With a Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum!

So first things first: Sorry for my long absence.
I've had love issues, personal issues, holidays and just two weeks ago starting my game dev career... Been kinda busy... Also a hell of a ride! But one that is making me so happy! So many new friends, new knowledge and so much personal growth!
Enough shitty-talk! Ok ok ok i just have another thing to say: I want to dedicate this entry to all the body of my new university, UPB, specially to my awesome teachers and all my new friends, even those i have yet to meet.
Ok, let's start already!

I love pirates, the fantasy ones, no scurvy for me, thank you. So many adventures, the adrenaline, the freedom! Being able to take what you want whenever you want! Stealing is so fun! IN FUCKING FANTASY!
I'm no white knight but piracy is a no no for me (except some cases, which ill cover later).
You might be thinking: "Why is it wrong?" "Why not?" "It's not like they lose money". So let me put an example:
You walk into a store, there are a lot of nice shirts and you just saw one that you love. You want that shirt so you take your wallet out... And as it is usual, life yells STAPH!!!!!!! No many in the wallet pal! You are broke! Not a penny!
What do you do?
a): Take the shirt and run stealing it.
b): Leave the store and return later after you earned a little money.

To continue reading and to eat this day's cookie (none today, sorry!), click "Read more" below.

Interview with Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages developer, Enrique Dryere

Ring Runner, an indie game, a space shooter and a personal favorite.
There are many space shooters, but believe me when i tell you Ring Runner is unique. not only it contains loads of skills and customization options, but it also combines a lot of game styles, from arena fight, to trench runs, to shoot em up, it have it all! You just CAN'T GET BORED WITH IT.
Ring Runners is a dream of two brothers who after playing a lot of games decided that they should create one containing everything they loved in games. They took a great risk with that; they were indie, inexperienced, just two guys (3 counting Enrique's talented wife, who draws wonderful art), and they mixed genres and game styles. As i said: A GREAT RISK. AND THANK THE GODS THEY DID!!!! Ring Runners is just right, the genres and styles mach perfectly in my opinion, and make it impossible to get bored playing the game.

From left to right: Enrique and Paul Dryere

When i bought the game i immediately knew i had to talk to this guys, and of course i tough they would never answer, but to my surprise they did answer just one day after i contacted them. Enrique is not only a talented developer, he is also a wonderful and humble person. HE THANKED ME for interviewing him, and when i asked him to send me some treats for you guys, he did't ask a single question, he just sent me a lot of artwork and images.
But enough talk, this is not a review, this is an interview. And you must be itching to read it so here it is:

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Papers, Please game Review

GLORY TO ARSTOTZKA!
NEXT!
- Hello sir, i am so happy this border have opened. I will get to see my son. I've haven't seen him in 6 years.
- Mhmm, lets see here... Looks like your entry visa number doesn't match your passport number. *THUMP* DENIED
- This must be a mistake, please let me in!
- NEXT
- Where is your entry permit?
- Please, i beg you! They wouldn't give me one, if i don't enter they will kill me back in Antegria!!!!
- Tough luck ma'am. *THUMP* DENIED

Indeed, glory it shall have!
Papers, Please is a game about immigration, a dystopian thriller. And it sure does deliver that feel.
Gray and cold colors make up a beautiful sad and oppressive feel. This game really makes you believe you are an immigration inspector.
Let's divide this review so it easier to navigate, read and for me write:

Graphics: The graphics are GOLDEN, the game coloring is just right for the atmosphere and the art is terrific, it looks like a golden age DOS and NES game, it reminds me of Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in time is Carmen Sandiego? not much but it just feels like it to me for some reason, do you remember Carmen?

The atmosphere is moody, and the animation is smooth and good, from the little sprites of pixel people to deny entry to the animation of the shadows entering the cabin of the immigration inspection.

To continue reading and to eat this day's cookie, click "Read more" below.

