The Legend of Zelda: In My Pants!
POST-POSTED FOR 5 SEP 2007
on the topic of omnipresent adverts:
does anyone else see the irony in our nation of rebellious youth that refuse to be labelled being, well, labelled--or perhaps branded--by the products they endorse? probably the most obvious example of this phenomenon are the iTards, living their iLifestyles (even more ironically, oblivious to the fact that the product label they've chosen so clearly illustrates their preoccupation with self). for my money, those products would be more accurately labelled the myPod and the myPhone, or perhaps dispense with all dissembling and be called the mePod and mePhone.
don't get me wrong: i'm as frustrated with microsoft as the next guy. i was part of the vanguard in the anti-microsoft charge of the '90s, swearing up and down that netscape was a superior browser, refusing to code for explorer (for those keeping track at home, yes, that conflicts with my publicized age of 26. i also remember the advent of NESticle, the nintendo entertainment system emulator that allows you to play the old classics by using image files of the old 8-bit ROM cartridges; more on that in a moment. hush.). even today i employ firefox as my primary websurfing software.
here's the skinny: you don't really need a mePhone. there are already far more inexpensive products out there, sporting wi-fi and bluetooth technologies, playing media files, and rocking digital cameras--with the bonus of plenty of third party applications and SIM unlocking (allowing you to switch carriers on a whim, or install pre-paid SIM cards overseas), and without the headache of proprietary nonsense and licensing restrictions. i have one, and on my recent vacation spent a short amount of time unlocking it and adding some sweet hacks and apps (google maps, the ability to receive satellite radio from either major carrier, porn, lasers, a guinness tap). here we have finally reached the point of this post, where i explain how my life has been irrevocably altered in the direction nirvana:
i installed Pocket Nester, a NES emulator for windows mobile, and now, no matter where i go, i will always have that most influential rpg of all time, the original The Legend of Zelda, in my freaking pants!
it's my miniNES. it completes me.
5 comments:
HAIL! HAIL! You are my King of Hyrule! I grovel at your feet, oh Lord of Wonders!
As I sit here in the dark typing on my back-lit Apple keyboard, I have to agree with you that the status symbolism of all these products is funny to observe -- especially since I live so close to a demographic where high school new-SUV-driving kids can afford these things on a few weeks' worth of allowance money. That said, the iPod is superior to any other digital music-playing device I've ever seen, and I look forward to using mine in the car tomorrow.
Good observation on the iPod/myPod/mePod phenomenon-- did you know there were serious talks of Apple working to develop an iCar?
In the latter half of your post, however, I think you overstep and consequently fall off your soapbox with some of your impassioned claims... Really, the VANGUARD of the anti-microsoft charge? LoZ the most influential RPG of all time? I'm not so sure about that. Surely the "rogue-like" games of the EARLY 80s had a more influential role in the development of the fundamentals of the computer RPG than Zelda. Perhaps it could be argued that it brought RPGs into the world of "console" gaming moreso than any other game, but I think some would also argue that it even lacks some of the key features of a true RPG.
Granted, I say this without ever actually having played the game... I never had an NES (I was just kicking it with my Atari and Amigas), but I do remember going to a friend's house who would play but I could only watch, and watching video games quickly gets boring.
Anyhow, I don't mean to dampen your spirits-- Zelda in your pants is quite an achievement, and you should be excited!
oh, nelms...
there's this literary technique called hyperbole?
over a quarter of a century of friendship, and you still cannot tell when i'm dancing foolishly at the pulpit, rather than preaching from it? the bit about the lasers and the beer tap didn't tip you off? was i missing sharks?
had i been serious, i would most likely have listed akallabeth and the ultima series...
so, um, there's a headline that just scrolled across my news ticker: "Man says iPod set his pants on fire."
Right... so... apparently there are dangers to carrying 'The Legend of Zelda' in one's pants.
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