SuperPhillip Central's Top 100 Games of All Time (20-11)

On June 5, SuperPhillip Central turned five years old. We're celebrating big the only way we know how, with a list of our favorite 100 games of all time. SuperPhillip Central's staff has come together to come up with this list. These don't necessarily have to be the best, but they are indeed our favorites. Coming up with an order for these games has been an immense challenge. We're sure you won't agree with our order-- heck, we don't even agree with our order. That said, we hope you'll at least agree with our picks, and if you don't, at least you can read our rationale for our choices. Regardless, for ten weeks, we will be counting down our favorite games of all time. Please join us for this great undertaking.

If you missed a previous edition of our countdown, look no further than these links:

Games of All Time (100-91)
Games of All Time (90-81)
Games of All Time (80-71)
Games of All Time (70-61)
Games of All Time (60-51)
Games of All Time (50-41)
Games of All Time (40-31)
Games of All Time (30-21)

Let's return to the countdown!

20) Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)

The first game on our list of ten titles for this week is Super Mario 3D Land. The series finally found a nice balance between the 3D gameplay of games like Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy, and the 2D linearity of games like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. Because of this, Super Mario 3D Land really felt like a 2D Mario game in 3D. What players received with the game were an unforgettable combination of cleverly constructed obstacle courses, each with three hidden star medals to find, power-ups like the returning Tanooki Suit and more than double the expected content of 3D Land with the secret eight bonus worlds after originally completing the game. Many were bummed with the unveiling of Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U that the new 3D Mario action game wasn't in line with something like Super Mario Galaxy. Seeing as how great Super Mario 3D Land really was and the addition of multiplayer, we can't help but be excited.

19) Star Fox 64 (N64)

Do a barrel roll! One of those rare games that seemingly has infinitely quotable lines of dialogue, Star Fox 64 put players in the role of Fox McCloud, joined by his squadmates Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad and Falco Lombardi. Star Fox 64 was the type of action game that offered multiple paths to the final planet of Venom, where the nefarious scientist Andross was exiled to. There were over twenty unique ways to reach Venom, meaning players needed to replay the game multiple times to reach every level within the game. Most levels had two paths to them, giving players an option on which path they wished to go. (Sometimes the path would be chosen for you if you failed to complete the requirement.) The replay value didn't stop there, either. No, one could go for medals by getting high kill counts on each of the 15+ levels. Outside of arwing combat, whether it is along rails or in all-range mode, Fox could pilot a ground tank and even a submarine. Star Fox 64 is one Nintendo's classics for the 64, so there's no wonder why gamers around the globe wish to step into the cockpit with Team Star Fox once again.

18) Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES)

Last week we had Donkey Kong Country Returns on our list. This week the greatest of the Donkey Kong Country line of games is proudly represented on the Top 100 Games of All Time list. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest featured Diddy Kong in the starring role, alongside his girlfriend Dixie Kong (no relation) to save Donkey Kong from Kaptain K. Rool's klutches-- er... clutches. What transpired from there was a myriad of differently themed areas, masterfully crafted levels, which constantly brought some new and fresh gameplay mechanic into the fold, and an atmosphere that most 16-bit games of that era would have dreamed to have. Donkey Kong Country 2 brought a harder challenge than its predecessor, more interesting bonus areas and even a secret world and boss battle to overcome. Then there's the glorious soundtrack, which made our list of best soundtracks of all time. All of this is packaged into one banana-slamma' of a ride.

17) Final Fantasy VI (SNES)

What we declare to be the best in the Final Fantasy series (sorry, Final Fantasy VII fans), Final Fantasy VI (or as it was originally released in the West as Final Fantasy III) brought together a cast of interesting characters, each with unparalleled development from beginning to end. Final Fantasy VI contained a villain who actually succeeded in his plans, creating a second half of the game that was totally nonlinear, which may have been overwhelming to some players, and understandably so. The previous Final Fantasy games were already fantastic experiences to themselves, but Final Fantasy VI seemed like such a massive beast in comparison to them. There were so many side quests to do, optional bosses to conquer, powerful equipment to find, party members to save and dungeons to enter. It's amazing how timeless Final Fantasy VI is, and it's all thanks to the compelling gameplay, stunning presentation and excellent vision the developers had for the game.

