Dream
This is actually a sidestory from a longer dream. In it, there was a league of dimensional/time-travelling heroes that had been stranded in the present. One of their tasks was to ensure the birth of a significant historical figure. However, a dark force did not wish the baby to born, so it would possess any man who got close to the woman who was supposed to birth the child. The spirit was some sort of self-hating feminine spirit and it would convert the genitals of any man it possessed into those of a woman. The mother-to-be would get close to men and then discover that this had happened over and over, to the point that it drove her mad. She started carrying a gun and shooting men who had been possessed, in an attempt to rid herself of the spirit’s torturous attention. Finally one of the heroes of the future realized that the spirit could read the intentions of people, so they found a governmental worker who had learned to shield his intentions even from himself, and sent him to impregnate the woman. She was isolated and alone, but still armed and crazed, in a distant valley. The man climbed the hill on the edge of the valley, within hearing distance, dropped his pants (showing his masculinity) and yelled, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to screw you!”
Seriously.
When the current handheld gen was still gearing up, I was the proud owner of 4 GBAs. One for each member of the family. We used them a lot and I still think it was a really solid handheld device (still have one). We had to save and scrimp for each one, so we couldn’t really afford a lot of games. We had to make sure we really liked each game, then buy it used, and usually supplement it with trade-ins.
So, when the DS and PSP were announced, I knew where I was going. DS was cheaper, backwards compatible, and it was going to have all sorts of cool features (touchscreen, mic, etc…). I debated the merits of the thing vs. the PSP round and round. As it turned out, I was right. The DS has been a much more successful device, as far as total sales, numbers of hit games, and any other metric you can think of.
As with all consoles, the first year was hard. Backwards compatibility is mostly important for that first year where there just aren’t any games for the thing. I played a lot of GBA games on my DS at first, and didn’t even really mind. I had gotten it (very slightly) used, and the screen seemed a little better, so it was worth it. There weren’t a lot of games at first, but it wasn’t that there weren’t any. It’s just that they weren’t games for my style of play (I think the only launch game I liked was Mr. Driller).
’05 was a rough year, but we survived the big C, and Lily joined the crew to the bouncy electronica of Electroplankton. By December, I was ready for Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime. DQ:RS was an epiphany for me. The touch controls worked; they didn’t feel redundant or tacked on. It was a quirky title, but with giant battling tanks and lots of grinding for parts, I couldn’t resist. After I’d finished it, I switched focus.
The PSP had just been hacked for homebrew, and there was a lot of excitement on the web surrounding that. I picked one up used, and promptly figured out how to do the Swaploit (you had to swap the mem stick out at the right moment). After that, I really never looked back. I continued playing games on both, but my focus had changed, and it’s stayed that way even up to the present. I can honestly say that games like Crisis Core and God of War were much more engrossing for me than even DQ:RS ever was.
The DS has remained the financial success that I knew it would be, but I also came to realize that the financial success or lack thereof has little to do with my enjoyment of the console. The oft-repeated gamer-myth – only successful consoles get good games – isn’t necessarily true. The quality of each experience varies, so much so that any attempt at universalization is really nothing more than dictating your own taste to others. Any one game can make a console worth the price to an individual, despite ratings, bugs, repetitive gameplay or any other negative you can dream up. I realized that although I had been correct in my assessment, I had begun from a faulty premise.
I happily admit that I was wrong.
The things we’ve left behind
http://ping.fm/Z9p5z
Sometimes I go back and read the stuff I used to write. This piece in particular feels like it was written by an entirely different person. I’d been browsing around, and ended up on a blog I repost to, but hadn’t been updating before Ping.fm came along. I noticed this entry just below the recent ones, and gave it a read. I was a little shocked that I had written something like this, and even more, I was a little ashamed that I haven’t been posting at this level for quite a long time. It didn’t hit me until I looked at the date. Almost exactly a week before he died. And then I felt even more ashamed. Ashamed that I’ve retreated since he left. Even among the people who I can talk to and don’t hate me (as 4arms and Brett do), there is just no sense of camaraderie. It’s all so empty and formal, or filled with banal catering to illusions and ignorance.
[drops mic]
[exit stage left]
Chrome
If you haven’t heard already, Google just released a new browser. It’s certainly fast, and it proposes a unique solution to the Firefox bloat problem. It runs each tab as a separate process, so that each tab can release it’s memory when closed, unlike FF which continues to bloat, despite my best efforts to manage plug-ins. I miss mouse gestures badly, so I might not switch right away, but it easily feels more polished than say, Safari for Windows. It’s a good browser for a first effort, so definitely consider checking it out.
http://ping.fm/V8NoK
