Category Archive: gaming

Big chunky tiles

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Sat. August 13, 2011

If I think about it, the last time I played Mahjong was probably five years ago. It was during my last term in university. Since then, I haven’t really brought my tiles out. It’s been hard to find people who knew how to play or were at least willing to learn. So, the tiles stayed in the closet.

More recently, out of curiosity I asked a new local friend if she was interested in learning the game. I said that it’s like playing rummy, but with tiles. That was enough for her. To my delight she was willing to learn. So, I spent this afternoon over teaching her and her visiting uncle how to play. There was a bit of a learning curve. As you can see from the picture of my tiles there aren’t any Arabic numbers on them (apart from the flower and season tiles) so there was a bit of back and forth over which number a character tile represented. And since the directions are etched out in some fancy style it was a bit hard to tell the directions apart. Eventually they got the hang of it and we were able to play seven hands. There really isn’t anything like the sound of the tiles clacking around, or the smell of the resin floating through the air. And there’s some fun in playing with big chunky tiles.

 

 

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Behind the 8-ball

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Wed. April 13, 2011

One small perk that I’ve been enjoying at my new workplace is the existence of a pool table in the lounge. At home, I’ve always wanted a pool table. It’s just never been a possibility. Even in our old house, as much as we could have had room for one in the basement, I couldn’t really impose my want, especially since my parents needed the room for other things. So, opportunities to play have been rare. Still, something has always intrigued me about the game. There’s just something beautiful about it. Played well, it’s all about hitting the correct angles. Chances to play have been few and rare for me, and my skill level leaves much to be desired.

Anyway, over the past few weeks, on breaks I’d occasionally play games of 8-ball with my colleagues. Over the first few games I had to adjust and relearn how to play. Now that I’ve adjusted, I’m not doing so badly. I’ve gotten pretty good at analyzing and hitting required angles. With a fair bit of focus, I tend to win. I have a decent track record against my colleagues. Now that I have a good record, there seems to be a little bit of pressure that I’m putting on myself to continue to do well. I have a small rep to maintain, no?

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Block stacking

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Fri. August 27, 2010

Long ago, the first video game system that was ever given to me was the Nintendo Game Boy. It was a Christmas gift and was totally unexpected. I actually cried for joy when I got it. Now, the game that shipped with the Game Boy was Tetris. I spent many hours on that game and became pretty good at it. It served me well whenever I played head to head battles with other people at school–including my computer science teacher. During lulls, sometimes I’d challenge him to a versus game on the school computers. I always ended up on top; I had a knack for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. I remember some friends being amazed at how I often managed to survive even with my blocks stacked high. At night, I remember finding an Internet Tetris client: TetriNET. Among my friends and I someone would set up a server and we’d all connect to play a multi-player battle Tetris game. Sometimes these sessions would last until the wee hours of the morning. Crazy stuff. I had a decent track record with that.

I stopped playing Tetris actively after high school. I had a version of the game on my computer, but I didn’t really touch it that often. Over time my skills rusted. I never thought I’d get back into it. The other day though, while I was poking around the Wii stuff at BestBuy, I spotted Tetris Party Deluxe. It wasn’t crazy expensive or anything so I just picked up a copy. I figured that it might come in handy as a party game at some point in the future. I broke it out this evening just to see if I was as good as I was maybe a decade ago. Umm…nope, can’t say I am. I can hold my own, I guess, but…yeah, my old-self would have cleaned the floor with me. No matter. The game is still fun after all these years. It’s so simple, and that’s perhaps one of the key factors as to why this game can withstand the test of time, right?

To close this off, here’s a guy playing Korobeiniki on an electric guitar.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j9W5PBsa30

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Meditations on the new office

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Mon. January 5, 2009

I think my mind is wanting to write one of those weird train of thought entries. Please bear with me.

Today was my first day back at work, which was something of a welcome relief from all of the vacation time. Yeah, does that make me an oddball? Likely, but it’s been established that a whole lot of you reading this are oddballs in the same way, so…there. Anyway, when I came in, I was surprised at just how open concept the place was. Without the cubicle walls, I could see that the office was still in such disarray. It wasn’t even until midday that out Internet connections were up and running. No matter. Hiccups like these are almost expected during such a move, yes? My desk is pretty nice. It’s kind of prone to minor foot traffic, but the possibilities for social interaction are higher. God, what a relief that is. In our previous place I was relatively removed from the group just due to how desks were positioned. There were many moments I felt isolated. My personality type could handle it but it was still kind of hard. Our team’s area has one of those stereotypical views of Toronto. Just outside of the window we have a good view of the tower. Seriously, the view is really how you’d imagine it to be.

So, anyway, just to kill some time, a group of us went out for lunch on King St. We ended up eating at a gourmet burrito place. It tasted pretty fresh. The beans were certainly potent. I was feeling them well into the afternoon. Yuuuup. There really was a lot of discussion about where to go for lunch because this move seemed to open up a whole new world of possiblities. See, oddly, at our old place it’s not even like we were that far from King. Most of our focus though was along Queen and up to Chinatown and Kensington. King was still some region that was ever so slightly out of range. Does that make sense?

How can I compare it?

Well, a good comparison I can think of right now (if you’ll allow me to indulge my inner gamer) is to compare it to one of those classic Super Nintendo RPGs. Think: Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger. It’s like, at the start you’re limited to exploring certain areas. You get to know those areas well and have probably explored the nooks and crannies for hidden treasures–maybe gold, potions, or OOH new equipment. After a while though, there’s nothing new. You know of other areas but some mysterious force blocks you from really going there. Then, after some plot points are advanced, you end up moving to a new area and previously inaccessible places once shrouded in fog become available. Sure, the new areas have more expensive stuff, but at that point you’ve probably levelled up a bit.

