AT FIRST:

Love the mechanics! Innovation on a level I had not conceived! Excitement and blood pumps through my veins and arteries! After only a short time with the game, I have somehow become convinced that it will change everything forever for 'video games'.

Soon, I find myself hung up on something else. It's as if I'm afraid 'someone' is watching me play the game. Like the choices I make will make me a good or bad person - no, not in the game, in real LIFE. I quickly realize it's just a game.

For instance; Phelps walks into the shoe store to question a witness, but let's say he is distracted by a pair of shoes. A musical cue sounds. I press the (X) button, Phelps stops to look over the shoes (in a really classy way). Upon further inspection (X), Phelps says "Trash."

Here's where I get confused for just a second - does he mean that these shoes have been poorly made? Does Phelps own stock somewhere else? Should I think about this? No, of course, he means to say "trash" as in "I'm holding trash, I think I should move on, which means you should move on, asshole, press buttons and let's go."

Galloping Ghost Showdown

I went back to Galloping Ghost with Dina last weekend. Just like she told me, Robotron 2084 was up again. I had to test it. I love the game and all its colors, but I found that I could not compete with the small bald man. I took third place for the day and I was happy.

Soon, I stood in in the Street Fighter row and several minutes passed. I didn't bother with Street Fighter, but I definitely did check out Street Fighter II. Then there was Street Fighter II Championship Edition, an old favorite. The best was by far Super Street Fighter II X - Grand Master Challenge (スーパーストリートファイターⅡX).

To the far right stood a smartly cobbled entertainment center; a no-frills, American-made Super Street Fighter IV cabinet with a PS3 taped to the inside and a glorious HD screen hanging from somewhere. It was too crowded. I couldn't get near the buttons, there were way too many dudes. Big, fat dudes glowing with bright orange msg and sweating Monster energy drink.

I stuck with the older version. SSFIIX - GMC was great. The difficulty was set high, the post-battle taunts were in Japanese (make up your own), and the graphics were better. I played one half of one round before some dude in Duke gear slapped the 2P button with such force that I thought I might jump out of my already-poopy pants. I was stuck as Ken because this Duke was the challenger. I had no choice but to accept my fate as he fought as Zangief.

Needless to say, I beat him bad in the first round and in the second round. He challenged me to a second match, and in the first round I won without taking damage. Perfect, you might say! He complained about his joystick. Was he right? It did seem like he was powerless against my attacks. It was almost like he couldn't block anything. I lost the next round, and maybe I would never admit this to anyone ever, but I might have subconsciously let him win because I felt sorry about the possible joystick malfunction. In the third round he won again.

The third match was Ken vs. Zangief, the Duke stood, knees forward, and I won decidedly, and the next two or three, and he swore a couple times, and at one point he was like "FUCK! FUCK THAT!". And for the last match he chose Sagat and said, "OH! Tricked you, bitch, switched it up!", and I won again and he left and was like "Fuck this, dude. Good game."

Later, this other guy swooped up in his trench coat when I was playing Street Fighter III 3rd Strike - Fight for the Future (ストリートファイターⅢ サードストライク) and asked politely to play 'with' me. Sure, I said. He had kids running around I think, an old one about 13 and a little one, making a mess, but he just smelled so strongly of vodka and orange juice that I had to stop after my 3rd win and say, "Yeah, man, it's all yours". He said, "Are you sure?" and I said, "Yeah, man, good game!", and he was like, "All right!"

Meet Michael "The Dragon" King, the half-Algerian, half-Filipino avatar.
His record: 26 - 0 - 1 with 13 KOs.
He frequently gets off with the combination up top.
The Dragon is from Bay City, USA.
He eats one peanut per round.
His last opponent had no sweat.
This was the highlight of his career, this last knockout.
He wants more.
He shall change his shorts and the color of his shorts.
He will spend the XP necessary to increase his hooks:
The left, and his personal favorite, the right.
He is officially a contender.
His trainer, his manager, and his promoter are pleased.
It will be easier to sell his fights to Television from now on.

You are crippled. Use a Doctor's Bag or find a doctor.

Level Quest II

You've begun your quest, thank you for beginning your quest. Welcome to your quest. You’ve begun your quest. Throughout your quest, you’ll pick up Things. These Things will help and aid you along in your quest. Press ‘X’ to access the Things menu. From here, you can access and view your Things. Tweak and equip your Things by pressing ‘A’ repeatedly. Certain Things bestow your Character with Special Abilities. Such Special Abilities allow you to quit the game anytime you like by entering the ‘Cheat’ menu. ‘Cheats’ enable you to beat other players in unfair online combat. Collect ‘Game Overs’ to win trophies and achievements.

Like Space Ghost... Waiting

This is fucking ridiculous.

But whatever, I guess. I don't even care all that much. I'm not looking forward to paying the $100 for the spesh edish I preordered, but, hey, it's all stuff I need, regardless of release date. It comes with a toy car, a keychain, a GODDAMN BOOK ABOUT RACING, and some exclusive downloads. More than worth it, whether a a gamer or a car guy.

In the meantime, I'm listening to a lot of Zeppelin and hoping they at least announce the new release date before I can karaoke III in its entirety.

Opera (space)

01-01-4620 BON VOYAGE

You are about to embark on your first mission. In your bank account you will find the amount of 50,000 monetary units (MU). This money is to be spent training your crew, configuring your ship, and purchasing any necessary materials.

Of course you may wish to leave some portion of this in the bank. At this stage of the operation our primary goal is to gather information. Consequently, your objectives are –


1. Seek out and explore strange new worlds.
2. Boldly go where no man has gone before.
3. Establish contact with any sentients.
4. Capture and bring back non-sentient life forms.
5. Record alien life form data.
6. Bring back alien artifacts.
7. Bring back any valuable minerals (including endurium).
8. Keep from getting brutally killed.

We have little information to offer concerning what you might find. We suggest, however, that you avoid the area of space around the coordinates 135,84 since that is where we lost contact with two of our earlier ships.

Scout reports indicate a high density of minerals in the mountainous regions of the innermost planet of our system.

Further, we have found information that leads us to believe that there may be some ruins of the old empire at coordinates 17N x 162E on the second planet of the neighboring K-class system.

We have also received some indication of alien activity in the system 175,94. Good luck, and a safe return.