932 words: why can I do that with this crap and not my English essays?
Today was shaping up to be a pretty bad day. I hadn't got that Maths homework I mentioned last night done, and wasn't going to be able to. My study period, which I could have used to catch up on the Maths or other studying, was taken up by an all school photo. It took more than an hour to get all the pupils in the school lined up on the big metal step things (that's a technical term) and get the photos taken.
The day took a turn for the better when they extended our break time, admittedly only to counteract the time lost due to the photo, but we still ended up with a slightly longer break and a slightly shorter English lesson. Definitely a win-win situation.
Yesterday, a plan had gone around amongst several of us in our lunch room, to bring in our DSs and spend lunchtime playing a few rounds of single-cart Bomberman. Between us, Sam and I bringing in our old DSs to up the numbers, we had 7 consoles and this naturally led to much exploding and merry-making. It also led to me winning.
We then shifted to Mario Kart DS and after 5 frantic races, I came in second overall after Sam. I would have been first if it weren't for three Shy Guys coming up behind me a matter of meters from the Cheep Cheep Beach finish line and bombarding me with green shells. The whole thing's going to be repeated on Monday with a few more consoles and Tetris. When one person said they didn't know what Tetris was I broke into maniacal laughter and then challenged them to a match. I've also challenged Sam Potter to a Tetris duel. To the death.
There really is nothing quite like having a bunch of friends in a room playing video games. Sure, online gaming's fun and you can play it with people you know, but it just doesn't quite compare. There's nothing like seeing the look on someone's face when they realise they've trapped themselves in a corner with two bombs. The little rivalries that build up over the course of a game are fascinating to observe, as challenges are set and met with glory or missed with embarrassment. Disconnecting just because you're losing suddenly seems like a much worse idea when the people you're pissing off are sitting next to you.
It all takes me back to the early days of primary school when, every break time, you could see little huddles of us wee children leaning against the wall, Game Boys in our hands and link cables dangling between them, Pokemon flitting back and forth and monkeys trading blows. That said, there were disadvantages to that little system. Immature people could quite easily come along and flick the power switch on those old Game Boys. When the Game Boy colour came along, they moved the power switch to the side but removed the method for locking in carts, leaving them vulnerable to being yanked out. The threat of cables being pulled out mid-battle was always a concern.
Fortunately, modern technology has advanced more than these people have and the DS has a method for locking in the cartridge, a side power switch which needs to be held up before it turns off and wireless multiplayer. I'm not sure if that's exactly the problem these features were meant to solve but it certainly helps.
Single-cart play has also come along, aiding multiplayer gaming on the go immensely. I can remember the first time someone saw a group of us playing a GBA game (still linked by ye olde cables, of course) with only one game between us and couldn't figure out what was going on. People who haven't kept up with the trends are similarly impressed by 7 of us sitting around playing each other wirelessly.
To return to my earlier, though not my original, point, I honestly prefer, and I think most people would agree with me, sitting in the same room with the people I'm racing, or fighting, or trying to shoot and bomb. Online play is an important factor, without a doubt, but it always annoys me when developers forego proper split-screen and smaller maps in favour of catering to the high-speed broadband , “it's no fun if there aren't sixteen players” gamers.
Is that little bit of playground history coming back into fashion? I certainly hope so.
To return, this time, to my original point, the day had another highpoint when, after a discussion with my parents got loud (it wasn't an argument, though Mum was getting as little annoyed that neither Dad nor I knew when her birthday was) my sister came downstairs trying to complain. I went into the kitchen while she was talking to Mum and Dad, I went into the kitchen and a minute later Dad came in to retrieve his wallet. Intrigued, I followed him outside and found out Erin was getting £20 in compensation money for loss of sleep. I ended up with £10. I'm not quite sure why, but I'm not arguing.
If this incident is any indicator, that little girl will go far in this world. And I'll be right behind her, mooching.