16) The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GBC)

The first handheld Zelda title was Link's Awakening. A remastered version of the game, implementing color, was released on the Game Boy Color in the form of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX. Of course, if you had a Super Game Boy, you could already play the original Link's Awakening in color, but you'd miss out on DX's exclusive color dungeon, giving Link either stronger offense or beefier defense. Koholint Island didn't waste any space within its borders. Each grid on that island served a purpose. There was little to nothing in the way of filler. The dungeons sported clever puzzles, especially the seventh dungeon, a tower, where one needed to chuck an iron ball into the support columns to bring the top floor crashing down. Link's Awakening brought with it Roc's Feather, an item that would be used in the majority of handheld Zelda titles that followed. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was a dream come true in video game form, and the DX version only heightened its greatness.

15) Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

SuperPhillip Central's favorite kart racer of all time gets the 15th spot here on this monumental little countdown of ours. It is Diddy Kong Racing, one of Rare's greatest spectacles. It introduced something that a lot of future racers tried to copy, to varying degrees of success, an adventure mode. Through completing races, acquiring golden balloons and beating bosses in tests of speed, the player progressed through a story to halt the sinister sorcerer Wizpig's tyranny on Timber Island. Not only that, but alongside the four player multiplayer, the three different racing vehicle types that offered their own takes on the twenty tracks, and aforementioned adventure mode was a cast of characters that were fun to play as, each with their own stats. We even had a look at Conker before he let alcoholism ruin his life. Diddy Kong Racing was a combination of well crafted tracks, addicting multiplayer (even allowing two players to cooperatively do the adventure mode via code) and colorful presentation.

14) Perfect Dark (N64, XBLA)

Our favorite first-person shooter of all time also comes from Rare. Man, those guys were really something during the Nintendo 64 era! Perfect Dark was built as a spiritual successor to GoldenEye 007, one of the best selling games on the Nintendo 64. However, Agent Joanna Dark can do anything James Bond can do, and her game did it a lot better. The missions were much more complex, offering a similar amount of freedom like GoldenEye 007 to complete objectives in any order the player liked. The multiplayer was practically its own game, presenting players with large scale maps with endless amounts of vantage points, places of cover and hidden areas. The mode also allowed something GoldenEye 007 lacked-- bots. This made it so you didn't need to have a sleepover or live on campus just to have some competition. All this in addition to the added beauty and powerful performance that the expansion pak gave to Perfect Dark (slowdown, be damned) make for a first-person shooter that may be a little long in the tooth, but is near perfection.

13) Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

We like Super Mario Bros., but we did not like it enough for it to make our list of 100 games. Now, if this was a list of revolutionary or influential games, we'd no doubt have to include the game on merit alone. That said, we didn't truly get into the Super Mario Bros. series seriously until the third installment. With Super Mario Bros. 3, Nintendo implemented eight overworld maps, which served as the player's way to access each level. Unlike past games, Super Mario Bros. 3 featured a non-linear level structure, offering different paths for the player to go, sometimes skipping over some levels entirely if need or want be. Super Mario Bros. 3 brought a bunch of other mechanics that would be featured in future Mario games, such as items that could be held, sliding down slopes, new types of jumping, the ability to fly via the Super Leaf power-up, airships, fortresses, ghost houses and more complex level design than previously seen. Despite all of these revolutionary features that many future Mario games would use, Super Mario Bros. 3 isn't quite our favorite 2D Mario.

12) Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)

Many nights went sleepless when the fantastic Super Smash Bros. Melee came into our lives. Like a falcon punch to the gut, Melee came out of nowhere as our go-to multiplayer game. Everything about Melee was meant to bigger and better than its Nintendo 64 predecessor, a game that was originally never supposed to leave Japan! We're glad it did, because otherwise we would have never gotten to experience Super Smash Bros. Melee. The game gave us more characters, more stages, more items, more modes (like the awesome Adventure mode, more crazy nights than we can count, classic Nintendo musical tracks orchestrated, better graphics, the addition of collectible trophies and much much more. To this day, Super Smash Bros. Melee is a game that many still break out for parties and get-togethers, and it is still played competitively at various events around the world. Whether or not you call it a fighting game is moot, Super Smash Bros. Melee is a love letter to all Nintendo fans and fans of great, addicting gameplay.

