What type of gamer are you? (this is not a quiz that leads to stuff you can paste on your blog)

As intelligent and academic as Chris Bateman's Nine Basic Types of Gamers is, I find myself more moved, and (as expected from Destructoid) more entertained by David Houghton's Guide to Recognizing Your Gamers series.

If you'd rather describe a Gamer by patterns of play, emotions, and terms derived from Temperament Theory, then I highly suggest you read Bateman's work. I for one, think that I count as a Manager/Wanderer in Bateman's classification.

Anyhow, if you'd rather use direct and "descriptive" terms like back-seat gamer, PC snob, chavs, japanophile, and fanboy then check out Houghton's stuff using the links below.

• Chapter 01 - Back-Seat Gamers and Closet Gamers
• Chapter 02 - Chav Gamers
• Chapter 03 - Fluffy Gamers and PC Snobs
• Chapter 04 - Technical Gamers and Japanophiles
• Chapter 05 - Aggressive Gamers and Ghosts
• Chapter 06 - The One Game Gamer
• Chapter 07 - The Collecting Gamer
• Chapter 08 - The Defeatist Gamer
• Chapter 09 - The Tragically Unfortunate Gamer
• Chapter 10 - The Fanboy

D&D 4th ed: Fly by night the Mountain Dew!

The fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons will be on sale come May 2008, and based on what's been shown so far at the official Wizards of the Coast site, and at Gen Con 2007, the edition looks quite ...interesting.

Here's what the WotC Gen Con 2007 coverage had to say about the new DnD:

Where do we start with the new edition? Expanded online content? Character levels going to 30? More defined character roles? DM-ing made easier? The virtual gaming table and character generator? The re-launch of Dungeon and Dragon magazines as online publications?

To get a clearer idea, here's the video presentation Wizards used:

A few seconds after the video presentation loaded on my browser, my Firefox tab containing theOfficial DnD page turned into a WotC public announcement thingy that says that the page is down due to high traffic. Damn.

When Ninjas meet golf, God save Tiger Woods

Words just fail this game. It is just plain too ultimate for mere words to describe. Ninja Golf truly shows how one can apply Real Ultimate Power to arrogant, decadent pastimes that masquerade as sports and eat land that could have been used for government housing. The stuff written on the instruction booklet for the game? Complete failure. Here, read it yourself:

For ten years you've trained to be a Ninja. And now your Master tells you that it's time to take the final, most difficult test and become a Master Ninja. You must complete the game of death. You must play nine holes of... Ninja Golf?

You knew your Master was a bit weird, but nothing prepared you for this! You must attempt to sneak in a birdie between karate kicks while you battle Ninja opponents. Par for this course means leaving the green littered with fallen foes.

You gain points for both your golf game and defeating attacking Ninja. You can also earn points for finding treasures and other bonus items along the course.

Once you've completed all nine holes successfully, be ready to challenge the disguised Master Ninja. This final battle will determine whether or not you become a Master Ninja. And if you win, it will improve your golf score.

Ninja Golf reigns supreme! If only the game was more famous. Why did it have to be released for the Atari 7800? Why?! Whaaiiiii~~?? BluSky Software should've just sold the game they developed to Nintendo - who was dominant at the time - instead of just bowing to will of Atari Corporation?

This is the only game wherein you can engage in golf, plow through some platforming/beat-em-up action against a plethora of enemies that include mutant frogs and psychotic gofers, and experience epic boss battles against dragons that protect the final hole.

For those of you who wish to experience Real Ultimate Power I suggest that you install an Atari 7800 emulator into your PC/PSP and enjoy this game. For those of you who fail at Real Ultimate Power, all is not lost, a watered down Flash version of the game can be acquired using your ninja stealth skills (ergo, google it yourself).

Trust me! This game is ULTIMATE! Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Naruto Ultimate - Narutimate Accel, the DOA girls, and even Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007 has nothing on this under-appreciated Atari gem.

Did Ryu Hayabusa have to mind the wind velocity while he killed mindless ground based foes that predictably charged at him? No. Did Naruto have to battle psychotic gofers? No. Did the DOA girls have to dodge poop while they played beach volleyball? No. No scat in DOA folks. Does Tiger Woods have Real Ultimate Power? No.

Take it from this video reviewer who chooses to lurk in YouTube (no, it's not from the Ask A Ninja dude):

Quick! All you loyal members of the ninja meme, band together against the pirates of this world. Start a petition that requests that this game be released on all those online services.

