New Zealand Earthquake Relief – Receive RPG Bundle!

I suppose I’ve reached that point in my career as an internet celebrity (ha, I wish) in which I start supporting fundraisers and using my vast power and influence to get my fans to rally up and do the right thing. Well, at least hear me out, because have I got a great deal for you.

As you might have heard, New Zealand’s city of Christchurch was recently devastated with a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. Nearly one hundred people have been confirmed dead at this point, and about two hundred people are still missing, leading New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key to dub February 22, 2011 as the nation’s darkest day. This is a national emergency for the small island-country, and they can use all the help they can get in recovering from this disaster. This is where you guys come in:

DriveThruRPG.com, the largest online store for new and vintage RPGs, has teamed up with the New Zealand Red Cross to raise funds for the earthquake relief. For only $20 you can purchase a Role Play Game bundle containing nearly $340 worth of RPGs; that’s nearly 50 RPGs for an the simple price of $20, and all the money is going directly to the New Zealand Red Cross. Alternatively, if you’re not interested in all this RPG crap, you can simply directly donate money to the funds.

I personally think this is a great way to help out; even if you’re not concerned with the disaster in New Zealand, just think of the amazing deal you’re getting with all these amazing games. I’m not too crazy about getting so many games that I could never finish, since I’m not a huge RPG fan, but I didn’t hesitate at the offer and the chance to do what I could to help out. It’s cheap, and it’s going to a great cause, so what’s stopping you?

You can make your purchase or donation at this address: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=88713&src=social_media_link&sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d65ef0306a6ccaa%2C0

Thanks for the support, everybody!

Science and Religion in Radiata Stories

In the Kingdom of Radiata, the city is split into four sections, each run by a different guild: Theater Vancoor (Warrior Guild) resides in the Red Town; the Olacion Order (Priest Guild) resides in the White Town; Vareth Magic Institute (Mage Guild) in the Blue Town; and the Void Community (Bandit Guild) in the Black Town. While ultimately contrasting, and often clashing with each other, the four guilds help maintain the balance within Radiata, and are on occasion called to set aside their differences to go to the aid of the Kingdom.

Today, I’m here to talk to you about the Mage Guild and the Priest Guild.

On the surface, these two appear to be complete opposites: one advocates the use of scientific reasoning and understanding in order to solve the world’s mysteries logically; the other advocates the importance of religion based on holy scripture and uses faith to solve the world’s mysteries. Here, we have the classic clash: science and religion.  However, many ways in which the guilds interact with one another, as well as core similarities between the two, lead me to believe that some suggestion is being made about the interaction and coexistence of science and religion by example through Radiata Stories.

Brütal Legend

Just when all seemed dark, when it became apparent that true Metal had run its course and dwindled into something mainstream, the people at Double Fine Productions did a good thing; they created Brütal Legend. Combining elements of Real-Time Strategy into a third person action/adventure game, Brütal Legend is the metal homage that would make Ozzy proud— which it should, since he and with other Metal legends including Rob Halford, Lita Ford, and Lemmy Kilmister, provide their voices to the wide array of characters within the game, and Jack Black sports his Metal side in Brütal Legend as the voice of the lead character, Eddy Riggs. On the surface, the game seems like a simple Metal adventure while listening to the classics, such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Skid Row, but if you dig a little deeper it becomes clear that the tribute goes much deeper than even the giant stone guitars protruding from the ground. Quite simply put, Brütal Legend was exactly what Doctor Feelgood ordered to console us in a time where bands like Disturbed and Escape the Fate are considered Metal. Here’s why:

Balthier Truly is the Leading Man

So, I’ve recently been on a huge Final Fantasy XII binge; most of my time outside school and college applications have been dedicated to exploring the vast and expansive world of Ivalice and reworking myself through the story of Princess Ashe’s reclaiming of Dalmasca and its independence from Archadia. It’s a good thing I hadn’t done a review of this game to this point, because up until now I would have had hardly anything positive to say about it; frankly, the game annoyed me more than Final Fantasy X, which is hard to do. However, over the years the game has really grown on me and is now probably my favorite of the series, next to Final Fantasy IX. I can get onto a whole tangent about why this game is awesome (which I may do in another essay), but that’s not what this rant is about. No, this rant will be about a something a little more specific.

Now, those of you who played FFXII, you probably found yourself a little annoyed with the awkward placement of two certain characters: Vaan, the lead protagonist who seems to just be there for the ride, and Penelo, who seems to just be there for Vaan. It’s true; other than Vaan’s loose association with the plot due to his brother Rex, these two characters seem to be of no consequence to any real end in this plot and are rather vestigial. You’ve probably also heard rumors suggesting something along the lines that Captain Basch was supposed to be the lead, but was pushed into the side so that Vaan could bring about a bishounen, teenage icon aspect to the story. If true, that would have totally been awesome and much better than what we ended up with. But this, too, doesn’t matter, because it turns out that another character is actually the lead, and that character is Balthier.

Can Video Games be Considered an Art Form?

Art. What the hell is it? Is it a beautifully realistic painting of nature, an emotionally captivating piece of music, or simply an expression that portrays the largest amount of ideas using the smallest amount of material? It’s already hard enough to define what art is; heck, it’s probably impossible. However, there are still many things that can widely be considered art, many things cannot, and many things that are along the fence. Here I will be balancing on that fence and diving headfirst into the long-running debate of whether or not a video game can be considered a work of art. It really is a nasty subject to dive into, with a lot of people on both sides, but I’m in the mood to write a good rant and I’m not doing anything else with my time, so lets get to it. Can a video game ever being considered a form of art, or is it nothing more than entertainment?