Entropy had a list of 5 films that influence your writing. There are a lot of cool ones. I got a list to:


1. In the Year of 13 Moons
2. Shadows in Paradise
3. Branded to Kill
4. Yojimbo
5. Major League


I got a bunch of others. They've also just put up a list of top 3 video game villains, but why not video games that have influenced your writing? I want to disregard Call of Duty, Halo, etc., games that are all about realism-"realism"games that celebrate the depiction of realistic violence without political repercussions, games that get a lot of "gorgeous" or "brilliant" or "beautiful" tagged to them. Their veneer of prestige is prestige in the classical sense, and their realism somehow makes them more "serious" than older/indie games.


But I've cornered myself. Old games, and current indie games (WiiWare, etc.), the ones with less-representational art and a lot of text were my first poems. They're kind of shambles, right?, with their broken-music box music. I wanted to make games as a kid, but I realized I am less interested in their constructions as games as I was, and am, attracted to their aesthetics, their music, their look. They're lack of narrative logic in particular. There is something about the language of these games: not just the break of language in translation, but its unusualness. Is this formalism? Technological restrictions prevent booming soundtracks, text, and representational art. One has to work within the form, etc.


 Games that have influenced me:


Earthbound
Earthbound Zero
Final Fantasy 3 (Famicom, fan translation)
The Legend of Zelda
Golgo 13
Cave Story
Dragon Warrior 4
Alex Kidd in High Tech World
Phantasy Star