In a Gaming Mood 3 - Shoot the Bastards

Some might say that shooting people is always a good idea. And true, it does have a tendency to solve problems from time to time. When it's not creating more of them. It's kinda like alcohol that way. Of course, shooting without any discrimination at all is never a good thing. Except maybe when those you're shooting are the Nazis.

Hail Friends, this is Drakai of the House of Nidhogg, and I couldn't find any good pictures from the first game so Call of Duty 2 will have to do.

Continuing the trend of firsts, Call of Duty was actually the first FPS I ever played. Sure, Medal of Honor was there as well, but I somehow tended to skip that. And I never even heard of Doom at that age.

The setup was pretty basic. You good guy, shoot bad guys. The bad guys were Nazis (well, German, but still)
, fitting the WWII theme of the game. And they were evil. Well, probably. I don't think any one of them was even named. But, again, Nazis. They probably deserved it.

They did have cool weapons, though.

The single player campaign was rather simple through both games. There were three parts: America, British and Russian. Set in beautifully pixelated versions of Europe and the Sahara. And there were also parts where you got to drive a tank. It... wasn't as fun as it sounds.

The sequel followed a similar story, if adding a little bit more of Africa and Russia. The campaign felt longer, at least. And both parts had some memorable missions.

Like the time you had to rescue a British soldier form a castle. Or the time you had to free another British soldier from a prison camp. Or the assault on a hill in Germany. Or... y'know, D-Day.

I actually wanted to put a few pictures of the player character getting shot here, but surprisingly there aren't any.

After the second game there was apparently another, but I only leaned about that one when number four was released. It was either that or they skipped a step. That one also might've been WWII, but I'm not sure. Then there was World at War, which featured not just German enemies, but also... Japanese, maybe? Asian in any case.

After that things got a more modern turn. The action moved to modern, urban settings, the enemies became some terrorist group or another, and the weapons followed suit.

I played through some of them, but I didn't care for them much. Most every shooter is in a modern setting. It was refreshing to actually have one set earlier in the 20th century. I hear the new Battlefield is before even CoD 1, but... we'll see.

I'm not done with these firsts. There's still a few more before I move on to other topics. So I'll see you a week from now with a new game that introduced me to... something. Or, if you really can't wait, Friday.

IRL 2 - Couch Potato

This is the third of the posts for today, and I'm getting tired so it's gonna be a short one. And also I can't think of anything to write.

Hail Friends, this is Drakai of the House of Nidhogg, and today we'll be taking a look at...

... binge watching?

Sure. Why not.

We all do it. Yes, even you. There's no need to deny it, nobody will think any less of you.

No longer are we stuck in the olden days, where you had to wait, sometimes a whole week, to find out who killied Mr. Burns. No longer do we need to twiddle our thumbs, smothering in tension, waiting to see if Ross will marry... whatshername.

No, I didn't care about that one much.

But now? Just download what you want from the Internet. If it's an older show you can just watch all of it. Sit in front of your computer, or TV, or what have you, and ask somebody close to you to check your pulse in a week. And if the show is ongoing, just do what I do. Don't watch the last episode. I know it seems like kind of a cop-out, but the last episode is when the cliffhangers usually happen. So just wait until the first episode of the next season and then watch it. That little trick saved me a lot of effort with 'Psyche'.

And now-a-days it's even easier to binge on your favorite shows. With Internet being what it is in our precious modern times you don't even have to download it and get stuck with 100 GB of Power Rangers.

So, in conclusion... um... see you next time.

The Haven of Fantasy 2 - The Bestiary II

Today we're just going to jump straight into the next part of this little dragon study.

Hail Friends, this is Drakai of the House of Nidhogg, and today we'll be looking at the western dragon.

The western dragon is a four-legged reptile with a long, sometimes spiny, tail and a long neck with a large horned head at the end. Oh, it also had wings.

First, time for some history: the dragon is a mythological being in almost all Europe throughout the ages. Greek, Welsh, Norse, Slavic... they all had them. Later, under Christianity, dragons were, for some inconceivable reason, seen as 'evil', and 'antagonistic'.

For the life of me I cannot fathom why.

One possible explanation was greed, though. Since Christians are very well acquainted with that particular sin. Namely, the dragon was said to be hoarding a vast pile of treasure in its cave, sleeping on it. And all that treasure was just waiting for the brave and skilled knight to take after slaying the foul b-

Wow, I can't even write it.

