Tuesday 17 July 2012

What's Your Story? - Bleaghhh

While I'm busy putting together part two of my Police Quest 2 experience (due tomorrow), it seemed an appropriate time to post this week's What's Your Story post. After one of our younger members of the community starred last week (Canageek), today's focus is someone that was actually born in the nineties! That's right, by the time Bleaghhh was born, I'd already played through The Secret of Monkey Island and Quest for Glory II! How silly all my nostalgic ramblings must seem...


Bleaghhh: He didn't have an avatar on Blogger, so I tracked him down on Steam. How many Bleaghhh's can there be living in England?!

My home country is… England

My age is… 19

The first adventure game I played was…  I think it may well have been the telltale Sam and Max. I have a feeling I played an adventure game of sorts on the SNES, but I forget the name and never really got that far.

My favourite adventure game is… Hmm, a difficult one. I think Ben There, Dan That. I just love the humor put into it.


Ben There, Dan That: Proof that adventure games haven't changed much

When I’m not playing games I like to… Watch films, TV series, spending time with my girlfriend and my dog.

I like my games in (a box, digital format)… I'm perfectly happy to have digital format games, I especially like Steam, as I can never lose them, but for really special games I will buy a physical copy, just to have it.

The thing I miss about old games is… 2D ... I like 2D games with simplistic graphics, so you can see where everything is. Also, simplicity, a game doesn't have to be that complex to be fun. The original Crash Bandicoot games are some of my absolute favourites, but they wouldn't sell as triple A series nowadays. Luckily, the indie scene seems to be having an effect here, with releases like VVVVVV and Super Meat Boy.


Nobody loves Dr. Fetus, a fetus in a jar clad in a tuxedo, so Dr. Fetus hates everybody...especially Meat Boy.

The best thing about modern games is… the ease of use. I know now that if I buy a new game, I won't have to read a 50 page manual to understand what I'm getting into. It's a lot easier now to put all the story and controls parts into the actual game. To clarify, I am by no means against manuals, in fact I'm dissapointed if I buy a boxed game and it doesn't come with one. I just want what's in there to be optional, bonus stuff, not a necessity. Also THANK GOD UI's have gotten easier to use.

The one TV show I never miss is… Hmm .. a hard one .. At the moment it's Bones or Grimm .. but when The Walking Dead or Doctor Who or Misfits come back it may well be one of those.


Fairy tales are so in right now! I haven't heard of this one. Looks interesting!

If I could see any band live it would be… I'd love to see Slayer live... but as secondarys, Against Me!, and System Of A Down wouldn't be far behind. I've already seen a couple I was desperate to see and would love to see again, Rise Against and Trivium.

My favourite movie is… This used to be a hard question for me to answer. I love films, spanning nearly all genres. Now though, I realise my favourite film is Shaun Of The Dead. It's the only film I am always in the mood to watch.


I love this movie! Comedy horror gold!

One interesting thing about me is… that I look like a very unapproachable person, very big guy, bearded, hair most of the way down my back, and usually a grumpy look on my face, especially at work, but people always seem to come up to me and start talking. I love it, I can look how I like, I don't have to put on a fake smile, but I still get to talk and be sociable.

One thing of note, I'm probably a lot younger than your average audience, so my comparisons of old games may be very different to many of theirs. The first console I personally owned was a PS1 and gameboy pocket (the yellow one!), but I do have experience of SNES's and older PC games.

21 comments:

  1. I saw Slayer play Reign in Blood live a few years back. A lifelong dream fulfilled! :)

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    1. Dear god. This is me!

      And now that I know you've seen that. I think I might just hate you.

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    2. If it makes you feel any better, I also went to Soundwave Festival in Sydney for the sole reason that Slayer were playing. I, along with thousands of other fans, were bitterly disappointed when the band simply didn't turn up. Can you imagine standing in the middle of tons of metalheads when that announcement finally came through? You might be a big guy, but I'm not. I got out of there quicker than Tom Araya can say "piece by piece".