11) New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)

This may be considered sacrilege to some Mario fans, but we actually prefer New Super Mario Bros. Wii to Super Mario Bros. 3. While the NES classic was certainly revolutionary, New Super Mario Bros. Wii had the overall better designed and more interestingly designed levels. The addition of multiplayer to make messing over your friends and family, or, as the game probably intended, to work together to beat each level didn't hurt either. We really believe that New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the pinnacle of 2D Mario level design, showing that Nintendo EAD's experience with the franchise allowed them to craft some of the finest obstacle courses that ever existed in a 2D platformer. Each level offered up something exciting to freshen things up, challenges and hidden areas that were expertly placed. Every Goomba, every pipe, every Koopa Troopa, every pit, every coin, etc. served its own purpose. There was nothing on screen that didn't belong there. That is masterful level design, and that is what New Super Mario Bros. Wii delivered in spades.

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Next week we will finally name our favorite game of all time. Oh, there will be nine other titles to be listed as well. You do NOT want to miss this. You'll HATE yourself if you do! Trust us. We know these things.

Resident Evil: Revelations (Wii U, PS3, 360, PC) Review

We have one last review for the month of July, and it's for a game whose original version released on the Nintendo 3DS two years ago to little fanfare. Now, the game is getting a second chance to shine on HD platforms, including Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. It's Resident Evil: Revelations.

Forget That Other Game,

This is the True Resident Evil 6!

Resident Evil: Revelations was touted as a big exclusive for the Nintendo 3DS, and it was. It was an excellent addition to the Resident Evil series, creating a sublime mix of survival-horror, something that the Resident Evil series had been sorely missing as of late, and action. Unfortunately, sales of the game were anything but sublime. Now, two years and some change later, Capcom has HD-ified the game for high definition home consoles. The end result is a game with a second chance at getting an audience with its stellar campaign and intriguing and addicting Raid Mode.

Jill Valentine and her newly assigned partner Parker Luciani arrive on a luxury cruise liner known as the Queen Zenobia to search for their missing comrades, longtime series veteran Chris Redfield and Jessica Sherawat. On board the ship they discover the crew has been infected by something known as the T-Abyss virus, turning them all into blood-sucking creatures, and a terrorist group known as Veltro is taking credit for the attack. Resident Evil: Revelations is played out through twelve episodes, taking players not only into the shoes of Jill and Parker on the Queen Zenobia, but also as Chris, Jessica, and a couple of annoying, they-don't-quite-fit-here characters known as Quint and Keith. Revelations has multiple flashbacks to an incident that is set as the catalyst of everything that is currently going on, the Terragrigia Panic. Episodes have multiple parts to them, switching back and forth between character duos and settings. It's a fascinating tale, even with the sometimes hammy execution and dialogue.

While Jill's segments are full
of survival horror elements...

Resident Evil: Revelations beckoned the return of survival-horror to the series. Jill and Parker's parts of the game use limited ammunition and a greater emphasis on exploring and puzzle solving than the sections of the game where the pairs of Chris and Jessica and Quint and Keith have. The latter pairs have a larger focus on action, similar to what is seen in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5. What it all adds up to is a mix of gameplay styles that both players who enjoyed the classic Resident Evil games and players who enjoyed the more modern Resident Evil games can enjoy.

...Chris's are all action all the time.
Sit, Ubu. Sit.

Limited ammo makes it so sometimes it's best to avoid confrontation rather than actively search for it. You can evade enemies by pushing the left analog stick forward just as a foe swipes or lunges at you. The timing is a bit tricky, but if it was easier, one could just dodge everything and the challenge of Revelations would be significantly lower. Of course, there are times where infected stand in your way or you encounter a boss battle and you have no way not to use some of that ammo you've been smartly hording.

I've heard of Wii Remotes through TVs,
but infected monsters?!

Enemies take a fair amount of bullets to go down, and each enemy type has certain weak spots that do the most damage when hit. It's fun to shoot the legs of an Ooze monster and see it fall to the ground, slowly crawling to your location. Other times you can shoot their arm and have them dazed for a little while, opening up a moment you can unleash a powerful punch on them, saving some ammo for you.

Sometimes all you need is some brute force.

Like the most recent Resident Evil games, you can move while aiming, a godsend for certain encounters. You can switch between a third-person over-the-shoulder camera angle for aiming and a first-person shooting viewpoint for maximum efficiency.