As for its anatomy, the dragon was a reptile (more or less), and thus covered in scales of varying color, from black to white and all the colors of the spectrum in between. The scales were often described as 'invincible' or 'impenetrable'. Almost like a diamond.

It was also big. There were reports of dragons growing so much they could be confused for a small mountain range. Provided nobody looks too closely. And they don't move all that much.

Then there were the wings. Leather or feather didn't matter much but they were large. They had to be to lift all that mass of muscle, diamond-hard scales and knightly bits inside the stomach. We could also make a leap and say their bones were hollow, like  a birds, in order to reduce weight at least a little bit.

The most common weapon of the dragon, apart from its claw-tooth combo, was the flame it shot out of its mouth. Maybe there was some kind of flammable gas inside a special organ only a dragon has that combusted on contact with the air, or maybe there was a special part of the mouth which actually set it alight.

Or maybe it was none of that. There's really no point in rationalizing a dragon. It simply cannot be done. So instead of try, I'm going to let you in on a little secret regarding them.

It was magic. Obviously.

Graphic Content 2 - Legacy of Power

Yes, I know it's Monday. Yes, I know I've missed a few posts. But it was a matter of life and death...

Ah, no, it totally wasn't. I was just watching 'Chuck' and I lost track of time. A lot of time. Which, oddly enough, brings me to my next post. Continuing the theme of the last few weeks, we'll be looking at the TV show I used to love as a kid.

Ok, I still love it.

Hail Friends, this is Drakai of the House of Nidhogg, and today I'm talking about the Power Rangers. All the Power Rangers. But we'll start with the first team.

The Legacy of Power began in the 90's. 1993 to be precise, adapting footage from 'Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger', a Japanese show that was apparently even more crazy then the American one. I actually never saw the show, so I don't know firsthand. It featured a group of five overbearing and over-emotional humans. Yes, teenagers. Interesting choice, all things considered.

The show focused on an evil witch trying to take over a small town in California (I think... it's been a while) by sending one monster per weak and then growing said monster at the end of the episode whilst being beaten by five color-coded teenagers.

It was a strange show now that I think about it. But a very fun one.

A couple of episodes in a new threat emerged in the form of another color-coded teenager who was brainwashed by said witch with the help of an evil sword to be a counterpart to the good team. He then proceeded to kick their collective asses. Then they un-brainwashed him and he became the greatest ranger ever.

Of course Tommy's the greatest ranger. There's absolutely no doubt about that.

Then there was another villain, and a few more, and then they started changing up the team lineup each season like the Japanese show. And that was ok. Some of them were better, and some were... Turbo.

But surprisingly 'Mighty Morphin' is actually not my favorite season. It was a more modern season, the second season under Disney's control, came out in 2004. The season was called 'Dino Thunder' and it featured the return of Tommy Oliver. This time with a PhD in paleontology.

Oh, and there were some others in the team, I guess.

In a Gaming Mood 2 - Rise of Dragons

It's not easy growing up as a gamer. I think most would agree on that. The fact that you grow up in a family that can't tell Tetris from Call of Duty. (OK, to be fair, they can probably tell what Tetris is; my dad used to... I think I'll just stop now) So, growing up, I had to resort to some strange means in order to get a new video game.

I'm talking about birthday loot. And the first game I'd gotten, from my godfather no less, was this one. Heroes of Might and Magic 3.

Hail Friends, this is Drakai of the House of Nidhogg and today we'll go over the patience and the strategy involved in rushing a bunch of dragons at the other guy.

Heroes of Might and Magic was my first real introduction to fantasy. Even before I started reading Tolkien. And my first introduction into gaming more serious than the odd colorful console game or... well, something I'd rather mention here.

But the best part of this game was all the different races and monsters there. And how many of us can honestly say they don't absolutely love such a a sight as this:

I know I do.

You're probably wondering what the story of the game actually was. Well... I have no idea. When I first played it I was at that age when the Escape key was my best friend during cut-scenes. And still to this day I never bothered. And after discovering the cheat codes in the game I don't think I played through the campaign.

And speaking of the codes, they were pretty cool. There were two expansions to the base game and each one changed the codes. The last one, with both expansions, were Matrix references. Then, with only one, Star Wars. The first set, and my favorite (even though I didn't really understand them at the time) were references to one of the greatest movies of all times. A movie filled with excitement, action, suspense, and strange, British animation.

