5 posts tagged “games”

This weekend is shaping up to be an eventful time for me - J hasn't been around the place lately because of projects both at work as well as at the theatre, and I've been a terribly irresponsible dog-owner in that I've been shortening L's usual 45 minute walks down to less than half of that.

But my animal-abusive solitude has not been without personal gain.

A gamer friend of mine recently suggested that I take a gander at a new title that's been released on the XBox Live Marketplace: a pretty little something by the name of 'Braid.'

Braid

This wonderful piece of interactive artwork is the rare kind of thing that simultaneously induces in me both rampant admiration and suicidal levels of frustration.  Where I don't usually fall under the spell of your run-of-the-mill platformer, Braid focuses more on puzzle-solving than the usual Mario Brother knock-off.  Not only that, but the look, feel, and sound of the game is a fully immersive experience.  The central source of puzzle-building here is based around your ability to manipulate time, something that I thought would be easy to master early on in my experience with the game.
I was wrong.

Easily floating my way through the first few levels (available in the XBox Marketplace for free), I felt like I'd bested even the Prince of Persia in a 2D, side-scrolling world.  Then I promptly hit a wall.  As it turns out, the people designing the puzzles knew that I was going to be able to manipulate the flow of time.  And, like vengeful gods, the designers appear to have created one of the most torturous (and interesting) pieces of puzzle-based gaming I've ever seen.

I don't know whether or not you own an XBox 360 or if you have any interest in video games - hell, I don't even know if your reading this - but if you do, you really need to take the time to try this game.  And, if you get the chance, please tell me how to get all the puzzle-pieces in the fifth world.  I'm desperate.

Ms Pac-Man

I've never really been much of a Pac-Man connoisseur.  For that matter, I've never been much for Ms. Pac-Man, either.  Sure, her bulbous yellow mass and strangely proportioned legs might've given me lustful pause in previous years - but that's all a part of that awkward prepubescent stage, now long since past me.  Besides, back then I never really worked up the nerve to catch Pac-Man fever.  Things are different now, though.

When J and I got the XBox, we justified the purchase by saying that it would serve not only as a gaming console, but also our DVD Player.  And, to that end, it has served us well.  Only in the last couple of months, though, has it become a focal point on one of the strangest addictions I've ever had.

Growing up, my good friend Chris was one of those kids that could play a Pac-Man game for upwards of three hours on a single quarter.  This, of course, proved to be something of an awkward problem when it came to socializing at any one of the fine Pac-Man equipped establishments that we happened to frequent.  Granted, I was always mighty impressed with his boasts of having his initials in the number one spot on every Pac-Man machine within a hundred mile radius - but that awe rarely spread to anyone beyond our ever shrinking circle of friends.

Back then, being much less skilled than Chris left me far too intimidated to foray out into the world of blinking dots and multi-colored ghosts.  Things changed with the release of the Championship Edition on XBox Live.

As I recall, it was mere months ago when I downloaded the game when Chris was in town.  We spent the entire night playing, working out the necessary patterns to maximize our per-minute point gain.  After the first few hours, I'd caught the fever and, ever since, Chris and I have been in contact trying to determine the best strategies through which we might be able to conquer the leaderlist on XBox Live.

With that said, I've been trying to lay low with my addiction - I don't bring up in casual conversation the fact that the orange ghost, Clyde, tends to follow a set path instead of going straight for you.  Instead, I stick to normal topics like the weather and local football.
Ok, maybe not football.

And then there was that party last night.  J's future brother-in-law, Z, invited us over to his place for dinner and board games.  When we showed up, however, I found that the board games were relegated to the ladies who were attending while the gentlemen fragged each other on the 57' screen in the living room.  As the night went on, and the beer bottles emptied, Z broached the subject of Pac-Man CE.  He said that he'd noticed my high score on XBox Live and wanted to know how I got there.  Within minutes I found myself the center of attention as that blessed white controller was handed off to me.  Within mere seconds, everyone present (and still sober enough to keep track) was cheering me on as I wiped Z's former high score off the map.