Jill and Parker have a unique tool in their arsenal, the Genesis device. Once again, Genesis does what Nintendon't... or something like that. Sorry for trying to be clever! Regardless, the Genesis can be used to point at objects and find hidden, out-of-sight items like ammo, health and upgrade kits that allow you to mix and match custom parts to increase the firepower, rate of fire and stopping power, for starters, of a given weapon. Some may not like having to stop and examine each room with the Genesis to find much needed ammo and helpful items, but it's a necessary evil-- play on words intended.

Outside of the Resident Evil: Revelations' campaign, which will last anywhere between 7-10 hours (Note that there are three main difficulties to play through, with Infernal, the toughest of the three, having totally different enemy placements than the Nintendo 3DS version of the game), is the ever addicting Raid Mode. This is a cooperative online multiplayer mode where up to two players go through the various maps of the game, shoot through waves of enemies and earn points to be used to purchase better guns, items and other equipment. Points are also used to level your own character up. The fun of Raid Mode is not only playing with another person (it's pretty hard by yourself unless you grind), but additionally earning rare and super rare weapons to take down foes like nobody's business. So even long after the campaign of Resident Evil: Revelations has been taken care of, one can enjoy Raid Mode for countless hours.

Regardless, there are two issues that prevent Resident Evil: Revelations from truly hitting amazing. The first comes from the non-optimization of the port to more powerful hardware. This is seen most egregiously in the load times between major sections of the Queen Zenobia. You'll be sitting in front of a door as its center spins about a hundred times (exaggeration) until it finally opens. This takes about a half minute at the very least to do, and it's not even like Metroid Prime where the loading is masked by the doors. No, these doors basically have a sign on them that says, "LOADING! PLEASE UNDERSTAND!" This was an issue in the Nintendo 3DS original, which was on weaker hardware, so it's confusing to see this problem on much more powerful hardware.

All those synchronized swimming classes
finally paid off for Ms. Valentine.

That is but one of the two issues. The second is rather unfortunate, and unlike the loading times, the Nintendo 3DS original never had this problem. It has to do with aiming. There is notable dead zone when using the analog stick to aim. In Layman's terms, this means that aiming is not as precise as it should be. It feels slippery and lacks the precision of typical third-person shooters. This makes aiming for weak spots on enemies more of a problem than it should be.

On the consoles, aiming can be a bit finicky.

The addition of HD has made Resident Evil: Revelations, which was already an impressive looking game, all the more visually stunning. Character models have been improved, settings are all the more brooding and special effects delight even more. Sometimes there is a little slowdown with the frame-rate, but overall Revelations runs at a steady clip. The sound design delivers an increasingly foreboding feeling within the game's survival horror segments, and creates excitement for the game's action sequences. The voice work is well done, save for some cringe-worthy lines. If the writing and execution of the voice work was a tad better, as a character in the game says, "That would be tits." Moving on, the music in Revelations works wonders on the emotions with atmospheric tracks for exploration and heart-pounding themes for boss battles and other moments of pure action.

Beauty (the sunset) and the beast (everything else).

Resident Evil: Revelations has pretty much successfully made the transition from a handheld to HD platforms, loading and aiming issues aside. Revelations consists of one of the better Resident Evil stories the series has ever seen, a nice level of pacing between survival horror elements and action, and an online mode that will suck away players' hours like an Ooze monster sucking the blood from its victim. In a perfect world (which it apparently isn't), Resident Evil: Revelations, the better game, would have outsold Resident Evil 6, the weaker game, and Capcom would have gotten the message that fans of the series demand quality. Instead, the opposite happened. Now, excuse me while I go into my little crying corner and whine for a few hours.

[SPC Says: 8.75/10]

Reasons Why the Gaming Industry Is Still Ripe for Ridicule

If you've read SuperPhillip Central in the past, you know our opinion of the gaming industry. It deserves all of the ridicule it receives by those on the outside and also those of us on the inside, like gamers, bloggers, journalists, etc. We're a young industry, and we haven't yet completed our growing pains. Take a look at a message board or comment section on a site. Part of the problem presents itself then and there. This opinion piece suggests three ways (there are more, but we don't want to overload you) that we think the gaming industry deserves to be made fun of.

Game journalism is still an absolute joke.