It's a great movie.

So I give a lot of credit to this game for helping get me here. That's why it's number two on my little list. It's a pretty good turn-based strategy game even years (maybe even decades) later, and I still enjoy playing it.

So I'll just leave you with this for the day.

This is my dragon. There are some who call him... Tim.

See you Friday.

IRL 1 - The Philosophy of Comedy

Socrates. Cicero. Rene Descartes. Something Something Something Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet, but honestly, nobody remembers his full name). Immanuel Kant. These are all great names in the history of philosophy, names that changed the way we thought. But these are all old names, ancient. Does that mean that philosophy's... dead?

It can't be dead. Can it?

Hail Friends, this is Drakai of the House of Nidhogg, and today we'll be taking a look at the place of philosophy in modern times.

Before we begin please do note that I am speaking completely as a layperson. My knowledge in philosophy is kinda limited to my high-school classes. But ignorance doesn't stop people. If it did, the world would be a much better place.

So what is the place of philosophy? I mean, what have we left to think about? Surely there are no more original thoughts. Whatever you're thinking right now, somebody thought it already (and probably made a movie about it). Go on, check the Internet. I'll wait.

When we know something, it's not really worth thinking about it, is it? But what is the difference between knowing and thinking? You have to first think in order to later know, right?

All these random things and more are the focus (more or less) of philosophy. To make you question your reality in order to better understand it.

But what if that was just one goal of today's philosophers? Just one facet of a practice changed in the recent centuries. What if the other was... entertainment (also probably making money, but that's a story for another time)?

I think you see where I'm going with this.

So to answer my own question: no. I don't think philosophy is dead. I think it just... changed. Evolved. That's what complex organisms do. In order to fit with the nature of the world they change their own. And that's what philosophy is, that's what history, religion, science are. They're all living, complex organisms that change and adapt over time. But since nature can't help them with that, they have to turn to the next best thing. Us.

Although religion probably doesn't belong here. It's not so much a complex organism as it is that crazy uncle you have who's completely wrong about most everything and yet still thinks that the buses arrive on the opposite bus-stop from the one you're waiting on because they don't like you. And no matter what you say you can't change his mind. Y'know, I really thought it'd take me longer to start bashing on organized religion. So I'll stop here and maybe make a post in the future about that.

In conclusion, stand-up comedians are the philosophers of today. Not all of them, mind you. Some are far too stupid to hold a normal conversation, let alone influence thought processes in people. But some of them out there make you think. And that's exactly what they're supposed to do. Because if you think, you realize that ultimately life is meaningless, death is inevitable, and none of this is worth anything.

Have a nice day everyone. See you Wednesday.

The Haven of Fantasy 1 - The Bestiary I

The world that we live in has many wondrous, majestic, exotic, and dangerous creatures. Lions, eagles, snakes, scorpions... all these and more tickle the fancy of many of us. Why else would there be so many fantastic creatures, some counterparts or amalgamations of existing animals, and others completely independent. Hm... maybe there's something there worth while.

Hail Friends, this is Drakai of the House of Nidhogg, and today we'll be including a new sub-segment of the previously established segment of The Haven of Fantasy (try to keep up with me, this may get a bit confusing). We'll be calling this new sub-segment simply "The Bestiary." And, starting strong, I'm going to cover my favorite fantastic creature, the very reason for my nickname and for the name of the blog.

If you haven't guessed it yet, it's the dragon.

The word 'dragon' comes into the English language from the Old French word dragon (go figure), meaning 'huge serpent, dragon'. This, in turn, comes from the Latin word draco and the Ancient Greek drakon, both meaning also 'huge serpent'.

There are two basic types of these magnificent beasts. There is the European dragon, based on old European folk tales. These beings often have either animal-level intelligence or a keen one, but focused on evil and cruelty. They are also known to hoard gold, and be able to sleep on it without getting a cramp. And that, more than anything, shows their magical nature.

The other basic type is the Eastern Dragon, based on the folk tales of China, Japan, Korea, and so on. These dragons are depicted with an above-level intelligence, and more often than not benevolent.

The media also follow this split pretty good as well. Most eastern anime, manga and games depict dragons as their own serpentine versions, while the western ones have their reptilian counterparts. Usually. There are, as always, some exceptions.

