All those … moments will be lost in time, like tears…in rain.
The screen grab above is my first successful blog comment at The Dilbert Blog. While that may not be the most amazing piece of new ever to you faithful readers out there, be assured that Mr Scott Adams is highly regarded by myself and as such, the chance to contribute to his blog was just what I was looking for. Here’s hoping I can become a regular comment leaver!
With the gaming focus having moved on to the next gen I thought I’d just drop a last fond farewell to the most remarkable game of the last gen systems, Shadow of the Colossus.
Fumito Ueda and his team at Sony had already proven their ability to create a game world, characters and in Ico that could move players emotionally and was one of the most powerful gaming experiences ever created. With SotC they went and managed to top Ico in every regard. You play a warrior by the name of Wander who must defeat sixteen Colossi to restore a lifeless girl. While this may sound humdrum on the face of it, Ueda’s team did away with the usual gameplay formula of fighting through hordes of henchmen to reach the final boss, in this case the Colossi. In the gameworld there are no other characters other than you, your horse and the colossi you must kill. While this may seem rather basic, its your first sighting of the colossi that will forever leave an impression on you as a gamer. The sheer scale of each Colossi is a wonder to behold with many of them towering hundreds of feet above you. While you might also think its but a simple matter of attacking them till their health bar depletes, it proves to be anything but. Each Colossi has a weakpoint (or several) which has to be repeatedly stabbed by you with your sword. The complexity comes into play when you have to determine how to first find them, then how to get on them and finally exactly where their weakpoints are. All this while trying to avoid being killed or trampled by the Colossi. Some of these battles can last for well over an hour with you frantically scrabbling up the back of a colossus and holding on for dear life when they try to shake you off. Ironically, the true beauty of the game lies in the defeat of each colossus. Haunting choral music accompanies the slow yet inevitable collapse of each colossus once you’ve defeated it with a group of shadows (presumably your previous defeated colossi) surrounding you, yet unable to do anything. Ueda manages to make the game so emotional by making you as the player feel guilty for killing the colossi, many of whom never actively attack you. The plot is beautifully underplayed at all times and much of the plot is left unsaid until various points in the game, making the players journey all the more powerful. Hats off to Ueda and his team, they’ve created one of the most emotionally wrenching gameplay experiences many of us will ever play.
As promised in my previous post, I’ll give you some insight into the man reinventor of the Ocarina, the Lad Himself, the Cosmic dick, the Perfect Master and the self-styled Logos of the Aeon. Also known to some people as Robert Rankin.
Rankin is very similar to Terry Pratchett, another British humour / fantasy writer and yet at the same time very different. He manages to bring some of the most humorous passages and absurd characters in a fusion of “science fiction, fantasy, the occult, urban legends, running gags, metafiction and steampunk”. Where other writers might fall flat try accomplish this, Rankin manages to pull it off with a brilliant British sense of humour. With some of his running gags stretching over several of his books it really rewards his dedicated fans for sticking with him. What brings his stories to life though is the oddball mix of characters he parades before us:
The icing on the cake is his down right hilarious gags that he frequently peppers throughout his works:
Do youself a favour and grab a copy of The Toyminator or The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse and prepare to laugh yourself silly.
For those of you down here in Cape Town you’ll be well aware of the recent spate of rainstorms we’ve had down here over the long weekend so far. This of course meant that we all had to spend long hours in the comfort of our homes keeping ourselves busy as best we can while the heavens opened outside. This of course is the perfect opportunity to relax in a warm bed with a good book and some music to while away the hours. So I’ve been happily curled up in bed with one of the new Robert Rankin books, The Brightonomicon (more of which will be told in another post) and at the same time listening to the brilliant musical talents of Yoko Kanno. She’s the architect of soundtracks for shows such as Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex, Cowboy Bebop and Wolf’s Rain. What makes her music so great is her uncanny ability to fuse different music types in a cohesive whole which captures the spirit of the shows remarkably well. To take Cowboy bebop as an example, she fuses jazz with rock that fits perfectly with the director, Shinichiro Watanabe’s view of the characters and helps drive the show forward. I myself have never been a jazz fan as such, but could not help but be impressed. Needless to say I’ve now got nearly all her albums and look forward to hearing her future works. Try and grab hold of some of her CDs and be prepared for a roller coaster ride of musical genius.
So far my relaxing has gotten off to a great start. After 4am mornings this past week I’ve indulged in some well earned lounging around and a real late sleep. The weather down here in Cape town has also been great of late with rainstorms for the past few days. I’ve always loved the rain, especially when you get the chance to lie in a warm bed with a good book and some music on in the background.
I really want to try and catch up on my animé viewing as well. I’ve been stuck on Air and Wolf’s rain for a long time so I’ll need to get in gear to make it through both shows, but since when has watching animé ever been a chore for a true otaku
Just a final shout out to a group of friends I’ve had the great pleasure to meet through the local Otaku mag forums. Shadowfox, Tawara, KittiWithKatana, Blazingpie and Tifa, thanks for the chats of late, its been a great pleasure to chat with you guys whenever I get the chance. Just one word of warning though, whatever you do, don’t get deep in pizza debt like I am with Tifa and Kitti. I’ve had to take up a pizza delivery route and let me tell you, the drive to Wartburg & Boksburg from Cape Town is a real killer.
Merkaba signing off – “All Power To The Pizza!!”
One film I can really recommend is Hot Fuzz. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have once again done a brilliant genre comedy. Like their previous film Shaun of the Dead they’ve taken almost every cliché of the action genre and put a unique British twist to it. The dialogue is some of the funniest I’ve ever heard with one liners and puns flying thick and fast. They’ve even managed to shoehorn in some great action sequences towards the film’s climax. The fact that all of this is set in a quaint English town almost straight out of Midsomer Murders makes it all the more funnier. A definite must see film. 
One of my favourite bands, Project 86 is finally releasing another album soon. Titled Rival Factions, the album’s first song is titled “Evil (A Chorus of Resistance)”. Its typically powerful stuff from a real heavy hitting band and deserves a listen. Hop on over to their MySpace site for a sneak peak: http://www.myspace.com/project86
I’ve finally managed to put some time into my animé viewing of late. My days of watching a full 24 episode series in 4 or 5 days of non stop watching are long gone. That’s why I try and watch shows that I either deem good or that just happen to catch my attention after a few minutes of casual viewing.
So anyway, I started Ergo Proxy a few months back and slowly began working my way through it every once in a while. After having watched all but one of the episodes I’m now kicking myself for having being so slow at watching it. It has been one of the best paced and plotted animé shows I’ve had the pleasure to watch. The visuals and story compliment each other to the highest degree. The use of philosophical quotes, character names and plot points is brilliantly handled and demands that you pay careful attention to the show while you watch it. The characters of Pino, Real Mayer and Vincent Law engender a feeling of camaraderie in you, the viewer, with you rooting for them. Some of the most memorable moments occur at the ending of episodes with some cliff hangers and the beautiful use of Radiohead’s Paranoid Android as an outro song. Well worth a watch if you get the opportunity.
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