Nintendo Gamecube: A Retrospective

I absolutely LOVE the Gamecube. I mean, I love all things Nintendo, but as time goes on, I fall more and more in love with the Gamecube. Yes, even more than the Super Nintendo. And that's saying a lot since it's been my favorite console of all time ever since its inital release in 1991. I enjoyed the Gamecube back in 2001 but during its lifetime I felt it was a step down from NES, SNES, and N64. When I got a Wii, I even cared for the Gamecube so little that I sold my console. Sure the Wii was backwards compatible but I don't get rid of a console unless I really didn't care for it, as is the case for the Wii when I got a Wii U. But years later, just 2 years ago, in 2012, I began to regret selling my Gamecube. The Wii had been a big disappointment to me, and while I said the same thing about the Gamecube during its life, I actually played the shit out of the Gamecube. I bought a ton of games of the console and would consider the Gamecube my "golden era" of gaming. I was in college, had a lot of free time, friends to play the games with, and enough money to buy a new game every week. It was a beautiful time. When Wii came out, I was done with college, and had real bills to pay, so I had less money for games and even less free time to play them. Sure, that really says nothing about the console itself, but perhaps I just don't have the same attachment to the Wii like I did with the Gamecube or any other console before it, but even now, I look at Wii games, trying to fill up a small library of games and I'm really blown away by how few games for the Wii actually interest me. When I look at Gamecube games I don't have, I'm blown away but for a different reason... I'm blown away simply because I can't believe there are so many games that I haven't played that I want to buy for my collection! Even when I look at Super Nintendo games, there are maybe 50 games total that I want in my collection. When I owned an N64 (yes, sadly I sold it a few months ago) I owned approximately 50 games and that was every game I wanted. I was completely done buying games for that system. I enjoyed N64, but I wanted to make room and pay some bills so I decided to give my 64 the cut. It's a decision I've come to regret but it is what it is. Gamecube, along with SNES, is one system I absolutely will not part with. I've already made the mistake of selling my original Gamecube console and even though I kept most of my games and could play them on Wii, I missed looking at the Gamecube console itself. It's my favorite looking console and has my favorite controller to boot. The Wii and Wii U are nice looking as well but they moreso blend in with the surroundings as opposed to being a nice accent piece within your gaming set-up. I love the SNES but it's not a great looking system. I mean it's old-looking and doesn't go well with other electronics around it, unless it's an NES or N64. Oh, and when I say the Gamecube is a great looking system, I'm talking about the black or platinum color. The indigo color looks like a children's toy and that's probably why many people associated the Cube with being "kiddie". That's also why I got a black one. It's very nice looking.

But in regards to the actual games, the Gamecube has a very strong library. It's relatively small, at 666 games released in North America, but it's much better than the laughable miniscule library of the N64. The Gamecube also had the best 3rd party support of the last 4 consoles, so that's another thing it had going for it. Not only that, a lot of the 3rd party games were actually better on Gamecube than on Playstation 2. The prime example for this  is one of the greatest games of all time, Resident Evil 4. Initially the game was only set to come out on Gamecube but then after a year or two Capcom decided to release the game on PS2, but the game was still superior on Gamecube. The graphics were better, the controller was better, and the game just overall ran better including having shorter loading times. That's another thing I love about the Cube - fast loading times. If you didn't know any better you'd think you were playing from a cartridge, that's how fast it is. I'm not really sure why either. Perhaps it has to do with the mini-disc format they chose to use. But I digress. The Gamecube had a killer selection of both first party and third party games. Don't believe me? Here's a brief list:
• Super Smash Bros. Melee
• Metroid Prime 1 & 2
• Super Mario Sunshine
• Animal Crossing
• Legend of Zelda Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Four Swords Adventures
• Pikmin 1 & 2
• Luigi's Mansion
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
• Mario Power Tennis
• Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
• Mario Party 4-7
• Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
• SSX Tricky, 3, and On Tour
• Resident Evil 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and Code Veronica
• Beyond Good & Evil
• Tales of Symphonia
• Skies of Arcadia Legends
...So do you really need me to keep going? That list is just a fraction of the great games available. You know what the best part is? There are so many that I haven't played yet so it's like I have a new system without actually getting one!

