Kirishawnie Marisa (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
slimequest) wrote2011-04-06 06:41 pm
slimequest) wrote2011-04-06 06:41 pm
16-bit Summer, or slimequest's ROM of the month club.
I've seen lots of people I know on LJ start up pretty successful and interesting communities and events lately, and it gave me an idea of something I might try out, if there's enough interest. So that's where this post comes in!
Basically, I was thinking we could gather a community this summer (when I assume most people would have more free time than usual) and pick one ROM per month for us all to play together. I figured we would probably focus on 16-bit games because they're probably the best balance between "oh god can my computer play this" and "is that supposed to be a cat or a dragon?". Oh, and this would primarily be RPGs and action-RPG-type-games. You know me.
If we pick one ROM a month, I think that's leisurely enough to fit in with all our other responsibilities. I don't necessarily expect everyone to finish the game in that timespan, but at least play enough of it to experience most of what it has to offer.
Speaking for myself, I know I have a huge backlog of modern games I payed good money for and all that, so I wouldn't expect to take up too much of mine or anyone else's time. Many SNES RPGs, for example, clock in under 30 hours of gameplay, which isn't terribly demanding. And considering this wouldn't cost anyone anything, I think pretty much anyone willing to play could participate. Whatever device you're currently reading this with can more than likely play these games.
The goal of this would be twofold, essentially:
1. Getting together a bunch of people to play a game together, a game which most of them probably have never played or maybe even heard of. It'd be an opportunity for younger gamers or those who otherwise missed out on the era to see what us old folks are always yammering on about, as well as exposing everyone to games that originally didn't come out in their country or even in English.
I also think it's one thing to randomly sit down and decide to try out a ROM, but with a community posting about it and helping each other along in the game, it'd become something completely different. At the very least, it'd provide motivation to keep playing and maybe even finish it.
2. Assuming some talented people were among those playing, we could create a bunch of fanworks (pics, fics, music remixes, etc) for games that likely have barely any, if any at all. Maybe even some image macros, livestreams, or Let's Plays thrown in for good measure. Pretty much what all those other games get, but for the games we'd be playing. We'd be pioneers! At least in the English-speaking world.
It would be bizarrely awesome to have all the usual fandom type things for obscure games that nobody would get but us. Of course, if we're prolific enough, we might suck others into the madness and spread the word around! That's kind of the point of all this, to get these games more exposure in various ways. It'd be fun to build up hype while playing with stuff like that, and maybe just doing it to say that we did. Obscure gamin' cred~
I don't think any of this would begin until late May/early June at the earliest, so this is just an early interest check to see if enough people would be willing to join in. It'd be nice to have at least a decently-sized little community with enough variety that we could have enough discussions and fan-stuff made to make it worthwhile.
There are a few games I have in mind already, but we could maybe hold a poll to see what we'd play first and all that. I'd rather avoid anything too "mainstream" like Chrono Trigger or any Final Fantasies, not to mention all those have remakes already. But I do want to focus on games that are (relatively) easy to get into and play without going too bizarre or obscure. Off the top of my head, The 7th Saga, Terranigma, Mystic Ark, Bahamut Lagoon, Romancing SaGa 3, and Rudra no Hihou come to mind. I'd absolutely love to do Live A Live as well, that's practically a must. But any and all considerations are welcomed!
So, what do you guys think? If you know of other people on LJ who you think might be interested, feel free to toss around a link to this entry to them. (Assuming LJ is working...)
Oh, and maybe name suggestions for this theoretical community would be nice. I'm pretty terrible at that.
Basically, I was thinking we could gather a community this summer (when I assume most people would have more free time than usual) and pick one ROM per month for us all to play together. I figured we would probably focus on 16-bit games because they're probably the best balance between "oh god can my computer play this" and "is that supposed to be a cat or a dragon?". Oh, and this would primarily be RPGs and action-RPG-type-games. You know me.
If we pick one ROM a month, I think that's leisurely enough to fit in with all our other responsibilities. I don't necessarily expect everyone to finish the game in that timespan, but at least play enough of it to experience most of what it has to offer.
Speaking for myself, I know I have a huge backlog of modern games I payed good money for and all that, so I wouldn't expect to take up too much of mine or anyone else's time. Many SNES RPGs, for example, clock in under 30 hours of gameplay, which isn't terribly demanding. And considering this wouldn't cost anyone anything, I think pretty much anyone willing to play could participate. Whatever device you're currently reading this with can more than likely play these games.
The goal of this would be twofold, essentially:
1. Getting together a bunch of people to play a game together, a game which most of them probably have never played or maybe even heard of. It'd be an opportunity for younger gamers or those who otherwise missed out on the era to see what us old folks are always yammering on about, as well as exposing everyone to games that originally didn't come out in their country or even in English.
I also think it's one thing to randomly sit down and decide to try out a ROM, but with a community posting about it and helping each other along in the game, it'd become something completely different. At the very least, it'd provide motivation to keep playing and maybe even finish it.
2. Assuming some talented people were among those playing, we could create a bunch of fanworks (pics, fics, music remixes, etc) for games that likely have barely any, if any at all. Maybe even some image macros, livestreams, or Let's Plays thrown in for good measure. Pretty much what all those other games get, but for the games we'd be playing. We'd be pioneers! At least in the English-speaking world.
It would be bizarrely awesome to have all the usual fandom type things for obscure games that nobody would get but us. Of course, if we're prolific enough, we might suck others into the madness and spread the word around! That's kind of the point of all this, to get these games more exposure in various ways. It'd be fun to build up hype while playing with stuff like that, and maybe just doing it to say that we did. Obscure gamin' cred~
I don't think any of this would begin until late May/early June at the earliest, so this is just an early interest check to see if enough people would be willing to join in. It'd be nice to have at least a decently-sized little community with enough variety that we could have enough discussions and fan-stuff made to make it worthwhile.
There are a few games I have in mind already, but we could maybe hold a poll to see what we'd play first and all that. I'd rather avoid anything too "mainstream" like Chrono Trigger or any Final Fantasies, not to mention all those have remakes already. But I do want to focus on games that are (relatively) easy to get into and play without going too bizarre or obscure. Off the top of my head, The 7th Saga, Terranigma, Mystic Ark, Bahamut Lagoon, Romancing SaGa 3, and Rudra no Hihou come to mind. I'd absolutely love to do Live A Live as well, that's practically a must. But any and all considerations are welcomed!
So, what do you guys think? If you know of other people on LJ who you think might be interested, feel free to toss around a link to this entry to them. (Assuming LJ is working...)
Oh, and maybe name suggestions for this theoretical community would be nice. I'm pretty terrible at that.