<HTML>

  <title>loonygames' MailBag</title>
<body bgcolor="#FEFFEC" link="#0000CC" vlink="#000000">
<div align="CENTER">
  <div align="CENTER">
    <center>
<script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2373963192914918";
/* 468x60 */
google_ad_slot = "3417104156";
google_ad_width = 468;
google_ad_height = 60;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script>
</center>
  </div>
  <div align="CENTER">
    <table border="0" width="100%">
      <tr> 
        <td width="261" height="105"><img src="../../images/next_logo_sml.jpg" width="251" height="94" usemap="#map" border="0"> 
        </td>
        <td width="92" height="105" align="LEFT" valign="MIDDLE"> 
          <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">- <a href="../index.html">Contents</a><br>
- <a href="../../../about.1">About</a><br>
            - <a href="../../../submissions/index.html">Submissions</a><br>
            - <a href="../../../feedback.1">Feedback</a><br>
            - <a href="../../archives/index.html">Archives</a></font></p>
        </td>
      </tr>
    </table>
  </div>
  <table border="0" width="100%" align="CENTER">
    <tr> 
      <td width="32%" align="LEFT" valign="TOP"> 
        <table border="0" width="192">
          <tr> 
            <td height="1194" align="LEFT" valign="TOP"> 
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 26</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
                in loonygames:</font></b></font></p>

<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">New!!</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> The Archives have been cleaned up, fead links fixed, and printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments <a href="../../../index.html">on the front page</a>!</font></p>
              
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../2.15/feat/index.html" target="">Livin' 
  With The Sims</a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">: 
  theAntiELVIS explores the wild and wacky world that is Will Wright's <b>The Sims</b>, 
  asking the inevitable quesiton, &quot;is <b>The Sims</b> the first step toward a virtual 
  life where everyone is Swedish?&quot;</font></p>
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../2.15/pixel/index.html" target="">Pixel 
  Obscura</a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">: Josh 
  Vasquez on <b>Omikron: The Nomad Soul</b>.</font></p>
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../rl/index.html" target="">Real 
  Life</a></font>: <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <font size="-1">Check 
  out our newest comic strip, Real Life! Updated daily!</font></font></p>
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../uf.1" target="">User 
  Friendly</a></font>: <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <font size="-1">Updated 
  daily!</font></font></p>


</p>
              
              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b><a href="http://www.berda.com/loonygam.htm">T-Shirts</a>: 
                </b>Stylin' loonygames t-shirts from Berda Compugrafix!</font></p>
              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b><a href="../../../artwork.1">Artwork</a>: 
                </b>Hey, dig the artwork on <b>loonygames</b>? We're selling some 
                of the original art.</font></p>
              <p><!--#include virtual="/includes/shooters.htm" --></p>
              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b><font color="#339900">Feedback:</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">You've got 
                an opinion...voice it! Drop a line to our <a href="../../../feedback.1">Feedback</a> 
                column...you could end up with a free T-Shirt!</font></p>
              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b><font color="#339900">Random 
                Feature :</font></b></font></p>
               
<p align="CENTER"><img src="../../images/thumbs/mouth.jpg" width="89" height="110" align="MIDDLE" border="0"></p><p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../2.15/mouth/index.html">From the Mouth of Madness</a>: Our loony editor's take on all the latest news.</font></p>

              <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" name="">
                <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b><font color="#339900">Search 
                the Archives!</font></b></font> 
               
                 <INPUT TYPE=text name=q size=12 maxlength=255 value="">
 <INPUT type=submit name=sa VALUE="Google Search">
 <INPUT type=hidden name=cof 
VALUE="LW:216;L:http:/home/loonygames/loony.timedoctor.org/content/images/logo1.jpg;LH:55;AH:center;S:http://www.loonygames.com;AWFID:13a298c7abe84fd0;">
<input type=hidden name=domains value="loonygames.com"> 
<input type=hidden name=sitesearch value="loonygames.com">               
</div>
              </form>

