Art Gallery - William Schroeder (2003)

Written in 2003

William Schroeder was one of the four students shot dead by National Guardsmen at Kent State in May of 1970. This painting is among a series of five -- with a similar visual theme -- remembering Kent State and its four victims.

By remembering what happened then, we reflect on the power of free speech, war and peace, the right to dissent, the power of the state, and excessive force by police and the military. In 2003, these are again important issues in America.

That a significant number of Americans do not remember or know about Kent State is telling; also a bit chilling. In our age of computerized, instant-access, global information, Americans are ignorant about the world around them. To be so chronically uninformed is to court tragedy; to forget past tragedies is to invite future ones. The legendary American Attention Span (what is it down to now, five seconds?) ensures that we will be more easily entertained and disctracted by something else. Probably some crummy reality show on Fox.

Not to bring everybody down, drowning in tragedy, but sometimes, history is important. Take a moment to remember William Schroeder, and Allison Krause, Jeffery Miller, Sandy Scheuer, and what happened on May 4, 1970. Then get off the couch and learn what's happening in the world around you.

And turn off that damn TV.

Art Gallery - Jeffery Miller (2003)

Written somewhere between 2003-2005 (I honestly can't remember)

We pay our respects to Jeffery Miller, who was killed at Kent State for the crime of protesting the reckless actions of a runaway government. This was one of the iconic events of that era that stretched from the assassination of John F. Kennedy to Watergate. Those iconic '60s that everyone remembers.

It can be difficult for someone in my generation to understand what it was like back then, marching against Vietnam, marching for Civil Rights, marching for Women's Rights. Everything is written with capital letters; it's all been lionized now. In America today, there is still political activism; the run-up to the Iraq war was met with the largest antiwar protests in a generation. Unfortunately, that really is the exception to the rule. Most folks are too busy struggling with their daily lives to worry, or too apathetic to care, or just too ignorant to participate. We've tuned out of the process. This time next year, we might forget that war ever happened.

Politics today is almost the exclusive domain of nerds, social outcasts, and the obsessively ambitious (ever see "Election?"). If you want to be cool and popular and well-liked, you don't talk politics. Talking about deficits and chemical weapons won't score you a lot of dates. You have to fit in with the crowd, you see, and nobody wants to be seen as out of place, rocking the boat. What would Simon Cowell say?

Politics is such a dirty game, anyway. The whole system's been rigged to keep us out, or keep us distracted. It's best to sit back and watch TV, buy more things, work on our pick-up lines, and worry about what the celebrities are wearing. Don't think about, you know, things and stuff.

Maybe we shouldn't worry about what country we're invading this year, or what campaign promise the President is breaking behind our backs, or where your state will find the money to keep the local libraries open. Public libraries have become homeless shelters, anyway. No one visits there anymore; we have Barnes & Noble now. Besides, who reads anything besides Cosmo and Maxim? Reading is for losers.

Maybe we just don't care anymore. Or maybe we do, and this is our way of tuning out the information overload. Maybe those "60s" were overrated in the first place. I really can't say. We're all living in such crazy, trivial, epic times.

FIFA 2002

FIFA 2002
Electronic Arts
Gameboy Advance
Rating: **

April 28, 2003

Goodness knows, the Gameboy Advance should be a goldmine for Electronic Arts. The Nintendo handheld is often seen as a 16-bit system on steroids, which often means many ports from the Super NES and Genesis. Goodness knows, I have no idea why some of these titles have been ported over at all, aside from the bona-fide classics, but this situation is perfect for EA. These were, after all, the years of their legendary sports franchises; starting with Madden, they managed to perfectly capture every sport they tried, setting the gold standard for the sports videogame.

That software developers still struggle to create with modern 3D polygons what EA achieved effortlessly is amazing. I would still argue that the NHL Hockey series on the Genesis was as good as anything today, and the Madden's and FIFA's have only aged marginally. For the Advance, portable versions of these games still work. I still enjoy the new Madden as much as the old Genesis classics, and NHL Hockey 2002 is almost worth the price of an Advance alone.

I'm puzzled at FIFA, though. This should be a standout title; obviously, the effort has been made to modernize the game instead of merely porting an old copy of FIFA '95. And, yet, somehow, it doesn't quite work. It's almost as though the final game was rushed out the door before it was properly finished. This isn't even the usual comparison against Konami's brilliant soccer games; even though, again, there's a better version of International Superstar Soccer waiting nearby.

There are some things I like, starting with the field. The old angled viewpoint is thankfully retired in favor of a standard side-scrolling view. The players are large and distinct, and even move fairly well, even if it's more than a little limited. And there are an obscene number of teams to choose from, with more leagues and names than most Americans like me have ever heard of.