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    3. That's gotta be a pretty scary moment. Big guy or not, I'd have been flying towards a sideline myself. Moabites I can take, not riots.

      On another note, am I really one of the younger members of the community here. I thought there would be a few younger adventure fans wanting to learn about the classics without having to deal with the difficulties of playing them. I know there's a lot of nostalgia buffs here, but there must be a few historians too!

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    4. Moabites should be moshpits. autocorrect is having a field day.

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  2. It's great to see that adventure games still attract "the kids". :p

    Have you gone back and played the old classics, or are you sticking with the new ones? It'd be interesting to see your take on some of these old(er) games, if it's just my rose tinted childhood glasses or if they still hold up for someone that has never played them before.

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    1. I really find it hard to play some of the older games. The interfaces and ease of use from more modern games have spoiled me.
      However, I do love to play adventure games done in the older style, like ben there dan that. Another I can recommend is the metal dead.
      However I do intend to play along with quest for glory when we get to it, as it seems very highly recommended.
      I may well play along with quest fo

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    2. Hmm...I wonder if I can spend CAPs to force you to play along with Mr Trick on some of the ones I hold most dearly, if you don't do it voluntarily. :p

      I agree with you though, some of the old ones are clunky to navigate. On the other hand, some of them are really really worth it. Thanks to you though, I see I've been negligent on keeping up with new adventure games. Going to do Ben There, Dan That next, and having a look at Metal Dead after that.

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    3. Metal Dead? As in Heavy Metal and the Undead in one game?

      "This twisted tale centers on two metal-heads in the midst of a zombie invasion"

      This could get a PISSED rating of a 100! ;)

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  3. It's a bit late, and I'm posting it in the wrong place (because otherwise nobody would see it), but Yatzee and his pal Gabriel did a let's play of Manhunter!

    Watch it over here: http://fullyramblomatic-yahtzee.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/no-involvement-by-brian-cox.html

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  4. And now for something more on topic...

    Glad to see a younger gamer appreciate 2D games, even now I'd argue 2D is a much better choice for adventure games (and other types of game suit 3D much more).

    "Ben There, Dan That" is a wonderful game, I'd certainly suggest that everyone should play it. Also, "Time Gentlemen, Please" even though I didn't like it quite as much.

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  5. This blog is invaluable for recommending great games I've otherwise never encountered. Adding "Ben There, Dan That" to the list...!

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    1. Seriously! What great times we live in when we can find a great new game to play for a $1!

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  6. "I have a feeling I played an adventure game of sorts on the SNES, but I forget the name and never really got that far."

    If you describe it, I could probably direct you to some games it might be.

    At a guess, Another World (Out of this World in the US) was a popular one.

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  7. For anyone who wants to play Bleaghhh's favourite game - it's now on sale on Steam for $1
    http://store.steampowered.com/app/37400/

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  8. add one purchase to the total now...

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  9. Side question to Bleaghhh/Trickster: Are there any good Slayer covers out there? The only one I know is the supremely creepy/borderline disturbing cover of Reign in Blood by Tori Amos, where she restricts her piano playing to what sounds like the lowest two octaves, and adds a high-pitched keening vocal line.

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    1. Well there have been a million Slayer covers over the years, but when I think of the one band that worships Slayer more than any other, it has to be Vader from Poland.

      They play Slayer tracks live quite often, but you can hear a studio version of Raining Blood on the Lead Us EP that was released in 2008. The whole EP is only 15 minutes so well worth checking out, if death metal is your thing of course. :)

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  10. Thanks!!! As a guitarist of 20+ years now, I'm interested in pretty much all guitar-oriented music, including metal. And having grown up in the 80s in a small blue-collar town, the unholy trinity of Metallica/Slayer/Megadeth were on frequent rotation everywhere I went. Thanks for the great rec!!

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  11. While the topic is still music, I wanted to share my excitment about Tenacious D coming to Hamburg.
    They also have a few dates in England if you're into geek humour, Bleaghhh :).

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  12. By the way Bleaghhh, you have a comment on your first and only blogpost. ;)

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