awinnerisyou on HardestLevel

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Thursday, 31 December 2009

Letter from the Editor: A New Year, A New Decade, A New Beginning

Dear readers, fans, casual observers, haters, extraterrestrial beings observing our planet for signs of intelligence and all other concerned parties,

When I first applied to be an intern with Xanga, a site with which I had been familiar with for years, and saw the list of destination sites that were available for which to write, my choice was clear on to what site I wanted to devote the most time. That site was Lovelyish. Kidding! Of course, that site was HardestLevel, which would later come to be tagged impressively as "The Impossible-to-Beat Gaming Source." That desire came from the fact that video games are a significant part of my life, that video games are quite simply something I love.

That sentiment, that pure love for video game-based entertainment, is the glue that has held our little site together. Along with game reviews, game release announcements, head-scratching news on people marrying their in-game characters and Hawt Girls, there have been plenty of personal gaming stories and love letters to specific games and systems to be had on HL. I know I've been Mr. Retrospective when it came to writing for this site, and so it is only fitting I include an SNES reset button for the pic to this post. That will always be my favorite system, hands down.

Back to the point, though. Something I have always valued about HardestLevel.is that users could be featured for baring their E-souls right along with the staff. Sure, we've had to take the good with the bad, but the voices of individual people have been critical to this site and have made it more valuable to me than other gaming sites that focus only on game industry news. Even through our supposed site shift to capture more gaming culture tidbits and material that would appeal to casual and non-gamers, people would consistently write things that appealed to them, no matter what the classification. From a business standpoint, it's not been ideal, but from my personal standpoint, I have respect for the fact that people come from different gaming backgrounds and interests. Tanner and Tiffany (who have been our most productive staff writers and I thank them for getting us through this month), for instance, are their own people with their own gaming and writing and styles, but both can be equally appreciated.

Why talk about the history of the site now, though? How does this relate to future events? Well, you've probably noticed we've been paring down our output very recently; in fact, we missed a day this past week, which still kind of upsets me. If this wasn't any indication, though, our site is winding down. In fact, this post should serve to be the final update for HardestLevel, not just for the year, but for the foreseeable future. HL has continued to grow in the past half a year, but at a rate that's too slow to sustain in its current form. Thus, HardestLevel will continue to exist in its current form, but no further updates will be made to the site. This will not affect current accounts with our site, and you can still access previously posted content. I should remind you you can access these existing posts by tags related to your top areas of interest or by contributor.

And now what about video game blogging on the Xanga Network? Is it, pardon the pun, Left 4 Dead? Thankfully, no. In an effort to bring the type of content you would expect to see on HL to a larger audience, Mancouch will very soon be featuring a tab for gaming content, much in the way Lovelyish has its Beauty, Advice and Style Court tabs. You may have already noticed some posts that originally aired on HardestLevel have been appearing on Mancouch in preparation for the changeover. For some, the mere mention of Mancouch (or Lovelyish, at that) may make your blood boil, but we encourage you to support this new beginning of sorts. The current HardestLevel staff will still be writing for this new tab, including myself, although as more of a now-and-then contributor, much in the way Yuliya has been of late. For the sake of a video game analogy, it's like pressing the reset button on your console, or perhaps better yet, like playing a game on a newer-gen system that has backwards compatibility. There still will be a haven for video game blogging on Xanga!

Still, I guess to have a new beginning, you have to have an end, that being an end to HardestLevel as we know it. So, I'd like to give my thanks. I'd like to give my thanks to everyone I've worked with, if you're reading: Alex, Andrew, Jim, Justin, Konrad, Matt, Tanner, Tiffany, Tim and Yuliya. I'd also like to thank the dragon and the knights for being faithful mascots to our little webpage. We really should've given you fellas names, now that I think of it. Finally, and most importantly, all of us at HardestLevel would like to thank all of you readers and contributors who supported our site, our writing, and made it into a community. After all, that is the essence of sites like Xanga: the community.

In all, thanks for the memories and I hope you'll continue to keep writing and supporting all the destination sites, including our new home. May you have a Happy New Year, a Happy New Decade, and may you never stop gaming.

Sincerely,

Joe A.K.A. awinnerisyou

Tuesday, 29 December 2009

Thief Caught by Playing Xbox Live

It's kind of hard to feel bad for someone who gets caught after stealing loads of people's electronics. And yet, my sympathies are with Jeremiah Gilliam, whose desire to play video games is what did him in. I understand all too well the pull of video games on a man. My condolences, Jeremiah!