The best quality of this FIFA is its fast-paced, arcade-style play. This is one of those games that you can pick up and run with almost immediately, and EA should be thanked for that. The limited number of buttons on the Advance is no doubt a factor; there is only so much you can do with four buttons, so only the basic moves are included. I'm fine with that, as long as the game on the field moves swift and smooth. You can probably play a full match in five or ten minutes, passing and scoring with ease.

I just wish some more effort was put into the making of this game. For instance, take the players on the field. As I've already noted, they look fine and move well, but the animation is pretty much limited to running. There's not much interaction between two players fighting for control of the ball, or passing, or pretty much anything. And the team uniforms are usually two colors, one of which is always white. And there is only one stadium to play in, with the same grass patterns and crowd chants. What's the point of this? The cynic in me suspects that FIFA has fallen victim to the dreaded Franchise Curse, where the first installment has only the bare essentials, and too many important features are left on the shelf for next year's version.

Of course, I enjoy this game for short bursts, but after awhile, I become aware of something that turns me off to the whole experience completely. Put simply, the computer is stupid. As dumb as a bag of rocks. Want to score? Just take control of the ball, and then sprint to the end of the field, wait for the goalie to run towards you, and shoot the ball in. There's a little weaving around defenders, but it's more like a glorified obstacle course; there's no real defense going on here.

Artificial Intelligence simply doesn't exist here, at least not compared to any sports games over the last decade. When you have the ball, your teammates all run forward, in unison. When the other team has the ball, they all retreat, in unison. There's no attempt on the computer's part to defend or capture the ball. They just return to their original starting points, and then just stop. It's downright insulting to watch a defender charge an opposing net while three defenders stand by, twiddling their virtual fingers. And it's even more insulting knowing that it was Electronic Arts that did away with this primitive practice in the 16-bit era.

Now we're back to the Intellivision age, where you do all the heavy lifting. Playing, I get flashbacks to Football on the Atari 2600, where you move the entire team as one unit. That game was made in 1977.

There's no excuse for this. I don't want to wait a full year to see if the developers put in the features that should never have been missing in the first place. What happened here?

F-1 2002

F1 2002
Magic Pockets for Electronic Arts
Gameboy Advance
Rating: ***

April 21, 2003

Electronic Arts is not always a name that oozes quality and imagination as much as consistency. You may not be seeing something special, but you are guaranteed to see something good. That's never been more apparent in the company's lineup of titles for the Gameboy Advance. These are all good games, but for the most part, not great ones. Of course, with EA, you are promised that next year's version will be better, and their many software studios will be working on it.

That's an important thing to keep in mind when you spend time with F1 2002. I enjoyed this game, I liked this game, but I can't honestly say I loved it. I wasn't excited of hooked the way I was with Moto GP and Motoracer Advance. Still, on a handheld system with one too many cartoon racers, we must be happy with what we have.

This title captures the world of Formula One racing, with authentic cars, drivers, and racetracks. Players begin by registering a name and signing with one of the racing teams, and choose a car and driver. As far as I can tell, there isn't any difference between any of them; a Ferrari drives just the same as a Jaguar. It all comes down to which color you like.

Then, once you're ready, you can compete in a championship, a full season, or a quick race against a friend. Why more than two players can't race together is beyond me; four players should be the absolute standard in every racing game, and it's sorely missed here. There's really no excuse, and, yes, I will point this out every time a game supports only two players.

This title goes to great lengths to make racing as easy as possible on the Advance's unjustly tiny screen. Each race is previewed with a map of the course, clearly labeling all turns, as well as the ideal speed necessary to successfully navigate them. During the actual races, there are the usual signs off the side to tell you how close the next turn will be, and an on-screen icon appears to warn you when it's time to slow down. This is a common feature in rally games, and I really appreciate it here. Thank goodness most everyone has the sense to include these icons in their Advance titles.

I enjoyed the look to everything. The tracks are all flat, devoid of any hills or dips, but the roads are wonderfully detailed. The red stripes to the side, the well-worn asphalt that guides you to the best racing line, the saturation of the browns and greens during sunshine or rain; everything just looks terrific. The backgrounds include photorealistic pictures of blue skies and clouds, which are perfectly sharp and without dithering. This is much closer to what one expects on the modern consoles, and is continuing evidence that this little machine has yet to reach its full potential. Much better than it's "portable Super Nintendo" reputation.

The racecars themselves look great, but here's a problem I have. Their movement tends to be a little choppy. This is no doubt a concession to prevent needless blurring on the color LCD screen; there are also twenty or more cars on the road at a time. So smooth animation is sacrificed for overall speed. This is more noticeable during turns; it seems your car only has a few frames for turning. Add in twenty cars all doing this and everything starts to look, frankly, a little cheap. Maybe I'm just being a trite picky, but I would willingly settle for a slightly slower game to have cars that didn't look like they were cut and pasted.