One time we posted a very popular article on the video game news aggregate site N4G, and when it was getting ready to leave the front page's top headlines, it was removed by an administrator. Why it was done then instead of after it gave us thousands of page views is beyond us. The reason? "Only industry professionals can post blogs."

What does an "industry professional" even mean? Does that mean SuperPhillip Central's staff should act like typical game journalists and constantly provide articles for the sole purpose of clickbaiting? Should we get into Twitter battles with indie developers that make someone leave the industry because we feel entitled to an answer or sound byte? Should we give games like Call of Duty: Ghosts high scores so Activision will continue putting ads on our site to give us revenue? Should we shamelessly get invited to all-expenses paid EA-sponsored parties on the other side of the world to pimp up games like Battlefield 4? Should we throw softball questions to the companies that we like best and incinerate the companies we don't with hardball questions? Should we hype up a game with a partnership between us, Doritos and Mountain Dew? Should we just write tabloid-esque articles like Kotaku?

Because that's all we think of when we think of most game journalists, and it sucks because there's many in the industry who do their jobs well. They do hard-hitting investigative journalism, do fair and balanced reviews and give us intriguing interviews without the self-indulging "how awesome is your game?" bullshit.

An industry professional is just another word for someone on a big site like IGN or Gamespot who gets free review copies, trips to fancy parties and events for free and then bitches about their audience being the entitled ones. It certainly couldn't be the folks on this and many other independent gaming sites that don't let the industry's bull pass by us. It couldn't be the folks who generally have to buy their own games and not just get them handed to them with promises of good scores for more ad revenue. It couldn't be the folks who don't have to worry about pissing off a big developer so they don't invite us to their swanky parties or give us free gaming systems that we lick on camera anymore.

And no, we're not saying all game journalists and sites are like that, so please don't get us wrong. We're just sad that this is how our opinion of most game journalists has been shaped because of their actions in the past by places like IGN, Gamespot, Game Informer and Gametrailers.

Gamers still seem to enjoy failure in the industry.

We'll use the Wii U for this one, because it's a system that is down on its luck severely and has been kicked while it's down more times than... uh... something that has been kicked a lot while it's down. Somebody out there give us a better analogy, please!

Anyway, there seems to be a fair amount of people enjoying the failure of the Wii U. This is the exact kind of console zealot behavior that isn't doing anyone any favors. The thing is, when someone is loving a console not doing well, it sort of tells us that they don't respect the video game industry. A platform failing helps no one. No doubt jobs would be lost. Significant amounts of money would be lost. Only a sociopath would enjoy such a thing, and it sadly seems like many gamers fit that title perfectly.

When gamers don't even respect the industry, why in the world should anyone else? Wanting a console or developer to fail because you have some irrational hatred for it or them is not good for the industry. There are honest to goodness people who are loving that these platforms are failing, especially the Wii U. It's like all of the pent up frustration that the Wii beat our their favorite consoles' for five years has finally come to a head.

The Wii U failing is not good. It doesn't make the industry a better place. It's a major platform that is suffering, so instead of saying something absolutely stupid like "Nintendo is getting what it deserves, mwahaha", we should actually want the system to do better. It makes the entire industry a better, more successful place. It gives Nintendo the opportunity to pull off more risks, make money to invest in better games, perhaps make bigger budget games and maybe not rely on their usual franchises as much. Isn't that something we, as gamers who are supposed to love our hobby and want our industry to do well, should want? We aren't too hip right now on the Xbox One, but that doesn't mean we want it to fail. It's just not for us. How hard is it to instead of trolling every Xbox One article or message board topic we find to simply keep it to ourselves or speak of our disinterest in a productive way?

The best discussion forum we have is NeoGAF.

NeoGAF pounds its chest as a preeminent place for video game discussion, yet you take a look at a topic like this, and you see that full blown trolling is not only allowed it seems to be encouraged. And console wars? What topic is complete without a nice unhealthy helping of it? It's the same type of garbage you see on a site like GameFAQs. We're sorry. We just undeservedly insulted GameFAQs. At least GameFAQs has helpful FAQs and cheat codes. It is also sans the superiority complex.