Honestly, this post was supposed to be a lot longer. Maybe even too long. So I've decided to split it into three: this, the general one; western dragons; and eastern dragons. So join me on the next Day of the Sun when I'll cover the second part of this three-part post. You can call this a cliffhanger if you really want.

On a mostly unrelated note, I've found these things called 'labels'. They're on the right over here, when I'm writing this thing. Apparently they help my posts be found by Google. We'll give it a shot, see what happens.

Graphic Content 1 - Dragon Gym

With a franchise spanning around twenty years, with dozens of video games and an anime series running almost twenty seasons and movies, it's pretty clear Pokemon is one of the biggest things out of Japan since... well, since the other biggest thing out of Japan. Even with all its ups and downs over the years.

Hail Friends, this is Drakai of the House of Nidhogg, and today we'll be talking about the sensation of transforming solid mater into energy, storing living beings in small objects and making them battle others for your perverse amusement. Warning, there will be some Graphic Content.

That's still a bad joke.

A few days ago I stumbled upon a video on the tube of yous made by Lockstin(\Gnoggin). It was about what his gym would be like if GameFreak asked him to be in the new Pokemon game. And, even though we now know that the new Pokemon game won't actually have any gyms, I've still elected to do something like that. However, since I only ever played the games in the last two-or-so years, and having grown up watching the anime, I'm going to focus on that. It's been stated by the people who know what they're talking about that the games and the anime occupy parallel dimensions, and that the rules of the games don't always work in another format.

...Right (I couldn't find something to accurately represent what I wanted, so the senile moment will have to do). So my gym will be in the animated universe. The most important differences, as far as gyms are concerned, are that there will be no trainers between the challenger and the gym leader; and that there is no such thing as a four-move limit. No matter what the new episodes say. We know better.

First, let us start with typing. Gee, I wonder what that could be. I mean, it's not like I have a favorite or anything.

The gym would be situated on the highest peak of a mountain. There would be nothing, just a small house to one side and an elevated field on another. There would be areas for trainers to stand on either end, elevated above the ground at least a dozen feet. The air up there would be thin enough to provide an additional challenge, but not enough to actually be dangerous.

My Pokemon lineup would be typical. Since dragon types are generally powerful, some even having pseudo-legendary status, I'm thinking the gym would be among the last in the recommended lineup (if there even is such a thing in the anime), and my dragons would reflect that.

It would be a four on four battle. No fancy tricks, no shifting realities, just four dragons that want to beat the ever-loving hell out of you.

First, the first ever dragon type that appeared. Dragonite. He would know not only dragon moves, but also Hyper Beam, Flamethrower and Thunder.

If you manage to defeat him, then the dragon of Gen III would come out. Salamance. He would also know Flamethrower, hopefully to counter some ice-type moves. Since fairy-type's weaknesses are poison and steel, I would add something like Toxic or Steel Wing.

Next up is a surprise. Technically cheating, since it's not really a dragon-type, although it has been called a dragon many times. I'm talking of course about Charizard. Charizard is a dual flying/fire type, with no weakness to ice or dragon, and even a resistance to fairy-types. But no mega stone on it. That would be reserved for the last, and strongest, of the four.

Everybody reading this who know anything about Pokemon probably knows what's coming next, and I certainly won't disappoint. The final Pokemon in my lineup is of course the shark jet dragon, Garchomp. Simply put it's my absolute favorite non-legendary. It would be equped with Fire Blast and Poison Jab at least, probably Iron Claw as well, not to mention the greatest attack ever. Draco Meteor. Preformed correctly, of course.

Then, if you somehow manage to best all of my dragons, you get awarded the Roar Badge, shaped like the head of a dragon with the horns of a buck (well, Sawsbuck anyway). Then you know you're ready for the big leagues.

I know that having dragon as your favorite type is... well, it's pretty cliché all things considered. But that's really not something I can help. It's ingrained deep down somewhere. There's that part that used to be red and beating. Probably there.

In a Gaming Mood 1 - Origins

It was a time of panic. The once peaceful tropical island was under attack by vicious invaders. A hero was needed. One who would rise up against the intruders, one who could defeat them, and drive them back into the holes they had crawled out of. Unfortunately, they captured him. It was assuredly a fierce battle but the enemy had managed to overpower and imprison him. They asked for a large ransom, for all the golden treasure that the island had.

So a new hero was needed, one who would free the original hero and actually drive the intruders back. And one such individual arose, striking terror into the enemy as he rushed at them. His name... was Diddy Kong.