This tends to transfer to the handling of the vehicles. The steering is very fine, especially when you consider how lousy it can be in so many other games. The movement of your car feels a little greasy; quick, responsive, perhaps a tad light. There isn't as much traction as there should be, especially for a car that's flying by at 300 mph. Again, this is possibly just a concession because of the platform. It still bothers the hell out of me.

It may seem that I'm waffling; that may be true. There is much about F1 2002 that I enjoy so much, and yet there are things that just stick in my side. For instance, I like the fact that the computer-controlled cars aren't perfect automatons. They often make mistakes, crashing, spinning out. I don't like that you can quickly dart out to the front of the pack before the first turn. This is supposed to be a simulation, and I don't need any help, thank you very much. I like that you can actually make contact with the cars without spinning out. I don't like it when I crash, but the other car just drives off, unaffected. I like the club music that's played during the menu screens. I really don't like listening to all those engines' high-pitched buzzing. Sounds like I'm being chased by hornets.

According to the credits, this game was the work of Magic Pockets, who should be commended for their efforts. F1 2002 reminds me a lot of Super Monaco GP on the Sega Genesis many years ago; many players remember that title fondly, and rightfully so.

Fire Emblem

Fire Emblem
Intelligent Systems for Nintendo
Gameboy Advance
Rating: ***

February 28, 2005

Intelligent Systems' Fire Emblem series has enjoyed a following in Japan for a number of years, appearing on the NES, Super NES, and Gameboy platforms. Now, the American arrival has been making waves on the Advance, giving the portable system another quality strategy game. That's always a good thing.

This is actually the seventh Fire Emblem, but knowing that isn't important, unless you're trying to impress other nerds with your trivia (of course, you could also smuggle them alcohol, but that's another topic). If you're familiar with Advance Wars, then you know pretty much everything you need to know. This is a turn-based strategy game that also involves moving military units around forest, hills, bridges, and towns.

Giving the strategy genre a fantasy-RPG twist is novel enough for console games to still stand out. The story, which plows ahead at a steady clip, involves a girl who discovers that she is a long-lost princess who must reclaim her rightful place before villanous upstarts steal the throne from an ailing king. Usually, this is when I start groaning, as these games just start piling on the same fairy tale routines; it's as lifeless and outmoded as a mullet man in a biker bar.

What do I have to do to get someone to write a decent script? If you're going to make your game dependant on story, than shouldn't you put, oh, I don't know, ten minutes into the writing? There once was a whole thriving genre of computer adventures with witty scripts. I'm not expecting Hemmingway, but seriously, enough with this. Boring!

The real game (the part that involves, you know, playing) is solid fun, thanks to Intelligent Systems' longstanding experience. These people know how to make a game that's challenging. If you want a Gameboy game that will kill a lot of time, it's this one.

That said, I have to major beefs with Fire Emblem that I've never been able to overcome. First, if you lose a character in battle, you can never get them back. They're gone for good. Usually, in an RPG, dead fighters can be revived; not here. Needless to say, that's a pretty lousy kick in the shins.

Second problem, you can't create your own maps. Now, granted, I'm likely in the minority on this one, but the custom maps feature is the best thing about Advance Wars 2; it makes the game a multiplayer classic. This game is largely a single-player exercise, but so what? There should be the option to play against other friends and create your own maps. That mantra ought to be framed in a plaque and hung on the wall.

How much that affects things for you is your business. If you can still slosh your way through Fire Emblem and keep a smile on your face, more power to you. Knock yerself out, kids.

Egg Mania

Egg Mania
Hot Gen Studios
Gameboy Advance
Rating: ***

February 16, 2005

Hot Gen Studios had established themselves as a quality videogame studio on the Gameboy Advance. I'll still insist that Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer is, after Advance Wars 2, the finest game ever created for the handheld. These people knew how to make great games, knew how to keep the players hooked, knew how to paint graphics that glow and dance.

They have since closed down, like so many small development houses in Europe and America during the past few years. This fact is even more depressing when you discover just how gifted and skilled these people were, and how increasingly stale and risk-averse the giant publishers have become.

Egg Mania is an good example of this. Here is a puzzler with enough personality and polish to elevate it above the level of Cheap Gimmick. It's a good little game.

For some reason, the Advance has seen very few puzzlers. There was a long stretch in the 1990's when the original Gameboy had nothing but puzzle games. A lot of those titles were really good, too. What happened to them? I expected the steady stream of puzzlers to continue into this decade, but they've all but died out. Goodness knows, games like these can't be expensive to produce.

Excuse me, I'm rambling here. It happens.

