Protocol Snow

I used to consider myself a hardcore gamer, but I’m not sure I am one anymore. Yeah, I still try to stay in touch with the industry by scanning RSS feeds and listening to podcasts while driving to and from school, but as for actual gaming… not as much as I would like.

These days, I appreciate squeezing in gaming time whenever I can, so I’m not above inputting a cheat code or two if I keep getting stuck (though I do so reluctantly). The purist in me gets sick just thinking about it, but time is more valuable now, and enjoying myself when I get a chance to play is more important than holding onto some arbitrary gaming code of honor.

I was playing through Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and was tired of conserving ammo so I typed in a code whenever I needed a boost. Not too egregious of an example. But the final level was irritating because you need to cover a lot of ground while defending a base and taking down some big enemies. Hope that wasn’t too spoilerish, but it was getting frustrating so I turned on god mode and noclip, zooming around the level like Neo and taking care of business. By that time I had gotten my fill of the game and just wanted to see the ending.

The me two years ago would be crying inside if he knew what I was up to now.

I love the weekend after a test because I have absolutely nothing to worry about and plenty of time to catch up on TV shows or play games. I spent a good four hours in Team Fortress 2 yesterday playing some absolutely thrilling matches on 2fort. Ask me what some of my all-time favorite maps are, and 2fort from the Team Fortress series and Facing Worlds from Unreal Tournament would definitely top the list.

I was playing the soldier class and was part of the attacking force on my team, which included three very proficient medics, a trio of soldiers, and a couple HWGuys and pyros. We rushed the opposing base the entire time and were so relentless that the other team was hopelessly pinned down. I don’t think they ever made a serious attempt to capture our intel because they couldn’t even leave their base. Later on, they resorted to becoming entirely defense-focused and had five engineers building sentry guns with the rest of the team acting as support.

Let me tell you, coordinating with my attack force and spontaneously figuring out ways to punch through their defenses made for some awesome “this is why I love gaming” moments. At one point, I had two medics backing me up and must have taken out at least 16 opposing structures and players in one exhilarating life before I finally succumbed. That made a serious dent in their armor, and I couldn’t help but grin when I saw a HWGuy and an accompanying medic rush past my dead body to take advantage of that run I just had and continue the assault.

It’s pretty amazing that complete strangers can work together as a functional team and be so in sync. I hope at some point, everybody gets to experience a moment when everything clicks together like that because it really is truly beautiful.

Ironically, Team Fortress Classic back in the late 90s was perhaps the game that turned me into a hardcore gamer. I was actually part of a clan and had skirmishes with other clans and all that, but more importantly, TFC was when I first started studying a game and learning nuances and strategy. The Dreamcast era was the height of my hardcore-ness since I had tons of time at my disposal to invest into gaming. Even when I worked in the industry as a gaming journalist, I don’t think I was as hardcore since covering quantity of games became the norm rather than quality time with them.

But in the midst of my Team Fortress 2 play session yesterday, I couldn’t help thinking, you know, maybe I still have it in me after all.

Ok, if I had thought Smash Bros. Brawl was the ultimate in fan service, I hadn’t seen anything yet. Monty Oum, creator of the short film Haloid, is back with another cross-game brawl called Dead Fantasy I. No explanation needed, go check it out. The talent of people like this is just mind blowing, and it’s amazing to see how far he has improved since his first film.

(Bonus if you hated Final Fantasy X-2 and would love to see those girls get slapped around a bit).

Nintendo announced today that Sonic the Hedgehog will be joining the likes of Mario, Link, and Solid Snake in Smash Bros. Brawl. The novelty of seeing a Sonic game on a Nintendo console has long worn off, but this is the stuff of fantasy and fanboy dreams. It’ll be utterly surreal to pummel down Mario as Sonic.

There’s always bad news of course. The release might be delayed until 2008…

Wow, Nintendo announced that Sin and Punishment has been released today on the Virtual Console for Wii. S&P is of course the acclaimed Japan-only N64 shooter by one of my favorite developers, Treasure. It’s a game I’ve always wanted to play, but I never got an import N64 so I missed out. I don’t have a Wii, nor do I have any plans to buy one soon, but with this out, Samba de Amigo Wii confirmed, and Smash Bros. Brawl due in December, the Wii is starting to sound mighty appealing…

This was announced a while ago at Tokyo Game Show, but while I’m on the subject of Treasure, the Dreamcast classic Ikaruga will have a Xbox Live Arcade port, and there will be a new Bangai-O game for the Nintendo DS! Good stuff all around from Treasure!

