Top Gaming Moments (5 of 5)

Day Four of Top Gaming Moments. Finally, Nathan's comments on his favourite moment.

----------------

I've played a lot of games in my time, and with my cynicism growing with age, it seems that games are losing what makes them special. Today's developers seem to hop onto any successful bandwagon they can find - and who can blame them? The games of the 21st century cost a lot to develop, and so safety comes first with any new game projects. So when you find a unique gem like Ico for the Playstation 2, that takes some risks, it is remembered always as a title that broke the rules of blandness and tried something different.

Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, Ico tells the brilliantly simplistic tale of an exiled boy, named Ico, trying to fight his way out of the castle he is banished to - while helping a strange girl, who speaks an alien language, to escape with him. It is the simplicity of this game that makes it still enjoyable today. Story, controls and communication are all kept to a minimum, and so you get a video game that does something I have never experienced in any other game - it does not age. I played Ico 6 years after it's release, and was astounded by it's innovation - completing it in (almost) one day. Just have a think about that : 6 years, and it was still as fresh as any newly released game today.

Anyway, now all that is out of the road, Iíll share my favourite moment - the final battle. Ico has found that the force keeping himself and his friend from freedom is the Shadow Queení - the mother of his strange companion. It's a one-no-one battle with the Queen, who uses shadows that sweep the whole room to turn you to stone (as you do, of course). Again, it is the simplicity of the battle that keeps it fresh and fun - mirroring the routine boss battles of retro games. You attack the Shadow Queen with your sword, it flies from you hand (due to the force of the hit) to another part of the room, you run to it, pick it up and start the process again. Oh, and the sword is the only thing that can save you from the shadows, as it is made from light (It all makes sense when playing it). When it comes to the final assault, the sword is thrown much further away than before and the Queen's sweeping shadows are advancing faster than ever. You run for the sword, the camera switches to a low angle just behind it, the shadows are closing in and just as they are about to reach you - Ico grabs the sword, using it to shield himself against the deadly darkness that's chasing him, before racing towards the villain and striking her down with one final blow. It was this moment that made me utter, in absolute satisfaction - That was bloody brilliant.

If you enjoy video games, Ico is a must play - it's unique, diverse and brilliant. But sadly, because of these factors, Ico didn't achieve the level of success it deserved. The fact it was unique, made it somewhat of a obscurity to the average player, and so it became a cult hit. So to this day, when I become cynical about the games of today, I just remind myself how amazing Ico was and hope that I'll find another experience like it someday - and it's this small reminder of hope that helps me put up with all the other bland, generic titles that gain praise. So thank you very much Ico - you have given me the will to survive!

----------------

Leave your feedback in the comments. Or if you want me to include your own video game moment, leave me a contact email address.

"Video Games Live" was performed at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 26th June 2008.

Coming Next....My review of Video Games Live

Top Gaming Moments (3 of 5)

Day Three of Top Gaming Moments. Calum describes his top gaming moment.

----------------
"
After much deliberation I must conclude that my absolute best gaming moment would be in Final Fantasy 7.


This moment is contained within the closing sequence of Final Fantasy 7 , after 114 hours of gripping game play you Cloud are faced with your ultimate nemesis; Sephiroth the absolute final boss. After having defeated Jenova and Sephiroths monster form (bout an hour of heart stopping battling) you are faced with Sephiroth the man in menacing human form.

Cloud stands alone, holding his massively over sized sword, no magic, no summons, no team mates, just him and his sword. Sephiroth the same, brandishing a similarly massive katana blade, a bastion of threat. There is no music, no ambiance, just a deep piano and thump of a heart beat...all that you can hear is Cloud's beating heart. Every moment of the game, every second of the 114 hours I played is a build up to this single point. Up shoots the time to attack bar, *brring* it fills, ready to attack. As Clouds heart beats, slowly speeding up, his limit break bar is synchronised sneaking up. With every thudump up creeps his limit break. Do you wait till it fills? Do you attack now? I wait, eyes fixed on Clouds limit break...this is why I chose this moment. I know if Sephiroth attacks, One slash is all he needs to take me down, on the same note, I think one slash is all I need to take him down...but just in case, I wait for the limit break....the OMNISLASH!!!!!!