What you should know about Egg Mania is that it takes the standard Tetris game, adds a few clever twists to the formula, and still manages to feel fresh. Here, you are given your choice of egg charcters, each with their own unique look, who must catch the falling pieces and form the rows.

Egg Mania, however, is not about clearing endless rows of blocks. The goal is to build towers so that you can escape to a waiting balloon at the top of the playfield. You must, however, pay attention to your structural integrity. For insance, if you were simply to throw blocks on top of one another, eventually, the foundation will collapse and you'll lose all the pieces. Since this is a race to the top, you will lose precious time. Oh, and one more thing: your pit is being filled with water.

It's a great example of solid game design. You must call upon your Tetris skills, but you must also keep your eyes on your opponent, who is trying to beat you to the finish. There are a number of power-ups and bonus blocks, ranging from concrete (to fill up holes) to faster speed, to - my favorite - bombs. I'm sure you know what to do with those.

There are a number of gameplay modes, including a special bomb-throwing mode where you and a friend just throw bombs at each other (it plays like a portable Twinkle Star Sprites). Usually, the single-player game involves a ladder progression against different eggs, playing against any number of brightly colorful backdrops.

I find myself enjoying this game, but I suspect this was made with human opponents in mind. Playing the computer feels functionary at best, because there's never really any challenge. You're just going through the motions. Why isn't there more variety in the computer players' strategy and technique? Why isn't this game, well, tougher?

Playing against a friend is where the real action lies, and my suspicion is the single-player modes are merely practice for the real action. And on that front, it really does work. There can be some really heated matches, especially when you're hurling bombs at one another. If that isn't your idea of fun, then I don't know what is.

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
Revolution Software
Gameboy Advance
Rating: ****

February 19, 2005

And now, as a benefit to my readers, allow me a few words about a little-seen, but critically-received game called Broken Sword. This blongs squarely in that category of Gameboy Advance titles that deserved an audience, but came and went without much notice. A diamond in the rough.

Older fans of computer games will recognize the name. It was a successful series of adventure games from that bygone era, and they still invite a warm nostalgia to anyone who remembers them.

These kind of games were more common in the 1980's and 1990's, when home computers were content to let the consoles have all the fast, arcade games. A graphical adventure game like, oh, Broken Sword (can't let myself wander too far) is a slower, more literary experience. It's much more about creating a vivid word with character and story, and not about running around and shooting things.

The story involves an American on vacation in Paris, who nearly becomes the victim of a cafe bombing. Despite the pleas of the local authorities, he is determined to solve the case singlehandedly. Perhaps he is a little like Joe Cotton's character in The Third Man, something of a mild caracature of cowboy Americans. To bad there aren't any Orson Welles cameos.

In any case, he discovers some leads, meets several interesting people, and finds himself caught in something far bigger than himself. It would be cruel of me to reveal any more of the story; you will have to discover all the great moments for yourself.

This installment in the Broken Sword series, titled The Shadow of the Templars, is a port from the PC, where it was a best-seller. It's remarkable how the entire game was translated to the handheld format without any cuts or compromises. Revolution Software deserves our appreciation.

The game's visuals are striking, bold; they stand out as among the finest this handheld as ever seen. There's a terrific amount of detail on the tiny screen, and I'm impressed how clear everything looks. Everything is drawn in a realist American cartoon style, a little bit like Brad Bird's little gem The Iron Giant.

If you own a Gameboy Advance and you're looking for something a little different, then you absolutely should give this a chance. I think you'll thank yourself for the effort. It ranks among the best of the lost gems. I can't recommend it enough.

Videogame Classics: Advance Wars 2

Advance Wars 2
Intelligent Systems for Nintendo
Gameboy Advance
Rating: *****

February 18, 2005

The best game ever made for the Gameboy Advance is Advance Wars 2. This is a true example of the 'killer ap:' a wonderfully attractive, easily accessaible, and richly complex game with a great sense of depth. And it also happens to be a hell of a lot of fun.

Turn-based strategy games were a staple of videogames a long time ago, before the genre moved into realtime. Now most strategy games are overburdened and too complicated, too pomous for their own good. Who wants to play a game where armies battle one another all by themselves? Since when is that entertainment? If that's what I wanted, I'd get a television.

Intelligent Systems has been steadily working on its series of strategy games since the beginning of time. Versions of Wars have appeared on the Famicom, Gameboy, and Super Nintendo. When the Gameboy Advance launched, it appeared with Advance Wars, and Nintendo immediately had a system-seller.

The first Advance Wars worked so well because it mixed up turn-based strategy with an entertaining, character-driven story, and then throwing in dozens of playable maps and a map editor for good measure. This was the rare game that deserved all its extras.