I went to bed last night knowing what Sparticus must've felt deep in his heart as he saw his first domineering victory in the colliseum.

And now I must return to my couch where I will continue to fight my way toward the leaderboards, toward freedom.  Am I a nerd?  Maybe.  Is this the kind of thing that might suck the life out of me? Almost definitely.
But for one fleeting evening, I was a God amongst insects.  Drunken insects, but insects all the same.

(Woah.  This'll be embarrassing to read to myself later.)

In the office, my job generally consists of me doing data entry and basic database maintenance.  Such work requires a computer with an internet connection and some relatively decent specifications regarding download/upload speeds.
As you can imagine, this leads to a great deal of internet-related dillydallying on my part.

Whether I find myself wasting away a good thirty minute chunk of my day sifting through my RSS feeds, or if I just get caught up doing a quick Vox entry, I think it'd be going out on a limb to suggest to anyone that I'm the model of employee efficiency in the workplace.  And that's not even taking into consideration those rare days where I find myself surfing Wikipedia to find a decent example of Cuban revolutionary leadership only to end up, several links later, in the middle of an article on the Turkish alt-rock band, Anima.

Yesterday, though, J introduced me to a new internet distraction - a browser-based MMO (that stands for 'Massively Multiplayer Online,' for those of you uninformed internet denizens out there) game by the name of Travian.

The game itself is pretty simple, taking on the basic structure of an internet-based real-time strategy (RTS) game.  However, Travian takes it one extra step by applying actual real-life timing to the building options afforded the player.  For instance, if you want to build a barracks for your troops, it might take a full 50 minutes for the building to get completed in the game.  As a result, the experience itself seems to be pretty passive as compared to most gaming experiences out there - only requiring the players attention for a limited time before having to wait around for any selected activities to complete.
Sounds boring, huh?

Well, it would be, but for the fact that I get to build up my little city during work.  And the passivity of the game lends itself to allowing me chunks of time in which I know my effort isn't needed while I wait for everything to do what I've ordered.  By god, I've found a way to play a video game while I'm at work - and to actually get work done at the same time.  Fancy that.

The game storyline doesn't seem to be too comprehensive - just your typical ancient Western European military theatre.  You can start out playing one of three main tribes consisting of the Romans, the Gauls, and the Teutons.  However, that's about where historical references stop and the basic passive RTS begins.

All that being said, I've spent my entire day obsessing over whether or not I should be upgrading my wheat fields, or investing my resources into building more in the village center.  And, while I ponder these and other universally important things, I get to take the down-time in between to actually do things like write this post.  Now doesn't that just seem great?

Anyway, go ahead and give the game a shot.  If you get really bored, look me up.  I'm on the US2 server in the Southwest under the name of 'Sven Bluebeard.'  Nerd.

It's C's birthday today and J and I are baking him a cake.  As you can imagine, baking a Funfetti cake out of the box is entirely too taxing to warrant me taking much time to post anything to a blog.  Anything that might prove of interest to you, at least.  So perhaps another link to tide you over?
Falling Sand Game

I know what you're thinking, 'Hey, W, a game with a name like that has to be the most exciting thing to have ever happened to the gaming world!'  In fact, you would probably assume from it's title that the lines to pick up a copy of this one might have even rivaled those of the recently released PS3.
You'd be wrong, of course.

This one's a java game that involves sand.  Falling.  And you get to play with it.
Unlike last time, though, I'm offering no guarantee.

Just let me go bake my cake in peace, damnit.

I just found out that ordering tickets to the House Of Blues in Anaheim for this Frank Black show tomorrow night is going to cost me an extra $20 in just service charges.  Looks like I need to take a trip down there in person.
Greedy Disney bastards.

So, out of sheer laziness, here's a link to something I can guarantee you'll enjoy.  If you don't, leave me a comment with your name and I'll personally apologize to you.  I promise.  I might even write you a poem.

Ninja <3s Pirate (download the demo here)