Answers by TangoBunny
Introduction and captions by Ilmari
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| Who could resist this lovable green ogre? |
The interest in the game was no accident, since TangoBunny has her own Tumblr-site, dedicated to video games, old and new. She also sent us her What's Your Story -answers, so what are we waiting for!
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| Related to Bugs Bunny, perhaps? |
My home country is…
England. Even though there's very little to do near where I live, in a way I think I'm grateful for that, as I've spent all my free time playing video games instead!
My age is…
18. It feels good to finally be an age that's considered pretty normal! I remember when I would babble endlessly online about games years ago, and people would get really confused when I said I was still in my early-to-mid teens.
The first adventure game I played was…
The first adventure game I played was…
Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill. It was one of those Myst-style slideshow games. I really loved it because you got to explore an American college, as opposed to a fantasy/cartoon/historical setting like a lot of games, and it was full of little novelty puzzles hidden in the scenery.
Morse code in the border of a poster, cryptograms, some letters on a memo in slightly different coloured ink that spelled out a secret message... almost all of it was completely optional, but I had a great time sitting down with a notepad and glitter gel pens decoding all the hidden clues scattered around.
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| I've never played any of these, but I loved the books as a kid I guess we'll get to play them in couple of years |
My favourite adventure game is…
The Legend of Kyrandia 2: Hand of Fate. I absolutely adore its music, the characters are charming, the interface and potion-making mechanic works really well, and it just feels like a really pleasant experience from start to finish.
I especially love the protagonist, Zanthia. It's hard to explain what makes some characters appealing, so I'll just say that she's one of those characters where I think "She's great. I'd totally want to hang out with her."
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| Kyrandia-games divide players - some love them, some hate them. I'll admit that Kyrandia 2 was the best of the three, though |
When I’m not playing games I like to…
I dork out over entertainment, so my other hobbies are things like novels, anime, comics/manga, toys, and trading card games. When I was little I did ballroom dancing, and when I was in my teens I played tennis, but I don't have as much time for those any more.
I still like to keep fit though, so I often go on lengthy walks to various towns to buy something just so it feels like I had a purpose to go there, and then barely using the thing I ended up buying. That kind of mindset is probably how my unplayed game collection grew so much! I spend a short amount of time each day on a treadmill or exercise bike too.
I like my games in (a box, digital format)…
In an ideal world, both in a box as well as on a digital distribution platform, which some games have been doing lately. I like having a physical box so I have something tangible, but I like the convenience of just having to click a button to play it.
If I was forced to pick between them, I'd choose digital just so I knew I'd always be able to play them at any time. Old games tend to get scratched up and their boxes can take up a lot of space!
The thing I miss about old games is…
If I was forced to pick between them, I'd choose digital just so I knew I'd always be able to play them at any time. Old games tend to get scratched up and their boxes can take up a lot of space!
The thing I miss about old games is…
Synthesised 90s music, detailed pixel art, vibrant colours, and painted backgrounds.
I miss quirkiness too, games that go out of their way to be stylish and interesting, rather than trying to appeal to the widest possible audience and removing anything that caters to very niche tastes.
The best thing about modern games is…
New game genres that can only exist with modern technology. First person puzzle games, multilayered music scores that seamlessly change, huge open worlds, crowdfunded niche games, and I guess the most recent one would be virtual reality games that are actually playable, rather than headache-inducing 2.5D low-framerate nightmares.
I definitely appreciate that there are ways to play older games from all systems on a PC too, where you can dump cartridges you've bought and play them on a PC without worrying about old TV standards, cables, and region-locked consoles. Save stating and load stating is a godsend for me too, where I often just like to experience some older games without dedicating a month or two to mastering it.
The one TV show I never miss is…
My favourite TV shows are physical and creative game shows. Knightmare, Fort Boyard, Sasuke/Ninja Warrior, Fun House, DERO!, TORE!, and so on. They aren't on UK TV often, so I don't 'miss' them, but I'll often seek them out!
I miss quirkiness too, games that go out of their way to be stylish and interesting, rather than trying to appeal to the widest possible audience and removing anything that caters to very niche tastes.
The best thing about modern games is…
New game genres that can only exist with modern technology. First person puzzle games, multilayered music scores that seamlessly change, huge open worlds, crowdfunded niche games, and I guess the most recent one would be virtual reality games that are actually playable, rather than headache-inducing 2.5D low-framerate nightmares.
I definitely appreciate that there are ways to play older games from all systems on a PC too, where you can dump cartridges you've bought and play them on a PC without worrying about old TV standards, cables, and region-locked consoles. Save stating and load stating is a godsend for me too, where I often just like to experience some older games without dedicating a month or two to mastering it.
