It's Story Time (Part V)

This is the fifth and final part of my five part series about story telling!

Why I love VIDEOGAMES...
My early videogame experiences were from the original Nintendo, but only consisted of duck hunt, track and field (with the pre-DDR pads) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I couldn't get past the first two levels of TMNT because I was too young to try and get good enough to not die at an unreasonable fast rate. Videogames have come a long way since then. Many years after my Nintendo days, my sister and I decided to buy a new gaming console, debating between the original Playstation and the Nintendo 64. Everyone was buying the N64, so we decided to travel down the road less traveled and buy the PSX. This is when a new chapter in my life of story telling began and it consisted of Cloud Strife and his battle with Shinra in Final Fantasy VII.

I am a pretty big Final Fantasy fan, so my first little rant is just going to be about the series and what I love about it. If you've never played a Final Fantasy before it's slow and tedious, but the story line is usually absolutely fantastic (pun totally intended). More so for FFVII and onward the graphics have been absolutely astounding for the time period. I recently got Final Fantasy XIII and I just get blown away every time I play. There's also a lot of character development. The story usually brings players through the past of each of the playable characters and their stories. Bringing all those small stories together on top of the main story, which is usually very intriguing by itself, creates an experience of a life time. (I'm not going to lie, I didn't play FFXI or FFXII. They were kind of weird and mediocre, but FFXIII brings it back to the old school feel a little while adding a whole lot of new and innovative concepts.)

I'm also a big Playstation fan. I don't know what life would be like if my sister and I ended up buying the N64 instead. I eventually bought a PS2 and PS3. My first PS2 was a Japanese model, which meant I could only play Japanese games...yeah I know. Great idea Nathan. I'm also a big Metal Gear Solid fan. I played the first one on PSX and my godbrother bought me a Japanese MGS2 for my Japanese PS2. I still find it amazing that I played and finished the entire game entirely in Japanese. I eventually played it again in English so I can bask in the awesomness of its storyline which I missed the first time around. Later in the series, Metal Gear Solid 4 influenced one of the most impulsive purchases of my entire life.

Two years ago I was at work cruising on Facebook when I saw my friend's profile picture was of Naked Snake from MGS3/4. I realized that MGS4 just came out and I REALLY wanted to play it, but at that time I didn't have a PS3. Solution: buy a PS3 and MGS4. Later that day I went straight from work to Target (yay Target!) and bought a PS3 and MGS4. The PS3 was $400 at the time and games are $60 a pop. MGS4 was an AMAZING game if you can appreciate the decade long story, and to this day I absolutely rave about my PS3 and how it ranks as one of the best, and most impulsive, purchases of my entire life.

Back to story telling. There are a lot of different kinds of games. The good story games are usually open/closed world role playing games and certain first/third person shooters. Playing as a character in a videogame world gives you a sense of attachment. YOU are walking through the cities and towns in an virtual world. YOU decide how to equip yourself. YOU can even sometimes make decisions that shape your virtual world and can alter the storyline for better or worse. Maybe you don't exactly get to create your own world in your head, but it's still a great story telling medium where you can get attached to characters and delve into a world apart from our own.

If you hate movies, TV shows, radio and books you probably have a short attention span and would hopefully find videogaming a little more entertaining since they're interactive and can present a great story in the process. If you don't already play videogames, I believe there is at least one game out there you can enjoy. Also, if you don't already own a Playstation 3 I would highly suggest getting one. It's a great gaming console as well as the fastest Bluray player you can buy. What's not to like?

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So concludes my five part series on story telling. I hope you enjoyed reading and I hope that I have inspired you to experience story telling whether you watch, listen, read or play your way through a good plot. Thanks again, and until next time...

It's Story TIme (Part IV)

This is the fourth part of a five part series about story telling and the mediums in which they are told.

Why I love books...
I said I like the old school feel when listening to talk radio, but books takes that to a whole new level. I never really read anything after I graduated from high school but about a year or so ago I started reading for pleasure again. The first book I read that wasn't for class was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I like somewhat childish novels. I've become a big fan of the Redwall series, yes I'm 22 years old. I also read The Golden Compass which I always thought was a childish book, but it's surprisingly dark and deals with very adult issues.

Anyway, back to story telling. I mentioned it before but I have a pretty creative imagination. I personally don't think there is a better way to paint a picture in my head than reading vivid descriptions in a book. I almost combined this part to this the radio part cause they're similar in how they help me create a landscape or a scene in my mind. Books are generally more descriptive though and sometimes I'll actually stop reading so I can take an extra second to paint that picture. I hate when I watch a movie before reading the book that it's based on because I end up seeing the cast and studio stage from the movie rather than creating my own personal characters and settings. I really like Emma Watson, but she isn't what I imagined Hermione Granger to be like at all.

I'm a slow reader. At least I think I'm a pretty slow reader. I like reading books now because I can read at my own pace. Reading for pleasure is also a one person deal for me. I can probably never do book club stuff and I'm reading stuff for church and talking about it with others every week. I'm having a hard time keeping up cause I can't enjoy reading the books like I would without a deadline. When it comes to my entertainment, whether it's books or whatever, I hate having to wait on other people or have other people wait on me. A lot of times I'd rather just do stuff on my own.

I know a lot of people that don't read for pleasure. In fact I know people that openly say they hate reading. (gasp!) I have to say I used to be one of those people, but now I've fallen deeply in love with reading. If you don't read, pick up an easy book to read and enjoy it. Take your time and give your imagination a whirl.

Side-note...
Going back to the movies based on books. I hate when people don't like movies cause they're not as good as the book. I'm pretty sure there are only a handful of movies, if even that many, that live up to or exceed the awesomeness of the book that it's based on. I personally thought the latest Harry Potter movie, The Half-Blood Prince, was a very well made movie. Yeah, it probably wasn't as good as the book, but who cares. It's not the book, it's the movie. So to all you haters out there, don't judge a movie by its book. (That was clever, I'm so proud of myself for making that up.)