Drew's gonna talk for awhile now...

So, as I'm sure that you're all aware of this already, I'm a bit of a huge nerd. NO WAI I NO RITE?! I mean, as I'm sitting here typing this, I'm scratching my Latverian tattoo (That's the nation that Dr Doom is monarch to) in an mc chris t-shirt, blogging. But, It's 2am, I'm bored, and I'm not particularly tired. So I got on the youtubes, as people do, and watched a video by brentalfloss, who is a pretty funny guy. Here's the video I was watching...

While this is a silly video, it brought up something I was thinking about a few months ago, as I was running through Chrono Trigger again. The writing of old squaresoft games (All of which are Pre-Squeenix) was disturbingly good. When you play through those games, you generate a real emotional investment in the characters. I genuinely felt for Frog, as he was on his path of redemption. The dungeon that was Robo's factory? That was gut wrenching. Same with Lucca's mom. And that's just one game!

Another perfect example, is Final Fantasy 4. The entire emotional upheaval that ends up on Cecil's shoulders is insane. The man basically has to turn his back on everything that he knows, fight his own soul, and spend the rest of his life trying to find redemption for the atrocities he committed. And dont get me started with Cyan from Final Fantasy 6. That character goes through so much pain, it's unbelievable.

Now, I'm not a big fan of Final Fantasy 7, unlike most people. I think it's one of, if not THE most overly liked game of all time. Now, I dont think it's a bad game, but I dont think it's nearly as good as alot of people do. It was one of those games that hit at just the right time for alot of gamers, and good for them. But I know people who openly admit to crying when Sephiroth and Aeris have their scene. Me? Not so much. Yea, it's sad, but I always felt that I didnt have much emotional investment in Aeris. I cared more about Tifa. But that's neither here nor there.

My point is, what happened to the character development and story telling in gaming. You now have MOVIE level budgets for games, and you just use rehashed story telling conventions. Why not find a REAL writer, and create a game that is truly magnificent. Im not saying that there arent games of that caliber still coming out, but the number has fallen WAY off, and I dont think I've felt as much as I have for an SNES game as I have for a game on any other system, save for Fallout 1 and 2. 3's a good game, but it's not the first 2, that's for sure.

I guess, I'm just waiting for the next game that's going to appeal to me like a novel. Give me real emotional investment. Until that time, I'm going to decide how I want to get my battling Cecils tattoo.

Andrew Mooney

Spreading the plague... I mean fun?

Well, in an attempt to spread Nothing Too Extravagant to more of the world and internet, I'm doing a media blitz and trying to get us out there. We're now on Itunes and on Zune, as well as podcasts.com. Please spread the word, if you can :)

Episode 11 - Dramedy

Well, our comedy show gets hit with the Drama-stick a little bit. Arguements and hurt feelings ensue. Also, we talk about comics. Listen to it, damnit!

Really going to try and get this rolling!

So, as I'm sure you're all aware, Rog and I are both jobless, and Brandon just recently got a job. And so, we realize that money is somthing we need. However, Roger gets govt money, and I'm kinda up BROKE-ASS-CREEK as I look for a new job. So, I thought to myself, what would be a way to get things rolling in the meantime. Well, I figure, we might as well do what everybody loves! Make more episodes of Nothing Too Extravagant! And, start putting ads on the site, and if we can only be so lucky, get a sponser for the show for a few weeks! We're cheap! :D Anyhoo, we've got a new show tonight, and it should be good. Obviously, listen live on Talkshoe, or catch it when you get a chance on there, or on the player on here!

Accidental Hiatus?!

So, we kinda accidentally fell off the face of the earth. Kinda sorta... But we're coming back tonight, with a double-in-one podcast, which should BLOW YOUR MIND! ZOOM! Whoo. So yea, we should be back in form, and a slight change of format. Weekly 1hr candy on a day yet to be determined...

So, tonight at 10pm central time, we should be pumping your face full of awesomesauce.

Drew