Gamecube games are generally cheap right now. They won't always be. Once people decide that the Gamecube is officially considered "retro", more people will be collecting for it and as a result, prices will skyrocket. Believe me, it's happened with every console since the Atari 2600. Right now people are focused on NES, SNES, and N64. Atari 2600 games used to be ridiculously expensive but now no one wants them and can be found for dirt cheap. Hell, even NES games have been dropping recently. There's a pattern of hills and valleys where a console goes from being brand new to something no one wants to back to being sought after because it's considered retro to being too old to be bothered with. Right now, the Gamecube is collecting dust on a lot of people's shelves. If you're old enough to remember the Super Nintendo coming out, you should be old enough remember people practically throwing their NES's out or selling them for peanuts at garage sales. I definitely remember that. No one wanted an NES once the SNES came out, and they wanted it even less when the N64 came out. Somewhere around the launch of the Gamecube, people became interested in the NES again. They saw it as a collector's item and thus began the whole "retro gaming" revolution. Later on, people migrated towards the SNES, and now the N64. In time, perhaps at the end of Wii U's lifecycle, Gamecube will be considered retro. People will begin to seek Gamecubes and start collecting for it. So in a way, I'm ahead of the game. I don't care whether a console is considered new, old, retro, or whatever. I only care about a console if it has good games. The Gamecube has that. It has more good games than I know what to do with. And most games I never played or sold and plan to rebuy are going for less than $20 a pop right now. Hell, just the other day I bought Battalion Wars, Mario Golf, and Geist for $20 total. All complete and in mint condition too. How can you argue with that? What game, new or old, costs that little? Don't get me wrong - there are definitely games that will fetch a pretty penny (Cubivore, Mega Man X Collection, Phantasy Star Online 1 & 2, etc) but the majority of Gamecube games are very affordable. If you're ever planning on getting into Gamecube collecting, now is the time.

While the Gamecube didn't change the way we play games, it opened a lot of doors. For instance, the prototype for Wii U's controller was hidden in the Game Boy Advance to Gamecube link. Games like Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles required that each player link a GBA to the Cube to use as their second screen. It was a hassle, and very pricey if everyone didn't have their own GBA and cable, but it was a great idea and one that is being put into use by the Wii U today. Another thing the Gamecube did well was introduce new IPs and reinvigorate old ones. For instance, Animal Crossing has become a big success ever since its debut in 2002 on Gamecube. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles enjoyed decent success and 3 sequels after it debuted in 2004 on Gamecube. Not to mention Pikmin, one of the best new Nintendo franchises of the 21st century, debuted on Gamecube. It brought new gameplay ideas with a nostalgic feeling which created an engaging and memorable experience, just like Metroid, Zelda, and Mario all did over a decade before it. As far as reinventing franchises go, Metroid Prime is the prime (no pun intended) example. Few people thought the transition from 2D to 3D would go as well as it did. Hell, even I thought it was going to turn out terribly. Luckily we were wrong, and Metroid Prime is often considered one of the best, if not the best, game on Gamecube, if not one of the best of all time. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is another example of a success story. While Ocarina of Time usually still considered the best in the series, Wind Waker is definitely a contender for the top 3, and my personal favorite in the series. When Nintendo originally showed off Wind Waker, peoples' stomachs churned. They hated the new cartoony look of the game. I, however, liked it. I really liked the new art direction and felt it was a fresh take on the series. And it was. After people got over the initial shock of the cel-shaded graphics, they actually enjoyed the game. A lot. The game even still looks great to this day. And I'm not talking about the HD version on Wii U. I'm talking about the original on Gamecube. Seriously, boot it up. It still looks amazing! Come to think of it, so do a lot of Gamecube games. Metroid Prime is still a marvel to look at. The water effects in Mario Sunshine look good enough to drink. And Resident Evil 4 still is an amazing masterpiece in every sense of the word. Speaking of RE4, that's a reinvention success story if there ever was one. While I disliked the more action oriented direction that RE5 and RE6 took, RE4 was the perfect blend between old and new. It is one of the few games that actually exceeded my expectations upon playing it. It's also one of the few games of the 21st century that I have finished multiple times and on every difficulty setting. Oh, not to mention Resident Evil 4 is cited as one of the greatest video games of all time, and is also in my personal top 10 games of all time. In fact, the Gamecube is the console to own for any true Resident Evil fan. It has Resident Evil Zero, the remake of the original, 4, and the ports of 2, 3, and Code Veronica. In my opinion each version of those games are best played on Gamecube. The controller is a perfect fit for the Resident Evil games, and 2, 3, 4, and Code Veronica are all the best versions of each on the Cube. Zero could only be played on Gamecube or Wii and the edge definitely goes to the Cube. The only one that's up for debate is the remake of Resident Evil. While I personally love that version, some purists prefer the original. Either way, all the best Resident Evils are here.

