Comic Con 2010

It was awesome.

lol brazilian gamman

While I was at work Friday, a co-worker brought to my attention that there was a videogame-related event taking place at a mall in the southern part of the city, and made it sound really cool. Being that gaming is one of my biggest hobbies, and that the ticket to get in was only 20 brdollars (basically ten bucks), it sounded like a pretty good deal.

Having just gotten back from there, it wasn't really that great.

Basically the exhibit was split up in 6 areas: history of videogames, history of Mario, Rock Band area, soccer area, FPS area, and PS3 area.

While the history of videogames and Mario sections were interesting and informative, the fact that it's a historical exhibit means all the games on display were basically all shit I'd already played, or could easily play if I felt like it (through emulators). Though, it was kind of neat to be able to play on an actual Atari 2600, and hold the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast controllers. I played New Super Mario Bros Wii for a few minutes and decided to go do something else.

The Rock Band and Soccer games area both pertain to subjects I'm not particularly interested in, so I didn't really bother with either, though I did note the Soccer area had the biggest TV in the whole event (unsurprising given Brazil's huge soccerfaggotry).

I then decided to check out the FPS area, which had only two games up (one on 360 and one on PS3). Had it not been for the game's posters and what the guys playing them were saying, I honestly wouldn't have been able to tell you what games they were. What is it with all FPS's looking so much alike?

The 360 game was, unsurprisingly, Halo 3, which I actually got to play for about 15 minutes.

First impression: "...this is kind of like Quake."

Second impression: "...this is a lot like Quake."

Third and final impression: "...yeah this is Quake."

Not necessarily bad or unpolished, but yeah.

MAG I played for a few minutes and got bored when the novelty of shooting shit got old. For some reason, although Halo 3 was pretty much occupied the entire time, not that many people seemed to care about MAG.

The PS3 section was probably the most interesting, if only because, given the hefty prices electronics in general fetch here due to prohibitive import taxes, I have not had much experience with this generation of consoles in general. There were 5 games: some Splinter Cell game (which was actually for the PS2, but whatever), which I just overlooked; Modnation Racers, which I overlooked; Uncharted, which I got to play for a while; Heavy Rain, which I looked at but didn't really play; and God of War 3, which I played for about 10 minutes.

God of War 3 is a visually stunning game, as most of you who've seen anything from it will have noticed by now, but in terms of actual gameplay it doesn't really feel much different from any of the others. I got bored and decided to look for something else to do, even though I'd waited for a good half hour to be able to play it at all (demand for the game was pretty big, apparently).

Uncharted I played for about half an hour, which I could do so because nobody really seemed to give a shit about it. Funny, because it was easily the highlight of the event for me. I really enjoyed the little I played of it, it's a really fun and well-made game and I definitely want to play it from start to finish.

Basically, what I've learned from this: brazilians are gay for Halo and God of War (just like americans), God of War 3 is sameshitty, Halo is Quake, and Uncharted is cool beans.

It's events like this that make me realize what an odd case I am amongst most brazilians who play videogames, given how much more I know and care about the medium than pretty much anyone else here that I've personally met and conversed with on the subject.

Taylor sucks because he's going to Comicon and will without question have a much better time with that than I did with this.

Top 10 Mario Games: Number 3

i am getting lazier and lazier

3. Super Mario World

Where to begin with Super Mario World?

Super Mario World took Super Mario Bros. 3 and put it on awesome-enhancing steroids, increasing performance and fun-factor in a variety of different ways. On the outside, the game play very similar to it's predecessor with better music and graphics. However, the changes make it worthy of the third spot in this list.

The overworld map for Super Mario World is immense and filled with not only bright and creative settings, but also secrets and shortcuts. While it appears to be, essentially, a straight line there is a ridiculous amount of secret levels to find throughout the game, providing for an enriching experience.

The new power-ups and your good pal Yoshi also spiced up the gameplay from what SMB3 had to offer. The cape, which is essentially a remodel of the Tanooki Suit, allows Mario to fly up into the air and glide himself back down to safety. Many levels provide secrets high up in the air, so having a cape is always handy. Being able to ride on Yoshi also allows for different approaches to levels and the enemies and secrets within them. Also added was the Spin Jump which, if used correctly, can save Mario from quite a lot of deaths.