I think the second title is the better of the two, although its differences may not seem as apparant at first. The visual design is much better; the color scheme is brighter and with less contrast, and objects such as buildings and trees are less obtrusive. The first game looks garish compared to this. I also have to say I prefer the artwork of the characters, with their romantic, yet slightly comic poses.

The most notable difference is the tweaking in the game's balance. The idea is that all units - infantry, transports, tanks, anti-aircraft, and so on - should have a fighting chance. In the last game, a squad of tanks could completely destroy a squad of infantry. This tends to encourage building only the biggest and most powerful units. This sequel levels things out, and there's more of a paper-rock-siccors feel.

Chances are you already know something about this game, so you don't need me to recite the Campaign Mode for you. Everybody goes through it at least once, if just to enjoy the playful banter between all the cartoon characters (this is the only world where Macy Gray would team up with Marilyn Manson). Most everyone enjoys this mode, although most levels require you to overcome overwhelming odds again and again.

Chances also are you'll also know about the dozen upon dozens of extra maps to buy and play through, including all the maps from the first Advance Wars. Most of these you will only play through once, and some are worth repeated visits. This doesn't really matter to me, since I have the option to create my own levels.

It's the same question I've been asking for twenty years: why don't more games have a level editor? These things are pure gold. Through the AW2 map editor, I've created some terrific levels and shared them with players around the world. Building that sense of community is what make computer games like Quake and Unreal Tournament so endlessly entertaining. You give us the tools to create, and we'll be loyal fans forever.

I don't like reading overhyped praises in game reviews, but Advance Wars 2 really is the best game for the Advance, and just about the best handheld game ever made. It has the ability to grab even those who don't enjoy strategy games or military sims, that same way that all classics hook you.

Intelligent Systems is continuing the series on Nintendo's DS handheld, and we're all eager to see if they can continue their successful formula while adding enough new content to keep everything fresh. Personally, I don't think any major changes should be made. I'd try to empahsize naval units a little more (all those ships are way too expensive), do away with the Neotanks (they're far too powerful), and maybe even offer seasonal-based levels (instead of merely raining or snowing for a turn). I'd also look into the possibility of destroying or bombing cities, because I don't think it's ever been done before.

See? This is what happens when I start to go on a game design streak and create my own custom levels. I don't think a game like this even has a shelf life. This may be a multiplayer classic on par with MULE, Super Bomberman 2 and Herzog Zwei. But don't quote me on that just yet. Ask me again in two or three years.

Photos - Advance Wars 2 (gba)

As you can see, I'm moving all my video game reviews from my original website, DanielThomas.org, to videogames of the DAMNED. Back when most of my writing was focused on games, I worked hard on capturing the perfect screenshots to go with my lengthy reviews. As an artist, I treated these shots as another realm of photography, of capuring the right moment, and I'm very proud of the results.

The ever-forward rush of games and technology means that anything old is quickly forgotten, but I hope this changes. Portable game systems like the Gameboy Advance are especially vulnerable, although I hope the movement toward preserving console games on XBox, PS3, and Wii are carried through to the handhelds. The DS would be an especially perfect platform for downloading old GBA titles.

Anyway, here are shots from Advance Wars 2 on the Advance. I think this was the best game in the series. What say you?

Personal note: the top two screenshots are from custom maps I created. I even bundled these together as save files that could be downloaded and used on GBA emulators. Another proud little art project of mine, heh heh.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Capcom, for Nintendo
Gameboy Advance
Rating: *****

July 1, 2005

Just when I'm ready to write off the Gameboy Advance to the videogaming retirement home, along comes the new Zelda to drag me back in. I'm beginning to feel a little like Al Pacino, at least during the two weeks I spent with this game.

Not that I mind, because I've always loved the Legend of Zelda games, and I certainly love this one. It's clearly as good as any of the traditional, two-dimensional games in the series. It feels very much like a grand celebration of the whole series, and brings it back to its roots. And yet, the game never feels derivitive or bereft of ideas. Far from it.

The big innovation with The Minish Cap are kinstones, mysterious medallion fragments that can be found lying around everywhere. These fragments can be fused with other people, if they are in the mood (as shown with a little thought balloon over their heads), and successful fusions can result in any number of surprises.

So what happens when you fuse kinstones? You know I'm not going to give that away. Most of the fun in Zelda comes from the endless surprises around the corner. To give any of them away is worse than giving away the ending to a murder mystery novel.

In other words, you're on your own. And, yeah, there will be times when you feel that in your bones. Just trust me when I assure you that all the hunting around and harrassing of people in town will be worth the effort. It took me two weeks before I uncovered all the kinstones and received the final reward, so you'll do fine.