            </td>
          </tr>
        </table>
      </td>
      <td width="62%" align="LEFT" valign="TOP"> 
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0022A8"><b><a target="" href="../../../feedback.1"><font size="-1">The 
          grr...argh! dept:</font></a></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"><br>
          MailBag for Issue #26</font></p>
        <p align="right"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Comments 
          by Jason&quot;<a href="mailto:jason@loonygames.com">loonyboi</a>&quot; 
          Bergman</font></b></font></p>
        <br>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>From: </b>Todd &lt;toddg@fnet.net&gt; 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Subject: </b>feedback 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Regarding the cricticism 
          that Riven and Myst recieved, I am honestly displeased by this. Yes 
          they are slideshow games that are entirely puzzles but that is the point 
          of the game- its a puzzle! If you don't like puzzles you don't any business 
          playing the game! This is like if Siskel and Ebert (well not poor Siskel 
          anymore :( ) started reviewing things they had no interest in such as 
          I don't know... shoes maybe? For those of us who enjoy puzzles then 
          Myst and Riven are the most fun games ever for us.</font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>From:</b> "Timothy Pew" 
          &lt;getting_fucked@your-house.com&gt; </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Subject</b>: feedback 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Dude, how could you put Zelda 
          64 on that list of most over-rated games and leave Final Fantasy 7 off? 
          That game was so disgustingly over-rated it makes me sick. FF3 is the 
          best Square game and they've gone quickly downhill ever since. Sadly 
          most of their games are just a brief step short of greatness, but that 
          step involves balancing the end of the game out a lot and they just 
          don't do it. Too bad really.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>Hey, to each their own…personally, 