Gameplay in Super Mario World never seems to feel old, no matter how many times you manage to make it through every level, even the secret ones, in the game; the replay value is literally that great. The game has become one of the greatest-selling games of all time and has a lasting legacy both throughout the Mario fanbase and media as a whole.

Super Mario World is fun, fast-paced, and challenging, but it never seems to get tiresome no matter how many times you pick up that controller and play. It has influenced future Mario titles and many other platformers in general, which is welcomed by the community. Beautifully designed, fantastically orchestrated, and wonderfully absurd, World took everything Super Mario Bros. 3 had to offer and made it even better.

And considering how fun Super Mario Bros. 3 is, that's a pretty big deal.

Top 10 Mario Games: Number 4

We skipped a day because we did

4. Paper Mario

Paper Mario is just one of those games where you first see it and think, "Why would Nintendo sink this low? Mario in paper form? That's just ridiculous." But then you play it because, hey, it's Mario and everyone is a Mario fan and it turns out you were wrong. Terribly wrong.

Paper Mario is incredibly creative and beautiful in its own right. The 2D characters on 3D locations mix well, and all the NPCs seem lively enough to make it actually look like every setting has some sort of life going on. Puzzles are scattered throughout the overworld, and must be solved via jumping, hammering, or using another creative paper method. Never too challenging to the mind, but the overworld will never just be a walk in the park either, which is a fantastic balance.

Gameplay is similar to most RPGs, in that you and your enemies take turns choosing moves in an attempt to beat the other. Mario can jump, hammer, or use special abilities to defeat the enemies or creative bosses that come in his way. Mario may also have one partner out to assist him at a time. Each partner character has unique and special abilities both in and out of battle that will help defeat enemies and conquer puzzles.

The music in the game is always fantastic and fitting, providing for an even greater atmosphere. The blend of RPG elements and a Mario-platforming sort of feel provide for a great game experience, and the clever characters and fantastic and humorous story, riddled throughout with puzzles and side-quests, provide for a unique Mario experience: deeper than any seen previously before.

Paper Mario is often compared to its RPG predecessor, Super Mario RPG, and for good reason: Paper Mario borrows quite a bit from SMRPG. Some argue that even too much was borrowed or "stolen" from the predecessor, but it's clear in the eyes of this Mario fan that Paper Mario clearly bettered what Super Mario RPG introduced.

But apparently, even Paper Mario can be bettered.

Anime Review: Baccano!

Baccano! was a series of light novels (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_novel) written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Katsumi Enami, that got adapted into a 16 episode anime series in 2007. Since then the anime has been lavished with praise by the western anime community and held in high esteem as one of the best shows in the last few years.

Praise well-deserved.

Baccano takes place in the Prohibition era of the United States, between 1930-1932. The show often switches back and forth between different time periods without warning, creating a non-linear presentation.

There are three main tales in the story: The first concerns a struggle involving an immortality-bestowing elixir in 1930, the second chronicles the doomed voyage of the "Flying Pussyfoot" train in 1931, and the third and final story is young Eve Genoard's struggle to find her missing older brother Dallas Genoard in 1932.

What really makes Baccano is the characters: simply put, they're all awesome, which is pretty good considering how large of a cast it is. Pretty much all of them are in a morally grey area at best (considering most of them are criminals), with some just being downright bad, but even so they all remain charming and likable and you want to find out what happens to them.

The only character who I couldn't really find myself giving a shit about is Eve's brother Dallas; to put it without giving any outright spoilers, unlike characters like Ladd who are charmingly evil, Dallas is just an outright douchebag without many redeeming qualities to him whatsoever.

But outside of his bitch ass, everyone is baller.

Baccano also has a surprisingly stellar dub by Funimation, which I have yet to see myself, but it's gotten lots of praise from just about everyone I've spoken to, and it's even one of the dub jobs most of /a/ likes. So I assume it must be pretty good. So you can go either sub or dub for this one.

It's worth noting that the anime does not cover all of the light novels, which are still being published in Japan. If you look around for Baccano stuff you will see many characters who have yet to be introduced. Hopefully someday we will get a second season that covers the remaining stories.

In short: with a fun and diverse cast spinning very interesting stories within the span of a small 16 episodes, Baccano definitely should be on your watch list.