I'm always struck by how Capcom has mastered the feel of the classic Zelda games. It seems now that they've mastered it as well as Shigeru Miyamoto and his teams, and they should be trusted to continue the franchise into the future. I would love to look forward to a new Zelda as enchanting and engrossing as this one has been.

In addition to rumbling through the classic terrain of Hyrule - with a very keen eye towards the original Legend of Zelda from 1986 - you have the ability to travel into the tiny world of the Minish. These amusing little elves live in the forest and among the townspeople, who only know them as stories for children. The young Link discovers a talking cap which looks a lot like Crow T. Robot, and earns the abiltiy to shrink down to Minish size.

It's a classic Miyamoto convention to take a game world and absolutely pack it with gameplay features and little details. It's a great trait of getting the most out of the available space that goes back to the humble 8-bit days when, literally, every byte counted. The Minish Cap continues this lesson wonderfully. A few critics have complained that the world in this game is shorter than the typically epic length for a Zelda game, but they're simply not paying attention. There's so much backtracking and moving around that you'll be more than busy enough.

Personally, I'm growing tired of the notion that a videogame's quality is related only to its length to finish. Too many designers stick us with padded gameplay or pointless errands, for no better reason than to burn out the clock. I'd still rather spend a quarter on Ms. Pac-Man than the current crop of console titles.

I have to wonder if some of the people responsible for the Mega Man games worked on this one. The Minish Cap takes a great influence from Capcom's classic series, particularly in its weapons and dungeons. The one real flaw of previous Zelda games is that the many weapons you acquire are rarely necessary; here, it's a necessity. I've often had to switch back and forth, between a portable vacuum pump, a boomerang, and a pair of claws.

We see this play out in the dungeons. While there are only a half dozen proper dungeons, these are superbly designed, more organic and natural, and really require you to figure your way out of a jam. The final dungeon plays out just like an assault on Dr. Wily's castle, as you wind up heavily using everything in your arsenal, and getting your butt whupped in the process.

In addition to the kinstones, there are mysterious seashells, parlor games, crazy errands back and forth, collectible minatures, samurai trainers, and goofy characters large and small. This land of Hyrule has never been so densely populated, and it gives a great sense of atmosphere. This is a game that just feels inspired, full of life.

And it needs to be said, Minish Cap looks wondrous. This is probably the best use of color and animation in a Gameboy Advance game, and yet again shows how capable the handheld is when put in the right hands. It's just like buttah.

It is no small observation when I say that no other games on the shelves seem to grab my interest. That's what a wonder like The Minish Cap does; it reduces everything else to mediocrity. There won't be a better game than this for quite some time.

Photos - Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap

Some screenshots I captured back in 2005 for the Gameboy Advance Zelda title. This went with the long review on DanielThomas.org. This Capcom-developed game remains one of my favorites of the Zelda series, which I'm afraid has become stale and predictable of late. But Minish Cap still felt fresh and new.

Art Gallery - St. Scholastica Orange (2003)

St. Scholastica Orange is the same as Blue, but with the color palette swapped. I enjoyed the color so much that I kept both. The reason I named these two after my old college is that the color patterns remind me of Scholastica.

Back in 2003, I used these as wall tiles in Unreal Tournament, and it miraculously turned the futuristic space stations into The College of St. Scholastica. This was how I "tested" many of my digital paintings. Go ahead and give it a try sometime.

Art Gallery - St. Scholastica Blues (2003)

Digital Media, 2003. This massive series of works were created by me on Paint Shop Pro in a creative rush. I always loved these; my only mistake was to create them at too low a resolution, making prints impossible. If there were some way to bump the dpi of my digital paintings, then I'd gladly be pumping out prints and posters right and left.

Art Gallery - Benediction (2003)

March 18, 2003

We are now literally hours away from the start of the Iraqi war. I've taken some time to reflect, and I want to share some things with you during these final moments.

This past Sunday, many of us participated in candlelight vigils in over 3000 cities around the world. On every continent, countless thousands of people, just like you and me, added their voices to the call for peace. Some vigils drew thousands, and some drew hundreds, while others drew a handful of family and friends.

Here in the Twin Cities, there were numerous gatherings, including a few thousand at Lake Harriet. For me, I attended a small group at the University of Minnesota, outside the Northrop Auditorium and overlooking the most scenic view on campus. Most of the students were away for Spring Break, drinking themselves into oblivion. Lucky bastards.

These may seem like dark days for the anti-war crowd. "President" Bush is finally going to have his precious war, the Neoconservative Hawks are on the path to their empire, and Dick Cheney (and Halliburton) will get his oil.

That brutal dictator, Saddam Hussein, will be replaced with, um, well, whatever it is we have in Afghanistan. And hopefully, only a few thousand civilians will be killed in the process; at least, until the human rights organizations come in and start counting the bodies.

