The story behind the name

For awhile now I have thought about creating a blog (in fact once I technically did start one, but never did a single thing with it). One barrier to go through with starting was I had absolutely no idea about a name. I suppose if I were to really force myself to brainstorm, I'd come up with something half decent I could live with. A really good name though? Something I would be 100 percent happy with? No clue.

No clue at least until just last weekend. I had come home and because I was in a bit of a Mega Man mood, I started up Mega Man 10. When it first came out I played it about four times through, but one of the features I was most interested in was not available as downloadable content at the time. I speak of Bass mode. Maybe saying it like that might make it sound a lot more impressive than it is, but to me it's a big deal. Bass is my favorite character in the Mega Man franchise, but more on him later.

Of course Bass mode has been available for purchase in the game for some time now, but until now I hadn't felt like going back to the game. I will say I enjoyed playing Mega Man 10 as Bass, although it seems like his style of gameplay didn't transition quite as well to a (pseudo) 8-bit game. Firing in all directions wasn't quite as useful as it sounds or as useful as I remember it being in Mega Man & Bass. Even though it is awesome to blow the shield out of a Sniper Joe's hands with Bass' rapid fire, the unusual challenge of destroying Mettools with Bass' weaker blaster while not taking a hit was irksome.

Anyway, the name 8-bit Smirk came to me after defeating one of the robot masters. For the sake of a better story, let's say I just finished off Sheep Man. Bass struck his pose on the screen while he absorbed the robot master's weapon, and even though I had seen the sprite of him doing so several times before I mentally commented to myself: "8-bit Smirk." In my mind there are no better words to describe the expression on Bass' pixelated face. My next thought was, for some reason or another, how the same words would make an awesome name for a blog. The idea of everything I wanted to do with a blog began to hatch in my mind. Why did I think smirk rather than smile or grin when I first unconsciously commented on Bass' expression? Because I know Bass and I know his character. In short, he's a bastard.

Bass falls within the same tired character archetype of the protagonist's rival (an annoyingly common archetype in anything related to Japanese animation), which in fancier language might be termed a foil. He wants to beat Mega Man to prove he's stronger, blah blah, he's a rebel, blah blah, he's not a good guy but he often ends up fighting evil (Dr. Wily), and blah. Despite all that there's still something about him that makes me appreciate him as a character even though I'm aware of his limitations (in terms of his peers, nobody in the classic Mega Man series is really complex). I like how completely irreverent he is to his creator, Dr. Wily, and I like how utterly thick headed he is. His character design also really stands out within the classic series. I like him even though I probably couldn't completely justify why. That and his inspirational smirk are the reasons I plan to make him somewhat of a mascot for this blog.

A note on Bass' name: it is pronounced like the musical term. Quite a few character names in the classic Mega Man series are music related. Bass has a robot dog for a partner named Treble (Bass and Treble). In Japan they are known as Forte and Gospel, but I like their localized names better. They're the names I was first familiar with, I think they're more mainstream musical terms that work better together as a pair, and because when I think of bass sound the word obnoxious comes to mind (it fits his personality).

Now besides being what I consider a good name, 8-bit Smirk also conveys some things about my blog I believe will be characteristic of it. The first part more or less should mean I will be dealing with games all the way back (but not exclusively) to the 8-bit era. I could be talking about the oldest games in the NES' library, to games yet to be released on current systems, and everything in between (whatever I feel like). The second part of the name will probably be revealing about my personality, but I'll leave that to be seen as I go along.

I have several posts I plan to make soon. Easter Sunday is nearly here and I have a somewhat amusing gaming-related anecdote of a memory from my childhood to impart. Besides Mega Man 10, I also recently played through Mega Man X to X3 and have some thoughts on the overall X series. I have been playing Kirby's Return to Dream Land with a friend and I plan to make that game one of the first (or the first) I review here. Diablo III is on the horizon and I am eagerly awaiting it by going back to replay the preceding games in the series yet again. An overview of some of my favorites within all of gaming is also something I want to do soon. So until next time...

Be awesome; stay awesome.

Some content in this post is being used under the fair use exception of copyright law. Mega Man 10 is copyright of Capcom. Bass is copyright of Capcom.