slimequest: (It's not gay if it's a she-slime)
Kirishawnie Marisa ([personal profile] 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.

The gift that keeps on giving!

[identity profile] pjade.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
All for it! I gotta say, it's kind of shame that 2010 turned out to be a rather "blah" year for English fan translations compared to 2009, which was absolutely fantastic- Mystic Ark, Lennus II, and Breath of Fire 2 RT, just to name a few. I know Dynamic Designs is working on Aretha II and Princess Minerva, but those might not be out for a while.

But yeah, late May/early June would be best to start anything official, I'm about to graduate from salon school and getting ready for my state board (and actually passing it!) is my priority for now. After that, I'm game. Literally! XD
ext_189275: (Who's awesome? I'm awesome.)

Re: The gift that keeps on giving!

[identity profile] slimequest.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, 2009 was pretty amazing as far as translation projects went. I don't know if we'll see one year with that many awesome projects being finished all at once! But as long as those dedicated people keep working, I'm happy.

I'm really interested in Arabian Nights, whenever that'll get done. Looks spiffy.

I know a lot of people have school eating up their time right now, which is why I wanted to wait for summer, definitely. I think anyone could plop down in front of a computer for an hour or two after a full day of summertime activities and unwind with a classic ROM.

But yeah, sounds good! (By the way, apparently I'm the only one with "Mystic Ark" on his interests list since it's not a link...)

[identity profile] tsuki-reiko.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
I can dig it.
ext_189275: (Jack Russell edition)

[identity profile] slimequest.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
Suddenly, you are aware that you are cooler than you ever thought you were!

I'll try to make sure we pick something fun, I promise! But you're one of my DQ peeps so you already can handle the good stuff ;D

[identity profile] tsuki-reiko.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I'm sure you'll have tons of fun stuff. Maybe this will spur me on to finally get around to playing Clock Tower, as well.
ext_189275: (Fire is shiny)

[identity profile] slimequest.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
Oh god, I've been meaning to play that myself! Maybe if this gets popular enough we could extend it past summer and that kind of game (plus Sweet Home, everybody's gotta play that!) could make interesting near-Halloween playthroughs.

[identity profile] tsuki-reiko.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
Yusssss!

[identity profile] yachinami.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
Sounds like it could be fun. It'd motivate me to actually play some of those games I've always thought about checking out but never have because starting up a new game is hard enough for me.

However, since I completely suck at that whole 'being social' thing, I'd undoubtedly be Lurker McLurkerson if I joined.
ext_189275: (mff mphh mghfhfhh)

[identity profile] slimequest.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I think it'd be a good opportunity to share these games with more people. I think anyone who's either intimidated by older games or just has a harder time getting into them could benefit from playing them alongside others! Especially because they're "just" ROMs and not storebought games, it can be hard to find that motivation to play/finish them sometimes.

Aww, I don't think it'd be that hard to socialize, since we'd all be dorks in this together! I figure some people could post new entries about the game and others could comment, etc etc. I figured it'd be some tight-knit community anyway, so it should hopefully not be too hard to find a way to socialize. I'd wanna hear your thoughts as we play together, too! ;D

[identity profile] fireholly.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 12:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I agree with your suggestions, I agree with your plan, and I have nothing else to add at this time.
ext_189275: (Behold the OtaClock)

[identity profile] slimequest.livejournal.com 2011-04-07 02:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Your input has been considered and has been filed appropriately.

(also, yay)