The sad story of history is that powerful men often have their way. "Manifest Destiny," the Spanish-American War, McCarthy-ism, Jim Crow, Vietnam. Iraq is but the latest chapter in that story, and, yes, there will be more tragedies in the future. Such is the nature of the human condition.

By all accounts, it may seem to you that the peace movement has failed; that we have no real voice; that all our protests and letter campaigns and candlelight vigils mount to nothing. Goodness knows, the American media, dominated by greedy corporations and right-wing extremists, will pound that into your heads every day. Get with the winning side! Don't be a trouble-maker! You want to be a real patriot, don't you?

Don't believe any of it.

The anti-war movement has been a resounding success. Consider that it took Americans years before coming to grips with the horrors of the Vietnam War. Today, millions have taken to the streets before a single shot is fired. Hundreds of thousands march, time and time again, on Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and all points in between. All this happens while we are being told by the "liberal" media that Americans are united behind Bush.

Around the world, people of all colors, creeds, and nations have come together in peace and unity. Millions have taken to the streets of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia; the scientists in Antarctica have even joined in on the action. Across every nation, vast majorities of the people oppose Bush's preemptive war on Iraq; without backing by the UN, the opposition is almost unanimous. These are historic events; we are witnessing the greatest voice for democracy the world has ever seen.

And it is at the United Nations that we have met our greatest success. After the 15-0 approval of Security Council Resolution 1441, it would seem all but inevitable that the Bush Administration would eventually win a second vote authorizing war. But we took to the streets, and made our voices heard. Think about that. The White House tried every trick up its sleeve: phony evidence, scare tactics, almost $50 billion worth in bribes, threats, intimidation, illegal wiretapping.

At the end of the day, despite all of the pressure, the nations on the Security Council adhered to the will of the people. With only four votes to speak of, the Bush Administration turned tail and ran, refusing to even "show their cards" as Bush had promised. This is, without question, the worst diplomatic fiasco in decades.

When the bombs start falling, remember this, my friends: while we could not stop Mr. Bush from taking Iraq, we robbed him of the one thing that matters most of all. Mr. Bush has been robbed of his legitimacy. And nothing can ever bring that back.

Your thoughts, prayers, and efforts have succeeded, and Providence and history will judge what we have done. We have spoken out for the voiceless, the powerless, the hungry and the naked. We have spoken out for those nameless thousands of innocent civilians who deserve the same human rights as you and me. Conquering a nation that has hurt no one will never do that. Democracy can never be achieved at the barrel of a gun.

So I want you to reflect on this, and remember that this will not be in vain. And our voices will be needed now, more than ever. When the war starts this week, you owe it to the world to make your voice heard. Light a candle in your window, attend your local peace vigil, make up some protest signs, write to your elected leaders (and yes, Bush, too), take to the streets.

Ralph Wiggum Quits

Huh. That was strange. The whole Sarah Palin saga was strange, just surreal. I almost wish she isn't suddenly leaving in advance of a major scandal. The crazy behavior would only add to the legend. Heh heh heh hehh....but, yeah, this is the end of the line for Ralph Wiggum. She lived on a whole other plane of goofy.

The Revolution Continues

Evening video from Tehran, June 29. Something is fundamentally broken in Iran's political system. The people are not going to lie down and stay quiet. The race continues.

Art Gallery - Duct Tape My Mind (2003)

February 20, 2003

Sometimes I wonder about this country we live in. Are Americans the most gullible people in the world? Are we the most paranoid? Why are we such complete suckers? Perhaps this is what you get when your society treats intelligence like a social disease. We're so edgy, so scared from what happened to us and what may happen again, so willing to blindly accept everything our leaders sell us. And we're being played for suckers and chumps. Don't believe me? My case in point can be summed up in two words: duct tape.

The Bush Administration, never tiring of issuing their vague "terrorist warnings," abruptly decided to move their color-coded terrorist threat level to "Code Orange." We were never given a reason why, not that we were ever given reasons in the past. You just have to trust us, they say. We have every good reason to believe that somehow, somewhere, something bad may or may not happen. We just can't tell you why we know, or how we figured this out. You just have to trust us.

Six weeks later, it will leak out that it was all a fraud, but the dumb proles never bother to read newspapers, so they never find out. Reading is for geeks and losers. The popular kids watch Fear Factor and buy duct tape, because, uh, um, it's what you're supposed to do.

Art Gallery - Introspection (2003)

February 4 , 2003

Waking up on Saturday morning, I was greeted with the headline of the New York Times' website. I had to rub my eyes and read again; was that a snafu, or did I just read something about the Challenger explosion? Once reality quickly set in, I had the sudden urge to check my watch and make sure it wasn't 1986.