Yes, those online services that companies greedily use to sell old games on their glittery new next-gen console so they can pad their game portfolio ("hundreds of games for the Wii" my ass). The experience that is Ninja Golf must be spewed upon the next generation. It must damage young impressionable minds who spend Wii/Micrsoft Points.

Until next time, enjoy your Ninja Burgers, and always remember to avoid falling poop from ninja birds - you die instantly when you get hit by those.

90s PC game nostalgia...

I was bored last night.

Not able to stand the monotony, I decided to go through my game shelf just to see if there was something that I could pop into my PlayStation 2 and enjoy. I eventually picked up and dusted off my copy of Clover Studio's Viewtiful Joe 2. I decided to play through the first stage mostly as Sylvia. While I was blasting through the stage with her pink guns of unrelenting joy and joyfulness, I suddenly got hit by a wave of nostalgia.

I needed a 2D platforming high.

Why go with 2D you ask? Well, it's because if there's anything that Castlevania on the DS and Viewtiful Joe by Clover proves, it is that there's still room for well-done 2D platforming games in this hyper defined, 1080p, next-gen world.

Dammit, I want to play Commander Keen again.

Commander Keen - Tom Hall- id Software - 1990

For those who don't know, Commander Keen is a series of games made by id Software in the early 90s. The cartoon-y game was notable for it's then outstanding use of EGA graphics, and it's proliferation through shareware distribution.

The last incarnation of Billy Blaze (the protagonist of the game) was seen last 2001 on the Game Boy Color. Unfortunately that was a bad, bad game. It was so iffy, that even Tom Hall, designer of the original series does not consider the GBC game to be a sequel.

Given that Keen references are made several and later id Software games like Doom and Quake, it would be really, really be apt if they revived it somehow, and then made references to id Software games over the years.

*insert dead Keen from Doom pic here*

You know what? I don't even care if the next Keen incarnation is a 2D platformer. They could turn it into a 3D platform action game, as long as they execute it well. I just want to see Keen again. I want to experience the game universe, the humor, and the fun of the world again. I just want to see the franchise alive again. I want to see it revived. More importantly, I want to see it done right.

Syndicate - Peter Molyneux - Bullfrog Productions - 1993

Some folks really enjoy playing Splinter Cell: Double Agent's Spies of the Third Echelon vs Upsilon Force Mercenaries multiplayer. I for one particularly like using that almost magical wrist computer to break glass, open security doors, hack or whatever else some super-genius could accomplish without the use of guns and with only a Swiss-army knife to rely on.

Because of the massive popularity of the stealth genre, and all this espionage stuff saturating console video games, I'm really starting to miss Bullfrog Productions 1993 game Syndicate, and its all powerful Persuadertron.

I know that a lot of gameplay elements from this game have been redone, and executed better in more contemporary games. But still, it's the cyberpunk world I miss. The most recent incarnation of the old franchise is via Electronic Arts' EA Replay for the PlayStation Portable. It had the Sega Genesis version. Bad choice really. Aside from the clunky controls, it had seriously dumbed down graphics.

*No you don't want to see horribly bad Sega Genesis screenshots...*

This was the first game that allowed me to sorta micro/macro manage the AI of my units, it combined RTS elements, and it made me pause and think of ways to sneak my agents from point A to point B without being detected. It even got me running away from cops before GTA III did.

I miss the gameplay. I miss the cyberpunk, I miss the missions, I miss the chaos. They could turn it into a sandbox game ala GTA for all I care, I just want to see the franchise alive again. I want to see it revived. Most importantly, I want to see it done right.

Other 90s Franchises I also wanted to mention
...but really can't due to the existence of recent and decent incarnations or recent rumors on them thar intarwubs.

• Duke Nukem - The new Duke Nukem game is still in a perpetual state of "we're working on it." More on that rumor in a future post.
• Wing Commander - Wing Commander Arena is set to grace XBLA come summer 2007.
• Master of Orion - Master of Orion III got released last 2003.
• X-COM - Take-Two Interactive acquired the property in full a few months before they acquired Irrational Games. Irrational Games founder Ken Levine often cites X–Com as a game that stands the test of time.

Relief...
Thank the gods (or the cylon God) that StarCraft II and Fallout 3 both look to be on the right track. Blizzard even listened their fan-base and replaced the planned "dark Carrier", the Tempest, with the original big yellow Protoss Carrier. With the game in constant flux though, who knows what it'll look like by 2008?

