The Best Computer Game Garments

So i was in one of those half awake half asleep moods this morning and was thinking of something good to blog about, aside from my rants, which isnt to everyones taste. Then it came to me, there are some iconic game characters that have been in the public eye for years.

In game development there are the key areas to cover when creating a character, whether they are playable or NPC. These include there personality, appearance, and their apparel. So i started to think about which iconic computer game characters have the best garments, or apparel. So me and atariboy (who helped with this list of sorts) got to work thinking up of computer game characters that had some sort of clothing that set them apart from the rest. My only rule was that it couldnt be a Movie ported over to a console or pc, and no tuxedo’s/smart suits. If that were the case, james bond would be straight in there, as well as Men in Black, and well there not typically known as computer game characters, but for the movies based on them.
And so we start, My first thought was Sonic the hedgehog, well of course he has to be first on the list. His classic red shoes are the source of his superhuman (of super-hedgehog) speed, they just add that certain element of cool. And who couldnt resist the urge of holding down the A-button (sega megadrive), let sonic rev up and let him loose to wreak havoc upon dr Eggman/Robotnic.

Then of course who else could follow sonic than Mario, of course we could include luigi here, due to him having an identical hat (in green). But these two iconic characters have been the mainstay of the gaming world since, well , forever. Mario’s hat like sonic’s shoes, gives him special abilities, different hats do different things, makes him bigger, and my favourite the ‘Flower power’ hat which let him shoot whatever those things were.

Of course we have to consider Sonic and Mario are playful characters, with very similar energetic personalities, fighting for a cause against equally comical badguys. I tried to move away from this aspect, and thought about which characters have something that little special, or cheesy. Of course how cud i forget Solid Snake, one of the hardest men know to gaming, the elitest of elite special forces, ah the days of completing metal gear solid and recieving a Bandana at the end. One thing i do have to say is that, damn he’s got it low on his forehead, almost covers his eyes, but this adds a sense of enigma to him. I thought id put in Max Payne, purely because i love the game, and always remember the long black trenchcoat, and the really, REALLY bad hawian shirt. Diving around corners, the black coat brought on cape-like (batman and such) imagery, and blowing in the wind, or the calm before the storm, before he ‘buz a cap in yo ass’, much like Solid snake and his Bandana.

 

The realm of computer game has brought on a torrent of FPS, and the possibilities for sci-fi, and fictional worlds and settings has brought many of the best known games of recent times into a new direction, one of fantasy and kickin ass. Although the heroes depicted in these game, most notabley Gordon Freeman (half life), Samus (Metroid), and the Master Chief (Halo), all face many dangers in the escapades, and many hazerdous environments. This is where the full body protective suits comes in, most iconically the HEV suit from half life, but also the master chief with his suit and sheild. With Metriod and Halo these suits add the potnetial of you becoming a protagonist, because your never sure of their identities or facial appearance, you Become them. This is much the same for Hlaf Life, because we know what Gordon Freeman looks like, yet these are only from concept designs. The suits that these heroes adorn therefore have two purposes, to enable you to become a protagonist, and to protect from those nasty electric bolts from sparky’s as i call them (vortigaunts), hazardous waste or pesky plasma burns from those annoying little shits we call Grunts (Halo).

Oh tommy vercetti, what class, what charisma… what a pimp. That Hawaian Shirt just oozes personality. The setting of vice city was immense, such an awesome game design with many parts of the city to explore and unlock, all done with the mafia don that is tommy vercetti, then of course theres the hilarious ‘i completed vice city and all i got was this lousy t-shirt’. The 80’s setting fits perfectly, and reminds me of Goodfellas the film, the shirt just says, im a gangster and i look cool. Much the same can be said for good old Duke Nukem, of which im pointing out his sunglasses. Maybe behind those eyes is a fragile character, or maybe is an ode to ray charles, but those sunglasses are what make Duke, Duke! And what punchlines he came up with “its time to kick ass and chew bubblegum…damn im all outa gum”, and my personal favourite…”Lara…is that you”. Which leads me onto the only recognisable female computer game charater that i can think of, ruling out samus from metroid (becuase none of us were expecting samus to be a girl). What can i say about Lara, apart from, blasphemy has been placed against her with those god awful film adaptations. Is it the long hair, is it the Boobs (well mostly the boobs) but we all know her for the blue top and skin tight shorts….DAMN!!

Never in a million years would i have thought of including Link (zelda), parrappa the rapper and Raziel (soulreaver) together in a sentence. Having Never played any of these games properly i cant say much about them (although i dabbled with parrappa), i can say this, Link from Zelda has a very recognisable emsemble of clothing, like Lara Croft, the green tunic thing (of whatever it is) and the pointed hat have been a mainstay in the gaming industry for years, and still manages to surprise us with every incarnation of Zelda. Parrappa the rapper, well he’s got a Beanie, what else can i say. And Raziel, with that scarf/cloak/thing …urgh whatever, adds an enigmatic air to his character.

Ok so i lead onto Beat-em-ups. Im not a huge fan of them, but Tekken 4 i really enjoyed, If i knew more about the whole genre im sure i could do a whole blog about the different characters and their apparel, but the ones that come to mind are Jin (Tekken) and Raizen (i think thats his name – MortalKombat). Jins gloves are his ‘thing’ and you dont wana mess with him, esp when he turns evil, although this is mostly towards Heihachi, that miserable old fiend, grr i shak my first at him. Lastly i come to Raizen, i immediately thought of him from Mortal Komat from when he flings his hat and severs what ever unlucky soul crossed his path. Im also reminded of the recently banned advert that appeard online somewhere of the new game, where ‘Mr lee’ i think, resembles, bellows ‘FIGHT’, and ‘FINISH HIM’ from across the boardroom table, very funny.

(edit) – I almost forgot, how could i, shame on me, Sam fisher from Splinter cell, a very impressive series of games, although if you close your eyes after a heavy session of playing splinter cell, all you can see are those 3 damn green lights. The infra-red goggles are a very useful gadget, and is a distinctive element in the game.

Notable Mention:

My notable mention for this blog has to Alan Wake, which from all accounts is basically the next max payne (same developers) but they lost the rights for another max payne, to be honest i couldnt see where they would go from max payne 2. Anyway Alan wake looks very impressive from what ive seen and heard, and ive allready seen posts about his scarf, although it doesnt really share similarities with Raziel’s scarf thing, it does look good, and damn wherever he is, it must be cold!

Anyway those are all the Game characters i could think of, please comment and add your favourites that i have probably missed out.

Games!!

So ive been using the stumble upon extensions for firefox, which ill probs tell you all bout at some point, if you dont allready know what it is. But ive found some really cool little games, that id thought id share with you all.

Bowman – stickmen with bows, you have to ingenuity, angles and force to cause as much bloodloss to your opponent, i recommend putting a wall in to add some difficulty.

Gimp Roulette – a strange take on russian roulette, btw do not try it at home, you will die.

skop.com – not really a game, but a cool sound program that lets you use your keyboard to play a song, but the catch is all the soundbites are from bruce lee films, its animates with each keystoke, also a downloadable version is there too.

Battleships – does exactly what it says on the tin!!

fun cup – A nicely designed race game, using real tracks, and vw cars, the camera angle is a little anoying when tryin to steer, but looks raelly good.

Poom – this little game is really interesting, involves the player to do essentially keepie-uppie, with a ball, althogh the grid changes with every bounce.