The fact of the matter is if NeoGAF is the best place we have for video game discussion, this industry deserves to be made fun of. NeoGAF is elitist garbage with as many trolls, fanboys, console zealots and hypocrisy as all of the sites their members make fun of combined. It's trash. Plain and simple. Just look at these wonderful quotes full of kneejerk reactions, hyperbole and trolling from various members. These are examples of the types of reasons we have been talking about as to why the gaming industry is still ripe for ridicule.

THIS is the best we can do?! These posts could be transplanted to GameFAQs or a YouTube comments section and one would not be able to tell the difference. You need not think we're cherry picking either. Just enter any Wii U topic, even the ones with a positive message. Those eventually turn negative, too. Enter a Phil Fish topic where internet tough guys want to punch the man in the face. Enter a PS4 RAM topic. Enter an Xbox One 180 topic. Enter any next-gen discussion topic. Enter... etc. The fact of the matter is that NeoGAF is just another site with the types of gamers that embarrass us and our hobby. We need something better than this. When your industry's best site for gaming discussion is just console wars covered up with a superiority complex, then your industry has a severe problem.

And that's what makes being a fan of the industry so maddening. I want the industry to start being taken seriously by people other than gamers, and hell, even gamers don't seem to take it seriously. If things continue, we'll always be the target of ridicule by the masses. The constant infighting, console wars and trolling does little to help our cause. And if, somehow, after all of this you think the industry is perfect as it is, you really need to wake up and realize that you might be part of the problem. Sitting there doing nothing or even engaging in the types of behavior listed is not helping the industry. We need to collectively grow up, wish systems to do well so our industry does well, and have a more respectful discourse with one another about our console choices.

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGM - The Boys of Summer Edition

Welcome to Monday here at SuperPhillip Central. Today we have five new VGM to share with you from such games as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Mario Super Sluggers (where today's edition name is a reference to) and Kirby's Dream Land. We have a great mix of retro and modern music today, so sit back, relax and enjoy some video game music bliss! After you do that, check out our VGM Database for every VGM ever listed.

v426. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii, GCN) - Stallord Boss Battle

This is a remix of the boss theme from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that was played during the King Dodongo and Volvagia boss battles. Twilight Princess uses this theme, extended and with added flourish, for the Stallord boss. We listed this battle on the first installment of our Best Boss Battles in Gaming History segment. It was great using the Spinner to slam right into the foe's spinal column.

v427. Mario Super Sluggers (Wii) - Yoshi Park

Time to grab the old bat, ball and glove for some baseball fun with Mario Super Sluggers. This sequel to Mario Superstar Baseball added a new adventure mode, motion controls and even more characters into the mix. Yoshi Park uses the theme from Yoshi's Story as its melody. Nothing like humming to the theme as you strike out three batters in a row.

v428. Kirby's Dream Land (GB) - Green Greens

Last week the Game Boy was represented by The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. This week the system has its time in the spotlight with Kirby's Dream Land. One of the most well-known themes from Kirby's long and illustrious career is Green Greens. It has had its place in a lot of Kirby games as well as remixed in the Super Smash Bros. series.

v429. Sonic Rush Adventure (DS) - Boss

The composers of Sonic Rush Adventure did their best to try to imitate the style of Hideki Naganuma's Sonic Rush soundtrack. While their efforts did not eclipse Mr. Naganuma's wonderful work, they did create some stellar tracks for the soundtrack nonetheless. One such track is the boss theme, a rockin' song indeed.

v430. Go Vacation (Wii) - Opening Theme (NA Version)

Ready for some pop? Go Vacation is an incredibly underrated experience, and its soundtrack is very good and catchy. The North American version of the opening theme from the game features peppy pop tune with synth brass and guitar, all centering around female vocals. This song gets you pumped to explore the island within the game, and we're happy we can finally share it with you.

SPC Soapbox - 7/28/13 Phil Fish and How We're Poisoning Our Industry With Hate

This is a special SPC Soapbox. Perhaps you could liken it to an after-school special, but more in the form of an article than a poorly acted TV movie. I felt I needed to comment about being in the center of a controversy, being in the spotlight and turning people against you, all things that I have experienced myself. That's not the only point of this edition of the SPC Soapbox, however. I want to make a declaration and I would like to argue that the constant infighting, trolling, attacking and insulting is poisoning our industry.