Potential old-school rejuvenation aside, the specs required for SC2 and Fallout 3 gameplay scare me. I miss 90s games for a different reason now.

Why do graphics cards have to be so expensive?

(Oh, yeah, what about Nova from StarCraft Ghost? Now that SC2 is brewing, is the spunky female Ghost forever doomed to spend time in vaporware limbo?)

Eight optional videogame bosses we hated

Optional/extra/hidden/secret videogame bosses are the guys that either get a lot of love - because they eventually serve as points of comparison to see how big your gaming wang is - or they don't get noticed at all, because well ...they're optional. You could very well finish the game and not get pestered by them.

Their existence is quite amusing really. Mostly because much like the Colossi from Shadow of the Colossus, they're not out to ruin your day. They don't suddenly show up at the end of a stage and challenge your honor, or force you into a duel to the death or whatever. You're the one who wandered into them. You're the one who crashes into their world and asks them to duke it out with you just because you "rock oh so much."

What follows is a list of videogame bosses we loved to hate - which is a good thing since it's their job for us to hate them - and we'll gladly hunt them down again and again, even if they were just minding their own business.

The Forgotten One - Castlevania: Lament of Innocence - KCET

For a guy who's stuck in a place called the Prison of Eternal Torture, he's doing pretty well. For one thing he's still mostly shaped like a human.

There's just something about the fact that the guy drops worms, maggots, or whatnot on you that creeps me out. Head that shoots lasers? Acceptable. Hands that tries to smash you into bits? Acceptable. An exposed rotting heart that serves as a weak point? Acceptable. Maggots (the size of small dogs) that fall out of its abdomen? Nuh-uh. No. Gross.

Optional boss gets the hate for the ew-factor.

Behemoth - Blood Will Tell - WoW Entertainment

Just getting the eighth chapter of this game to fight this boss is a pain. To unlock this stage you have to have found all 47 body parts found in Chapters 1-7. Then you get to fight this bastard, and then you find out that he has five forms. How hard is it? Well, take this snippet from Da_Great_SoFaRo's FAQ over at GameFaqs.com:

If, by some miracle (cough cough GameShark cough), you manage to defeat the fourth form, you'll be able to fight the fifth and final form. Its heart falls out, and from what I've heard, you have to use Slice Attack on it and get in-- get this-- 48 hits! Forty-eight ****ing hits! In one shot! That's ****ing INSANE!!!

At least beating this boss is worth it. You get to unlock Dororo mode.

Yeah, the game may have gotten low review scores for a bad camera and repetitive action, but most of the reviews agree that it's the boss battles that redeem this game. It's hidden boss - The Behemoth - made us hate him enough to want to buy this game, instead of just renting it.

Reptile - Mortal Kombat Sega Genesis - Midway

Why was this guy annoying? Because he taunted us a lot at the start of our fights. Because he looks silly in green. Because he claims that we can't match his speed. Because an annoying floaty head shows up a lot. Because most kids back then though he was the bees knees when really all he was combat-wise was a weird amalgamation of Sub-zero and Scorpion.

At least we got to fight him in that spike pit.

The Cow King - Diablo II - Blizzard

The rumor was that in the first Diablo there is a secret cow level. Sorry there wasn't. Listen to the StarCraft cheat folks: there is no cow level. However, in Diablo II there is indeed a secret cow level, filled with ...cows.

*insert picture of cow level here*

The stage is lead by the mighty and evil Cow King. Killing him grants you the item set "The Cow King's Leathers," unfortunately though, killing the Cow King renders the cow level inaccessible. Which sucks. Which is why we hate this piece of pixelized royal bovine.

Culex - Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - Squaresoft and Nintendo of America

Culex is what happens when Square Enix (who was just plain Squaresoft back then) sneaks in a Final Fantasy reference in a game that's already filled with Nintendo cameos.

We hate him because he made us wish that we were just playing a more difficult RPG instead of a turn based Mario game that could be beaten while at level 3. We didn't really notice the lack of difficulty until we got to face the guy. So much for suspension of disbelief.

Oh, and the Final Fantasy music could've stayed in Final Fantasy. Damn you Culex, damn you for being in Mushroom Kingdom.