I could literally go on forever about how much I love the Gamecube. It is a paragon of video games. Sure it wasn't as popular as the PS2 or Xbox back in its heyday but even as far as specs go it was the superior system. For those who never owned a Gamecube, you really missed out. Now is your chance to correct that mistake. Buy a Gamecube. They go for around $40 to $50 for one in working condition. Buy a few games. You can get many of them for less than $20. It is totally worth your time. I promise.

My Gaming Memories

I have been a gamer nearly my entire life and I am going to be 31 soon. It was Christmas of 1986 I got my NES Action Set. From the moment I plugged in that console and hit the power, I was hooked. It took me all of my childhood to finish Super Mario Bros. and I enjoyed every minute of it. Not to mention Super Mario Bros.2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Legend of Zelda, DuckTales, Chip n Dale's Rescue Rangers, Excitebike, etc. The list goes on. Actually, I never owned too many NES games. After all, games were very expensive back then. Okay, well technically they're about the same price as today but when you consider inflation, games are much, much cheaper nowadays. But I digress. I think I may have had something like 10 NES games when I was younger, if even that. Let's see if I can remember them: Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt, Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, Excitebike, Legend of Zelda, DuckTales, Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, Mickey Mousecapade, Tom and Jerry, Battletoads....wow I think that was it. Most games I played up until I was in college were rented from Blockbuster or at a friend's house. But yeah the NES was awesome and I was absolutely hooked on video games after that.

Then came the Super Nintendo and I was blown away. I had to have it! I remember going to a friend's house and playing Suoer Mario World and Super Mario Kart for hours. And we were so pumped up after finally beating Super Mario World. I actually didn't get around to buying my own SNES until around 1994 or so, which I bought with my birthday money. It might have been 1995 actually. I'm not completely sure. But I got the Super Mario World/All-Stars cartridge with it. Like NES, I owned almost no games for it. I remember buying Donkey Kong Country used from Funcoland and my dad came home one day with Super Mario RPG for me, which absolutely hooked me on RPGs. I loved that game to death. Then one fateful day I was taken to Blockbuster and I saw this giant box in the SNES section. On the front cover it said "Earthbound" I looked at the box and I thought to myself, "This looks like an RPG" and seeing as I was new to genre I was eager to find others like Super Mario RPG. I brought Earthbound home, played it, and HATED it! But for whatever reason I rented it again later on and somehow fell in love with it! I only got to Saturn Valley that time but I saw the game sitting in a case in a used games store called MicroPlay for a measly $30 (well, it was a lot of money to me at 13 years old but nowadays the game goes for $100+) and after playing it all the way through and taking ages to beat it, it was forever known as my favorite game of all time. No game has ever dethroned it since. Of course I went on to get many more games for the console: Donkey Kong Country 2, Donkey Kong Country 3, Super Mario Kart, ummm....wait I know I had more than just this.... or did I? Like I said, I rented the vast majority of the games I played. So I didn't get to own that many SNES games back then. Oh, and I also had an original Game Boy at some point but not many games for it.

