The Scriblings of Jason Travis

A Look Back - Parasite Eve

2008-11-25T13:17:00.001-05:00

With my new game plate being virtually dry at the moment (Yes, for the first time in my life, I've completed all of the games that came out during a fall season that I wanted to play), I decided to get into a time machine for a trip back to the golden days of Square RPGs. An era in the 90s when the company was popping out new games what seemed like every other week. Some people might say, "Did you play through Final Fantasy VII yet again"? Others still might add, "Or was it Final Fantasy VIII"? The answer to these questions my friends is no. Surprisingly, what most people may not realize, is that Square makes other RPGs other than the Final Fantasy series. Not that I have any ill will towards that series. I will love it always. However, I just needed something a tad different. You can only save the world from a silver-haired Norman Bates so many times before it just gets...well...boring. With this in mind, I flipped through my Ark of Games to find something I hadn't played in a while. Passing all the Metal Gears, the Grand Theft Autos, and every other RPG in my collection, I was instinctively drawn to Parasite Eve.

Released in 1998 on the Sony Playstation, the game was essentially a sequel to the book of the same name. Following true to the novel, the story revolves around the concept of mitochondria coming to life. The game takes place in Manhattan (as opposed to Japan, where the novel is set). Opening on the night at the opera, New York City Detective Aya Brea is hurtled into this series of events as the lead in the show sets the audience on fire via the mitochondria in their bodies. The only one who it not affected is Aya, who must stop the progenitor of the highly evolved organelles, Eve. The game is set over the course of six days and moves through various parts of New York city via a "world map". Throughout the course of the story, there are several mentions to the book, but those events remain seperate to what unfolds in this narration. Bottomline: You don't have to read the book in order to understand what is going on here. The writers weave a pretty complicated narrative, involving characters like Aya's partner Daniel (an obvious throwback to Barret from Final Fantasy VII), the various police she works with, and even the awkward and geeky Japanese scientist Maeda. It is heavily story driven, being told in ingame and the same FMV-style cutscene made famous by Final Fantasy VII. Essentially, the same narrative formula of most RPGs since 1997.

While it is true that Parasite Eve is an RPG, it could be more destinctly classified as an "action RPG" and moves about in a very linear fashion. What people would consider random encounters seem very scripted. If you go into a particular room, you will most likely enter a battle with mutated creatures each time. Unlike other certain RPGs of the time, players can move about the battlescreen and can dodge enemy attacks via an active time battle system. In order to attack or any of the other actions, the active time bar must be filled. Most of the enemies you encounter will not give you much trouble. During my playthrough I encountered only two bosses that gave me a hard time.

For weapons, Aya has a variety of equipment at her disposal, such as handguns, rifles, and even a grenade launcher, along with armor vests for protection. Some of these items have their own unique add-ons and stats, such a x3 fire or a resistance to poison. These effects and stats can be modified or switched by using the Tools option on the menu. Be sure you want to move one items effects to another however as that item will dissapear after the modification has been made. Additional slots can also be done to equipment by going to the police station and using the various "MOD Permits" found throughout the game. The only real frustation with the game I found was the item system. You are limited in the amount of items you can obtain. This capacity does level up as you do, but early on the game throws a ton of items, like medicine and stat upgrades, but doesn't give you much room to put them. The game also throws random junk in there just to game you constantly manage your inventory.

In addition to weapons and armor, Aya also has access to Parasite powers such as Heal and Energy Shot, which are this games equivalent to magic. With your health meter, there will also be the PE gauge, almost like a MP gauge, showing how much Parasite power you have. If refills over time during battles, but will not fill up while on the world map. The powers you can wield are acquired by leveling up, so the more levels you gain, the more Parasite abilities you get. The PE powers themselves are diverse, but make sure you do not use too much of your PE power at once. Depleting the meter will make Aya freeze momentarily, and susceptible to enemies.

Parasite Eve is graphically pleasing...I would say that if I was writing this back in 1998. At the time, this was probably some of the best the industry had to offer. But in these times where high resolusion screens are king. There is a dramatic difference between the ingame and the FMV cutscenes, with ingame looking like blurry polygon people and the FMVs looking a lot more smoother. Artstyle-wise, it takes a cue from Japanese anime, with character models being very angular with big eyes. In either event, playing this a higher-res flat screen is probably one of the worst mistakes you can make if you plan on enjoying this.