The Original Athena - SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos - SNK Playmore

Not really an optional boss, but you do have to meet certain standards to get to her. Getting to fight Athena is easy enough: don't lose any round from stages 1 through 7, and don't win by block damage. But getting to fight athena isn't what's annoying about her. Compared to other fighting game bosses, she isn't even that hard. Yes, the bow move is damned annoying, but one can adapt. Here's the annoying bow move; check out the guy's life bar:



What I really hated about her involved the endings that you got after you beat her. There's something about seeing the almighty ruler of heaven sitting down in front of TV and generally being a lazy bum that's a bit too annoying. Sure, it's humorous and even downright hilarious at times, but it's just not worth the fight you had to go through to see it.

For example, Dan's and Hugo's ending after fighting Athena - a few comedic snippets, but then they're ultimately too short. That's that? Oh well, at least Athena's a bit more pleasing to the eyes in this one.

Sephiroth - Kingdom Hearts - Square Enix

Not only does he have a move that zaps you for "massive damage", he moves damned fast. In fact, if you weren't able to manage the camera in the the first Kingdom Hearts, just looking at him was such a pain.

In the second run of the series, the camera was slightly friendlier, so figuring out where Sephiroth was standing and attacking you from was slightly easier. Sephiroth himself wasn't any less difficult to kill though. He still goes batsh*t insane when he's close to death.







Oh, and did I mention that Sephiroth has an absurd number of life-bars? One-winged bastard.

Yazmat - Final Fantasy XII - Square Enix

This annoying bugger has 50,000,000 hit points. That's around 50 life bars! Even using the reverse spell this guy still takes at the very least an hour to beat.

The really annoying bit when fighting this guy, is that his defense increases as the battle progresses, so basically at the start you're pretty confident dealing maximum damage, but later on the damage you deal shrinks. Oh, and he starts to get pissed.

He's weak against shadow element attacks, but that hardly helps. Tactically, he's relatively easier compared to other optional bosses. The thing is, he's an endurance match that really tests your patience. This guy takes time to kill, and one wrong sequence of commands could very well lead to your demise.

Damn you Yazmat. You made us use Gambits (ironically the automation, and the consequential tactical/strategic possibilities brought about by which, caused the game to get panned by some pundits).

Sorry, no mention of the other Weapons in the FF series. They're just too obvious.

Transforming 80's cartoons into gen-now videogames

Most 80's cartoons were made to help market toys and other franchise-related merchandise. I'm wondering now is whether or not that Saturday morning magic will work on this generation's electronic occupation.

Given, the huge buzz generated by the now in contention Ghostbusters game (thank the gods Dan Akroyd confirmed it few months ago), it seems there are a lot of franchises from way back when that could get a great boost if it gets adapted for our gaming interests.

But how would these 80's cartoons translate into "generation now" video games? Which platforms would each game be for? How would each game play? This article will imagine what would happen if we turn 80's cartoon shows into generation now games.

Let's start with two 80's cartoons that share the same universe (yes 80's uber-geeks, I know that Etheria and Eternia are different places, but the two series did cross multiple times) He-Man and She-Ra, and then I'll move from there.

Hallowed Castle Grayskull

Given that Etheria (She-Ra's world) is ruled by Hordak and his intergalactic Horde and that She-ra was originally from He-Man's relatively backwater world of Eternia, it's easy to conjure a multi-planetary sword/sorcery/sci-fi game setting. It also helps that I already have a vast corpus of spin-offs, remakes (He-Man got remade back in 2002), and comic book/movie versions of the Universe.

If you're a table-top RPG junkie, you're probably making up systems and factions in your heads right now. Imagine: multiple planets, the great religion of Grayskull, odd magic, factions, empires, and floating mages with yellow beads for eyes and big "O"s on their chests. That's a lot of material to play with and anyone planning to create a game out of this will likely have a field day.

So how would the a next-generation gen-now game for this beloved 80s cartoon look like? Given the presence of multiple worlds, and a religion of sorts (the power of Grayskull), I'm thinking that a KOTOR-styled RPG story structure - meaning good dialogue, a non-linear story, and fair cut-scenes - added with a dash of Kingdom Hearts II action-oriented gameplay (sans the bad camera) would be great for this. Given the bucket loads of graphical power this might require, I'm thinking that the PC would be a great platform for this game.

Your lead character could be a "Hero of Grayskull" or a member of some similar faction, and the non-linear story you're going to plow through will feature multiple cameos by beloved characters from both cartoons. Lots of action, lots of rock throwing, swords, sorcery, useless sci-fi vehicles, cool mounts, and amazing transformation sequences when you call upon the "Power of Grayskull".