Then came the Nintendo 64. I remember playing Super Mario 64 at Blockbuster. I was dying to have that console! I wanted it even more than I wanted SNES! I actually rented the console at blockbuster with Super Mario 64 and played it that way at first. It was great! This was also the first time I subscribed to Nintendo Power, which made me even more eager to get the system. I finally did in March 1997, just after my 14th birthday. Of course I used my birthday for it. However, I didn't have enough money for both the console and a game and the Nintendo 64 originally didn't come with one. So I had an empty console for some time. I rented games for the time being until I finally bought Super Mario 64 and Mario KKart at Funcoland. During the lifetime of the N64 I had a lot more games for it than for SNES and NES but still not enough. I would read about new releases in Nintendo Power, obsess over them with my friend and then we would run out on release day to go get them. Our biggest obsession at the time was Banjo-Kazooie. We were dying to have that game so bad that we had our parents drop us off at Wal-Mart so we could play it for an hour or two and then we got McDonald's Chicken Selects afterwards while we waited for our parents pick us up. Fun times. I miss getting that excited over a new game.

Then there was the GameCube, the console which has slowly been taking first place as my favorite console of all time. The Gamecube was the first console I bought right at launch. Well, maybe a week after it came out. But it was the console I got closest to launch day. Even the Wii I got maybe a month after it came out. But I literally just started college a few months before GameCube came out and, oddly enough, I finished college just months before the Wii came out, so the GameCube was entirely my college console. I started working at 16 and by college, I was able to buy my own games so I went crazy and bought any game that interested me in the slightest. So I owned a ton of GameCube games. I eventually bought a PS2 a few years later but only owned a handful of games for that. At the time, GameCube was my least favorite Nintendo console and that's also around the time I started buying games for older consoles. I collected mostly for N64, but bought some SNES games as well til Gamestop no longer carried them. I also went nuts buying Game Boy Advance games and would bring it with me to college and play it between classes...or whenever I skipped classes. Ah, good times. I could honestly go on forever about GameCube so I'll save it for its own post, but I played the shit out this system. More than any other. Between Super Smash Bros Melee, Mario Kart Double Dash, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, oh and let's not forget Animal Crossing! Man, the original Animal Crossing was the best! I love New Leaf for the 3DS but the original still has the most charm in my opinion. One of my favorite things about the GameCube is the fact that I owned a plethora of games and yet there are still a lot of games I haven't played and want to, or just recently played for the first time. So there's still some discovery involved.  The vast majority of NES, SNES, and N64 games I have played or at least tried to some extent. There's still a certain amount of mystery with the GameCube since while I have played a huge chunk of its library, there is still more left to discover.

And it's all downhill from here. Well, not necessarily. The Wii was good but not great. It's my least favorite Nintendo system mostly due to the awkward controller and pointless motion controls. Not only that, I just felt the game selection wasn't as good. Okay, I got the Wii about a month after launch day and I was really excited, sure, but I just didn't get the same feeling about it. Perhaps it was because I was getting older. After all, I was 23 when the console came out. Not necesarily old but old for getting excited over a new console. I felt like at that point, a new console was just something you buy. I wasn't 

The State of Wii U

The Wii U is in a bad state, or so people are saying. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but it's something along the lines of PS4 selling 4 million, Xbox One selling 3 million, and Wii U also selling 3 million. Now, that doesn't sound too bad on paper, but when you consider the fact that Wii U has been out for over a year already, meanwhile, PS4 and Xbox One have only been out a little over a month. This means that aside from Virtual Boy, Wii U is Nintendo's lowest-selling console ever!

