Archive for the ‘Video Games’ Category
I Can Shoot Evil Aliens Too!
Okay, so I’m the only female employee at my new company. Whoop-dee-doo. When they asked me if I’d be okay with that, I just said, “As long as there are separate bathrooms, I couldn’t care less.”
In general, these guys are pretty good at forgetting what gender I am. My relative inexperience has a greater impact most days, and I’m working on that. But for some reason, these guys seemed shocked that I’d want to play our new video arcade game.
Yes, we have a video arcade game in our break room. You don’t? Well, that sucks for you. When I get angry because my project won’t build for the fourteenth straight hour, there’s always the opportunity for me to shoot at aliens. You have to go postal (apologies to the devoted postal workers out there) and actually shoot your coworkers*.
What game, you wonder? The ever so fabulous flash-back to the late 90s (yes, I know that isn’t particularly long ago): Area 51 – Site 4. It’s one of them shooting games, where you have a plastic pistol attached to a cord attached to the console. You shoot things, you get points for shooting them, you get points for accuracy, you kill the big boss, you win.
I may not have been allowed to hang out at arcades when I was younger, and I may not have had a Nintendo or Sega or any other video game machine in my house as a kid, but I still love me some video games. (Thanks, Mike!) I’ll be honest, shooting games aren’t my favorite. I prefer rhythm games and platform games, like Beat Mania and Shrek 2. (Hush, you.) But that doesn’t mean I’ve never played.
I did grow weary of the first-person-shooter games for the PC freshman year at WPI. I mean, seriously, how much time can you really spend watching someone shoot things. Perhaps if I had bought (or stolen, as was a popular thing to do) the game (that year it was all about Half-Life), I could have become a playa. But I didn’t. And my GPA thanks me for that.
But Half-Life this isn’t. There’s no deciding where to walk, there’s no looking around, and there’s certainly no strafing. You have a gun. The game moves you to where you need to be. You shoot the gun. The aliens explode. Next level!
But back to the other day. My lunch had been eaten, and I was feeling the need to do some alien slaughter. So, I asked the guys in the break room if they would like to join me in shooting aliens, and was met by perplexed looks. After I walked up to the game and picked up a gun, they realized I was serious, and one volunteered to join me in the battle, while the other turned off the lights that cause a nasty glare.
I’m not saying I was superb. But in several levels, I did have a higher accuracy rating than my coworker, and once I even beat him in kills. After several levels, he remarked, surprised, “Wow, you’re better than [other-coworker].” I just grinned.
As we approached the final level, a boss-alien complete with flailing tentacles of fire, our boss wandered in. (Our boss, by the way, is the one who picked this machine and had it ordered. The man loves toys.) “What are you, corrupting my new employee?”
Oh, yeah. I’m so corrupted. I’ve so never seen games with guns before. I don’t even know what this thing in my hand is? Oh! It represents a thingy that you use to hurt people? Oh no! Let me put that down gently and with grace!
*gag*
I am so not your average girl.
So my new goal, and I think this one is reasonable, is to compete at an equal level with the guys here at this game. And if that means getting in to work 10 minutes early to get in a daily practice, so be it. I will be more accurate than you. I will kill more aliens than you. And in that last level, I will save your tookus from the evil alien queen, you wimpy boys.
*Note: Shooting coworkers is not recommended nor endorsed by this website nor this blogger. In fact, this blogger recommends not shooting anyone real. Violence in video games is fun. Violence in real life is a tragedy. Don’t shoot!
The Wait is Killing Me
Thanks to my friend Ty, and Mike’s habit of reading the internet on weekends, I watched a supremely awesome video the other day. You should go watch it too. It will take a while, as it’s not short, but definitely go. Especially if you love video games. And Darwin. And six-legged monsters with only three knees. And Care Bears.
After watching that video, I decided that I must own and play that video game. Unfortunately for me, and now for you, seeing as I’ve just gotten you super excited about it, we will have to wait. Rumors are of a release in Q4, but I have no direct linkage to that effect. I am left wondering if the release is delayed due to the fact that no one actually owns a powerful enough computer to run the game…
Since Saturday, when I first saw that video, I have been imagining how I would play. I think I would aim for a circular type creature, maybe with dozens of legs, similar to a caterpillar. I could go either way with the temperament. Maybe give it some menacing weapons for killing and eating smaller critters, or possibly going all plant-eater neo-hippy. Either way, when we got a space ship, we would totally create a galactic empire. Maybe we could even name our UFO the Enterprise!