Hippie communes and blue-skinned communists

I'm bunching the Care Bears and the Smurfs together because both have had multiple videogames before, both have this happy feel good feel to it. I'm also bunching them together because I think they'd make awesome handheld games.

A Care Bears platformer can really take advantage of the DS' stylus. Imagine having to "pen-in" Care Bear Stare arcs to hit wandering baddies. Imagine having to blow into the DS' microphone to create cloud puffs for your bear to jump in. Imagine having to switch Care Bears because each has powers that are only helpful in certain situations. Cool, right?

As for the Smurfs - those lovable blue skinned communists - I'm thinking that a nice 3D cell-shaded, Crash Bandicoot-styled platformer for the PSP would be a great Smurfs game. Riddle the game with multiple unlockable, Pop-cap styled casual games, and the re-playability would go through the roof.

Of course, to add a bittersweet, this-isn't-as-cutesy-as-you-think-it-is element to the game, I'd like to amp up the evil-ness of Satanic Sorcerer Gargamel and his now Smurf-eating cat Azrael. Come to think of it, Azrael would make a nice recurring mid boss, wouldn't he?

The Rockstar Life

Inter-Band rivalries and sabotage, secret identities, holographic technologies, and two person love-triangles. Jem and the Holograms was one insane 80's cartoon, and a generation-now game for it would have to be just as insane.

We're going to need a Wii for this one.

Imagine taking Guitar Hero rock and roll fantasy gameplay, and then mix it with some Wario Ware Smooth Moves-styled mini-game insanity. Some of us have always wanted to use the Wiimote as a guitar and I'm thinking that it would be great with Guitar Hero-styled concerts, and I'm thinking that a Jem and the Holograms game would be a nice place to showcase a Wiimote-air-guitar.

What about the mini-games? In the 80's toon, Jem and her band, the Holograms, go on tour regularly, and they constantly have to fight off sabotage attempts from rival band, The Misfits. The mini-games could stand in for conflicts like these. A bad performance in the mini-game would then mean that The Misfits sabotage attempt was more successful, and thus increase the difficulty level for the next concert.

Since the cartoon was full of semi-soap opera complications, multiple endings depending on concert performances would be nice. Will Jerrica Benton get together with band manger Rio Pacheco? Will Jerrica be disappointed because Rio Pacheco loves her alter-ego Jem more? Oh the drama!

What's more, if Nintendo manages to get the online infrastructure of the Wii up and running, imagine multiplayer in a game like this. Rock Band anyone?

Futuristic Weaponry and Feral Instincts

The 80's definitely wasn't short on 12-year-old, bot-oriented action cartoons. Given that the 12-year-old kids of yesteryear are probably old enough now to spend 600 bucks, old-school action cartoons like M.A.S.K., Sky Commanders, and ThunderCats, would make great action games for the PS3.

Mask and Sky Commanders could adopt Grand Theft Auto's free roaming, mission-based sandbox gameplay, only this time add in amazing physics provided by the Cell Processor.

Moreover, since both cartoons involve alternate weaponry and odd means of vehicular travel, SIXAXIS controls would be great. Imagine having to pilot one of those transforming vehicles using the SIXAXIS tilt-sense? Imagine having to jump Laser Cables and having to balance Laser Cable travel?

The ThunderCats setting would definitely make for a great Musou-styled game. Perhaps even a polished-up (less gameplay hijinks) Ninety Nine Nights-styled campaign, where you can select a ThunderCat and finish the game using that ThunderCat, then restart the game using a different Thundercat and get a different perspective on the story; hopefully this time (this is something that Ninety-Nine Nights failed to do), you get very different gameplay.

Rainbow Colors and Connecting Robots

What does Rainbow Brite, Mighty Orbots, and Voltron have in common? They're nice, bright, and colorful. Given that the Xbox 360 is often wrongfully accused of not having family-friendly content (ViVa Piñata people!), nice bright and colorful action involving Rainbow Brite, the Voltron Force, and those Mighty Orbots will definitely be welcome.

Some of you guys are probably saying that Voltron isn't as nice and happy as Rainbow Brite, but Rainbow Brite isn't that ditsy either. It's all a matter of presentation really. Just look at this short snippet I got from Wikipedia that talks about Rainbow Brite's back-story:

"In the franchise's back-story, a little orphan girl named Wisp is taken by a Sphere of Light to a land without color."

