• 16Dec 09

  Another Memory Scrap from my Desk

  I spent a lot of 2009 playing Fallout 3. I loved exploring the world and trying to imagine myself in it. When I exited the Vault, I paused to contemplate what it might be like to have never set foot outside. And when I stumbled upon folks in the wastes I thought, what could you possibly do all day in a world like this? It provided some interesting moments, one of which I scribbled up as follows:

  "You sit atop a silo in the northeastern Capital Wasteland, shooting at Giant Radscorpions powerless to harm you below. A missle flies by, 3 ft. from your face. Then a man in a trenchcoat and fedora is next to you. TWANG. BANG."

  This is from the perspective of a Raider I encountered one afternoon. I shot a missle his way, but heavy weapons weren't really my area of expertise, so the shot went wide. Then my Mysterious Stranger perk kicked in, and he appeared on the walkway next to the Raider, and gunned him down.

  I laughed for about four minutes straight picturing these events from the Raider's perspective. The dude has found himself a sweet spot at the top of a tower with no discernible way for any hostile creatures or wastelander to reach him. He's dicking around, taking potshots at radscorpions with his crappy hunting rifle. Just another dull day in his dull existence. Maybe some poor sap will wander by and he can ki--

  WHOOSH!

  "WTF? Was that a missile?! Who the fOH MY GOD WHERE DID YOU COME FRUUUuuuuuggghhh...."

  hehehehe... oh man, it gets me every time. The last thing that dude saw was the muzzle flash of a magnum held by a teleporting man in a trenchcoat and fedora. Thank you Fallout 3 for creating a world where such a vast variety of things can happen!

  • Posted Dec 16, 2009 4:50 pm GMT
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• 15Dec 09

  L4D2 Community Game Night, Year-End Clean-Up, and Mirror's Edge Rememberies

  Guess this is as good a time as any to dust off the old blog, especially considering where I left it about seven months ago. It's been a busy year, especially the past few months, but now things are calming down and I can actually spend some more time playing the awesome games that came out this year. Like Left 4 Dead 2!

  I'll be on during community game night tonight, hoping to murder zombies and survivors alike. Oh hey, looking at my emblems, I just realized that Left 4 Dead was the first community game night of 2009. How fitting. Cyclical, even. It's like a circle.

  If you're interested, read up on it here and join the chat room when the time is right: http://www.gamespot.com/features/6190380/index.html

  ------------------>subtle transition formatting

  I'm currently waiting for some game install issues to be resolved (nothing that affects the consumer side of the game, never fear), so I've got a minute to look around my desk. Over the year I've accumulated a bunch of little sticky notes with ideas, thoughts, or memories drawn from my year of gaming. And I've got another little notebook that I keep next to me when I'm gaming at home that has similar stuff in it.

  With our Best of 2009 right around the corner, now seems like as good a time as any to revisit these scraps and maybe put some of them out there for folks to read and comment on. Memories beget memories, so maybe some of you will recall some recollections and recollecticate them in kind. Let's see what we got!

  This yellow sticky note is straightforward, two thoughts spawned from the final moments of Mirror's Edge. If you haven't finished Mirror's Edge, this next bit might be kind of spoilery:

  "Love the 1st person hug. All scenes should have been in-engine."

  Hey, yeah, that hug was cool. And surprisingly affecting, now that I remember it. After spending the whole game running, jumping, fighting, and clamboring in a first person , I was drawn into the perspective more strongly than I would be in, say, a first person shooter. Because the game forced me to really inhabit the perspective, it forged a connection that I felt was diminished a bit by the animated cutscenes.

  When I received a big old hug from my sister at the end of the game, it was touching! I was touched! I really enjoyed that, and it made me realize just how into the game's movement and perspective I had gotten. Kudos to you Mirror's Edge, for one of the best video game hugs of the year!

  Well that was fun. Thoughts? Rememberies? I'll be back soon with another!

  • Posted Dec 15, 2009 11:26 am GMT
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• 11May 09

  Killzone 2 Community Game Night

  YES!

  I haven't had time yet to expound on the virtues of Killzone 2 multiplayer, but someday I will. Vigorously. Suffice to say I think it is superlative and will be playing throughout Game Night tomorrow night.

  If you want in, friend me at PSN ID: Riverdogs14 with a note that it's for K2 Game Night.

  Can't wait.

  • Posted May 11, 2009 12:39 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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