So what if I like Star Trek? (Joe – I totally understand)
I am so awestruck at this game, and the concepts in it, that I’m having a difficult time putting it to text. Really, the only way to describe it is, “Spore – the game where you play God.” But even saying that wouldn’t fully encompass the awesome.
I’m a software engineer, by trade. As such, I can appreciate much of the awesomeness that must have gone into this game. It must have been bouncing around in Will Wright’s head for decades (GameSpot said, “…it seem[ed] almost as if he had been waiting his whole life to design this game”). The development can’t have been started less than three years ago, if not longer. Just the AIs required would be a huge undertaking, and that’s not even the half of it.
The truly groundbreaking part of the game is its very nature. The player creates something from scratch. There is no set model that has been pre-rendered. There are no set movements that are associated with such a model. The game provides no reasonable limits on what a player can do. So, the only logical way to do this is programmatically. How awesome is it that the game adapts the creature’s movement and behaviors just based on the way it looks. I think it’s awesome.
Awesome!
You know what, I’m pretty sure this even qualifies for:
I think, perhaps, I am getting a bit out of hand. Also, I’m pretty sure this entry has been somewhat scatterbrained. You should know that I visited the dentist today, and am therefore a little teeny tiny itsy bit distracted. Okay, thoroughly distracted. But who cares! Spore is coming!
Mind Reading!
So yesterday, I was minding my own business, doing work, when my coworker-whose-cube-is-as-far-away-as-possible IM-ed me about some website or other. That was interesting, but this part was amusing:
me: Has your TiVo updated to get the internet radio thingy and the stupid video games?
him: No, and I dunno why
me: I’m sorry
me: Though also glad for you
me: Mike and I got distracted by the word game
him: it is on the network as well, it may be ’cause I am new and don’t have points
me: For like an hour
me: It was bad.
him: hehe
him: maybe it’s good that I haven’t gotten them yet
me: You can also play connect four
me: I played that for at least 15 minutes
me: I beat the computer three times out of eight.
me: I was proud of myself.
him: ooooh…that is a great game…actually a fun drinking game
me: heh.
me: Because you only lose if you’re drunk?
me: I’m not good at connect four
me: I always miss something.
him: lol
him: how are you at Tic-Tac-Toe?
me: I know the algorithms to beat it…
me: Does that count?
him: dork ;-)
me: Tic-Tac-Toe is easy
me: I basically never lose
me: But most of the time I don’t win either
me: It’s almost always a draw.
him: You should scale the algorithm to beat Connect Four
him: though I imagine the solution set grows exponentially
me: Yeah… the concept is the same
me: But, yes, exactly
me: And there’s the added problem of having to build stacks.
me: You have to con your opponent into building them for you.
him: yeah…if I was a professor I’d make my kids do it…
him: I am not that smart
him: I can’t think ahead like that
me: I had an epiphany when I was playing it last week
me: I never used to think ahead more than a move or two
me: Suddenly I was able to think ahead by large numbers of plays.
me: It went well after that.
him: are you now like 1.2 trillion moves ahead
me: I probably did solve at least part of the algorithm.
him: that’s good
him: you’re getting smarter
me: I’m so far ahead that I know what the computer is thinking right now
me: :-)
him: Can you get a little further ahead and tell me what the lottery numbers are going to be next week?
me: Give me a minute
me: Hmmmm…
me: 3 – 5 – 18 – 30 – 35 – 36 and bonus 14
me: Totally go play that!
him: lol
me: :-)
him: K…back to work a little bit before off to gym!
me: yay work
[Editor's Note: The previous was edited for content and spelling.]
Yes, that’s right, I’m a mind reader. I can’t read the human mind, but I can read the minds of computers everywhere! Next thing you know, I’ll be beating the computer at Reversi on the highest difficulty setting.
Boobs or Nintendo?
My next-cube-neighbor at work pointed me to a quite entertaining little video. Go watch it. I suggest headphones, if you’re at work. Unless you’re so cool you have an office. In which case, can… can I steal your office? Especially, if it has a window! I miss the day star!
Tripod sings “Make You Happy Tonight”
Are you done watching it? Good, because I’m going to talk about it now. Oh, you were lying? Now, go back and watch it first. I understand.
I went to a tech school. I went to a tech school and my class had the highest percentage of female students ever, at a whopping 24%. A common joke (don’t forget that this was a tech school) was that the guys outnumbered the gals pi-to-one. Start your snorty or snarky laughter now (be you a geek or not).
I’m not sure who invented the quiz, but it really is a simple one. This was all the rage my entire time in school. See, WPI isn’t exactly filled with eligible bachelors. It is filled with male human beings (okay that even might be a stretch some days). There needs to be a quick and simple way to determine if a boy’s existence is worth noting, hence the one question quiz:
“Boobs or Nintendo?”