That sounds like the premise for any of the many "serious" fantasy novels out there.

Moreover, Voltron's been cut to death anyway, all the bloody violence, and murder, and whatnot have been cut out of the version that I saw on TV, so Voltron could be a relatively light G-rated action game.

Why the Xbox 360? Ill I'm just thinking that games featuring episodic content would be nice for these shows: Download the next mission for the Voltron Force next week! Only on Xbox Live.

The Big Names

What?! An 80's nostalgia romp and no mention of GI JOE and the Transformers (the toon not the Michael Bay monstrosity)? Fine, fine. I'm going to try and think up games for them. I'm a bit reluctant about thinking up games for both titles though, because each has had a number of console games before.

Most of the previous games for the 80s toons or platformers. I'm thinking about taking the both franchises in new directions. I say allow the fans to create their own Transformer or their own GI JOE!

I'm thinking that these games would make nice MMORPGs. Given that most character-creation engines in MMOs are attribute-based, and each Joe and Transformer seems to be a nice mix/match of attributes and skills, an MMORPG would be great for these shows. Moreover, each show features two major opposing factions. Cobra, the JOE's, Autobots, and Decepticons just scream Alliance and Horde to some of us.

Also, now that some MMOs like Hellgate: London and Tabula Rasa are starting to mix in some FPS elements, making MMOs for either show seems very do-able. After all, both shows involve a lot of blaster fire.

Okay, so that's at least one 80s game for each platform already. This rant is just about done. But, before I go, I'll leave you with something that causes a lot of people to cover up in shame.

The 80s character that really, really needs a game.

Whatever happened to Captain N: The Game Master? Yeah, I know, he came out in 1989 so that makes him a borderline 80s character, but still. He trumps everyone in the product promotion category. Armed with a magical Light-gun (the Zapper) and a NES controller (the Power-Pad) filled with Nintendo Power, Kevin Keene, and his painful-to-the-eyes yellow shirt, was the Ninty fanboy ideal.

He needs an upgrade. He needs a Wii make-over. He also needs a new game. Why? Why not? Nintendo characters regularly cross over in Smash Bros, why not in a Captain N game?

Hey Nintendo! Bring back Captain N!

Memorable Videogame Myths

In the dark early days of the Internet, when BBS and gaming magazines made of combustible paper still ruled supreme, videogame myths enjoyed a healthier existence.

What videogame myths you ask? Ever heard from a friend of a friend that he had a friend who was able to play Leisure Suit Larry 4? Remember the rumors of the existence of the notorious Cow Level in Diablo I, before the the existence of cows in Diablo II? Yeah folks, videogame myths - rumors that have passed from mouth to mouth and are now part of gaming lore.

What follows are infamous videogame myths that come to mind. The first three are old ones - and legendary ones at that. The last game is a bit more contemporary and stands as an example of how quickly videogame myths get busted now-a-days.

Finding Schala

Schala is the older sister of the character Magus (Janus) in Squaresoft's 16-bit RPG classic, Chrono Trigger. During the course of the game, Schala chooses to sacrifice her life to save the heroes of the game from a grim fate. By the end of the game, (well, in most of the many endings of the game) the optional character Magus leaves the party to try and find Schala.

Apparently such is the attachment of fans to this 16 bit lady, that rumors emerged that you can embark on a side quest to go find Schala. A lot of true believers are quick to cite one of the side quest hints given to you by a character in the game, the Guru of Time. It says: "One of you is close to someone who needs help... Find this person... fast." Many assume that this refers to Schala.

Rumors spread that this final quest was removed in the final print of the game, or that hacked versions of the game existed where you'll be able to find schala. The fact that Chrono Trigger had multiple endings only added fuel to the rumor inferno.

The fans were thankful though, that Schala's disappearance was eventually addressed in the Japanese only Radical Dreamers, and then ultimately in the PS1 sequel Chrono Cross.

However, conspiracy theorists are still attached to this issue - mostly because some fans point out that Schala's hair is blonde in Chrono Cross and not the known blue in her Chrono Trigger incarnation.

They speculate that perhaps something is not fully explained or whatnot.

Reviving Aeris Gainsborough

Yep, another Square game, another dead/lost character. Sigh... Attachment apparently fuels delusion/hope/denial.

