The Awesomez collection

I am currently putting together a curated collection of games for the Commodore 64, which aims to minimize unnecessary audio-visual clutter during fast-loading. The goal is to have files that can be quickly enjoyed - both on emulators and on real old-school hardware with actual floppy-disks - without any of the digital graffiti usually associated with cracked games.

Awesome Game Trailers: Final Fantasy XV - Omen

«Final Fantasy XV» took quite a few risks with the formula for its world and gameplay. But it's biggest gamble was the faith that people would have enough patience to follow its "Transmedia experience", in which the storyline is told over several different types of media.

For instance, those who managed to absorb at least the «Kingsglaive» movie beforehand, would have a much more coherent experience of the game's storyline than those who just played the game. Hardly a practice that can be described as good game design, but interesting as an experiment in creating pre-release hype.

The above video was one of these stories. A rather good one at that, and something that really should have been IN the game.  

Final Fantasy XV

Let’s get one thing out of the way: if you really want to get the most out of «Final Fantasy XV», you’re gonna need to do a little prep work first. Yeah, I know - homework for a video game sounds ridiculous, but trust me, it’s worth it.

Start with the film «Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV», which came out a few months ago. It isn’t optional fluff. It’s essential viewing. The movie sets the stage for the events of the game’s opening chapters, offering crucial context about the world, its warring factions, and the people caught in between. Without it, the early story beats of the game can feel confusing or underdeveloped.

Want to go deeper? The anime series «Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV» explores the personal backstories of your main party. It’s a quick watch, and it adds genuine emotional weight to your journey - especially in the game’s later, more poignant moments.

If this sounds like a lot of work just to play a game, that is because «Final Fantasy XV» is - for better or worse - what you could call a transmedia experience. But the payoff is real. With that extra context, every imperial you battle feels more satisfying to take down. You’re not just playing - you care. And once you’re invested, «Final Fantasy XV» delivers one of the best narratives in the series' recent history.

It doesn’t reinvent the formula, but it taps into the same emotional core that made the classics on Super Nintendo and PlayStation unforgettable.

Stellaris

«Stellaris» is a type of strategy game that, like Paradox Interactive’s previous release, «Cities: Skylines», appeals more to the player’s desire to build than to destroy. However, set in a sci-fi universe with laser weapons and aliens, it’s inevitable that, sooner or later, you’ll find yourself waging war against some extraterrestrial force.

But despite the setting’s implicit assumption of conflict, it’s actually possible to play for a surprisingly long time without ever drawing your futuristic saber equivalent.

Something I find appealing, given how many games already cater to our more violent impulses. With «Stellaris», I therefore decided to make a serious attempt to take over the universe in a peaceful manner through bureaucracy and social democracy.

Smooth introduction

You actually have quite a bit of time for this, as the game starts off pretty relaxed. You explore the galaxy, encounter mysterious space phenomena, conduct research, and discover new technologies, all while gradually mapping out the stars.

A great tribute to a great man: Satoru Iwata 岩田 聡

Life Is Strange

«Life Is Strange» fills a genre need I didn't know I had, namely in the not so very big category of games about high-school melodrama with time traveling. It's an adventure game in the Telltale tradition, but aimed at the kind of person who enjoys mysteries like «Donnie Darko» and «Twin Peaks» but also has a soft spot for coming-of-age stories like «My So-Called Life» and «Mean Girls».

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor

When «World of Warcraft» was released in 2004, I was ready to embrace it. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment just had to be good. Like an eager Apple enthusiast awaiting Steve Job's announcement of the original iPhone a few years later, I was excepting nothing less than a revolution.

Unfortunately, my expectations set me up for inevitable disappointment. Upon release I quickly concluded the game wasn't for me.

Mainly because it was too easy and thus quite boring. As a result, I shelved it, and started playing the more sadistically challenging «Final Fantasy XI» instead.

In the meantime, ten years have passed, and «World of Warcraft» has come to dominate the MMORPG market to such an extent that it's no longer just the king of the genre, but practically a genre unto itself, despite the fact that newer entries have arrived with both better looks and fresher game mechanics.

As such the game has become an institution, both for the hardcore gamer and their less dedicated casual brethren and sisters. Which in itself is interesting independently of whether one is a fan or not.

The art of Ikaruga 斑鳩

Whilst I obviously think the most important trait of a good game is beautiful game-play, having great visuals is a very close second. 