The suspense is insane, slowly grows the limit break, Sephiroth could attack at any beat of Clouds heart that passes.

Finally the limit break is ready!!!

With haste I select the Omnislash and BAM! I start the end of the game.

Cloud moves in; takes his first slash! 9999! maximum damage.

Second, Third, Forth all perfectly placed, perfect 9999, maximum damage.

Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Cloud gives him hell!! Poppin' him like a can o' Pringles!!!

With triumph I deal maximum damage, Omnislash the best attack in the game and Sephiroth is down.
Hurrah!!! I WIN :D , and now I'm rewarded with the ending movies which at that point were the best graphics I'd seen.

Ah final fantasy 7, gotta love it.

Youtube "omnislash on final boss sephiroth" or something like that if ya havn't played through final fantasy 7, or better yet, bust out the Playstation and play it!"

----------------

Leave your feedback in the comments. Or if you want me to include your own video game moment, leave me a contact email address.

"Video Games Live" is performed at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 26th June 2008.

Top Gaming Moments (2 of 5)

In the second of the top gaming moments - Connor tells me about his favourite gaming moment on the Nintendo 64.

----------------

"I believe the best gaming moment is at the end of Super Mario 64. After you
defeat Bowser for the final time, you have to battle him in an arena
which is constantly falling apart. Bowser charges you across the
arena and breathes fire so you have to grab him by the tail and throw
off the arena and onto a bomb. He then flies back into the
arena and the brawl continues.

The first time this sequence is completed, naturally he ups his game but the
level begins to fall apart and shape itself into a star (the iconic symbol
and main item to collect in the game) and combined with the amazing colours
and the church organ music it made this moment a crazy experience.

When he is finally defeated everything goes quiet. I was stunned by the
sudden silence and ecstatic at how long it took to complete it!"

----------------

Leave your feedback in the comments. Or if you want me to include your own video game moment, leave me a contact email address.

"Video Games Live" is performed at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 26th June 2008.

Top Gaming Moments (1 of 5)

Next week I will be attending the Scottish Premier of "Video Games Live" - a concert where the Royal Scottish National Orchestra will be playing soundtracks to popular video games including Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Sonic the Hedgehog and many more...

To build up to the event, I asked some of my friends to tell me about their favourite video-game moments. Over the next 5 Day's, I'll be sharing their thoughts, but today I'll begin with my own favourite.

--------------------

For me, "Metal Gear Solid" was the first computer game that engaged me theatrically. The movie-style cut scenes told a great story, the game play focused on a more cunning and stealthy approach to dealing with enemies rather than the gung-ho style action of most games. And it also, unashamedly, broke the fourth wall and messed with game players heads. This was especially true in the Psycho Mantis sequence.

Psycho Mantis, one of the games villains, claimed to have the power to both read your mind and move objects with his brain power alone. He then proceeded to demonstrate this in a very frightening way, by asking the player to place the game pad onto the floor which he would then successfully cause to shake and move across the room!! This was achieved through the pads built-in rumble feature. However, since this was still a relatively new feature on the game pad, it certainly caused me to jump with fright when I seen my pad violently shake across my bedroom floor. He then followed it up by telling me which games I had also been playing recently (achieved by reading the contents of my memory card!). These initial psychic stunts proved to serve as a powerful introduction into what was one of the most clever boss fights in video game history.

Okay, so now came the time to beat him up - but how exactly do you defeat someone who knows what your next move will be? Every time you tap to throw a punch or kick, it's blocked. All bullets are dodged with ease. It really seemed that he knew what you were thinking and was anticipating every move. The Solution? You needed to unplug your game pad from control port 1, and plug it into control port 2, that way he couldn't read your mind. Utter genius! I, and many other gamers I know, still look back fondly when we realise how fun it was to teach this secret to our friends. And all reacted in the same way: firstly disbelief that it would work, but then the slow realisation that not only was it working, but that Metal Gear Solid, in one action, redefined the way we think about modern day video games.

----------------

How did you feel about this moment in Metal Gear Solid? Or was there another trick you prefered? Tell me in the comments.

"Video Games Live" is performed at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 26th June 2008.