The way my med school curriculum is set up, we have a test every several weeks. It sounds bad, but the silver lining is that the weekend after a test is completely stress free. I took full advantage and was able to finish the Halo 3 single player campaign!

Unfortunately, my time with the game was through a 22″ SD TV and built-in TV speakers, a far cry from the masterful audio/visual combo at home. I’ll have to wait until Christmas break for the true experience, but honestly, all I wanted to do for now was complete the campaign so that I can read messageboards and listen to gaming podcasts without fear.

On a SD TV, the graphics are pleasant but not particularly anything to brag about, so I was able to focus on the gameplay and level design without being distracted by pretty lighting. For the most part, the flow and pacing is Bungie at their finest. There are some seriously awesome set pieces where the music, the environment, and the action sparkle in beautiful harmony. In fact, most of the campaign was great, though I felt the opening was too slow and the penultimate level too annoying and frustrating. Levels 3-7… hoo boy, excellence. I also loved the way Halo 3 ended, with a fantastic homage to the first Halo and a very fitting conclusion to the trilogy.

Now I’m off to check out the rest of the modes in Halo 3. With online multiplayer, online co-op, custom games, Forge, Theater Mode, and total integration with Bungie.net, I’m blown away by how polished and complete this game is. It’s not hard to imagine why there’s all those 10/10 reviews out there when you consider the whole package.

One of the modes I’m most impressed by is how replays of everything I play is saved, from single player levels to online skirmishes. I can share those replays with people or just view them myself from any angle I choose and upload screenshots to Bungie.net.

Here’s one of mine:

A more artsy shot from a member at NeoGAF:

Now I’m off to play some multiplayer! I am a perfect 2/2 so far, winning both Slayer matches I played!

I’m starting to sound like a crazed Halo fanatic with all these posts, but the Halo 3 release next week is the talk of the nation so what can you expect, really? A few ordinary people (i.e. not gaming journalists) already have the game because apparently some stores messed up and started selling it early. Internet users are seeking shelter while killjoys rain spoiler bombs about the plot. Some people have sworn to stay off the Internet until the 25th, fearing that they can’t last a week without being spoiled.

I wish I had that luxury. With my Xbox 360 on the other side of the country, it’ll be Christmas before I can play! I don’t think I can hold out for three months. I… can’t…

Now I know how those Harry Potter fans feel before the release of a new book. Someone might as well spoil me right now to get the misery out of the way.

I’m joking, don’t do that please.

UPDATE: If all goes well, I’ll be playing Halo 3 this weekend! It’ll be without the pleasures of a HDTV or a nice stereo system since all that good stuff is back at home, but I’ll take what I can get.

Halo 3 mania is reaching, well, maniac proportions. Accompanying the enormous promotional campaign is the website of the Halo 3 “Believe” diorama that was used to film the TV commercial. This diorama isn’t like those shoe box projects you did in elementary school. No, it’s a work of art that requires a warehouse to house it. The site allows you to embark on a guided tour of the diorama, hovering alongside a diving Banshee, twisting around a Scorpion tank in mid-fire, soaking in the scale of a pivotal battle frozen in time and preserved for history. Definitely check out the site, it’s among the most impressive advertising vehicles I’ve seen.

I love Penny-Arcade’s strip today on the Halo 3 marketing blitz. I actually remembered to look for the Halo 3 drinks while grocery shopping the other day, but they were nowhere to be found. They couldn’t have been sold out, right?!

Speaking of Penny-Arcade, I’ve come to appreciate Tycho’s regular posts, but I used to be annoyed reading his intentionally wordy and obfuscated prose. In fact, I had what I thought was an amusing joke: after taking the MCAT, I would thank Penny-Arcade for my verbal score on what was then my GameDaily blog. The idea was that after reading Tycho’s writing, no verbal passage on the MCAT seemed intimidating. Of course, I didn’t perform as well as I hoped I would (especially since I had literally aced the SAT), so I didn’t have the heart to make the joke. Which just goes to show: don’t plan ahead for the punchline. Lesson learned.

