The history of games is a relatively short one compared to that of art, music, and movies. But since technology is evolving even faster than us humans, we still managed to make a lot happen in that period.

I actually wanted to write an article about multiple games I conciser classical, but instead of that I wrote a big post about Wario Land 4. I might write about other classics in the future (since I really like doing this sort of thing).

Wario is one of my favorite video game characters of all time. He first appeared as Mario's rival, but got his own series pretty close after that. The fourth installment of the series is my favorite (with a special mention to The Shake Dimension, the fifth part in the series).

Wario has a money obsession. Both the story as the gameplay is based on this. In order to gain more cash, he goes to investigate a recently discovered pyramid. He quickly finds himself trapped inside the pyramid.

After completing the superb tutorial, the game lets the player choose which of the four worlds to play through first. Each level has several things you need to collect in order to proceed. The Keyser will unlock the next level in the world for you, while the four gem parts need to be inserted in the boss door in order to open. These five objects can be hidden very well, so you always have to play them more than once. An optional collectible is the CD, which are ridiculously well hidden, sometimes even in plain sight.

Wario has an unique moveset. He can dash into his enemies, run to smash into blocks, ground pounding, and has all his wacky transformations that open up all kinds of puzzles. Wario clearly does not want anyone to take him seriously, and that is why he is such a amazing character to play.

I've praised the game a lot by now, but I haven't mentioned the major feature of the game! Each level has a feature unique to that level (most of the time even more than one!), whether it are floating carpets or turning cogwheels. What is more important is that every level puts that gimmick to it's best use, making this game a bit of a puzzle platformer as well. You can take your time and think about all the puzzles (also provided in the very well hidden puzzle rooms which usually give out a diamond when you successfully finish the puzzle) until you come at the end of the level. Well... should I say, end? Once you press the frog switch at the end of the level, a timer appears and you must race back to the beginning of the level before the timer runs out! (This event is also called The Fold by some.) Sometimes you can travel back using an earlier found route, but most of the time you are forced to take another route back to the beginning. Now, the puzzles go accompanied by haste, and you must balance your hunger for treasure and your need to get to the goal in time. You do all this when hearing the most intense sounding track of the game, which only makes the hurry more epic.

This mechanic is really simple, but it's also quite ingenious. Ofter the Keyser and some gem parts can only be obtained after the frog switch is pressed, so you must still keep your focus when racing back to the start. If the time runs out before you've reached the goal, the game will start eating your money instead! If you've run out of money then you're really done for. This mechanic makes sure you always grab as many money as you can find in order to stay safe if you are having trouble getting to the finish in time.

I could talk quite some time about this game, with all it's levels, enemies, and bosses, but fact is, someone already did that. Daniel Primed has written a very, very deep analysis about Wario Land 4. Aside from a lot of blog posts, he has written a (e)book about it: "Game Design Companion - A critical analysis of Wario Land 4". I've only read some excerpts from it, but it looks like an amazing piece of documentation that could come in handy if you like (making) Nintendo-styled games like this. More info: http://danielprimed.com/warioland4/.

So what do I think about Wario Land 4? It is my favorite GBA game. This game also inspired the 'final countdown' in Micro Massive, which is almost directly taken over from Wario Land. This game really weird, but still manages to serve a strong gameplay based around money and time. The semi-open words are a joy to explore, most of which are filled to the bottom with puzzles. And, most importantly, the game is fun. We'll just keep it at that.

Wario Land 4 is (C) Nintendo, by the way. You can get this via Wii U Virtual Console. Level map obtained here.

Be_AT is a rhythm game made for the #lowrezjam!

The game has three levels, each featuring an different set of gameplay rules and a wonderful track from the royalty free sound library at http://incompetech.com/! You can download it here: Be_AT Download. For more info please see Be_AT's page on GameJolt.

I'm seeing a lot of games, mainly hobbyist games, which don't have a really good name. Your game's name is usually the first thing people see of your game (nowadays usually with some thumbnail next to it) so it has to reach some standards, and it has to pop out more than the usual title at least.

We'll do it like a quiz of some sorts. I'm giving you 10 game titles, usually a bit more unknown titles. At each name, you should think by yourself, what you think the game is like: which genre, which theme, and so on. Then click on the link to go a page with info about the game and check how close you came with your thoughts.

1. Ōkami
2. Meteos
3. Picross DS
4. World of Goo
5. Figmik
6. VVVVVV
7. 140
8. La-Mulana
9. Sequence
10. Tidalis

See? All these devs have used a title that reflects the game theme. Also they usually tell the player about a specific specification about the game, like indicating the console where the game is available, if the game is a sequel, or something else (like HD). Some games just have a title that just grabs your attention immediately and you want to know what it's about.

Now I'll talk a bit about my own games' names.

Micro Massive - Originally called 'Little Journey', but as the game processed, the need for a different title appeared. This title is interesting because you would relate 'Micro' to something rather small and 'Massive' to something quite big. It is a bit of a play on words. Since the character you play is only just a few pixels tall, compared to the world he's in, this is a really fitting title clearly showing what the game is about.

Also notice that both words have the same character ('M') as their first character. This also creates a nice feel about the title. In the Netherlands, the 'Suske and Wiske' comic books often feature a title that is set up like this to give a friendly feeling to the title.

Subarashï - You can't really figure out what gameplay would relate to this game. Thanks to the exotic name, you can figure out the theme of the game- it should have a bit of Asian flair. And that's correct.

Mathventure - Word play on 'Math' and 'Adventure'. Although the game does not involve any high level mathematics, I could not resist making this pun.

Box Kickers - Another word play, this time on 'Kick Boxers'. Put that in reserve, and you get... right: Box Kickers! This is also a title that totally reflects the gameplay, which is all about kicking boxes.

Picross Pushers - I also wanted to go with a word play with this, this time with 'Sokoban' and 'Picross', resulting in 'Socross'. I thought it wouldn't be a really appealing title (So-socross) so I went with a gameplay explaining title. This title also set up as a 'Suske and Wiske' title, having the 'P' as first character in both words.

Undimensional - Another word play, but of another kind. What happens when you like something? You like it. But what happens when you don't like it anymore? You unlike it! If you think about it you can use this for about every verb you know. Here, we address it to 'dimensional', meaning it should be in a dimension, right? Then, we add un-, and then we've got something that isn't in a dimension. And that perfectly mirrors the theme of the game, which is played on a y-axis of 1, effectively making it a onedimensional game.

Super Size Switchers - Another title that shows the gameplay of the game. It also has a superhero-like feeling, but that isn't featured in the game itself. This is another title which all first characters are the same.

Some other of my opinions about titles:
- Titles shouldn't include the double point (':'). It just looks ugly in a title, in my opinion.
- Keep it short. For simple games two or three words are just enough.
- You should avoid short, simple words like 'The', 'Of', 'A', 'An' and maybe 'And' as well.
- Keep it simple but impressive at the same time!

And that's it! Remember: a good beginning is half the work. If you have an awesome title, it will be easier to get the player to really play your game. A first impression is really important, whether we are talking about a book, a person, or a game!

I made a new program: Clipboard History! I also took my time to revamp the entire Tools section of the website.

Clipboard History will automatically remember what textual content appears on your clipboard and stores it. You can store a maximum of twelve pieces of 'Clipboard History' this way! It might be handy when moving lots of texts, links or code.

Downloading is possible via my own website. Also, make sure to check out the manual for a more detailed introduction!