Hail Friends, this is Drakai of the House of Nidhogg and today we look back on the fond memories of jumping on vicious, bipedal, banana-hungry crocodiles in the first video game I had ever played.
So, in 1995 Nintendo published Donkey Cong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Funny, I'd always thought it was 'Diddy Kong's Quest'. Go figure. But anyway, the story was about a red-capped monkey and his pink-clothed lady-friend (we know she's a girl because she has hair, of course). Together they must go on a quest to save their larger, dim-witted ape friend from two-legged pirate reptiles (and some four-legged examples) and various other assorted things that go from left to right repeatedly, who had managed to capture said ape and now want all the bananas that the simians have. And it's a good thing I never paid attention to the story as a kid because that would've confused the hell out of me.

As I said, the game was released in '95, but it wasn't until at least the early 2000's that I had gotten it. The SNES was the first console we had and this one was one of the very few games available at the time. But it wasn't easy getting to actually play it, and for two reasons.

The first one was, well, fear. Or something of the sort. I was very young when I first saw a video game and it freaked me out. There were all these colors moving, enemies coming at me with large teeth and claws, freaking barrels that charged at my monkey (that may have sounded a bit dirty)... it wasn't a pleasant experience, at all. So it took me a year or two to get use to it enough to actually try to play the game. And now, many, many, many years later nobody would think it was ever difficult for me to pick up a controller.

The other reason was completely unrelated to the first, and it had to do with occupation. Or rather, usurpation. My father had picked up the game and set it on himself the entire game. And I do mean entire. That was, in fact, where I'd gotten my completionist streak. So it was very fun at first just watch him play. But, when the time got for me to actually try I had to wrestle the damn controller out of him.

Either way, when I first jumped on an alligator's head, instantly knocking him overboard to his probable death I was hooked. And especially when I found out about this little surprise.

In case you missed it, that was a monkey being shot cannon-like out of a floating barrel several feet up in the air. It's that kind of game.

But I didn't realize at the time this was a sequel. I never really paid much attention to the title after the 'Donkey Kong Country' part so I thought the red one was Donkey Kong. I just remember there being a lot of talk about some ape or another being kidnapped by the reptilian rogues. It was only a few years later, when we managed to acquire the first game, that I actually got that part.

So this was the first game I ever played, and still to this day my favorite console game. Mario who? A little Italian man that liked jumping into green pipes and grows higher with the power of mushrooms?

Seriously?

But this was my start. The start of a life of gaming and generally being a geek. It's had its ups and its downs but, overall, it was worth it. It's brought me to this point, and somehow I'll manage in the future. Thanks for listening, and I will see you next time on the Day of Frige.

And now for something completely different: the end of the post.

Welcome to the House of Nidhogg

Hail Friends, this is Drakai of the House of Nidhogg, and today we're starting a blog.

And yes, that is going to be my thing. I kind of like it.

Anyway, I've decided to start a blog of my own. And I have to admit, here at the start, that I'm not probably going to be very good at it. I don't have a lot of experience with reading them, and this is the first one that I've ever participated in. But I'll do my best. And I hope to only get better with time.

Now, I've been writing for a good seven years, when I published my first fan-fiction story. Odin's beard, seven years already. Damn I'm old. Regardless, this blog came from a few changes in my life recently. Namely, I've decided to abandon (or at least pause for one year) my history college, and I'm going to need a somewhat-steady source of income. So I'm looking into becoming a freelance writer, and this is the first stop. I might as well have fun with it.

So welcome to the very geeky blog, the House of Nidhogg. Nidhogg, by the way, is a dragon. And I tend to like those. While focusing mostly on geek stuff like video games, boardgames, anime, fantasy, and so on, I will include a segment of real life. I have no idea what I'll actually put in it, but we'll get to that next week.

The posts will be coming every two days; that is on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

There will also be specific categories (in this order, too):
IRL (In Real Life) - dealing mostly the day-to-day happenings of mundane reality.
In a Gaming Mood - exactly what you'd think, video games and board games.
Graphic Content - as in, you know, cartoons, and comics, and anime... things being drawn, not... ah, this is a bad pun; I'll have to change it later.
The Haven of Fantasy - fantasy, wars, weapons, monsters... you know, the good stuff.

So here it is. I hope I do well enough in the coming posts. Thank you for listening (or, rather, reading, as the case may be) and I will see you on the Day of Wotan.