          I love <b>Final Fantasy VII</b>…best thing since sliced bread. </i></font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>From: </b>"Jeff Young" 
          &lt;jzf69@hotmail.com&gt; </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Subject: </b>feedback 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">ZELDA</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">========</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I loved Zelda 64 for the 
          same reason I loved Mario 64, the gameplay. Now I know that Zelda dosen't 
          have the best story in the world, gut then again, what Zelda did? The 
          story was good enough to keep me interested until I beat it. If you 
          had a problem with the levels in Zelda, you weren't good at the game. 
          I found them easy and fun to play through. You also say that Mario 64 
          was a pleasure (which it was), but the thing you were missing in Zelda 
          is something you didn't really need in Mario: SKILL. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">METAL GEAR SOLID</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">===================</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The story was the game, the 
          characters were interesting and original, and the dialogue was the best 
          that I have ever seen in any game. Forget the fuss over the game, don't 
          let that bother you, enjoy the game as it is.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">MYST,RIVEN, and RAMPAGE</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">==========================</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I fucking hate these games.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">X-MEN fighting games (capcom)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">===============================</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The games were different 
          kinds of games (X-Men/Street Fighter Alpha), they had a different fighting 
          style, its called VARIETY!!! You can't compare VF3, tekken, and SFA2 
          to these games. They are totally fucking different!!! I do agree that 
          you can win by pounding the buttons, but if your opponent had any skill, 
          he would have beat your ass. If you can't pay attention to what is going 
          on on the screen, then I suggest that you play pong so your mind will 
          be able to comprehend.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">BOTTOM LINE</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">==============</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Quit your whining and bitching 
          about the games imperfections, and quit whining over the hype. ENJOY 
          THE GAMES HOW THEY ARE.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Jeff</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>tomj1000@hotmail.com</i></font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>From:</b> "Paul Oglebay" 
          &lt;p_oglebay@hotmail.com&gt; </font></p>
        <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Subject: </font></b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">feedback 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have a theory that loonyboi 
          wrote his most overrated games of all time article either while on the 
          Water Temple in Zelda or right after having finished it. The reason 
          I say this is because no one likes the Water Temple. It clearly shows 
          his negative comments about this game. It's tedious and not very fun. 
          I admit this even though I feel little doubt saying that Zelda is my 
          favorite game ever. Another opinion of mine is that the story is a very 
          slight plus, not a large minus. If you take away the story you still 
          have an excellent game. Now, if you put the story back you have a slightly 
          better game. Come on, it's a Nintendo game, the focus isn't on the story. 
          He seems to think that having a weak story in this game is some awful 
          thing. This isn't Xenogears after all.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think I actually liked 
          Zelda more the second time I played through it. The reason is that I 
          knew the solutions to the more obscure puzzles, so I could focus on 
          the more enjoyable parts of the game. I also got all of the skulltullas 
          and heart pieces the second time (I've beaten it four times).</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I personally think he's got 
          it backwards. The weaknesses falter under the extreme weight of the 
          strenghts, not the other way around. Even though I think it's the best 
          game ever I still think it's overrated just because people called it 
          perfect. It's clearly not. In the same way that Half-Life overcomes 
          its flaws (sometimes losing your way due to similar look of your surroundings, 
          no sense of accomplishment due to doing the same thing over and over 
          again, linearity, scripted sequence followed by having to find an alternate 
          path then repeat), so does Zelda. The first time that I found the skulltulla 
          on top of the tree on the island in Lake Hylia, the first time I jumped 
          across the broken bridge in Gerudo Valley on Epona, the first time I 
          realized you could shoot the Gerudos with an arrow and knock them out 
          after having gotten caught several times, the guy in the windmill who 
          tells you about an incident seven years ago then going back in time 
          and creating that incident, and so many more things combine to create 
          a game with more depth and magic than any other game to date.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The backtracking he mentioned 
          is only really annoying to me in the Water Temple. Part of what Miyamoto 
          does best is show you items or places you can't reach until later. For 
          instance, when you first emerge from the Temple of Time as older Link 
          and you see the red cloud above Death Mountain. That's awesome.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have a proposal that loonyboi 
          goes and beats the game then plays through it again. If he still doesn't 
          think it's a great game then I'll accept it. Until then I'll think that 
          he's missing the finer points and he should stick to Xenogears or become 
          a book critic because he seems to care more about story than gameplay.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Oh, and about Metal Gear 
          Solid, I also think it's overrated, but there are some very subtle, 
          cool things in there. For instance, when you knock out Meryl because 
          she's being controlled by Psycho Mantis, Snake leans down to check her 
          pulse while Mantis is talking. If you have a Dual Shock controller it 
          rumbles a tiny amount two or three times to simulate her pulse. Very 
          cool.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Paul Oglebay</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>p_oglebay@hotmail.com</i></font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>From:</b> Steve &lt;Stevepxs@kih.net&gt; 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Subject:</b> feedback 
          <br>
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Right on the money man! When 
          do you start your review mag?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Steve</font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font size="+1">Proving 
          that there really is someone who likes Rampage…</font></b></font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>From:</b> "Christopher 
          Buteau" &lt;cbuteau@FASTech.Com&gt; </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Subject:</b> feedback 