Parasite Eve was hailed as the "cinematic RPG", with the majority of the action playing out in the aforementioned cutscenes. The game isn't that long either. With typical RPGs lasting at least 20 hours, this one clocks in at less than 10. The description of cinematic RPG holds true. Oftentimes during gameplay, I thought that PE would make a better movie than game. Unfortunately, I don't have a time machine to make that happen. So, I will just have to settle for this and it's sequel. With it's faults not withstanding, Parasite Eve was a joy to experience. That is the key word: Experience. You will move around alot, but there isn't much interaction beyond searching for items and killing pushover enemies. So, sit back. Grab a beer. And experience Parasite Eve.

Resistance 2: Satisfyingly Frustrating

2008-11-13T10:24:00.001-05:00

There is something to say about a first person shooter that unnerves you down to the very core. At every turn, being utterly massacred by enemies, constantly making you rethink your entire approach in a skirmish. Hiding in a corner, waiting for your health to replenish, thinking "why the F$%@ did I just do that". Making you wish that you had opted to finish designing a level in LittleBigPlanet. Resistance 2 for the Playstation 3 is one of those games. In massive levels littered with hordes of Chimeran regulars, you find yourself dying or hiding constantly.
Resistance-Fall of Man was one of the launch titles for the Playstation 3 back in the fall of 2006. Being released on a new over-priced console, Resistance had to find its own voice in an era flooded by other FPSs. In some ways, it does. But mostly, it can be compared to most other World War II shooters that everyone else plays. The story of Resistance takes place in a world where World War II never happened, instead, the world had to fight a threat other than goose-stepping bookburners: The Chimera. Almost alien in nature, the Chimera used their advanced technology and vastly superior numbers to decimate Russia and mainland Europe. The first game takes place in England, and tells the story from the viewpoint of Army Sargeant Nathan Hale, in the struggle to stop the Chimera from destroying the Brits. Suffering from both predictable narrative and many unanswered questions, Resistance was hadly able to stand against falling along the wayside in the time when Gears of War was king. Graphically, it came through as being asthecially pleasing, being one of the first games on the PS3. Control-wise, Resistance wasn't amazing, but it was indeed fun just to fire the weapons, either Human or Chimeran. The game wasn't horrible by any means, but there was just something missing. As I said, it was trying to find a voice, but how can one do that when you have 100 other people screaming to be heard?

Resistance 2 expands on the first game quite a bit. The location moves from jolly old England to the good ole U.S. of A, circa 1953. Taking place two years after Resistance, Hale and the US Army continues to rebel against the onslaught of technologically advanced bipedal viruses. Hale has become part of the Sentinels, a covert team of other people infected by the Chimeran virus, but who have not converted. The story-telling hasn't been improved on for the most part. It is still a very predictable war story, but it does open the avenue for new options gameplay wise.

The first real improvement you’ll see to the first game are the levels. Graphically, they come to life, giving great detail to 1950s-era America, though it is war-ravaged. It is a good advancement to the first game, but it not a too sharp of a contrast like, say, the contrast between Metal Gear Solid 1 & 2. The levels also provide quite a bit of diversity that those encountered in the first game. The game takes you to several different locations within the United States. Your war with the Chimera will be fought in more diverse surroundings. Instead of the uniquely English urban areas, you will be wage carnage in urban, maritime, desert, and forest areas, having to adjust your way of playing along the way. In the urban areas, I encountered more direct combat, as opposed to the forest areas where the terrain provided me a wider area where I could find cover easier and outflank the enemy. As I said, the levels provide a great diversity to gameplay, making a vast improvement to the previous title.
Overall, the control scheme hasn’t changed dramatically. R1 still fires primary fire, R2 fires secondary. The only huge change is the L2 button, with is used in two instances. The first, as with the first installment, is tap the button to crouch. The second, which is the change, is to hold down the button to sprint. I found myself sprinting quite a bit, as certain portions of the game require you to do a bit of running. The controls are tight and fluid, a great carry-over from Fall of Man. You won’t find yourself cursing the game because “the controller did it”.