There is only one right answer. There are hundreds of wrong answers. Here are some awesome wrong answers (note to boys – don’t use any of these if you ever want to have a girlfriend):
- “Which game?”
- “GameCube or N64?”
- “Can I have both?”
- “Um…” or any kind of delay in answering.
- “That [fill in with some video game character] has some nice boobs.”
The right answer, of course, is “Boobs.” Variations include:
- “Boobs, what else?”
- “Boooooobs…” (this one might not get you too far with the ladies either, but at least it’s not wrong).
- “… What did you say after ‘boobs?’ I stopped listening after ‘boobs.’”
So, girls, if you find a guy who you suspect might be too geeky, try this quiz out on him. If he passes, you can feel safe to pursue further conversation and flirtation. If he fails, run. Luckily, geeks tend to either run slowly or fall down a lot, so you should be able to escape.
And boys, if you can’t pass this on your first try, you may as well make yourself comfortable in your momma’s basement. Just make sure you don’t forget your Nintendo!
Happy Winter-Een-Mas
I have begun celebrating Winter-Een-Mas in the best way I can while still at work. I have decorated my next-cube-neighbor’s whiteboard with a life-sized PS2 controller. This is the week for playing video games. I will be doing so when I am at home. You should too. Don’t let down your king.
What? You don’t know what Winter-Een-Mas is? Oh, I feel so sorry for you.
Winter-Een-Mas Central!
Ctrl-Alt-Del, the webcomic that started it all!
The “origin” strip!
Now go play some video games!
I’ve Been Lied To!
Frickin’ LaunchCast.
Every once in a while, while I’m listening to LaunchCast, the UI freezes up. It shows the stuff for one song that it played before while playing a different song. This is annoying. It is even more annoying when you get excited that you found a song that you’ve heard before but didn’t know the title of.
A week ago, I got excited about a song that reminded me of SSX. I thought it was this song by Cursive. I wrote about it. I rated the song at 100% awesome.
Just a few minutes ago, I came back to my desk from a quick meeting to spot the song playing on LaunchCast. I was excited, and threw my headphones on immediately. Unfortunately, this song was not so awesome. I just wasn’t so excited by it.
At first, I thought the screw up was happening now, but then I heard the actual words “Red Handed Slight of Hand.” No, it was right now. I just misidentified it in the first place. I double checked with Wikipedia for both SSX3 and SSX On Tour. Cursive was no where to be found.
LaunchCast lied to me, and now I have a song I don’t particularly care for marked as 100% awesome and there is a song out there that I love but don’t know the title of. Great. Just great.
Frickin’ LaunchCast.
Brain Jumps
It amuses me what the brain can do. I was just sitting here at my desk, writing up a bland document, listening to LaunchCast’s commercial-free Indie Rock channel. I was minding my own business, typing up a storm (and I do mean a storm – I often get comments from coworkers about how ridiculously fast and loudly I type – plus I have carpel tunnel in both wrists, and that must have come from somewhere). Out of nowhere (okay, not nowhere, out of LaunchCast’s stream) came “Some Red Handed Slight of Hand” by Cursive.
Maybe you know the song. Maybe not. I didn’t know it by title, but I immediately recognized the opening licks.
I go through phases where I play a lot of SSX. The SSX series of video games ties with the Karaoke Revolution series as my favorite video games ever. SSX is the reason I decided it would be a good idea to try snowboarding. That could perhaps be foolish. Whatever. It’s a serious addiction.
It also has shown me a lot of music I never would select to listen to myself. I like a huge variety of different music. I like pop, vocal jazz, alternarock, indie, r&b, classical, electronica, hard rock, soft rock, instrumental jazz… I’ve even been known to enjoy the occasional country song (though that’s a last resort, really). But really, I spend most of my listening time in the car. And my car’s radio pretty much lives on “Mix” 98.5. I don’t know why they call themselves “Mix” – well, they do have “Whatever Weekends” where they actually play a variety. Most of the rest of the time they play top forty pop. Yes, I like being spoon-fed catchy tunes. Forgive me. Or don’t, because I don’t really care.
Anyway… SSX has introduced me to a variety of tunes that I would not hear otherwise. “Some Red Handed Slight of Hand” is one of those songs I might have missed out on or dismissed if I hadn’t swished my virtual character down the virtual mountain to the tune so many times.
Did I have a point? No, probably not. Just, I guess, that music has a huge effect on jumping the brain around. And I think that’s pretty cool.