Hello everyone! Spencer and I have decided to start doing podcasts! We recorded two podcasts and decided to only post the second one since out first one was pretty bland.
A few quick notes however, the quality is not going to be very good for a while because we don't have access to any good microphone equipment. We will also be launching a new way for fans to support us directly instead of us depending on annoying advertisements for any sort of financial support (more on that in the future).
So without further ado here is a link to our first episode!
About a month ago, Matt, the co-writer for this blog, posted his thoughts on why Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the worst game ever. And while it's not a perfect game, OOT shows many great gameplay elements as well as a riveting story. In this post, I'll analyze the game and show why OOT still stands up as a good game even years after its release.
However, let's start off with what OOT does wrong. The camera isn't the best in the world, I'll admit. During combat, even if you Z-target, the camera sometimes points towards walls and floors. The only way to adjust this camera is by centering it behind you, which isn't always optimal in some cases. Moreover, the combat in OOT is lacking in several ways. Many enemies either consist of consistently slashing them over and over, or waiting for several seconds until they are vulnerable over and over. Stalfos, Wolfos, the Gerudo thieves, and the Iron Knuckles are prime examples of this linearity of combat.
Even though this fight goes fast, it demonstrates the poor fighting mechanics.
There are also a couple of things that OOT does that are not good or bad. The game doesn't really tell you the specifics on where to go. Although Navi and Saria are available for you to ask for help, their messages are not really useful. However, if a younger me could get through the game with no problem, maybe it really isn't a problem. Also, the inventory system is a bit clunky, but that can be attributed to the console that it was played on. Lastly, the game not saving your exact location when you restart the game is a minor issue, but this issue can also be attributed to the power of the N64. These minor issues don't really affect the quality of the game.
Everybody knows the terror of putting the iron boots on and off.
But OOT really shines in other places. The story of this game is great and keeps me addicted to the game no matter how many times I play it. At the end of the game, you feel that the long, hard journey that you traveled was well worth it. Furthermore, the music is fantastic. Who doesn't fondly remember the Gerudo's Valley music or the Lon Lon Ranch music? When you're not blindly swinging at enemies, combat feels amazing. With Z-targeting, one on one combat feels fast and exciting. The game's dungeons are difficult, but not too difficult. Even the water temple is not extremely difficult, even though most of the community says that it is. Moreover, there are plenty of things to do even if you're not progressing the main story. From the bombchu alley, to getting all of the pieces of hearts, to fishing, there's always something to do in the game.
While OOT does have it's share of flaws, it's not "the worst game ever" as my co-writer would say. It's actually pretty good. If you have the time, you should definitely take a look at one of gaming's finest classic. Trust me, you're in for a good time.
Don't like what I said? Like what I said? Please, leave a comment in the section below. Also, if you want to see someone bad at OOT, take a look at the video shown below for our series on OOT.
So my Co-Editor and myself haven't been posting to the blog for a few reasons.
1. School has started for our senior years which means that we are both busy with class work and also other activities outside of school
2. We have begun to analyze what kind of content we want to make and will be revising our content strategy soon
So, apologies to those who may have been reading every article we have posted (maybe the one person). We will post here again when we decide on what kind of content we want to make and how you can consume that content.
For the time being feel free to re-read one of our posts below, or just go somewhere else online that will have newer content.
For the past few nights after getting back to school with my friends I have been playing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a game released on the N64 in 1998. After playing about 4 hours worth of game time and only making it to the first adult Link temple I have reached a conclusion about the game. For those who don't actively play video games, the change in controls, graphics, and story lines between 1998 and now has been immense. These three changes were drastic from playing the remastered version of Halo CE to playing OOT. Ocarina of Time is a game designed so badly that it is near impossible for a casual gamer such as myself to even come close to ever understanding the controls for the game.
The video clip above is a recording of me attempting to play the game during my second sit down.
The first flaw in the game's design is with the controls, although this is more the fault of the N64 than it is of the game developers. For some reason Nintendo figured that a controller for a game system should look like this:
That's right, a controller with three hand grips, a misplaced joystick, and a poorly implemented secondary D-pad/button arrangement for the C stick. I don't know how any console developer expected players to use these controls for supposedly next generation (at the time 3-dimensional games were all the rage) games such as Super Mario 64 and OOT. The game design stems from the poorly designed controller to affect the overall button system for the game, having to use the C buttons to equip weapons is simply too difficult compared to relatively modern weapon switching mechanics present in games such as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and GTA V.
The next huge pain that presents itself in OOT is the camera system, which also happens to plague other games also released on the N64 around the same time. The camera most of the time will follow the player forcing the user to control Link while watching his actions at completely odd angles. There is a fix for the system that requires the player to repeatedly press the Z button to re-focus the camera behind the player. There are however other bugs present in this camera system including the targeting system, and also when entering certain parts of the maps where the camera is static and simply pans to wherever the player is located. The final gripe that I have for this game is the lack of concrete storyline for the player to follow, this would be understandable if OOT were a completely open world game. However, since the game play revolves around the plot too closely there is no excuse for not providing in depth side-quest information for the player. Ultimately the only reason I will end up finishing this game is to laugh about these flaws and make jokes along the way with my friends. if you are considering picking up this game and trying to play it I highly suggest that you step back and look into a more modern game that has at least better controls and graphics. As always feel free to sound off in the comments with your opinions, and make sure to follow us on Twitter @SageDiscussions and like our page on Facebook.
Social media is currently broken, and most people don't even notice. Thats right those 5 or more social apps on your phone, tablet, computer etc. are serving a completely different use from what they were intended to do when being developed.
A quick intro about the current flaws of social media, and why Beme was created.