One thing that you will find yourself cursing quite a bit is the enemies. Several sections of the game require you to fight great hordes of enemies. Taking inspiration from recent zombie movies, you’ll be faces with an onslaught of Chimera running directly at you. Luckily, there are also parts where you will have squad mates to help out. The AI on the other characters is good, definitely better than other FPSs out there (cough Halo cough), but it doesn’t do one any good when the only character that the Chimera are gunning for is you. I found that I could have a squad of three other NPCs fighting along side. Sure, they kill some of the enemy, but those enemies were too busy shooting or bum rushing me to pay them much mind. There are also instances where the Chameleons (invisible Chimera) will “de-cloak” right in front of you, already in mid-charge, at which point you will have to shoot them immediately; otherwise, they will kill you in one hit. They developers prepare you early on for this. After several deaths at the hand of this foe, it will become almost second nature to anticipate their approach. Luckily, they don’t sneak up behind you, but be prepared at all times for a frontal assault by an unseen foe. Most of the enemies do not provide a lot of a challenge to actually kill. There are times where some might be intimidated by there size of some enemies, such as the Leviathan in the Chicago level. These enemies are not difficult to conquer, and require very little actual strategy. The AI is not very advanced either, so while you may find yourself overwhelmed, you can always outthink them. Most can be handled by two or three rounds, but what makes the chimera a formidable enemy is not their tactics, but their sheer numbers. The health bar is gone, replaced by a more Halo-esque approach. After taking a few hits by fire, your health will become critical, and you must find someway to avoid enemy fire, otherwise the next shot will take you out, making you start over from the last checkpoint. A lot of time will be spent trying to find cover to avoid death, to the point that shots will be fired in anger.

Most of the weapons make a welcomed return in this game. Part of the zeal of the first game was the almost fun quality of firing off the weapons. There are two types of fire: primary and secondary. For example, the carbine will shoot standard bullets for primary and grenades for secondary. There are also great additions to the inventory, such as the Magnum pistol, which will fire powerful primary rounds, and using the secondary fire will make those rounds explode when lodged in an enemy. The great change to the weapons is that you can only have two firearms at a time, excluding the various grenades, whereas the first game had all weapons accessible whenever you collected them. This adds a bit more of a challenge, but also adds to the fun of ammo conservation.

Multiplayer makes a grand return to this series. As for that aspect, I can’t really say all that much. The maps are diverse, much like the campaign, adding an extra level of gameplay, the same that drew a lot of people to Fall of Man. The awesome aspect of the multiplayer is the epic nature of it. Online battles support up to 60 players, ensuring that there won’t be times where you will have to hunt for enemies in the larger maps. Resistance 2 also provides a co-op campaign, separate from the story. While I didn’t get a change to tinker with co-op by the time of this writing, I anticipate that this will only add to the value of the game.

There are some folks out there that get detracted from first person shooters where story and character development takes away from the thrill of just shooting things. Resistance 2 is for those people. Being surrounded by enemies, you will not be short of carnage. While the campaign does not seem as long as the first game, there are other features, such as co-op and multiplayer, to extend the time you will spend fighting the Chimera. As the first game was one that had great potential, Resistance 2 is one step closer to fulfilling it, even with its flaws.

First Impressions: LittleBigPlanet

2008-10-30T08:23:00.002-04:00

Last night, I got a chance to sit down and have a go with the Playstation 3 exclusive, LittleBigPlanet. Out of all the words in all of the languages on the planet Earth, this word describes the game best: Charming. When I first heard about this game, it was to the degree that this was more than a typical side-scroller. This was the side-scroller to end them all. That players could now create their own worlds and fill them with practically anything they wanted. Almost like Excitebike back on the original NES did with the track creation mode, but so much more.

The game begins with a tutorial level, teaching the player how to control the ridiculously cute Sackboy. It doesn't take that much to control him really. The left analog stick moves Sackboy left to right, or from foreground to background. The "X" button makes Sackboy jump, and the "R1" button has Sackboy grab objects, such as boxes, or hang onto objects, such as swinging monkey tails

That is really all there is to controlling Sackboy. There are controls that make his arms, or hips, or head move, but they are there to just add a little bit of hokieness to the game. Making Sackboy have different facial expressions or dance around, while it doesn't contribute much to the overall gameplay, is there simply to add a little fun.