In entirely unrelated news, today is the tenth anniversary of development starting on Duke Nukem Forever. Joystiq had an interesting article on it which led me to this page, a list of all the major events which have happened since DNF began development. And it's still not out. Just thought I'd share that with you.
The day took a turn for the better when they extended our break time, admittedly only to counteract the time lost due to the photo, but we still ended up with a slightly longer break and a slightly shorter English lesson. Definitely a win-win situation.
Yesterday, a plan had gone around amongst several of us in our lunch room, to bring in our DSs and spend lunchtime playing a few rounds of single-cart Bomberman. Between us, Sam and I bringing in our old DSs to up the numbers, we had 7 consoles and this naturally led to much exploding and merry-making. It also led to me winning.
We then shifted to Mario Kart DS and after 5 frantic races, I came in second overall after Sam. I would have been first if it weren't for three Shy Guys coming up behind me a matter of meters from the Cheep Cheep Beach finish line and bombarding me with green shells. The whole thing's going to be repeated on Monday with a few more consoles and Tetris. When one person said they didn't know what Tetris was I broke into maniacal laughter and then challenged them to a match. I've also challenged Sam Potter to a Tetris duel. To the death.
There really is nothing quite like having a bunch of friends in a room playing video games. Sure, online gaming's fun and you can play it with people you know, but it just doesn't quite compare. There's nothing like seeing the look on someone's face when they realise they've trapped themselves in a corner with two bombs. The little rivalries that build up over the course of a game are fascinating to observe, as challenges are set and met with glory or missed with embarrassment. Disconnecting just because you're losing suddenly seems like a much worse idea when the people you're pissing off are sitting next to you.
It all takes me back to the early days of primary school when, every break time, you could see little huddles of us wee children leaning against the wall, Game Boys in our hands and link cables dangling between them, Pokemon flitting back and forth and monkeys trading blows. That said, there were disadvantages to that little system. Immature people could quite easily come along and flick the power switch on those old Game Boys. When the Game Boy colour came along, they moved the power switch to the side but removed the method for locking in carts, leaving them vulnerable to being yanked out. The threat of cables being pulled out mid-battle was always a concern.
Fortunately, modern technology has advanced more than these people have and the DS has a method for locking in the cartridge, a side power switch which needs to be held up before it turns off and wireless multiplayer. I'm not sure if that's exactly the problem these features were meant to solve but it certainly helps.
Single-cart play has also come along, aiding multiplayer gaming on the go immensely. I can remember the first time someone saw a group of us playing a GBA game (still linked by ye olde cables, of course) with only one game between us and couldn't figure out what was going on. People who haven't kept up with the trends are similarly impressed by 7 of us sitting around playing each other wirelessly.
To return to my earlier, though not my original, point, I honestly prefer, and I think most people would agree with me, sitting in the same room with the people I'm racing, or fighting, or trying to shoot and bomb. Online play is an important factor, without a doubt, but it always annoys me when developers forego proper split-screen and smaller maps in favour of catering to the high-speed broadband , “it's no fun if there aren't sixteen players” gamers.
Is that little bit of playground history coming back into fashion? I certainly hope so.
To return, this time, to my original point, the day had another highpoint when, after a discussion with my parents got loud (it wasn't an argument, though Mum was getting as little annoyed that neither Dad nor I knew when her birthday was) my sister came downstairs trying to complain. I went into the kitchen while she was talking to Mum and Dad, I went into the kitchen and a minute later Dad came in to retrieve his wallet. Intrigued, I followed him outside and found out Erin was getting £20 in compensation money for loss of sleep. I ended up with £10. I'm not quite sure why, but I'm not arguing.
If this incident is any indicator, that little girl will go far in this world. And I'll be right behind her, mooching.
In entirely unrelated news, today is the tenth anniversary of development starting on Duke Nukem Forever. Joystiq had an interesting article on it which led me to this page, a list of all the major events which have happened since DNF began development. And it's still not out. Just thought I'd share that with you.
posted by Alasdair Corbett at
11:43 PM
0 Comments
Links to this post