There are a few reasons why I think Wii U is selling poorly. The first is the fact that people don't know about it. Anyone I know that isn't a hardcore gamer thinks the Wii U is just a peripheral for the original Wii. Given how bad the marketing for the console is, this is completely understandable. Or they think the tablet controller is the console itself. No one knows what Wii U.

I thought about it for a while and here is what I came up with:

1. The Wii U name is terrible. It sounds like the Wii, just with a U at the end. If they named it something completely different, like, I don't know, let's just go with the Nintendo Karma, because it sounds cool. Hypothetically, if the Wii U was instead called the Nintendo Karma, it would signify that this is something new. No one has a Nintendo Karma. People would be more curious to check it out because the name alone would make it more mysterious. People like mysterious. The Wii U just sounds like a regular Wii but with added features. People think to themselves, "I already have a Wii. Why would I want another one?" And rightfully so. It does play Wii games, but that's not the system's selling point. Its selling point is the big tablet-esque controller which people think is just an accessory to the Wii they already own. Had they changed the name to literally anything else, I think it would already be selling better.

2. Nintendo is still behind the times. Though the original Wii was a powerhouse in terms of sales, its specs were way behind the times. Sure, games like Super Mario Galaxy and Donkey Kong Country Returns looked pretty good, they are in no way HD and don't even compare to PS3 or Xbox 360. Graphics aren't everything, but Nintendo also opted to not have a universal account like Xbox Live or PSN. The Virtual Console idea was a brilliant idea - one of Nintendo's best in recent years. But the fact that the games you purchased were tied to that system made it pretty crappy if your Wii console ever broke. Not that Nintendo's consoles are prone to breaking unlike PS3 and Xbox 360. Seriously, Nintendo's quality is top-notch. My 20-year-old SNES works better than my PS3. But I digress. Having a universal account would've alleviated a lot of problems if people ever lost their data or traded in their console or what have you. Let's say you bought a Wii U, and purchased, I don't know, 50 Virtual Console games. Your Wii U breaks. Or you trade it in. Either way you're losing 50 Virtual Console games. A year goes by and you regret selling your Wii U. You buy a new one. And now you have zero Virtual Console games. All that money you spent on those digital games are gone. Whereas if you did the same thing with a PS3, you would be able to easily re-download all those games on PSN you purchased, which is fantastic. That's the way is should be. Nintendo tries to encourage people to purchase their games digitally but they're not giving us the right tools to do it with. Which brings me to my next point: the Wii U's hard drive is ridiculously small. It's the year 2014 and people need a lot of hard drive space. I have an 80 GB PS3 and that still isn't enough. Thankfully PS4 shipped with 500 GB hard drives, as far as I know. If Wii U had that amount of space, I'd download every game. I don't want to pick and choose which games I want on my console at any given time, I want them all on my console at the same time. That's part of what makes Virtual Console and digital downloads great. No need to use a disc or re-download. Because, let's be honest, if you had to choose between putting a disc in the console, which takes 10 seconds or re-downloading the entire game to your hard drive, which could take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, I'm going with the disc every single time. Luckily Virtual Console games don't take up too much room so I can have a decent amount on there at once. And yes you can get an external hard drive and expand the memory but the point is, you shouldn't have to. Let's face it: 8 GB and even 32 GB just doesn't cut it.