The game as a whole has a sort-of Katamari feel to it, just not so cartoony. From the start, what really got me were the visuals. Everything is so photo realistic, looking like objects were picked from real life and placed in the game. There aren't any kind of over the top effects, but that is a good thing as they wouldn't really add anything, and in all actuality, take away from the feel of the simplicity of the game.

I can't really say much about the level creation tools as of yet as I didn't get that far into it. Among the aspects I did see was the customization of Sackboy, making him a 3-D palette/manaquin for you to customize to your hears desire. Unlocking various skins, costumes, and other features comes from collecting them in the side-scrolling story levels. There is a lot of stuff that is hidden. My average item completion rate was around 50% on average, and I had collected a lot of stuff before my time with the game ended, and I didn't aim for completion. One can only imagine the amount of extra goodies to get found. After finding these unlockables, one can dress Sackboy up to their hearts desire, however, anything you put him in just adds to the "AWWWW" quality about the character. Most of the creation tools, such as decorations and stickers, just require the player to play around with, but that is where the fun lies.

As for the side-scrolling story adventure, there isn't much to say really. "Navigate character through the level" accurately describes it, as with most other side-scrollers. There will be some frustrating parts, mainly with jumping around on platforms, or swinging from vines. Multiplayer also comes in to play throughout the game as some puzzles require more than one player to solve. The rest of the levels can be played in multiplayer, but beware getting too far apart. The camera will pan back so far that moving around can be awkward. The story mode mainly serves to unlock extras for customization, and isn't particularly challenging to the seasoned platforming adventurer.

Charming. Cute. Fun. LittleBigPlanet are these things, and much more. The game is very original, but doesn't feel so overburdened by it's originality, like a lot of other side-scrollers in this day and age. It is memorable, and may be the missing link for the PS3 in terms of an exclusive that will define it as a console platform. This game, while it doesn't blow all other side-scrollers out of the water, it makes some pretty big waves.

Commentary: Cream and Sugar with your "Hot Coffee"?

2008-10-03T09:34:00.001-04:00

Anyone remember “Hot Coffee” from about three years ago? The scandal involving hidden “sex” scenes in the video game “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas”? The source code of it was hidden (either intentional or unintentional) within the code, so you had to download a hack in order to access it. Although what equated to “sex” in the game didn’t really have any nudity of consequence, and amounted to low-res dry humping, it sparked huge media attention in the summer of 2005. Representatives from parenting groups were on one side decreeing that the game was such a negative influence on our nation’s youth. On the other side, a game industry defending one of its staples, while also trying not to have the “caught with its pants down” face. And in the middle, politicians struggling to find some way to regulate this medium, while preserving the right of free speech. The airwaves were rife with debate for a while in the battle between good parenting and the First Amendment.

The cockroach of free speech had the light of public opinion shown upon it, with no hope of scurrying way.

Shortly after, the ESRB changed the rating from “M” (Mature) to “AO” (Adults Only). When that happened, most of the major retailers (WalMart, Best Buy, Target, etc) began pulling the game from their shelves, adhering to their strict anti-AO game policies. Without action from the publisher, the game was essentially dead. Take-Two quickly responded and created a new version of the game, with the hidden code taken out. The ESRB gave that version the old M rating, and the game continued to sell.

Some time after the issue began, about seven individuals stepped up to file a class-action lawsuit against Take-Two (parent company of Rockstar), claiming that they were defrauded by purchasing a “M” rated game with “AO” rated content in it. Even though this content was only accessible via a hack, and none of the plaintiffs involved in the case saw this AO content until after the lawsuit as brought forth, the case went forward.

As the lawsuit began, the chief plaintiff, in her deposition, stated that she bought the game for her 15 year old son without knowing the content of the game, modded or unmodded. Only when she heard about a strip club in the game on the Today show did she question her son on the content of the game. When he was not forthcoming with an answer, she took the game away and will not allow him to play it again, knowing what she knows about the modded, and unmodded, content of the game. When questioned in her deposition about if she would buy another game where you can beat pedestrians and shoot police officers, she stated possibly, but further along, any game with prostitutes simulating giving oral sex will not be shown in her home. Furthermore, her 18 year old daughter should never see such things. You can see a copy of her deposition here below:

http://overlawyered.com/files/gta/stanhousedepositionpart2.pdf

This all seems way too convenient. The rest of the statement is filled with “I didn’t know”, “I just assumed”, and “I was only doing it for children everywhere”. I have to call BS on the case as a whole. As far as the principle plaintiff is concerned, this is not about consumer fraud. This is about being offended by something, something that the person didn’t totally understand before they went through the hassle of filing a suit.