Stories and videogames

Recently I watched a Casual Connect video of a talk by the master of indie RPG, the one and only: Jeff Vogel.
He talks of the importance of having a good story and what makes (to him) a good story.
Gaming, for many people (Me included) is declining... Why? I'll make a post later about that, but for naw, suffice to say that one of the reasons is that developers (ok, not devs, just the big boys in suits) DON'T FUCKING CARE ABOUT THE STORY!
And why is that? Because kids don't read...I won't talk about that, but it is a fact. Kids won't read anything longer than 1 and a half page... A pity... As the saying goes... The youth is wasted in the young...
However there is a catch here! Many don't care about a story... UNLESS THERE IS NO STORY!
As Jeff my idol Vogel said: "Gamers will forgive you for having a good story, as long as you allow them to ignore it".

I wont say a word of what makes a story good, or how to write one. Jeff says it perfectly in the video (Today's cookie hint). What i will say is that good stories are important.

Personally i need to feel part of the game, part of it's world. I remember spending hours in Morrowind just reading the in-game books, and playing the main quest. The story was so good! SPOILER ALERT! How it unfolded before you, how your character turned from a lowlife prisoner, to royal spy, to fake prophesy announced hero (Needed by politics) and then it turned out to be true, and that your character indeed was the Nerevarine! Also the lore was so profound that you could easily make a story for your character WITH NO EFFORT, and that was not part of the game per se ;)

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DOS Gaming yesterday and today

Lets start with some history, shall we?
It all started in the golden age of videogames. Games started to be developed for home computers, and distributed in floppy disks, plastic bags and ROM cartridges. The one and only Richard Garriott distributed some copies of Akalabeth in plastic bags before it was published (Richard Garriott is Lord British in case you didn't know).

Sooooo, games started to be made aviable to pc owners and it led to pure EPICNESS.

Games like Zork (Text adventures), King's Quest, Karateka, Prince of Persia (No neat acrobatics), Rogue (Started a genre of it's own, pure epicness), The Bard's Tale, Golden Axe, Dragon's Lair, DOOM series, Ultima, TES 1 and 2 were released and became part of popular culture (at least some).

Thanks to this times surge of technological advances, developers were able not only to create games that were fun because of themselves, but to create whole worlds, full of lore, story and literary content. A fine example of this is my favorite game of all time, the epic, the only: DAGGERFALL.
Now developers were not limited to tell the game's story in the instruction manual, they could tell the story with videos, cut-scenes, in-game books, character monologues. This was the real start (For me) of the golden age of gaming. I cant count the hours I passed wandering the gigantic world of Daggerfall, the hours spent pillaging ships in Pirates!, the fun i had with Ultima, and let's not forget: Master of Orion.
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The golden age

The golden years. Who can possibly deny that the late 70's and mid 80's had the most addictive videogames?
Yes yes, maybe they didn't had the nice graphics and model that engines like Source can give, they didn't have physic engines like havoc (Come on! They didn't had any physics!), but they were FUN. And i am talking of FUN like (Sometimes and if you weren't good ok?) the FUN of Dwarf Fortress.
They were just plain fun, i remember (Yeah I'm from the 90' but my favorite arcade had games new and old) spending hours playing Galaga, Pac-man, space invaders (my second favorite arcade game), mario (8-bit) and my favorite at that time: FROGGER.

Why is it called the golden age? Well, as i said games were FUUUUUN, but it is really called like that because it was the time when video games got really popular. Before the golden age, some people preffered playing pinball than any arcade game, also it introduced concepts and technology that were not used in videogames before. Like for example the risk-reward concept introduced by Galaxian.

The golden years saw arcade machines and video games for sale in many places looking for extra cash, you could see the games in restaurants, super markets, and even FUCKING FUNERAL HOMES!
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What's a 16-bit coffee?

It's my special blend of coffee.
This cup is made of old school beans, sweetened by reviews, videos and knowledge.
The bitter taste is because of the random ranting, the advice and other things you will enjoy a lot.
And most importantly... It is made with love.

You wont find this blend nowhere else, so you may as well drink it up while it is still hot!