We'll be here for a while, folks.
First...I think you should listen to/watch this. It's pretty awesome.
Along my way home, I got a call from a friend, one who was unfortunate enough to succumb to my suggestion he try this one video game I thought he'd enjoy, which he did...immensely, and is now addicted to it. Addicted enough, in fact, that the reason he was calling was to tell me that he FINALLY managed to beat my score that I set on his system, and how happy and satisfied he was.
What happened was that I was over this past weekend, and after finishing my crochet project and watching enough of him playing, I felt the need to play. After some one on one battles (to which his girlfriend found really amusing, as I guess I was being subconsciously looking for a challenge), I took the reigns and played a couple of levels on my own. I was set on getting him a few comets and presents. And yes, I did break a few of his records doing so, and then saved it in order to brighten his cosmos.
As it turned out, he noticed that I set some new records on his game, since he would play a level and realize that he did not come close to the top score. That would only mean that I was there and broke his record. When he realized this, he spent the rest of the weekend and a long time last night working to beat my scores, but there was one level he just could not do. After a very dramatic telling of his process and sore, callused thumbs, he told me he beat my score by a full centimeter! I was really proud. He called me because he knew I would share in his happiness for beating my score. Now he would be able to shower and go on with his life.
The funny thing is, I really don't play a lot of video games per se, it's just that I know A LOT about them, and from the games I do play, I play them A LOT. I grew up with two older boy cousins, one 3 and the other 5 years older than I am. My parents bought "me" an NES deluxe when it first came out (prior to that, we had an Atari 2600 and yes, I do remember playing and enjoying E.T. The Extraterrestrial...I was three and liked the movie and Reese's Pieces, okay?), but they spent more time playing it than I did (my dad could beat Super Mario Bros. 7 times in an hour at his peak). The same went when I was with my cousins, I would just watch them play and go through Zelda while I happily watched and read the instruction manual (I never played the game, but at least I knew how to play). I'd read issues of Nintendo Power from my one cousin's subscription, and I convinced my parents to get Kid Icarus because it came in a silver box and the main character was a Kid and had wings. But I couldn't play it, because I was too afraid to play it myself (the fact that they had the reaper that would FREAK OUT when he saw you and sent mini-reapers after you is REALLY SCARY to a 7 year old...or just me). More often that not, I would watch others play video games, and I really enjoyed watching others play and finish games, like how my cousins played Kid Icarus for me. That's not to say I never played, but when I did, I much preferred playing with someone else. Sometimes, my role was to be the assistant, like act as the robot in Gyromite or something to that effect to where I pushed the fire button on the second controller, or helped input secret codes for extra lives.
Not much has changed since then, really. I had a subscription to Electronic Gaming Monthly one year at a time when I didn't have any of the new systems (I just enjoyed knowing what games were out, and was lucky enough to subscribe to the best issue EGM ever printed). I still would much prefer playing video games in the company of other people, with the exception of computer games. And yes, some (okay...a good number) of games still really scare me, but I want to watch the plot unfold and make other people play it for me.
There are some games I have no problem playing by myself, like the Katamari games (the PS2 ones), the Zelda games, and Animal Crossing to an extent. Of course, the handheld consoles are hard to play with others, but even with systems like the Nintendo DS, but even with a system like that, the connectivity capabilities allowed you to play with friends, and some games had features where you could play a simple game of ping pong with a buddy (which I
Which I think is such an amazing thing about video game consoles nowadays. Sure, being able to play with other people remotely like LAN games are great, but the ability to play the same game with multiple people on one cartridge is amazing, and to think you'd be playing it with a handheld device that has a tiny touch screen! Touchscreens are a lot more commonplace than before, but never would I have imagined it being used for a device with which kids play! It's no surprise that Nintendo won Technology and Engineering Emmys for the Wii and DS. The use of the IR controllers for the Wii are so amazing, even moreso, there are people out there developing Wii technology in other ways than playing video games (and of course, there are the rehabilitative applications of playing as well).
Now I have been told that the PlayStation Portable (PSP) can double as a controller and a remote for the PlayStation 3, which is pretty darn spiffy, especially since the PS3 doubles as a blu-ray player. I'm sure playing games where you have to obscure plans from one's opponent sitting next to you (like football plays) comes in handy when having a mini-screen right in your hands (something the Sega Dreamcast took advantage of). The GameCube and GameBoy Advance had similar capabilities as well, and in some games, it was required for play, and in others, it unlocked secret/special content.
Like I mentioned before, I will always be a Nintendo gal, and I have to say that they really know what they're doing. The last two systems they've come out with (one being portable, the other one not so much) have WiFi capabilities. The DS can play GBA games, and the Wii can play GameCube games (much to my sister's shock and surprise when I told her she could yesterday...she didn't believe me, since GC game discs are much smaller than the regular CD/Wii disc). Wii can also read GC memory cards (thankfully) and can use GC controllers with some games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and is reported to be the optimal controller to use when playing Mario Kart Wii.
But the biggest geek out of my life came Sunday night when my friend updated her parents' Wii and downloaded this new, free channel called The Nintendo Channel. It's basically a channel that gives you information about new and upcoming Nintendo releases, and have videos and clips of what's to come. What blew me away is that the channel virtually makes the Wii a DS Download Station.
What was once a trip to a Game Stop/EB Games or Toys R Us with your DS to temporarily download playable demos of DS games to see if it's worth buying is now as easy as having your Wii connected to the Internet. More often than not, locations that supposedly had Download Stations were not aware that they had one, and sometimes did not have them on. This became problematic for some hardcore gamers when Nintendo would be giving away "treats" for certain games (like Animal Crossing: Wild World), and frenzied players would flock to their nearest Toys R Us to make sure to get exclusive content, only to discover they couldn't, even when one went out of one's way to try downloading presents when they were supposed to be halfway to Vegas for the weekend (so I've been told...).
I would think and hope that such treats will be just as accessible via Wii, but I had the biggest geek out moment when I saw my friends bust out their DSes and download demos for a whole bunch of games (including non-Nintendo publishers). I'd comment/make fun of some of the games they wound up playing, but this entry is long enough. Yes, this is done by Nintendo in order for them to get people to buy more games for their systems, but you have to admit, that was FUCKING BRILLIANT on their part, so brilliant, in fact, I'm geeking out all over again just thinking about it.
My only disappointment is that I didn't have my DS with me at the time, and was even more disheartened when my friends told me that they thought and expected me to have my DS with me at all times. I actually used to have it with me ALL THE TIME, since I had a bag that had a pocket where the DS fit perfectly, but after losing my first stylus, I decided to take it out of my purse, which was a dumb idea, and in its place I put my checkbook (which is essentially even a dumber idea).
Having exhausted myself and most certainly your eyes and patience should you be still reading at this point, this is an abstract (if you can believe it is one) of why I have this deep and complex love for video games.
I promise, next time I go on one of these, I'll try to focus on one thing, like a game or talking gameplay mechanics, etc.
2 comments:
This was a good read, well-written.
You read that all?
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