Anytime I get a break from hardcore med school studying, I like to quickly browse through my RSS reader and check out the latest gaming headlines. In doing so, I desperately try to cling onto any trailing threads that lead to a life I left behind seemingly years ago. Yeah, medical school isn’t easy. It’s only the end of the second week!

Anyway, Halo 3. Exactly one month from now. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that I’ve been on a near complete media blackout so whenever I finally get an opportunity to play Halo 3, it’ll be a completely fresh experience. I’m counting on Bungie not to let my anticipation be in vain. It might be Christmas break before I get to unwrap my Halo 3: Legendary Edition.

What’s the most hardcore stunt you’ve ever heard of? How about dropping out of med school to become a Halo 3 master?

Don’t worry, I’m not talking about myself. I haven’t gone that crazy yet.

…

This is why I leave my consoles at home, a few thousand miles away. I don’t even want to be tempted.

I went into Tokyo having throughly planned a list of stores I wanted to visit, mapping their locations using Microsoft’s Virtual Earth software. For pretty much any other country, this level of preparation would be overkill. But if you’ve ever been in Tokyo before and wanted to find a specific address, you’ll know how difficult it can be to arrive at your destination.

Tokyo blocks and buildings are organized very haphazardly, and hardly anybody besides the government uses the address system, preferring instead to navigate using landmarks. If you get into a taxi and give an address to the driver, chances are he’ll have as much of a clue how to get there as you do.

Let’s take a look at a sample address: 2-29-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. This says that the store is in the city of Tokyo, in the ward of Shibuya, in the area of Dogenzaka. That’s pretty easy. Going deeper, the store is in the No. 2 chome (sub-area) of Dogenzaka, in the 1st building on the 29th block.

Without a detailed city map, it would be nearly impossible to figure out which block is the 29th (let alone where the 1st building is) as there aren’t any signs posted on the streets or on the buildings. None of the maps I have go into sufficient detail to label individual buildings, so the best you can do is find the 29th block using a map by orienting yourself with nearby landmarks, and then walk around the block until you see a sign for the store.

It just so happens that this address is for Shibuya 109, which is a major landmark in Shibuya where trendy teenage girls shop for clothes. This place would be easy to find even without a map.

Anyway, here’s the multimedia goodies I picked up on vacation. Even though I went to all this trouble finding stores, I actually didn’t have specific things in mind that I wanted to buy and just browsed around. This was probably a bad idea going into Akihabara, the electronics neighborhood of Tokyo and the “gaming mecca” of the world. I’ll explain in a future post.

(clockwise from upper left)
Phantasy Star Online artbook, purchased at Mandarake in Shibuya.
Railfan: Taiwan High Speed Rail, purchased in the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi shopping mall in Tainan, Taiwan. This is the PS3 game that I alluded to several posts ago. I bought this even though I don’t even have a PS3 system and have no plans to get one anytime soon! But I did ride the Taiwan HSR twice last month, which was pretty cool. This game lets you drive it.
Bomber hehhe!, purchased at MediaLand in Akihabara. This is an obscure game about blowing up skyscrapers and one I’ve been wanting to get for years. I believe this game was released after 9/11, which is surprising in itself.
Pro Yayku Team de Asobou! (Let’s play pro baseball team!), purchased at Super Potato in Akihabara.
Frame Guide, purchased at Super Potato in Akihabara.

Cowboy Bebop limited edition boxed set, purchased at Trader in Shinjuku. This is the PS2 game based on the popular anime series.

An assortment of music CDs purchased at Book Off in Harajuku and HMV in Shibuya. (clockwise from upper left)
melody. “Be as one” album
melody. “Lovin’ U” single
melody. “Ready to go!” album
Genki Rockets “Heavenly Star” single
Nobuchika Eri “nobuchikaeri” album
Leah Dizon “Koi shiyou” single

Most of these games and music CDs were purchased used, which has none of the negative connotations associated with it in the U.S. In fact, I prefer buying used goods when I’m in Tokyo. The conditions are graded with labeled tags by the stores, and you get high quality merchandise at the low prices. For example, I found a used copy of the melody. “Ready to go!” album a few days after its official release in stores. I bought it for $10 less than the new price and the condition was pristine.