3. Where are the games? This is possibly the BIGGEST reason why the Wii U isn't selling. Let's pretend for a moment that the Wii U had a 500 GB hard drive, with a universal Nintendo account, was called something else, and had a fantastic marketing campaign. The console still doesn't have any games! New Super Mario Bros. U is good but it's very "been there, done that". I'm tired of the New Super Mario Bros. series. They've been pumping them out like there's no tomorrow and there has been very little that separates them from one another. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD is a great remaster of a masterpiece, but, it's by no means a "must-have". It's great for people who either never played it on GameCube or for people who no longer have a GameCube. Otherwise if you still have a GameCube, why not just play it on there? It's the same game. I actually own both, but I'm part of the exception. I support Nintendo no matter what. The vast majority of gamers out there aren't like me. Then there's Pikmin 3, which is fun but again is no system seller. It's great for people who were curious about the series and never played it, or for people who loved the first two games on GameCube. If you ask me, it's not as fun as either of those, but still a fun title to play. Finally, there's Super Mario 3D World, which is one of the best 3D Mario games of all time, and yes I mean possibly even better than Super Mario 64, better than Sunshine, and better than the Galaxy games. And for the record, I think despite its aged appearance, Super Mario 64 is the king of 3D Mario games, even today. Imagine they remade that game in HD? Oh man that would be awesome! But as usual, I digress. But back to my original point: these games aren't enough to sell the system. The console has been out over a year already. There should've been at least twice the amount of great games out by now. It also doesn't help that many third party developers are shying away from the Wii U for whatever reason. Not to mention the fact that New Super Mario Bros. was the only good game that the Wii U had for nine months! How can you go that long with absolutely no new game? From the time The Wii U launched with Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U, it took Nintendo nine months to release their next big game, which was Pikmin 3. And again, Pikmin 3 was good but not a system seller. Then a month later, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD came out, but again, not a system seller. Finally Super Mario 3D World came out in late November, which actually is a system seller. So it took them a year to finally put out a system-selling game. What is Nintendo if not one of the greatest software developers? Even if you don't like their hardware, you have to admit their games are top-notch. I mean, that's the whole reason people even buy NIntendo consoles still. People don't buy Nintendo consoles for third party games. Even despite its tiny storage space, its misleading name, and its non-universal Nintendo account, if Nintendo came out with at least 4 killer "must have" games in the first year, maybe 1 every 3 months, the Wii U would have been a real "must have" console, even without third party support.

So there are the three big reasons I think Wii U is not selling well. The name, the non-existent universal account, the very underwhelming specs, and the lack of system-selling games. It's a shame because the Wii U actually is a good system. The tablet controller is very innovative and quite comfortable despite its bulky appearance. Even the Wii U Pro Controller is one of the best controllers Nintendo ever made. The HD graphics, while not on par with PS4 and Xbox One, still look fantastic! It's a very affordable, small, and quiet system, which were part of both GameCube and Wii's selling point. While it didn't work too well for GameCube, it worked wonders for Wii. The Wii U could've been a contender but Nintendo's follies have prevented that so far.

But not all hope is lost. Nintendo could still turn it around. It most likely won't become the top selling console of this generation, but they can make up for the first bad year with a succession of a bunch of good years. 2014 has a few great games for the Wii U coming out; games that will become system sellers: Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, and Super Smash Bros. 4 (or whatever it's going to be called). And I'm sure there will be a few more big titles along the way. A few gaming blogs I read suggested that Nintendo de-emphasize the Wii U tablet controller and instead package the Wii U with the Pro Controller. I think it could work as long as every game is compatible for both controllers. If they're going to do that, they have to make the Wii U tablet controller not required. I think packaging the Wii U with the Pro Controller and lowering its price point at least $50 would be a very smart move, to be honest. Not only would the controller appeal to a wider audience, but the fact that the console is even cheaper than it already is would help the console sell even more. Another thing that gives me hope for the console is the 3DS. The 3DS is the current best selling gaming-centric hardware on the market, and it got a really slow start too. I remember reading in 2011 that the 3DS was going to be a modern day Virtual Boy. People predicted that the 3DS was doomed for failure due to smart phones and tablets and that people were no longer interested in a handheld that only played games. Boy, were they wrong! While the 3DS isn't selling as rapidly as the original DS did, it's still selling very, very well. The 3DS did have a very slow start, though. 2011's games were virtually non-existent. It had Pilotwings Resort until Ocarina of Time 3D came out and...well, that's about it. 2012 saw a few more good releases, but in 2013, Nintendo really hit it out of the park. 2013 was the year of the 3DS. Home run after home run for the 3DS last year. Fire Emblem, Paper Mario Sticker Star, Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Animal Crossing New Leaf, Pokemon X & Y, and of course Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. All in one year. If the Wii U has a year like that, whether it's this year or next year, I think the Wii U will be just fine. Have faith, Nintendo fans. The Wii U could still be a powerhouse.