In fact, I am not ashamed to admit that I am a huge graphics whore, who will often dismiss otherwise playable games due to sub-par art direction. Even though I have chosen to live as an avid gamer, life is still too short to be playing games that aren't awesome in every way.

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions

Screenshots from «Geometry Wars» are woefully inadequate at communicating why it's such an awesomely delightful game. You need to see it move in order to fully "get it" and you must play it for yourself in order to fully grasp its brilliance.

«Geometry Wars» originated as a mini-game you could play within «Project Gotham Racing 2» on the Xbox. It was a fast, hypnotic, neon coloured SHMUP best described as a re-imagining of the classic «Robotron: 2084» arcade game. It was later re-released as a standalone title and one of the earliest downloadable Xbox Live Arcade titles for the Xbox 360.

Legend of Grimrock II

Props to the illustrator for nailing the visual style of a 1980s book cover by Larry Elmore

In 2012, Finnish indie developers: "Almost Human" released «Legend of Grimrock», a game based on design principles that haven't been popular since back when computers operated with only 16 bits. And it was awesome! Thus proving that old game mechanics can still be viable as long as they are implemented with confidence, care and good production value.

«Legend of Grimrock II» follows the same template, but is larger and more ambitious than its predecessor. As in the first game, you take control of a quartet of prisoners who are fighting for their lives in a labyrinth full of enemies, traps and puzzles. But whereas the first game unfolded entirely inside a mountain with a huge but fairly linear cave, the sequel takes place in a more open and diverse island setting.

Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth

Despite the fact that I love the 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) genre, I have never really gotten properly invested in the «Civilization» series. 

Partly because I find the entertainment value of games diminishing as the plot approaches the reality we actually live in. But also because my sense of immersion is slightly disrupted when as a virtual warlord in ancient Greece, I encounter George Washington - complete with the silly wig - accompanied by an army of scantily clad savages armed with sharp sticks.

In «Beyond Earth» this type of silliness is not an issue, as the game takes place in a future where the main characters are fictitious and the technological level is so advanced that it primarilly contains things which haven't been invented yet.

«Beyond Earth» follows in the footsteps of «Alpha Centauri» from 1999, one of the first games Sid Meier and company released after they left MicroProse and started Firaxis. You assume leadership of a faction from a pool of nations and business conglomerates, who due to the overpopulation of Earth, have packed up their stuff and headed into space to overpopulate a new planet.

Strider Hiryu, the secondmost awesome ninja of the 80s

Japanese arcade games were awesome back in the late 80s. One of the biggest and most prolific manufacturers of such games was Capcom, a company which occasionally would partner up with external creative talent during the design process.

One of these partnerships was with manga artist collective Moto Kikaku, a joint venture which resulted in a six part manga and two games about a ninja organisation called «Strider», focusing on the group's youngest Class-A ranked operative: Strider Hiryu.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

I was never particularly fond of «World of Warcraft», but have greatly enjoyed the other games set in the «Warcraft» universe. For instance, once when I was a young but poor student, I survived through a whole Easter vacation with nothing but water, bread baked from edible stuff I found in a cupboard and «Warcraft II» as my only sustenance.

The newest branch on the «Warcraft» family tree is «Hearthstone», a digital collectible card-game which has been out for Mac and PC for a while now and just had its worldwide iPad release.

Unlike most attempts at translating card-games into a digital format - which sometimes work, but usually just makes you yearn to play with real cards - «Hearthstone» was designed for the screen from the get-go.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

Square Enix recently relaunched «Final Fantasy XIV», in an effort to grab a bigger piece of the lucrative MMORPG pie. This marks their third throw of the gauntlet into this arena, but despite being the preeminent maker of traditional RPGs, their online offerings have so far been met with only moderate enthusiasm by fans of the genre.

Their first attempts were orchestrated by Squaresoft veteran Hiromichi Tanaka, perhaps best known as the producer of classics like «Secret of Mana» and «Chrono Cross».

After playing «EverQuest» in the late 90s, he was inspired to make a «Final Fantasy» which focused primarily on player interactions.

This resulted in «Final Fantasy XI Online», which was released in Japan on May 16, 2002. It was brought across the pond to the US the following year, and to Europe the year after that.

It was however quickly eclipsed by «World of Warcraft».

The main reason for this was likely that «Final Fantasy XI» was very much an "old-school" MMORPG, where teamwork was mandatory in order to advance. It was also a little bit too reminiscent of «EverQuest» for its own good. But It was not without merit, and has so far been the biggest financial success in the Square Enix portfolio, due to its dedicated and sufficiently large player base providing steady income from subscription fees.