In the end, the plaintiffs and the defendant [Take-Two] settled. Four out of the seven plaintiffs will be receiving $5000. The other three will receive $1500. Also, as a result of the settlement, people who bought the game and state that they were frauded and offended by the content contained within the hidden mini-game, are entitled to part of the settlement. Details can be viewed at the site that has gone up for the settlement:

http://www.gtasettlement.com/

To date, a little more than 2600 individuals (out of millions of copies sold) have come out of the woodwork to get their share. In addition, Take-Two Interactive as also agreed to donate at total of $870,000 to the ESRB and the National PTA. This all came from a settled lawsuit that was never going to go to court.

As a member of the class represented (since I purchased the game long before the Hot Coffee code became public knowledge), I would never have agreed to this, and I think that most others would not have either. The numbers of people who filed a claim do not even compare to the number of people who purchased the game prior to the summer of 2005.

Number of people who filed claims: 2600
Number of people who are entitled to the settlement (Although I don’t have the exact sales figures): Several million

All in all, Take-two is really having to spend less than $40,000 to the plaintiffs themselves.

As a consumer, I don't feel that I have been frauded by anyone. Whether it be intentional coding, or shotty quality assurance practices, I don't feel that this rendering of sexual acts imposes on my consumer rights any more than rising gas prices, but their hasn't been a class-action lawsuit against that.

In the end, this is just another of my lawsuits filed by people just trying to get paid. This lawsuit benefitted no one really, except the legal counsel for the plaintiffs. In a brief submitted by Seth R. Lesser [plaintiff’s lead counsel], they seek attorney fees and expenses to the total of $1,000,000…that’s right…I said it…$1,000,000. The brief is posted below for anyone who would like to view it:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/5/16/1914169/gta-fee-application.pdf

As you can see, it is a long document. Mostly 32 pages of legal babble that doesn’t really say anything, only trying to justify being paid an excessive amount of money for something that didn’t really make a difference. A point of interest are responses to objections filed be other members of the class on page 19.

This lawsuit was one of the most pointless spectacles I have seen in recent memory. Not only did most of the class being represented (San Andreas First Edition buyers) not really care, but probably went against the majorities wishes, which was to leave a great game developer alone so they could continue doing what they do best.

Should some blame be place on Take-Two and Rockstar allowing this hidden code to get out into the public? Sure.

Should the ESRB have better rating practices other than just watching gameplay footage that the publisher sends? Yes.

Should parents (who care) better monitor what their kids watch and play? Absolutely.

Should parents who don’t care better monitor what their kids watch and play? Indeed, if anything, to better connect with a life that they are responsible for. To help them put what they are seeing into a proper context.

For both types of parents, those who do and not care: maybe to have a little fun with their kids. To show they actually care about that their kids are into something. You’d be surprised how many non-idiot kids we have among us if you’d actually take the time to hang around them a little more.

By the time all of this ended, Take-Two may have actually been better off. They received millions of dollars of publicity in various news outlets. Since then, the company, and the industry as a whole, has only grown. With the recent downturn of our economy, the video game business is one that actually shows major growth and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

As a whole, the Hot Coffee scandal was a shot heard all around the world for the gaming industry. Since Mortal Kombat, there wasn’t anything that sparked so much debate and discussion about video games outside of the people who played them. This had the potential of paving a way of change all the way from Washington to the living room, but was reduced to a frivolous lawsuit in a country built on frivolous lawsuits.

Fire and Ice, Desire and Hate: Use of Elemental Symbolism by Robert Frost

2008-10-03T09:29:00.001-04:00

In “Fire and Ice”, Robert Frost uses the elements of fire and ice as symbols for the emotions of desire and hate. Throughout the length of the poem, Frost compares fire and ice to desire and hate, respectively. He states that he would rather end filled with desire, and not consumed by hate. However, he can see how easily he, not to mention the rest of the world, could meet their end with an icy chill.