          : Rampage how dare you!! </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Jason,</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'll agree on the Marvel 
          superheroes thing totally and Myst I'll leave to the Myst people</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">but Rampage I love I've only 
          played this in the arcade so maybe that makes my perception different</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">it's not the same single 
          player but playing side by side with people rocks Rocks ROCKS</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I can knock helicopters out 
          of the air I can EAT the soldiers shooting at me if I power down and 
          am trying to insert quarters I scream "don't eat medude" and he eats 
          me anyway cause that is his nature :-)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'd say try again with this 
          game it's been a classic in my mind</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Christopher Buteau</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">cbuteau@fastech.com</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.</font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>And the winner of this 
          week's t-shirt…the guy who jumped the gun on <i>next</i> week's "From 
          the Mouth of Madness" (and created a few games, to boot):</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>From:</b> Nicholas Schell 
          &lt;nikolai@duschell.com&gt; </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Subject:</b> feedback 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have never played these 
          games before (they are real), but from the sound of them I would think 
          they may be pretty strange:</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Tinkle Pit</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Flopon The Space Mutant</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hunt The Wumpus</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And how about a few of my 
          own, just for the heck of it (these would be arcade games, FYI):</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">WoodTris - The Original Lincoln 
          Log Puzzler</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">A one or two-player tetris 
          style puzzle game where the object, instead of erasing lines, is to 
          build cabins (yuk yuk).</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Elmo Tickle Fighter (original 
          title: Sesame Street South Side)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Elmo, Big Bird, Snuffle-Uppagus, 
          and the rest of the fuzzy fighters battle it out in the war-torn ghettos 
          that are now Sesame Street. Usingsecret joystick tickle combos (try 
          Snuffle-Uppagus's Terrible Twisting Tickling Hairy Trunk Attack as F,F+L,F+R,F,B,F+U,F,B,F,B,B,F) 
          the object is to maneuver the muppety street fighters through the endless 
          hordes of Oscar the Grouches and tickle them before they get too crusty 
          and force everyone into believing that the whole world sucks.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Mortal Kongress</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The year is 2039 and the 
          Republican Party is out of control. They have finally seized the government 
          and have somehow declared voting to be a $40,000 per vote taxable activity! 
          Eventually, the country barely wheezes by as countless generations of 
          people are born into, live as, and die as Blockbuster Video clerks without 
          hope of promotion, retirement, or respect. Violence rises, tempers flare, 
          and the streets are transformed into war zones in the elitist nether-zone 
          that is now NuAmerica. Take control of the situation and fight your 
          way through the Senate; kicking senators, punching representatives, 
          and flinging deadly magically-charged decapitating Blockbuster tapes 
          at anyone who refuses to acknowledge your rights to freedom, liberty, 
          and a half-decent chance of earning an income that doesn't suck.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Old Man Pac Man</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">With Baby Pac Man, Jr. Pac 
          Man, Ms. Pac Man, and Professor Pac Man finally having run their course 
          through the arcades of America, the long overdue Old Man Pac Man arrives 
          on the scene. New treats are dropped in the classic all-too-familiar-blue 
          maze. Alka-Seltzer tablets, Tums wafers, and Centrum multivitamins take 
          the place of the little dots for what must have been a 15-year eating 
          spree. No longer afraid of ghosts, Old Pac now has to deal with avoiding 
          roaming clouds of flatulence. You guessed it, large fans now replace 
          the energizer pills.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sega Glitzy Glintzy Chintzy 
          Cheezy Booster Blinker Blaster Blazer Turbo Zapper Laser RACER GT-X 
          Z XX Z</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sega goes over the top yet 
          again with another visually intensive, over-the-top racing extravaganza. 
          Sparing nothing in the pursuit of achieving the most advanced arcade 
          graphics yet seen, SGCCBBBBBTZLR GT-X Z XX Z sacrifices everything for 
          the ultimate in arcade eye candy. It is the only game to feature a strobe 
          light, a fog machine, and 257 blinking lights built into the cabinet 
          for that "extra race-track realism". This game is guaranteed to knock 
          your socks off with impossible steering controls, out of this world 
          driving physics, and plinky-boppy techno music that will torment and 
          assault you sonically throughout the entire game. Arcade owners have 
          mixed responses to the game, reporting that the game rakes in tons of 
          cash from drooling,mouth-breathing patrons who are "strangely hypnotized" 
          by the funny</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">lights, but lament that more 
          electricity is burned than four continously running commercial electric 
          dryers heating 200 pounds of wet burlap.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">--</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Nicholas "Nikolai" Schell</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>Okay…I'll admit it…I laughed 
          out loud when I saw, "<b>Mortal Kongress</b>". </i>:)</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>Oh, and I think you'd 
          be very disappointed with <b>Hunt the Wumpus</b>. It's a lot less odd 
          than it sounds. </i>;)</font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p align="right"><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">- 
          Jason &quot;loonyboi&quot; Bergman is the editor-in-chief of <b>loonygames</b>. 
          He's going to get hell for that crack about his girlfriend...just wait.</font></i></p>
        <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
        </td>
    </tr>
  </table>
  </div>
<map name="map">
  <area shape="rect" coords="32,38,226,76" href="../../../index.html" target="_self">
  <area shape="rect" coords="12,79,125,94" href="http://www.bluesnews.com" target="_self">
 
</map>
<table border="0" width="100%" align="CENTER">
  <tr> 
    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
      MailBag logo illustrated and is &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. The MailBag is &copy; 
      1999 Jason Bergman. All other content is &copy; 1999 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
      productions</a>. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited and not 
      nice.</font></i></td>
  </tr>
</table>
</HTML>