I swear, all of this makes absolute sense to me! I actually have RPGs on my mind because I recently got a copy of the re-release of Chrono Trigger for my Nintendo DS. I’ve been playing through it over the Christmas break. It’s a satisfying game. I remember spending so many hours playing it in high school. Playing it now on the DS really bring back memories. Very nostalgic, you know?

As far as gaming soundtracks go, Chrono Trigger is really good, isn’t it? It’s up there with some Final Fantasy OSTs. Out of curiosity, I went to CDJapan to see if the had any CT Soundtrack CDs. I was looking for an arranged symphonic version to the music. I’m not interested in the bloop bloop versions I hear in the game–I want to hear real instruments, right? Well, I spotted the CD I wanted. It’s definitely under consideration. I trust CDJapan; I’ve actually ordered from them in the past. The last few times I’ve ordered form them were for some Seramyu DVDs from Japan. Yeah, no shit. Marina Kuroki took the lead role when she was 12 years old. How young! By the time the plays ended their run, she was 16. She really grew into her role.

OK so, enough wandering. Time to do some backtracking. Hmm…

Marina–>CDJapan–>Chrono Trigger–>RPGs–>King St.–>burritos–>lunch–>the new office.

Yes. The new office. It’s a comfortable place, for sure. I’m sure I’ll get used to the new nuances as time passes. I mean, it sure beats a place where I’ve breathed in gases from an exploded sewage pipe.

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Katamari on the commute

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Wed. August 27, 2008

I had a bit of an unreal moment this afternoon. I was rushing up north to make the run club. I hit some traffic along the way setting me back 10 minutes or so. I could feel my stress levels rising as traffic was just being uncooperative. I had my iPod plugged in and playing in the car on shuffle. Over on the last stretch, the theme song for Katamari Damacy came on.

Ever play Katamari Damacy? It’s a quirky video game where you’ve got a ball that you can push around to roll up stuff. It all sticks to the clump. At first the clump is small so you can only pick up small things but as it grows you can pick up larger and larger things. You might start off rolling up thumbtacks and get to the point where that same ball of stuff is large enough to roll up skyscrapers. I enjoy the strangeness of the concept and it’s been fun just seeing what I can roll up along the way. I have the soundtracks for the two PS2 Katamari games on my iPod. I picked up the CDs while I was in Japan. Here’s the opening for the first game:

Anyway, back to my commute. When the theme song came on, I started imagining a big katamari in front of me. As I drove, it would roll the ball along, picking up all the cars in front of me. Hell yeah: what better way to clear the road when you’re in a hurry? As I imagined it rolling along, I started singing along:

Na na, na na na na na na na, na Katamari Damacy! Chu-chu-chudu-chu-chu-chuchudu…

I imagined it rolling up trees and some bystanders walking on the sidewalk. As I did, my stress levels came back down. Everyone can use a bit of silliness in their day, no?

Alas, katamaris don’t exist in real life. I suppose it’s for the best. I would imagine that if I was rolled up I’d end up feeling mildly violated.

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Empty orchestra

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Sat. January 13, 2007

I was surfing around eBay for a few moments a little while ago. I was searching half-heartedly for a copy of Karaoke Revolution. Neither Futureshop or Best Buy stocked the game anymore, so I resorted to the auction site. I mean, that where I was able to pick up a copy of Katamari Damacy. Anyway, I was disappointed to see that most listings had a ridiculous shipping fee to Canada, so I put off getting the game.

I looked around some more and found out that a new KR game had come out. Thing is, it’s a special American Idol version. Hum. Well, I decided to go fetch it anyway since it was a chance to see what KR is like, and to get a microphone for my PS2. Well, I can unashamedly say that I enjoy the game. Even though the electronic versions of the judges constantly berate my bad singing, it’s still entertaining nonetheless. I have a quibble about the game though: the song list seems a bit limited. I guess it’s longer (40 songs) than some of the older KR games, but, do I really want to attempt to sing the song that Taylor fucking Hicks sang? Not really.

Anyway, since I enjoyed the game, I ewnt back to eBay and acquired a copy of Karaoke Revolution Party. The song list seems a bit more agreeable, so, I’m looking forward to putting my vocal chords to the test.

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“Man…I’m with my people!”

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Tue. October 31, 2006

It seems that every time pay day comes around I get this sudden urge to spend on frivolous things. Today being Halloween, I wanted to waste some time wandering around downtown. I didn’t want to drive home and have to make an effort to dodge groups of kiddies. Anyway, I dropped by HMV and spotted Futurama Volumes 3 and 4 for $25 each. Seeing as how they’re usually $35-45, I picked them up. Also, since today was the sale date for Final Fantasy XII, I went hunting for it. Best Buy didn’t have it out, but EB Games did. I waited in line for 20-30 minutes to buy my copy. Craziness! While in line, I sort of joined in a conversation about the Final Fantasy series. In the back of my mind, I was thinking “you are such a geek!” In another part of my mind I was thinking, “Man…I’m with my people!”

So, I’m sitting here at home with a whole lot of media to go through. That ought to keep me busy for a long while. Though, I really don’t want to start FFXII until I finish Dragon Quest VIII…and I figure that’s another 15 hours.

I’m such a geek.

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