However, it never quite reached the astronomical heights as the more popular and player friendly «World of Warcraft». «Final Fantasy XIV» was meant to change that, and was originally released on september 22, 2010 in order to beat «World of Warcraft: Cataclysm» to market. This was likely too soon, as the release was an incoherent and unfinished mess, almost universally reviled by critics and fans alike.

Due to its less than stellar reception, the reigns of the project was yanked from Tanaka's hands and given to the somewhat younger Naoki Yoshida before the year was over. Yoshida and his team have since been working hard to turn the game into something worthy of the «Final Fantasy» name, and have practically rebuilt the game from scratch. The result is «Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn».

Awesome Game Trailers: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Killing Monsters Cinematic Trailer

Purple Haze

«Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon» serves up VHS era nostalgia by the bucket for those of us who remember the eighties as a purple neon haze.

It is the first game I have seen fit to pre-order based on the awesomeness of its cover art design.

This is a game which definitively doesn't take itself too seriously. It might be appropriate to call it a spoof on eighties action B-movies like «Eliminators», but based on the amount of enthusiasm and care which has been channeled into the project, I am rather leaning towards tribute.

Ubisoft even convinced Michael Biehn, co-star of «The Terminator» and «Aliens» to voice the main character. Also, it has 16-Bit era pixel-art cut-scenes and fluorescent dinosaurs who shoot LASERS! What's not to like :)

Of special note is the soundtrack, composed by Australian duo Power Glove who has managed to create a truly inspired synth-based soundtrack of the kind you rarely find anymore.

The tracks generally have a thematic resemblance to compositions from legendary movie composer Vangelis.

Particularly the main theme has a strong «Blade Runner» vibe to it. Other tracks like «Blood Dragon Theme (Reprise)» invoke the sonic imagery of Harold Faltermeyer with a dash of Jean Michel Jarre. Brilliant stuff.

Realism in gaming

I had an epiphany a few years into the 7th console generation. I found that I was no longer particularly fond of video games. This surprised me, as I had loved gaming ever since the early eighties and games had up to this point kept getting better as they evolved.

At the time, I had a clunky, big and somewhat noisy initial model Playstation 3. This was the one which was still backwards compatible with older Playstation titles, and I found that instead of enjoying new games on it, I primarily used it to watch movies or replay older Playstation games.

I initially figured that this probably meant I was getting too old to be a gamer. I had often suspected the day would eventually come, and that what still kept me around was likely just nostalgia.

As it turned out though, I was just playing the wrong games.

I had made the mistake of attributing my disenchantment with contemporary titles to internal factors, instead of the real issue, which was that most games at the time just weren’t very good.

This was the age of the “realistic" first or third person shooter, where realism mostly meant that level designers had to use a lot of grey or brown assets.

Fortunately, games like: «Braid» and «Geometry Wars» (which I discovered quite late), with their colourful and completely unrealistic play-fields rekindled my passion for gaming again. As it turns out, I like my games to not be "realistic".

Awesome Game Trailers: BattleBlock Theater

UPDATE (06.03.2014): The release of «BattleBlock Theater» on Steam was accompanied by an additional trailer, just as awesome and hilarious as the original one. 

The Sega Dreamcast

Sega released its Dreamcast console in November 1998. Its lifespan in the market was relatively short, and it was Sega's last console before they pulled out of the home entertainment hardware industry. It did however have great games, and was in many ways ahead of its time. 

Upon release, things were looking great for the Dreamcast. Demand was so high that Sega had problems filling pre-orders both at the Japanese launch in 1998 and the US launch the year after. At one point, the Dreamcast even outsold the Nintendo 64, which was the second most popular console at the time. Sony's Playstation however, was the one to beat.

Final Fantasy XI, Part 3 - The magical world of Vana'diel

It all began with a stone, Or so the legend says. In ages past, a sentient jewel, enormous and beautiful banished the darkness. Its many-colored light filled the world with life and brought forth mighty Gods. Bathed in that light, the world entered an age of bliss. Until, after a time, the Gods fell into slumber. That world was called: Vana'diel.

When you start your adventuring career in «Final Fantasy XI», the lands pictured in the beautiful map at the head of this article will be your initial stomping grounds. The map, drawn by long time «Final Fantasy» conceptual designer Yoshitaka Amano, depicts the so called middle lands of Vana'diel, which consist of the continents of Quon and Mindartia