A Better Understanding of My Life

Here is a video that better describes how I perceive my life, as I am sure many of you do if you are a gamer like me. This is related to my post a couple days ago. Enjoy.

Maximo: Ghosts To Glory Is the Hardest F#$@ing Game...EVER!

I purchased a PS2 controller recently because my pet rabbit chewed through the other one and I haven't been able to play my PS2 games since. It's a pretty shoddy controller, nothing special. I stumbled upon this game at the used video game shop, a game loosely based upon the (drumroll) Sega Genesis's Ghouls N' Ghosts. I was so thrilled I could hardly breathe. I raced home and played...and spent the next half hour screaming at the TV and slamming my fist onto the floor (I was too excited to hop back on the couch). This goddamn game is so goddamn hard.

Okay, I've played hard games. I've played games that are hard for many different reasons, but this game just doesn't get better. First off, I think something is wrong with the controller. Last night my character ran all the time so escaping zombies when I didn't want to fight was easy. But today, he would walk...and run...and walk...and run...depending how I moved the analog. I raged and I raged. Next, my flying shields capability is supposed to be activated by pressing Circle, but it doesn't work. I raged and pressed off the analog button and there shot my flying shields?? So, my analog on/off button shoots my shields, which is in a ridiculously hard spot when in battle. Yes, I need a new controller, but that didn't stop me. I kept playing, instead using the D-Pad so that my character ran constantly. I felt I was doing better and getting the hang of things. Maximo really blows at combat. He throws a couple swings with his sword, and pauses before he can throw another one, which gives an open window for zombies and skeletons and the like to get a hit on me. Oh man, this makes me MAD! "Do what I tell you, mother@#$%#$!" The vulgarities increased with each death.

Unlike the old Ghouls N' Ghosts, Maximo only gives you one continue whereas G N' G was an infinite amount of continues. If it were not infinite, yes, it would be as hard as this game. In Maximo, there isn't much chance for a collection of lives either. It's "don't get hit" and you're safe. Yeah, good luck with that. It isn't a side scroller where all you have to do is look forward and behind and above for things coming at you, but zombies and ghosts/birds (that CANNOT be killed...) are coming at you from all directions. The damn red bird steals your money while the zombies and ghosts beat you silly.

It's great the music is remixed from the old G N' G, but it's not enough to calm my anger. First thing I am going to do is get a new controller and try again. Maybe if I have my flying shield, it won't be so goddamn tough.

Check out IGN's little blip on the game here
IGN Ranked it Number 6 in Top 10 Hardest PS2 Games

My Life is a Video Game

It's funny how after playing video games for so long, aspects of life become a video game. Have you seen the video where the guy is Mario Kart racing on the actual road with other cars? If you haven't, you can right here.

The fact of the matter is, we are so obsessed with video games that they have become a part of our every day lives. Awhile ago I wrote an article on how I turned my JCPenney job into a video game in order to help me succeed (despite hating it). With that frame of mind, I am still at the top of the high score list, so to speak. Last night, I came home from a weekend-long trip and found dozens of flies in my apartment that snuck in due to building construction. Last night, I created a new video game.

It's funny to think even at the age of 22, I'm still making up games. With a rolled-up Game Informer magazine in hand, I proceeded to ninja my way through the kitchen and living room, killing flies and keeping track of my score. When I was beckoned by my boyfriend to come sit down and eat, I couldn't stop. The feeling stirred up old feelings of when I was playing Ghouls N' Ghosts on Sega Genesis and HAD to beat this level/boss. It's the reason senseless games like Whack-A-Mole are so fun and annoying all at the same time. I HAVE to whack its damn head and boost my score!

My score was at 10, and I felt the fly population had been severely lowered and hunger drew me away from the game. The point is turning something into a game, even as an adult, can make it endurable. I know some people just SEE games in their every day lives, like sewers become part of Super Mario and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And first aid kits remind you of L4D/L4D2. But I guess I like to think of my life as a video game because it's enjoyable to me, comforting. If I think about school as gaming levels, I don't feel so intimidated. After graduation this December, I don't think of it as graduating, but going on to the boss level to beat an extremely hard boss (aka Getting a Job). This may sound completely lame, because it's starting to sound lame to me as I type it, but that's how my mind works. It takes the anxiety, re-configures it, so that my mind can better interpret it. Where the "happily ever after" of the game is, I can't really tell you. It's like playing Ghouls N' Ghosts (okay, my favorite game as it's mentioned several times); when the hell is Arthur going to save the princess? It's not the first playthrough, and by that time I am sick of battling these monsters and beating levels. The end is too far off to see. Is there a midpoint? Maybe. But I haven't reached it yet, I am still leveling up, collecting rewards and money and experience. And let me tell you, this next boss is going to be a doozy. Yes, I just analyzed my life via video games...

 I don't know if other gamers have a habit of forming games out of every day events and actions, or if it's just something weird I like to do. But when you step back and look at your life, you start to realize there are a lot of damn games out there in real life being played by intelligent people, and if you don't get a strategy going or something, you'll be left with zero lives and no more "continues."

So Many Points, So Much Pressure

So, I re-signed up with Xbox Live Gold a while ago and they had began a new program where you can do certain things around your Xbox Live to earn Microsoft Points. Signing up was just one of those things (and the highest paid, I think). I think I did a few other things and ended up with 1190 points. I sat on this amount for a pretty long time, up until yesterday actually. See, some of the newer arcade games in the Game Marketplace were 1200 points and I was 10 away, just 10 points! It was only $4.99 to upgrade by 400 more points. Why not?

I sat on 1190 points for so long and I have no idea why. You'd think a gamer like me could spend those points in the blink of an eye, on Sonic the Hedgehog (I thought about it) or arcade classics. I already own quite a few of them, including Castle Crashers and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I skimmed the Arcade Marketplace for cheap downloads, tried zillions of trials, but nothing tugged at my heart strings enough. At first, I looked for an entertaining multiplayer game, something like Snoopy's Flying Ace, and then I just looked for something, ANYTHING, that would appeal to me. I just could NOT settle on anything! Why is spending Points such a problem for me? Plenty of great games fell within range of my Microsoft Points, yet I couldn't rest until I found the perfect one. 

Well, I bought the 400 points for an extra $4.99. Now, my points are stuck at 1590, TEN Points away from 1600, which can be used to buy something like Dawnguard (if I HAD Skyrim, ugh). But maybe, just maybe I should wait until Fall...maybe some of the new games will be available on demand like Dishonored. But who knows if it will be a measly 1600 points, it could be as much as Skyrim (like 4600)! Am I wasting my time? Do I use it now, or save it for later? 

For now, I sit on the decision and weight out my options.