Sadly, the realization of the here and now was staring me in the face. Another shuttle, another seven astronauts taken away in a horrific fireball. Even now, days later, it all seems so unreal. Inside, I felt as though I had taken a hard punch to my gut. I cannot honestly say what most Americans were feeling, and are feeling now; that's just what it felt to me.

I remember back when the Challenger was destroyed. I was in an eighth-grade classroom - whatever subject I can't remember - when one of the teachers burst into the room, exclaiming something of how the space shuttle exploded after launch. Minutes later, the Principal relayed the message to all the students in the prison. Err, school. Whatever. The Challenger was gone, in any case, just like that.

This was something that was very hard for young kids to process, especially children who were born after the glory days of the Space Race: Sputnik, John Glenn, the spacewalk, the Moon Landing, Skylab. We had read about the risks of space travel, and were taught about the three American astronauts who died atop a rocket. But this all seemed so, well, possible. Maybe the Russians had failures, but not us. We were the ones who conquered space. Watching those old "Star Trek" reruns, it was no surprise that the Starship Enterprise was essentially an American vessel. Such science-fiction seemed almost inevitable; we would be playing chess with the HAL computer in no time.

The explosion of Challenger took all that away in an instant. In that violent flash, we were shown how arrogant and confident and vulnerable we were. On that day, and the months after, it almost seemed as though the space dream was fading away. Maybe this was just something we did back in the '60s, to show up the Communists.

But we returned to space. When the first shuttle launch after the disaster took place, it seemed the whole world was watching. It probably was. When a new space shuttle was built, the whole world watched again. After a time, though, we stopped watching. The whole routine of flying into space was just that, a routine. Again.

Now, we lost the Columbia, the original, and I'm feeling numb again. I remember twenty years ago, when the Columbia first launched, when it first orbited the Earth, when it first landed. It was amazing. I was only eight years old, but I knew I was watching history; such moments are rare.

But what happened? What have we really done since that day? When reading about the loss of Columbia, observers remark how casually the younger generation seems to react. Sure, the young people are sad, in a general way, but there's nothing approaching the feeling we felt before. Why is that? Have we become desensitized to violence all around us? Have we become so conditioned by the mass media, the 24-hour news channels that perpetually feed us fear and dread? Have we simply become numb after the shock of 9/11? Must everything come back to that?

The harder part is still to come. We will, once again, I fear, learn the details of the explosion, of why those foam tiles failed, of why Columbia's left wing suffered a sharp rise in temperature, of why nobody except everyone watching noticed the same left wing take damage in takeoff. We will, just as with Challenger, learn of a NASA increasingly willing to cut corners and ignore safety warnings; increasingly pressured to function with less and less money; increasingly desperate to grab the attention of an American public that has tuned out, closing outer space, closing out the world, closing in on themselves.

Sure, we have an International Space Station, but what else? What happened to the Moon? What happened to Mars? What happened to the Solar System? What happened to our national sense of purpose, of adventure? America used to be more than SUVs and big-screen televisions. What happened to us?

New Feature - Art Gallery

I'm starting a new feature here at videogames of the DAMNED, the art gallery. These are the paintings from DanielThomas.org, which will now begin the long and slow migration here. My "main" website, which was born in January, 2003, hasn't been touched in any meaningful degree for a couple years, and at this point, it's unlikely I'll work with it again. In fact, I may have no choice, since Joe Osburn, my old roommate who hosted the site at his tech job, has now moved on to work somewhere else, and while he's moved my site to a secure server, I don't have the access codes for Dreamweaver! Ack!

That's okay. I've moved my center of gravity to the blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. If I had extensive blogs and social networking sites back in 2K3, I would likely have never built my own website from scratch. But I'm still immensely proud of it, and I think it's a model of efficiency and design that was a necessity in the age of dial-up.

Anyway, I'm going to be posting the paintings from the art galleries, with the original essays or descriptions that went with them. Fortunately, DanielThomas.org is still alive and well, if you want to go there, too. Best of both worlds.

Blog Heads-Up

A heads-up to anyone visiting this blog. I've written a small mountain of material from my original website, DanielThomas.org, which most likely will begin migrating to this blog. I wrote a lot of videogame reviews and essays and such, and I'd like to keep it preserved under one big roof.

I know that videogames of the DAMNED can seem a bit of a beast; this blog has veered radically from games to music to politics and back again at the drop of a hat. I make no apologies for that; I did this in my 20s with my zines, influenced by the great, sprawling double albums like Physical Grafitti and the White Album and Songs in the Key of Life.

A lot of my writings from DanielThomas.org go back to 2003, which is getting further and further away. Hopefully, they are aging properly and will still be entertaining today. I've always threatened to turn this vast material into books, and I've worked on projects from time to time. We'll take a look and see where everything stands.