Yesterday was an extremely disappointing and disgusting day for the gaming industry, and it occurred because many don't realize what their seemingly innocent words they type from behind a curtain of anonymity can do to a person. This isn't meant to defend Phil Fish, creator of the indie hit FEZ, or his behavior. He is as much to blame for Saturday's situation as anyone else.

What am I exactly talking about, for those that don't know? This all started with a Gametrailers video in which Marcus Beer spoke out, in less than respectful words, about several indie developers, including Phil Fish. This all regarded the turnaround of the Xbox One's self-publishing indie stance. He essentially stated that Fish and other indie developers like him had a duty to tell game journalists their thoughts on what was then a rumor. He then argued that despite not caring about talking to journalists now, Fish and company would do so when they wanted to hype their own creations.

That isn't to say that Phil Fish is completely innocent in all of this. No, not by a long shot. This all ended with something akin to a car crash-- something you can't stop looking at, no matter how grotesque it becomes-- with Phil Fish telling Marcus Beer to go kill himself via Twitter, a site that kills more careers than bombing on the old Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Regardless of his tweet and statement being from Futurama, telling Beer to "kill himself" was not taken lightly by the gaming community, and Mr. Fish blew any chance he had of being the sympathetic figure.

Phil Fish

From insulting Japanese developers in front of a crowded room to insulting fans for asking simple questions to him, it seems that Fish was not ready for the spotlight. Success practically came overnight. One moment he was just the guy from Indie Game: The Movie, the next he was an industry and internet celebrity. How fast this happened certainly took Fish by surprise.

In Indie Game: The Movie, you could see that Fish was a man on edge. He even stated that he might commit suicide over how horrible his experience with the development of FEZ was. This would make him seem like a sympathetic figure, yet his internet and public exploits made him look anything but.

The latest fiasco saw Fish tell someone to go kill themselves. Is it any surprise that he was not liked by many? You stir the hornet's nest, you're bound to get stung, and Fish repeated got stung. You don't call people out, troll them and insult them and get to wonder why people don't like you and attack you right back. Unfortunately for Phil Fish, he didn't learn that although he attacks with one voice, the internet will attack right back with thousands. This pushed Fish into a dark place. Thus, we see him saying he's cancelled FEZ 2 and is leaving the gaming industry.

FEZ

Fish reminds me of me at a younger period in my life. I ran a message board community known as Wi-Fi World, and eventually I began acting out. However, when you keep acting out, apologizing for it (which is the part of all of this that Fish never really did), and then going back and doing the same thing a few weeks or months later, people will stop sympathizing with you, and rightfully so. My final act as administrator was deleting all topics and forums from the site, in a bout of pure mania and finally snapping towards all of the deserved trolling I was receiving. I didn't deserve any respect anymore.

I'm no doctor, but I found Fish's antics really reminiscent of my own back in the day. I suffer from bipolar disorder, and the actions I took were a result of not having the right combination of medications. If Fish suffers from the same debilitating disorder, which his actions and character remind me a lot of, then he should really step back, stay out of the industry, stop being a lightning rod for attacks by stirring things up, and seek professional help. I don't say that in a condescending way. If Fish continues his current path, he's either going to wind up going even more insane or do something extreme.

But that's neither here nor there. I think the moral of this story is to realize that even though most don't have a face on the internet, it's important to treat people the way you want to be treated. Even though a lot of us are anonymous, our words really can hurt even if the other person doesn't have a face to recognize. This is especially hurtful if you're the center of a storm of criticism like Phil Fish was, deservedly so or not. We need to remember that in all of the console wars, message board posts, comment sections, etc. that there are real life people behind the user names we see. Some people simply shrug off trolling or hurtful statements with a simple "lol", but there's many who, whether it's smart to or not, take such statements to heart, despite their attacker being an anonymous face. I know that I certainly did.

We need to be a more civil gaming community as a whole. We need to finally mature as gamers and quit the console wars, the trolling and the insults towards others. We're poisoning our hobby and how it is seen in the public. There's a difference between degrading a console and degrading a fellow human being. Folks like Phil Fish and Marcus Beer don't have that opinion, and in Mr. Fish's case, he found what happens when you aren't respectful to others the hard way.

Let us-- as corny as this admittedly sounds-- rise above the hate and see what we have in common rather than what we don't. Perhaps this is purely ideological, but I dislike what I see going on, and something has to stop.