The rumor maintained that in some versions of Final Fantasy VII, Aeris could be resurrected. Some maintained that she was actually meant to be resurrected but the option was not implemented or was dropped during later stages of game development. This belief flew blindly against claims from the game's production staff that this was not the case, and that Aeris' death was always intended and was meant to capitalize on the cliche of heroic sacrifice.

To this date there is no found in-game method of resurrecting Aeris, nor is there a discovered alternate ending to the game. Yes, multiple cheats do exist to resurrect the last of the ancients, but most lead to errors and glitches.

Such is the infamy of this supposed resurrection, that a rumored scene is referenced near the end of the Final Fantasy movie expansion, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

It is said that, if a player backtracks to the church in the Midgar slums, a "spirit" of Aeris can be seen in the church tending flowers. However, if you approach the sprite, it will vanish. Wikipedia informs me that this can be seen at anytime from the addition of Aerith to the party onwards.

The rumor is that this is an Easter egg by the developers. Some contend though that this is just likely a glitch. Still, the scene can be observed towards the ending of Final Fantasy VII, when Cloud was in the Lifestream-saturated waters underneath Aeris' church. He glances up to catch a split second ghostly appearance of Aerith and Zack.

Sorry fans, whether they meant that "glitch" or not, the lady is dead. Moreover, given the events that happened in Advent Children, she will likely stay dead, even if Square Enix does (I hope) decide to cash-in on a remake of Final Fantasy VII.

Fighting Sheng Long

Sheng Long came to exist mostly due to the bad English localization of the arcade version of Street Fighter II. Whenever Ryu won he said the following lines: "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." Players of course, thought that Sheng Long was the supposed master of the "Dudley Boys of Street Fighter", Ryu and Ken.

Some console versions eventually changed that translation to "You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance" but still referred to Sheng Long as the master of Ryu and Ken. The thing is Sheng Long never existed. At all. "Sheng Long" was a bad translation of Ryu's "Shoryuken."

The reason why Sheng Long persisted in the minds of hopeful gamers though, is due to an April Fools joke that Electronic Gaming Magazine (EGM) ran in 1992. A fake reporter, named W.A. Stokins (waste tokens), reported that if Ryu did not suffer any damage during the game - and then once Ryu reaches M. Bison's stage and causes the game to end in a perfect draw (no damage to each combatant) - and then have the process was repeated for ten consecutive fights with Bison (hence the token wastage), Sheng Long will come out and beat the bejesus out of Bison and challenge you to a "fight to the death."

Capcom, those wise-ass corporate schmucks, increased Street Fighter II token consumption and popularity by neither confirming or denying the existence of Sheng Long. It is believed that the Sheng Long joke inspired Akuma, an assertion that has neither been denied nor confirmed by Capcom. Those shady creeps. Smart of them.

Sheng Long got a revival on EGM when Street Fighter III came out. They were slightly more revealing about it being a gag though.

An alternate ending to Shadow of the Colossus

After you defeat the 16th Colossus, the sorcerer Grandis Supernus Malus, interesting events occur. Without being a bit too spoiler-ish, let's just say that Wander got a taste of how it is to be a colossus. Anyway, the ending sequences offered enough limited freedom to cause gamers to start thinking that perhaps things could be done to unlock an alternate ending.

Several investigative folk (Ryu Sinclair and David Rodoy) over at GameFaqs have countered this speculation in their Shadow of the Colossus Plot Theory Analysis, by stating that there is no alternate ending. You can't do what you think you could do, and whatever round-about solution you can come up with, it won't work.

Despite the FAQs assertions, I know a lot of folks who are still trying, and consequently, still failing ...miserably.

Of course, given the odd construction of Shadow of the Colossus' story, there's a lot more stuff for folks to speculate, and theorize about other than the existence of an alternate ending.

Oh well, so much for that...
Having said all this, videogame myths prove, if anything, that videogames are powerful enough to move minds and wrench people's guts. So much so that they go into denial, and hope or wish that certain things were possible.

Some games just cause people to end up screaming: "That's that? There's got to be more! I should be able to do more! I could change this right? This has to be possible. Please tell me this has to be possible! Nuuuuuu~~~~"

You know what? Perhaps the ability to move people in such a manner should be one of the foremost means by which we judge if a game is good enough. I mean, that's what others do for other media, right? But nah, that's just probably me being a bit too hopeful. After all, it's the next-gen -what matters to most are the polygon counts, the framerates, the AI actions, the shaders, the bloom filters, and the HD resolutions (1080p/i/insert-whatever-here).