The challenge bat. and other things.

Sean here. So this entire blog was an idea to create a community to help support each other to beat games that we just lose motivation to beat. So the main part of this blog is to document our misadventures in old time gaming, and to give support and advice when slogging through difficult parts of our favorite games.

And then there's the other reason.

During our conversation about setting up this blog, we became very pissed off with the state of gaming today. Back in the day, graphical and technological limitations forced developers to make games HARD, so that they would keep us entertained for long periods of time. Beating a game came with a sense of accomplishment because actual skills had to be developed to accomplish such a feat.

Now that graphical limitations are no longer an issue, games are now just as complex as most large budget films, telling stories while being much "easier" then their predecessors; We're talking games for the NES such as Battletoads, and Kid Icarus. Anyone who has played these games knows the countless hours of frustration one goes through, and the ultimate realization of defeat when they realize these games are nigh IMPOSSIBLE to beat. But people who call themselves "gamers" nowadays are more concerned with cheating their way through games, and "achievements," and cheating to GET those achievements through any means possible. Rather than building posterity and actually investing time into playing a game, they seem to be looking for a quick thrill before moving on to the next "big" thing.

In response to this paradigm shift, the authors of this blog are currently working on a set of old school gaming challenges known as "The Challenge Bat Challenges". We pass the challenge bat to each other to beat old school games WITHOUT CHEATING. It is our intention to document these trials and tribulations for posterity, as well as your viewing pleasure.

The basic idea is that a two person team will take on a game together, and for every day that they fail at completing the challenge, they are punished in someway, forcing us to develop our skills as old school gamers.

We are instituting a voting process to make sure a challenge is legitimate, as we are currently making a list of what we like to call "Bullshit challenges". An example of a Bullshit challenge would be the original Superman game for the NES or Battletoads. There's just no reasonable way to expect someone to skillfully play their way through these games without complete and total dumb luck.

Therefore "bullshit challenges" will not have a punishment attached to them if they are taken on.

All this being said, everyone game on! I will be starting my run through Final Fantasy 6 this weekend, using the playstation anthology iteration. Good luck to my other two Final Fantasy 6 playing mates, Big Mike and Brendan. Good luck in your trials, and be sure to document often. - Sean