Fire and ice both have the ability to consume everything, just as our emotions have the ability to overwhelm our entire being. Frost alludes to fire as the emotion of desire. Fire can consume an entire house, and if not controlled, can leave it laying in ashes very quickly. Ice, which Frost alludes to as being hate, destroys very slowly. Ice can overwhelm something with the same destructive force as fire, but instead of ashes, leaves only a hard shell of what the an object used to be. Ice causes whatever it consumes to become rigid and cold, unmoving to the rest of the world. He says to use that he would rather see the human race quickly off to its end with passion, instead of being slowly destroyed by ice. Frost does, however, lament in the end by saying that the world is going to end, and leaves the reader to question which they would rather have: fire or ice?

Robert Frost knows that his end will come one day. It is unavoidable. He does say, however, that he would rather consumed with fire, and not frozen with hate. He knows that it is up to him, and everyone in the world, on how to meet that end.

Walking Alone in the Dark: Hawthorne’s Use of Symbolism in “Young Goodman Brown”

2008-10-03T09:17:00.001-04:00

In “Young Goodman Brown”, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to show Goodman Brown’s journey into doubt and hopelessness. From the onset of the story, Brown is portrayed as a young man who is in self-doubt, hence the reason for his journey into the woods. This journey is meant to challenge his faith in himself. To answer the question if he is indeed a “good man”. To do this, he must leave his home, and more importantly, his wife behind. He must leave his “Faith” behind and journey alone in to the darkness of his own “forest”. He must take this dark path in order to find out if he is truly the good man that he, and his Faith, thinks him to be. Many believe Hawthorne intended this to be only a symbolic journey. That this whole sequence of events was a dream, a vision that Brown used to rationalize an inner struggle that he could not completely comprehend. Others still, however, insist that this story is completely literal and that Brown did actually experience these events in the woods. Regardless of the interpretation, the symbols that Hawthorne wrote into the story are still there whether or not all was a dream, or a stroll in the woods with the Devil himself.

One symbol that Hawthorne uses to from the start of the story is Brown’s wife, Faith. In the first paragraph of the story, Hawthorne states that Faith was “aptly named” (Hawthorne, 307). Faith is, as Thomas Walsh says, “symbolic of Brown’s faith, which he gradually loses as he doubts more and more the existence of any goodness in man” (Walsh, 332). The further and further he gets from his wife on this journey, the more he looses this faith. Walsh goes on to state that “the physical movement away from Faith, marking his own loss of faith, can be traced through the forest scene to the climax at the witches’ gathering” (Walsh, 332). At the beginning of the journey with the Devil, Brown states that “Faith kept me back awhile” (Hawthorne, 308). This shows that there was some hesitation from the start, the he questioned if he should really go on this journey. The further long he goes, he “bemoans the fact that his action will break Faith’s heart, while at another point he asks himself why he should quit his Faith” (Walsh, 332). The further along his journey goes, the further he gets away from his hope. However, his mind becomes more and more fixed upon it.

Ultimately, Brown is force to confront the resilience of his hope, as his wife kneels before the alter, ready to take communion with evil. Brown screams to his wife “Faith! Faith!...Look up to Heaven and resist the Wicked One” (Hawthorne, 314). What happens to his “Faith” at that point? Not even Brown knows because, as Hawthorne writes “Whether Faith obeyed, he knew not” (Hawthorne, 315). He goes on to say that “Hardly had he spoken, when he found himself amith night and solitude…through the forest” (Hawthorne, 315). Thereafter, when Brown returned home, a “distrustful man did he become” (Hawthorne, 315). His Faith had disappeared before the alter of the Devil, and he knew not where it went, leading him not into doubt of others, but of himself.

The second symbol that Hawthorne uses to show Browns road to despair is the setting of the story: the forest. In leaving his Faith behind, Brown takes “a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees in the forest” (Hawthorne, 307). Walsh writes that “he is plunging into the road leading to despair, and the immediate closing of the trees [behind him] symbolizes the shutting off of his escape” (Walsh, 333). As with his trying to cling on to his Faith the further he goes into the wilderness, the forest is a path that his hope cannot hope to escape from. As he presses on deeper into the forest, his senses start to play tricks on him. As he rushes closer to the heart of the forest, the road grows “wilder and drearier, and more faintly traced…leaving him at the heart of the dark wilderness” (Hawthorne, 312). Hawthorne goes on to describe “the whole forest was peopled with frightful sounds; the creaking of the trees, the howling of wild beasts…as if all Nature were laughing at him in scorn” (Hawthorne, 312). And finally, upon entering the center of the forest, Brown comes upon Hell itself, with the whole alter ablaze. And just as with Faith, with hope on the edge of the pit, Hell itself vanishes.