Here's the scoop from The Escapist: Gilliam was playing Xbox Live on a stolen console. The user from whom his Xbox system was stolen logged onto Xbox Live using another machine and saw that his missing console was logged on. From there, he told his parents, who told the police, who traced the system's unique IP address back to Gilliam's location at his grandmother's house. Upon Gilliam's arrest and investigation at the house, GPS devices, PlayStations, video games, credit cards and other valuables were found, and our online gaming lover was charged with grand larceny.

There was no word in the Escapist report on what game Jeremiah was playing when his whereabouts were given away. For the sake of irony, though, I'm hoping it was Uncharted 2.

Thursday, 24 December 2009

Your First Video Game Christmas Gift

You've probably heard me reminisce about my time playing Super Nintendo far too much over the course of my days with HardestLevel, but dang it, I'm feeling nostalgic lately. In the weeks leading up to Christmas of '92, I was very forthcoming about my desire for the SNES console. In fact, my passion was so intense I was dreaming about getting my grubby little hands on a controller. Just to touch the paddle with L and R buttons ON THE TOP and to witness the 16-bit graphics...the wait was almost too much to take.

When the day finally arrived, it was if angels were singing songs of praise and triumph. OK, not really, but my brother and I were pretty darn ecstatic. "Santa" had brought us a Super Nintendo with Super Mario World and Street Fighter II, and no sooner did we open the packaging that the system was hooked up and the seeds of our video game addiction were planted. Over the next few years, that wondrous little gaming box would yield us hours of fun and even promoted a sense of camaraderie as my brother, my dad and I tackled Bowser's Castle, M. Bison and other final bosses together. Oh, if only I could go back in time and revisit one of those moments, to see us united in our pursuit of some small shred of video game glory. It would warm the cockles of my heart.

What was your first video game gift? Does thinking about it bring back fond memories?

Wednesday, 23 December 2009

Getting the Wrong Game for Christmas

Not every Christmas present involving video games results in a moment like that of the Internet sensation The N64 Kid. Sometimes you get exactly what you ask for, and you are content. Sometimes you get something you wanted without asking for it, and you are moderately excited.

And then sometimes, you get a game you never would have asked for, and in that moment, your spirit is crushed. Such was the case many moons ago when my Christmas wish list hopes and dreams rested on the acquisition of Chrono Trigger, an SNES classic and popular seller at the time. So, when the time came to unwrap my video game-shaped gift, I was practically salivating. I tore through the wrapping paper, eyes wide and beheld my Super Nintendo gift of that year.

Alas, it was not Chrono Trigger, but Animaniacs. I don't recall if it was the cost or the low supply of Chrono Trigger that my parents explained forced them to go with an alternate title. Not wanting to disappoint, I put on a smile and said I was happy to receive the gift. In reality, though, I was pretty dismayed.

In retrospect, Animaniacs isn't too bad of a game. I found it a lot more challenging than I expected; after all, Animaniacs was intended for children. In fact, I would go as far as to say I like Animaniacs the game. Regardless, however, it must be repeated: alas, it was not Chrono Trigger, but Animaniacs.

Were you ever disappointed with a video game gift you received? What game was the offender and which game were you hoping for?
Have You Called in Sick to Play Video Games?

Image Source

Back when I was a lad, I was fully engrossed with the game Donkey Kong Country. The game, a collective purchase between my brother and I, was a joy to play. We were transported to exciting new worlds: jungles, mine shafts, temples, coral reefs, factories. There were a slew of colorful characters (Cranky amongst my favorites), intriguing choices for helpful animals you could ride on (come on, how cool was Enguarde?), silly illiterative names for the stages (damn you, Forest Frenzy!), and all was done with a spirit of whimsy and superb graphics for the time of the game's release. I even would read and re-read the Instructional Booklet that came with the game just to further immerse myself in the experience.

Of course, dedication to a game can have its drawbacks, especially when you are close to the end of it and desperately want to see it to its conclusion. Around the time I had gotten to King K. Rool, I was dealing with the flu and had been out a few days from school consequently. When I actually reached that reptilian menace, though, I was pretty much recovered and only had slight lingering symptoms to contend with. In truth, I really could've gone to school, but I convinced my mom to let me stay home and rest. However, when she saw me up and energetic playing the game and watching a behind-the-scenes video made by Rare about the production of the game, she quickly realized I was not as bad off as I had made it seem. No wonder years later I was forbidden to go to Senior Cut Day. Years later, Mom had exacted her revenge.

Depending on your age and circumstances, you might still have someone call out for you that you are sick, or you may have to use one of your sick days, or you might just be in college and decide to skip class. However you slice it, I'm guessing I am I not the only one who has lied to their school or employer in order to make progress in a title of their choosing or spend a little extra time with their guild. While I don't officially endorse such dishonesty, I'm also of the mindset that sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Have you ever played hooky to play video games?