Columbia’s Video Game Comic Strip Street Cred Rises
I was more than a little confused when I checked out Crazy Buffet, 1up’s new tri-weekly comic strip by John Pading. While I’m all for video game love in comic form, I was baffled by one of the female characters wearing a t-shirt with the South Carolina flag on it. Further inspection of Pading’s profile on his 1up page (which also links to his personal website) revealed the reason for his state flag affection - he resides in West Columbia. Descriptions that accompany each strip frequently mention Columbia happenings. For instance, commentary on strip seven tells the tale of a legendary local who rocked the Columbia arcade scene with his phenomenal Tekken skills. The biggest cause of my perplexion? How did a USC student get his own comic strip on 1up, something that ranks up there with beating Mr. T in an arm wrestling contest on my impressive feats list? Given my love for video games (you’ve noticed a trend with my posts, right?), I might have to knock on Mr. Pading’s Gmail inbox and see if he can give me a few pointers at catching the 1up staff’s attention.
In other 1up news, the site has a feature on the 20th anniversary of the greatest game series of all time. That’s The Legend of Zelda for those of you who didn’t know. Check this feature out if you want to be filled with overwhelming levels of Nintendo nostalgia. Happy birthday Link! The only thing more amazing than gaming’s favorite elf in green tights is the fact that I just wished a digital character happy birthday.
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Jonathan said,
February 20, 2006 @ 10:13 pm
Ocarina of Time! Best. Game. Ever.
Matthew said,
February 21, 2006 @ 12:23 am
I agree with you 100 percent; Ocarina is easily #1 on my favorite games of all time list. Despite the controversy over its cel-shaded graphics and doe-eyed Link design, Wind Waker also would make my top ten. So it looks like a beautiful hand drawn Disney cartoon. Is there a problem with that? And Link’s design was brilliant; he’s a kid, so the look fit him perfectly. Plus it was a Zelda game with pirates. Zelda + Pirates = Bliss. Out of all the Marios, Halos, Metroids, and Final Fantasies of the gaming world, no franchise has been as consistently good as Zelda. Twilight Princess looks like it will continue the tradition.
Jonathan said,
February 21, 2006 @ 10:22 am
I only ever got halfway through, mind you (stupid roommates hogging the Nintendo), but what I remember most is the soundtrack. More than anything else, I think that’s what immersed me in the game. Every time “Hey Ya” comes on the radio all I can think of is Link bopping around the treehouse.