The one TV show I never miss is…
My favourite TV shows are physical and creative game shows. Knightmare, Fort Boyard, Sasuke/Ninja Warrior, Fun House, DERO!, TORE!, and so on. They aren't on UK TV often, so I don't 'miss' them, but I'll often seek them out!
Ninja Warrior: you have to see it to believe it
If I could see any band live it would be…
I'm not sure if it counts as a band, but the video game composer Shoji Meguro, and the rapper Lotus Juice, put on absolutely incredible Persona music concerts in Japan, and I would love to experience that.
For a more standard band, it'd have to be Metric.
My favourite movie is…
I'm not as much of a movie watcher as most people, so it's hard to pick a favourite, but I'll probably go with Battle Royale. I love stories like that for similar reasons to liking physical game shows, and as cheesy as it is, it's definitely memorable. Doubly so with Takeshi Kitano in it.
One interesting thing about me is…
One interesting thing about me is…
It's hard to pick just one thing! Given this is a game-related questionnaire, I'll stick with something game-related. I love the concept of gambling in video games, so as a result, I have huge stacks of Japanese pachinko, pachislot, and strip mahjong games.
Suddenly I want to have one of these
When people see my room housing dozens upon dozens of strip mahjong games, they tend to find it pretty odd.
I am slightly disturbed that they've made a movie about the topic
Welcome to the blog! I am glad that something (else?) good came out of my play through of "The Hulk".
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was really enjoyable to read someone else's experiences with games like that, as you don't often see or hear about many peoples thoughts when playing text-based adventure games! It's fun to compare it to your own experiences!
DeleteYou might enjoy the Timequest coverage then.
DeleteWelcome!
ReplyDeleteA good choice with Kyrandia 2, I haven't played it in quite a long time but I remember it being better than the first game. They should be featured on the blog in the relatively near future too, so we'll see how they rate!
I look forward to seeing it on this blog! The music alone brings back so many fond memories for me. Lots of adventure games have comedy, but few have the charm that Kyrandia 2 had!
DeleteFrank Klepacki is one of my favourite video game composers. I think his music in Legend of Kyrandia 1 is much better though.
DeleteWelcome from me also!
ReplyDeleteJudging by your site, you seem to have an almost omnivorous interest in various gaming genres. Text-based adventure games are already a rarely appreciated niche, and in addition, there's posts about soccer games, action adventures, Mario games, pinball games and probably many more. Is there any genre you would not play (or at least prefer not playing)?
I'm sure there is, but I'm struggling to think of any! In the past week, I've been looking into the dozens of football manager games that I've never touched, and I don't think I could ever play any of those properly. I need some visual/text imagination in games, and very few football manager games provide that, as they're just a bunch of barebones spreadsheets and graphs based on real people.
DeleteMost realistic sports games are the same way for me, I can't get into them when they're too focused on incredibly minute tactical details and player statistics that only a fan of the sport would understand. But even then, I can kind of enjoy them just as entertainment pieces if they let you make your own tournaments and set the game to 'AI vs. AI' and just sit back and watch them.
There are plenty of games that I don't enjoy playing as much as other genres because I'm not great at them and they take up a lot of free time (such as lengthy slow-paced strategy games), but my view is that cheats or save/load stating can solve those problems, so I can still find lots of fun in them!
Strip mahjongg is a thing? :0
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing a demo of Kyrandia playing in a computer store a long, long time ago and being very interested in trying it, but not having the money at the time. I might have to follow along when we get to those.
The first Kyrandia game was a little iffy for reasons that are best left unknown until this blog gets there, but still charming, and the second game was wonderful. The third one somehow managed to be the worst of the series in my opinion, but it still had some really creative environments and characters!
DeleteF*ck yeah, Strip Mahjong is a thing. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e3f_1363066735
DeleteStrip Mahjong sounds like the slowest strip game ever. And I've seen Mahjong played by people who know what they're doing.
DeleteIs this real Mahjongg like Mara learned in Chinab and from her relatives, or single player like on Windows 3.1 or the version I had on my Palm 500s (Best version ever)?
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ReplyDeleteThe description of the Hulk as an ogre makes me wonder whether he'd get along with Shrek.
ReplyDeleteI was kind of hoping someone would make that comparison.
DeleteI was able to make a comment about not being the youngest on the blog anymore, but I realised I'm almost 30, vs being closer to 20 when I started reading Retro-clone in 2010. Efffff time flies.
ReplyDelete