Videogameopolis: Nuclear Throne First Impressions

Independent game developer Vlambeer is no stranger to pain. The tiny two man team, along with occasional collaborators, have witnessed their best efforts stolen by unscrupulous rivals. Until recently, these clones of their games have also found a decent amount of success, discouraging these brilliant creators with a heavy dose of despair. Their fortunes have begun to turn recently, but it seems that they've decided to inflict some of that pain on others. Nuclear Throne is that pain, and it's exhilarating.

Nuclear Throne is the latest game to take inspiration from the "roguelike" genre, which is known for heavily randomized levels, high difficulty, and permanent death of game characters. These types of games give no quarter and no mercy, and only once chance to complete them. Traditionally, it's been a niche genre, due to the high skill level and time investment required. Recent games have taken the principles of these games but quickened the pace and shortening the experience. You can realistically finish in a couple hours, once you've played enough to not die within the first few minutes.

Vinylmation Problems: The Wide Spectrum of Collectors

As pointed out in the evaluation of trade boxes, Vinylmation fans have a wide range of concerns and desires, many of which directly contradict each other. These conflicting views come from a wide range of goals that collectors have. Each collector brings their own personal quirks that may place them in conflict with the collecting of others.
Often, collectors see the hobby only from their personal viewpoint. They fail to take the goals of others into consideration, and thus think that Disney's decisions are obviously wrong or problems are easy to fix. By understanding the various types of traders, all the factors become clear that must be balanced for a healthy hobby and collecting community.

Meet Lil' Joe, Epcot's New Manatee

The zoos and aquatic attractions of Florida work together to aid and preserve manatee, gentle giants often injured by pollution and boat propellers. Epcot's Living Seas pavilion is no exception, housing a small manatee rehabilitation facility inside the larger aquariums. By law, manatees are cared for as wild creatures, with care focused on the eventual release of the animals

For the last couple years, Disney has housed two manatees that survived boat strikes, named Lou and Vail. Both suffered serious injuries that left their tails in tatters, which made release difficult. It seems Vail has either been transferred to another facility or been released, as he's no longer at Epcot.

The Misanthrope's Guide to Proper Disney World Parking

Part of the Misanthrope's Guide to Disney World, a series of posts on surviving the theme parks for people who hate people. The main guide page can be found here, with links to previous posts.

Parking in theme parks is often one of the most miserable parts of the day. In the morning, it's the arduous, overwhelming hassle that bleary eyed visitors must undertake before they are truly awake. In the evening, it's the last obstacle for exhausted tourists as they fight alternating weariness and rage as they sit in unmoving traffic.

Having acquired excessive land and foreseeing the potential nightmares, Disney designed parking lots with minimal hassles and maximum capacity in mind. Parking areas are massive, flow through multiple entrances into carefully guided spots, and enter from and exit directly to major roads. Everything is designed to minimize the likelihood of traffic jams and remove most of the hassles that make the beginning and end of the day so painful.

Unfortunately, Disney forgot one thing when they planned this perfect parking solution. They failed to account for the fact that many of the people parking their cars every day are inconsiderate, reckless buffoons. Unless a mandatory driving class is required before using the parking lots, there is most likely no way to eliminate the problem of bad motorists. However, these guidelines may help alleviate a few cases of theme park road rage.

Vinylmation Problems: The Trouble with Trade Boxes

 Usually I write Vinylmation articles for the site VinylmationWorld.com, but this is a topic that falls a bit outside its usual content and tone. As such, I thought it more appropriate on my blog.

Vinylmation fans, like any fans really, have an ever changing variety of complaints and issues with the hobby. Many of these issues can never be resolved, as they often contradict each other. For example, the casual collector would like easier to find items at cheaper prices, while those looking for rarity or profit want small edition sizes that make vinyls exclusive and expensive. It's a balancing act to please all the different varieties of fans, and there is no way to make everyone completely happy.

However, there is one problem area that most collectors can agree is an issue. Trade boxes, both mystery and clear, were meant to give Vinylmation buyers a way to exchange blind boxed figures they didn't want for something better. As the hobby has grown older, numerous factors have combined to make these trading boxes virtually useless to all but the most casual collectors. Trading in any figure purchased at retail price seems a foolhardy edeavour, as what will be received in return is usually an undesirable vinyl, one that was most likely on clearance or found in the outlet stores.

Many Vinylmation fans believe that this is a problem easily fixed, and that Disney's lack of action is laziness or disregard for the hobby. In truth, there are a lot of factors that prevent an easy solution. While there may be ways to fix the problem, understanding the contributing factors makes the problem's complexity clearer.

Videogameopolis: The Joy of Frustration

One of the great perils of nostalgia is that it often leaves people remembering fondly things that seemed terrible at the time. Everyone's heard some variation of the line, "When I was young, I walked to school barefoot in the snow uphill both ways, and I loved it." In the world of video games, there's a growing nostalgia for the extreme difficulty of games from their early days. The argument goes that games today are a shadow of their former selves, because they're too accessible, and there isn't enough challenge.

These arguments tend to overlook many factors for the differences in difficulty. Early video games were often designed first for the arcade, where a high level of challenge forced players to spend more of their precious quarters to continue playing. These games also often had unwieldy  or flawed controls, due to the primitive technology, that unintentionally made the experience harder. There's also the truth that while the default challenge of modern games is not insurmountable by most, these games usually include higher difficulty levels as an option, or focus on other concepts like story over punishing mechanics.

The Misanthrope's Guide to Epcot's Gran Fiesta Tour

Part of the Misanthrope's Guide to Disney World, a series of posts on surviving the theme parks for people who hate people. The main guide page can be found here, with links to previous posts.

World Showcase is the true heart of Epcot, and the Mexico Pavilion is one of World Showcase's most stunning countries. Fronted by a giant facade that resembles an Aztec temple, the entire experience is housed inside. A small museum of Mexican culture and history provides the entry into the greater pavilion, a perpetually moonlit courtyard buzzing with life. Street vendors sell numerous wares, nearby stores entice customers with pricier goods, and a tequila bar tempts the thirsty. A romantic restaurant sits along the water that flows past another ancient temple, with a volcano looming in the distance.

Hidden in the back of the pavilion is one of World Showcase's only two rides, three if you count transportation boats. The Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros has one of the longest names of any Disney attraction, but that's not the only thing that makes it unique. This is a dark ride, tourism film, and animated adventure all viewed from a slow moving boat. It's not the best or most exciting ride, but it's one of the most random.