A third symbol is that of Brown’s traveling companion, the Devil. Walsh writes that Brown “moves from a state of belief, in which the good and naïve side of his nature predominates, to a state of despair, in which the good side becomes submerged in the dark side, symbolized by the devil” (Walsh, 334). Walsh goes further on to say that “what this man suggests and reveals to him are his own thoughts, which gradually possess him completely” (Walsh, 334). Ultimately, the devils represents Brown himself. Hawthorne describes the traveler as “bearing a considerable resemblance to him [Brown], though perhaps more in expression than features” (Hawthorne, 308). The term expression indicates that the Devil is more like Brown in thought than his actual appearance. Hawthorne does, however, state that “the second traveler was about fifty years old…still, they might have been mistaken for father and son” (Hawthorne, 308). Hawthorne indicates that the Devil is an older version of Brown, indicating a tie with his father, and grandfather. Walsh writes that “this family identification with the Devil, together with the stages by which Goodman Brown comes to believe that his fellow men are evil, becomes most important to an understanding of the beginnings of the dark thoughts which eventually overpower him” (Walsh, 334). Walsh goes on further to say that “the first people who are mentioned with reference to sin are his father and grandfather” (Walsh, 334). When Brown first encounters the Devil, he is hesitant to think that his father and grandfather were capable of such deeds. “We have been a race of honest men and good Christians” he says (Hawthorne, 308). Brown sees himself, and his ancestors, as good men.

Further along, Brown actually takes up more of an resemblance of the devil. Walsh writes “the Devil not only looks like Brown, but he is distinguished by a diabolic laughter and a staff” (Walsh, 335). Brown takes up the Devils laugh and staff. “And so maddened with despair, so that he laughed loud and long, did Goodman Brown grasp his staff and set forth again” (Hawthorne, 312). As he encounters the congregation at the alter, when the devil states “evil is the nature of mankind”, it is Brown, transformed into the Devil by the Devil “himself” saying his true opinion of man (Hawthorne, 314).

Hawthorne uses these symbols to show Brown’s journey away from everything he held dear. These symbols portrayed his journey away from Faith, down a path closing behind him, to the embrace of something that was already festering in his soul. Turning away from the shield of denial, Brown accepts that he is not entirely a good man, nor were his fathers. Now seeing himself as the Devil and as a man, he knows how that evil is in the hearts of men. Brown has succumb to the disparity of the path that led him to this point, and to get there, he walked alone.

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown” Literature: An Introduction to

Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar Roberts. 3^rd Ed. Pearson Education Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. 2006. p. 307-315.

Walsh, Thomas F., Jr. "The Bedeviling of Young Goodman Brown." Modern Language

Quarterly 19 (1958): 331-336. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Georgia Perimeter College, Atlanta, GA. 6 February 2008

Why developers make games that are "too" hard?

2008-10-02T13:09:00.001-04:00

This isn't my writing, but I felt the need to share it. It is from the Wall Street Journal, a medium that I am actually surprised would run this.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122238237801276797.html

Again, I'm surprised that the WSJ would actually put this up. However, it just may be a sign just how mainstream the industry is becoming. As to if that is to the industry's advantage or detriment, we shall see.

Review - WarioLand: Shake It is more than just the sum of all the coins in the game!

2008-10-02T10:21:00.001-04:00

I like to think I've grown up a little. I've matured over the years, and with that, my tastes as a gamer have matured as well. I desire games with complicated themes, realistic characters, and plots that overshadow Oscar-winning films. There are times that I will indulge other types of games, ones that test my skills and make me think. Games such as Rayman: Raving Rabbids and WarioWare fit in that category. And even still, there are others that just are fun to play with friends, like Smash Bros. and Mario Kart. WarioLand: Shake It is one of those games, that though it may be a guilty please, that is a piece of not hard to follow brilliance.

