[GRWC8] Golden Age [Article]

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A.I.
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Post[GRWC8] Golden Age [Article]
by A.I. » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:00 pm

Click banner if you're interested in entering this competition.
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Anonymous wrote: Golden Age

My stepson first proposed it “Steve we need a games console”. The choice a Playstation or a N64.
Id just finished university. Xmas 1997. My housemate at Uni had a SNES and many happy hours had been spent on it. Cannon fodder and Mario Kart were favourites.

A local retailer had a video presentation for the N64. I was sold. Bought with Mario 64 and Diddy Kong Racing. A sense of wonder ensued. For those that weren't there. That didn't experience the joy of controlling mario for the first time in 3D. That didn't make him fly or triple jump or swim.
Words cannot describe how sublime it felt. The balance, the controls, the level design.
The joy and quirky charms of Diddy Kong, of beating Wizpig. And then came Goldeneye.
A world previously only available if you spent a fortune on a PC. The sniper rifle, Facility and then the denoument on cradle... “For England, James?” Dont even get me started on the Multiplayer.
One breathless gaming experience after another. Those who have always deemed Nintendo to make kiddy consoles....didnt play Shadowman. My first experience of resident evil came in the Hi res version of Resi 2.Fear, wonderful shameful fear whilst playing a videogame!
Banjo kazooie, Mario kart 64, Smash bros. The games were astonishing but then the motherlode arrived. Here's the confession – before OOT i had never heard of Zelda. My mate started telling me about this amazing game where you play as a little elf and you have to rescue the princess and blah blah blah. I gave in and tried it.

Oh my! I remember my daughter being born just after it came out. I remember sleepless nights where i would play whilst rocking her to sleep in her crib with my foot.

She would cry in the night and i would say “No its allright, ill see to her.” because seeing to her meant another hour in Hyrule field or up Death Mountain or just fishing on lake Hylia.

It was devastating. Just mindblowing. It was perfection. Utter perfection. They had thought of everything – everything. The main quest, all the side quests. The masks, the music, the characters.
The thrill of getting the first three stones. The horror when you realised what it precipitated.
The desolation when you emerge from the temple of time to see Hyrule town and castle ruined and corrupted.
Epona! Oh my god when you first get Epona and sail over the fence on Lon Lon ranch! Bliss.

Its awesome. Its just how videogames were supposed to be. It is the pinnacle of its art. The yardstick by which all others are measured. It's my best game ever. It brings a smile to my face to remember it and with that pleasure a little smile knowing that whenever i want to - my N64 or Gamecube or Wii are waiting for me to experience it all over again.


All comments and feedback welcome. Thank you.

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Poncho
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PostRe: [GRWC8] Golden Age [Article]
by Poncho » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:23 pm

Eighthours is going to kill you dead.

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Captain Kinopio
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PostRe: [GRWC8] Golden Age [Article]
by Captain Kinopio » Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:38 pm

I enjoy reading pieces like this, as a lover of the N64 and all it brought (especially OOT) there's just something about hearing people gush about it that gives me a warm glow inside.

As and article about games I don't think it works as well as some of the others because essentially it's like reading a post by someone who liked the N64, which I'm not entirely sure is what an article in this competition should be like.

Having said that the bit at the end about rocking your baby to sleep providing you with an excuse to play Zelda I thought was just lovely. It just conjured up a wonderful image, the whole piece did really and that's why this could well be getting a vote from me.

I'll be interested to find out who wrote this actually, though I think I already know.

Time for adventure
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Suffocate Peon
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PostRe: [GRWC8] Golden Age [Article]
by Suffocate Peon » Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:46 am

I find the stop-start nature of it quite funny/charming and it works for what it is...but at the same time I don't know if it's just taking the piss. (apologies if not)

It's a nice read. I too found Shadowman scary because of the (i think..based on real life) notorious serial killers in the game gave it a creepy feel. It was like the videogame equivalent of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (for me).

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Kinetic
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PostRe: [GRWC8] Golden Age [Article]
by Kinetic » Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:51 am

You know what, I loved that piece. It's not brilliantly written, does nothing new, has no real structure and to be honest, no real point; that being said, it was written with such genuine nostalgic joy that it brought up exactly the same feelings in me, and for that I have to thank you. If only I had a console to hand in this country.

It won't win, and it doesn't deserve to, but it seems like the author had a great time writing it, and I for one thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Cheers, K.

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Eighthours
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PostRe: [GRWC8] Golden Age [Article]
by Eighthours » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:21 am

I like the sentiment in the piece (it reminds me of my own feelings about the N64), but putting my "this is a writing competition" hat on, there are far, far too many errors and sentence structure issues for this to be a contender. Spelling, grammar, apostrophes...

The stop-start nature of the sentences is interesting, but doesn't quite work as it might. The paragraph about your child is nice, but it should be just that: one paragraph. For some reason you've broken it into two, which makes it a lot less powerful.

Overall this is another piece that comes across as stream-of-consciousness at times, and badly needs a serious amount of subbing. And again it's frustrating, because the sentiment at play and some of the memories here could have led to a wonderful article if accompanied by a better writing vehicle.

I'll expand slightly on what I said about another piece: don't submit first drafts. Read the whole thing out loud and you'll pick up many of the errors without needing any special analytical or proofreading skills.

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Hero of Canton
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PostRe: [GRWC8] Golden Age [Article]
by Hero of Canton » Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:18 pm

The sentences are all a bit short. The grammar isn't brilliant. And neither is the spelling. That said, the argument is certainly passionate. And I actually quite enjoyed reading this. A nice bit of nostalgia. But no vote winner.

DML wrote:F'NARR!
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Pilch
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PostRe: [GRWC8] Golden Age [Article]
by Pilch » Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:48 am

This is a bit too conversational for my liking. The topic of discussion is a good one that we can all relate to and this should serve as a reminder of how lucky we are to be faced with such a cornucopia of great games to play. I'm afraid, though, that the sentimentalism was a bit too much for me but that may just be because I'm feeling like a bit of a Scrooge today. I like the idea behind the piece, though, and it's great to see such positivity even if I perhaps can't quite stomach it all.


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