Where to Begin..?

To those that know me, it's no secret that I love video games. For better or worse, they are a big part of who I am today. Ever since I received the NES on Christmas of 1986, I've been in love with them. Well, not in love. You know what I mean. But for 28 years I have been a gamer, ever since I first put the Super Mario Bros. cartridge into the NES console and pushed the power button. Who knew that that Christmas I would find a hobby that would consume a large portion of my free time for at least 3 decades? Certainly not me! And I have no plans of stopping now, though admittedly, I am a much less serious gamer nowadays as compared to yesteryear, and more of a collector. But don't get me wrong, I still play games regularly and moreso I do a lot of reflecting on the games I have played. That's what this blog is all about.

So, why "Kraken Soup for the Video Game Lover's Soul"? Because it just sounded right. I'm sure you've heard of those "Chicken Soup for the (blank) Lover's Soul" books. If not, you should look them up. They're pretty good. But I didn't want to use the term "Chicken Soup". Everyone likes chicken soup. Chicken soup has been done to death. So I chose Kraken Soup. It's a minor reference to my favorite video game of all time, Earthbound. Plus, no one actually eats kraken soup. What exactly is in kraken soup? So that sense of mystery is one that (hopefully) shrouds my blog. People will be drawn to my blog out of mere curiosity. Or maybe not. Who's to say? But this is my blog. A blog that has been a good two years in the making. My original intention was to write a World of Warcraft blog but seeing as I have recently been cured of the bug, I no longer play the game and thus no longer have any interest in writing about it, although it will probably come up in a blog post at some point. Then after months of contemplating, I decided it will be a video game review blog. Not long after that, I scrapped that idea because, to me, it was too formal, and everyone and their mother has a video game review blog. Sure, I will write up reviews from time to time, but they will be informal. In fact, almost everything I write will be informal to an extent. This is much less a gaming news blog than me just pouring my thoughts into a blank text box. I think about video games pretty often, but I figured, "why keep these thoughts to myself?" and thus, Kraken Soup for the Video Game Lover's Soul was born!

So now that I have finished my long introduction, I can finally write something of value. Or not - that's your call. Lately I have done a lot of reflecting on my status as a gamer. I mean, more than usual. Ever since I started working full time 6 years ago my dedication to gaming has been on a steep decline. I just don't have the money or time to dedicate myself to it like I used to. I still love it as much as I ever have, maybe even moreso today since I have the most amount of video game at my disposal. But like I said before, I do much less actual gaming than I do reflecting on the games I have played in the past. To be quite honest, this current generation of consoles could very well be my last, and I'm fine with that. I love my old consoles and I could play them all for a lifetime. Another great thing about old consoles is the fact that there are still a lot of games I haven't played for them. A lot of them are also much cheaper than brand new, current generation games. I just bought Wario World for the GameCube for $16. What new game costs $16? None. Sure it was used but it was in very good condition, so it might as well have been new. Also, collecting old video games is a hobby in itself. Growing up I was all about playing games, much less about collecting. Now I'm probably about equal part collector and gamer.

Anyway, this blog post was intended to only serve as an introduction, so I'm going to stop here. I'll most likely write up an actual video game-related post later on today. Or maybe not, who knows? Posts will go up as I feel fit, not on any strict schedule, although my intention is to post somewhat regularly. Thanks for reading, feel free to comment, and hopefully I'll see you back here later on! Until then - keep gaming!