There really isn't a true story to speak of. Wario, the doppelganger of Nintendo's mascot, has to save these little fairy-esque creatures from danger. However, Wario displays his typical selfish nature: He just wants the loot. The game is a side-scroller made in typical Nintendo fashion. Players must navigate Wario through each level collecting coins along the way, until he reaches the end of the stage. At the end, when he rescues the aforementioned fairy-thing (yeah, I wasn't really paying attention during the exposition of the intro), he must go back to the beginning before a timer runs down to zero. Pretty simple right? Well, yeah, if all you want to do is get through the game with minimal effort. But where is the fun in that?

WarioLand is one of those games that completionist gamers will be saying "Yeah, I beat the crap out of that". Each level has multiple paths that you can go through in order to get to the end. From the end, since you must go back to the beginning, there are also branching paths that are only opened up when you reach the end. Each level has certain objectives to complete. These objectives, such as "don't fall in water" or "collect 30,000 coins" do not have to be completed, but it all goes back to the completionist thing. There are also various treasure hidden through the levels. More than likely, in order to get everything there is, each level will require at least two playthroughs for most people. The puzzles are challenging sometimes, but easy most of the time. There are boss-fights as well. The only challenging part is finding out how to actually beat them. After that, however, the rest is a piece of cake. I can only fathom that somebody under the age of 10 will have any difficulty getting through this game.

Control-wise, WarioLand is not complicated. One must turn the Wii remote on it's side, so that it looks like an old school Nintendo controller. That is how this game plays. Use the directional pad to move Wario, the 2 button to make him jump and the 1 button to do a dash attack. There are also motion controls, which is where "Shake It" comes into play. You can make Wario punch the ground to cause an earthquake-like effect. At various points through the levels, Wario will come across sacks of gold. Walk up to the bag to pick it up, start shaking the controller and money will start flying out of the bag. Not complicated at all, right?

Part of the zeal of this game are the visuals. The characters are animated, looking as though they were drawn on cells. The colors are quite vibrant, almost overwhelming at times. It is presented in a typical 2.5D style, with the background separate from the foreground. Characters almost look like they are going to jump off the page of a coloring book. The animation style reminds me a lot of the Saturday morning cartoons of yore. In order to get the full-effect though, you will probably want to play on an HD display if possible. Anyway you look at it, the presentation makes this a pleasure to look at. One may want to take a break every once in a while, however. The colors are so bright and vibrant that it can be disorienting, combined with everything else happening on screen.

WarioLand: Shake It is a simple game, reminiscent of the old WarioLand games, which are reminiscent of the old Mario games. Some people may complain that it is too short. My final play time was around 6 hours, but I had not gotten "EVERYTHING" in the game. As I stated before, a lot of levels will require multiple playthroughs. I for one am not really complaining that it is so short. There is a big difference between this game and the huge 20-100,000,000 hour games. This is supposed to be short and sweet. Nobody ever spends a ridiculous amount of time on 2D side scrollers anymore, save for Symphony of the Night or the other Castlevania offerings. In the end, this game is nothing but a pretty, side-scrolling treasure hunt. Nothing more, and nothing less. That is nothing that it should apologize for though. Sometimes one must take time off from killing devils or saving the world from nuclear holocaust and just have fun hunting loot and saving pixies.

Differences: A Sonnet

2008-10-02T10:08:00.001-04:00

You ask this question of yourself all day,
with me always rolling my freakin’ eyes.
What would Jesus do you would always say,
with me questioning your beliefs and why.

You were always there, mostly talking faith.
Always so beautiful, like an angel,
sharing a bed with your little dark wraith,
we swore to always be, even through hell.

We would sometimes poke fun, you a Jesus
freak and I was the barbaric heathen.
Other times, we would fight, yell, scream and cuss
about who was right in faith and religion.

Yes, we were different, that was true,
but in the end, you loved me and I you.

This is it.

2008-10-02T10:03:00.000-04:00

If you've found these words, you have reached the professional blog of Jason Travis. Here, you shall find a variety of different writings, reviews, commentary, or other various works created by myself. Feel free to contact me if there any questions, if you care to relay any feedback, or just want to say hi.

Thank you for your time, and your attention.

-Jason Travis