Social media apps mostly share the same goal, to allow people to share their perspective of the world/their day with others. However with the recent launch of the app Beme launched by popular video maker Casey Neistat showcased the exact problem with social networks, that most apps have become a way for people to stylize their life or to filter what they show to other people. Social media is no longer about sharing your true life it has become a way to share a filtered view of yourself. The problem, highlighted in the Beme video above extends to Beme itself. The fact that the app has to be opened and has to be activated in some fashion automatically means that the content shared will be picked and chosen by the individual. This is a vital flaw of most social media apps.
No matter what app you use to share your life with others, you will be sharing a filtered version of yourself, these problems don't lie in the intent behind the app but rather the designs of the applications.
Apps are designed to work certain ways, mostly for ease of use, which is why apps like Snapchat, Beme, Instagram, Facebook and others don't share every single little part of your life, every one of these apps allows you the user to choose whether or not to share that moment. These design choices become accepted by the public and then become simply part of the status quo. People use apps like Snapchat because to them it seems like the current best method to share photos and videos that will disappear after a select amount of time. More and more companies will arrive to the social media market, claiming to fix the issues of all the previous applications in the same space, and most of the time these apps will fall to the same issues that all their predecessors have encountered. A word of advice when developing a social media application, don't claim that it is going to completely change the way people will share their lives. As always feel free to sound off in the comments if you think these problems don't matter or don't actuall exist, or if you think that there is some interesting insight in the post you agree with. Also make sure to check us out on Twitter @SageDiscussions and on Facebook Sage Discussions.
With the upcoming release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain just around the corner, a huge outcry has been heard throughout the gaming community about micro-transactions in full retail games. Many people are bashing these games, saying that micro-transactions make the game "pay to win" and that the content should be able to be acquired easier in game. I'd like to take a while to show why micro-transactions are toxic to gamers and the games that they are present in.
One major reason is that micro-transactions make games unbalanced in multiplayer. Let's take the fine example of Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. Even though I liked the game, micro-transactions allow people to quickly and easily get extra and powerful gear. Although you can get this gear without paying the money, it's much harder and time consuming to do so. Getting this gear allowed those players to generate in-game currency faster, and take the currency from the people who didn't pay.
Another major reason is that adding micro-transactions make gamers feel inferior when they play. Let's say you are in a game, trying to get a shiny set of rare armor. Let's also say that you could pay to get said armor with micro-transactions. Naturally, you would feel bad when you see someone in that armor that truly didn't earn it. Furthermore, some strong items take hours and hours of grinding to get. Or you could play a couple of dollars to get it immediately. And if this weapon is strong and is available in multiplayer, it could cause a unbalance in gameplay that is undeserved.
In the end, micro-transactions in full, retail games are unacceptable. Games should not have shortcuts to get items built into it. They are just a weak attempt for companies to get your money. And you know what? It works. People use their money to get in-game cash because they feel like its a sound decision. The only sound way to get micro-transactions out of our games is to stop buying them, but that doesn't seem like that's going to happen any time soon.
Sorry for the delayed and rushed post today, school just started and I'm still trying to get my bearings. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below!
The American Ultimate Disc League just got off of another season of expansion, expanding into a Southern division adding teams from Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Nashville, Raleigh and adding a few other teams to their existing divisions. This rapid expansion for such a young sports league might signal either the league has been making a lot of money from existing teams or that the league is willing to take a hit financially to get into markets that can provide returns in the coming years. However besides the rapid expansion there are two other flaws with the league that might force the AUDL to ultimately collapse. The first problem with the AUDL is that there is no centralized marketing for all teams we will dive into this a bit deeper below about what this really is and what it will mean for the league. The second problem is the lack of prominent game footage for fans to watch this is a slightly smaller problem that many people tend to gloss over but is a vital part of making a sport go mainstream in this day and age. The first problem that I mentioned above is the lack of a league marketing team that oversees all teams in all divisions. When looking at other sports leagues in the United States and across the world for that matter, most if not all have a centralized marketing team. This team develops a brand strategy that teams conform to so that no matter the team or city the league should be advertized the same way. This expands beyond just basic advertising on team websites but also apparel and associated swag. Currently the league sells products such as mugs, shirts, hoodies, and other basic merchandise, but there are a few teams that have their own stores with more products than what are available on the AUDL's shop.
This lack of cohesive brand management and marketing leads to issues where some teams might not be perceived as part of the league and leads to different and confused experiences for many fans that go to games for different teams. The second flaw I introduced above was the lack of game footage available to fans. I happen to be from Seattle and go to school in New York, so when I am in New York I am unable to attend any of Seattle's games and therefore since the team doesn't provide live streams for all games, nor provides the game's full footage online via video anywhere I end up missing a lot of the action. This is not an isolated case, the only games that were freely available for fans this last season in the AUDL were the championship games and that was it. So there was no way for people who have just heard of the sport to go and watch game footage from the AUDL teams without paying for a subscription through ESPN/TSN or using some third party streaming website for the few teams that offered those streams. This lack of free content from games severely limits the publicity and rate of growth of the league because it limits viewership to only fans that pay for streaming services or even worse limits viewership to only those who are going to the games. These two problems with the AUDL will, in my opinion, severely limit the growth of the league in regards to fans and spectators and might just doom the league from ever reaching the heights of leagues such as the NFL, MLS, MLB or the NBA within the United States. Think what I said above is wrong, or believe that the AUDL has what it takes to grow to a large recognized sports league? Let me know in the comments below or via email: sagediscussions@outlook.com. As always make sure to follow us on Twitter @SageDiscussions and like our Facebook Page: facebook.com/SageDiscussions.
