat, this game could not be made without voiceover work from Powers Boothe reprising his character. In fact, every game could be improved with voice work from Powers Boothe. (more…)
In The Great Games column we look back at titles that have defined video games over the years and earned a special place in the history of the medium.
ICO doesn’t begin all that spectacularly. You awake to find yourself inside a castle with little idea of what to do or where to go. In that manner, it very much mimics many classics such as the original NES The Legend of Zelda. There’s a story and a goal, but you’re going to have to figure that out as you go. It’s part of the brilliance of the game.
As you progress you discover a fair maiden who needs your help, and frightening black shadow monsters. Frightening is not an overstatement either, as the first time you encounter them and they begin to pull your companion underground you will shriek in horror. Each subsequent appearance is nerve rattling, especially as the level complexity increases. (more…)
Super Mario Brothers
It would be hard to make a list of the most influential games, anywhere, and not included Super Mario Bros. It isn’t that the game exactly did things that no one had ever seen before (though it did do those), it’s that it them altogether. The game features a certain level of cohesiveness rarely seen in games up to this point, and rarely seen since in many ways.
The levels were structured, but in a way that made sense. Drop into a pipe and you’re in an underground world, trying to get back to another pipe to get above ground. As you will note, every 2D Mario game since has borrowed this very basic seeming mechanic, but one that game the games a sense of “world” long before Mario had his own World.
Perhaps most intriguing about the game’s influence is how many games still try to copy it to this day, twenty plus years after its release. Consider that New Super Mario Bros. (DS) is most influenced by the original and World, despite most fans claim of the superiority of the third chapter. (more…)
Loading ...