General Discussion [ Page 47 ]

Nintendo to Drop Wii & DS Online Game Support May 20th

Nintendo will be shuttering online play for its Wii and DS games on May 20th. They are keeping online game support for the Wii U and 3DS however. Whereas I wasn't a huge consumer of the Wii online play, I did use it and find it say they are shuttering it.

Nintendo generally does right by its customers, but this is a bit disappointing. I understand it's impossible to keep a service going forever but in the face of companies like Blizzard still providing Battle.net support for Starcraft, one wonders why everyone can't do the same thing.

There are rumblings that Nintendo farmed out the online functionality to Gamespy and that this has to due with a recent acquisition of... Read All

Book Review: Ready Player One

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PGDQHfJYvnw/T9t_VgqXjRI/AAAAAAAAEss/373ImsWc8PY/s1600/Ready+Player+One+Paperback+Cover.jpg

Take The Matrix in one hand. In your second hand take Second Life. In your third hand take World of Warcraft.

Now mash them all together. Oh, and mix in some ALF.

This is the world of Ready Player One.

It’s 2044, and Earth has become practically inhospitable, but people don’t seem to mind because they all live in OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory-Immersive Simulation), a free-to-play massively multiplayer online simulation game created by James Halliday. James Halliday suddenly dies, but has left a will stating that whomever can find his Easter Egg in OASIS will inherit his wealth ($240 billion) and control of OASIS.

The book’s main character is Wade Watts,... Read All Take The Matrix in one hand. In your second hand take Second Life. In your third hand take World of Warcraft.

Now mash them all together. Oh, and mix in some ALF.

This is the world of Ready Player One.

It’s 2044, and Earth has become practically inhospitable, but people don’t seem to mind because they all live in OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory-Immersive Simulation), a free-to-play massively multiplayer online simulation game created by James Halliday. James Halliday suddenly dies, but has left a will stating that whomever can find his Easter Egg in OASIS will inherit his wealth ($240 billion) and control of OASIS.

The book’s main character is Wade Watts, known as Parzival in the game. He is one of many egg hunters, or “gunters” dedicated to finding the egg. James Halliday was obsessed with the 1980’s, so OASIS is full of 80’s pop references, and the gunters spend their time pouring over everything from the 80’s, from arcade games to movies to television to music and more. The more 80’s trivia you know, the more impressive you are. Parzivial is a low level gunter (in OASIS, you can travel anywhere, for a price, and most gunters, when they’re not studying the 80’s they’re leveling up their avatars through quests), but one obsessed with Halliday and the 80’s. He and his only friend Aech (pronounced “H”) spend all their free time playing arcade games and watching movies together, in hopes of finding clues to the location of Halliday’s egg.

Racing against the gunters is the corporation IOI (Innovative Online Industries), who want to monetize OASIS, charging for access, and for advertising space (on any and everything). The gunters are not only trying to locate the egg for wealth, but to continue the vision of Halliday, and despise anyone that works for IOI.

Now for my review

First, I will say that this book was fun to read. Entertaining and pretty quickly paced, I read this in a short amount of time. I do recommend it to anyone that 1) loves the 80’s, 2) loves virtual worlds, or 3) loves puzzles. Not that there’s really any puzzle solving for the reader. There’s no way to read a clue and actually figure something out before someone in the book does. But, it’s still fun to watch the characters explore. The action can be fun, as in a virtual world, any type of weapon can be created, from guns to magic spells and more.

A couple of times there’s some references that take me out of the story, like when someone mentions Wikipedia. I suppose that website might still be around in another 30 years, but I would have assumed something better would have come around. It just felt strange hearing a few terms that are used currently.

It’s not a very deep book. You can tell where things are going for the most part. There’s a few twists that are fun to find out, but for the most part it’s pretty heavy handed when it comes to things like “This will be Wade’s love interest.”

Overall, think of this book like an action movie. It’s fun to let yourself be drawn in and watch, but don’t expect too much in the way of a compelling story or wonderful acting.

Out of 17, I give this book an 11.

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 02/27/2014 at 10:30pm

To show the amount of 80's this book contains, here's every movie mentioned in the book :)

http://letterboxd.com/bbbgtoby/list/every-movie-referenced-in-ready-player-one/

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/27/2014 at 10:42pm

Love this book, and highly recommend. Waves of nostalgia for children of the 80's, and the Willy Wonka/Matrix association is dead on. This book is pure tribute to what made that decade a great time to be a very nerdy kid ;).

gaidalcain85 wrote on 03/03/2014 at 03:37am

This is an amazing book, a must read for any gamer, especially for children of the 80's :D

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 04/02/2018 at 08:00pm

Quick movie review. It was ok. I saw it in IMAX 3D, so the visuals were a lot of fun, but the story was a little worse than the book (and the book story wasn't the greatest to begin with). It does really look great, but I probably won't bother seeing it again, unless it's free on demand or netflix and I'm bored.

A funny point that relates to my original post about the book. In the book, when they mention Wikipedia, it took me out of the story, and similarly, in the movie, someone mentions Twitch, and I had the same immersion-breaking thought "why is Twitch still around 30 years in the future?"

Oh, also T.J. Miller voices an avatar in this, and that totally took me out of the movie each time. Instead of buying his character, in my mind's eye, I could only see him in a voice booth, reading his lines. I think that was a poor voice acting choice.

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 04/02/2018 at 08:01pm

Using the new Cheerful Ghost game rating scale, I give the book a Rad and the movie a Meh unfortunately.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/02/2018 at 11:21pm

This movie seems up my alley, in fact someone at work asked me if I saw it. Strangely enough i've thought the trailers have looked like a movie i'm in no way interested in seeing. The trailers make this movie seem like NOSTALGIA THE MOVIE and i'm just not really in to that. I'm going to start reading reviews for it now, but it's not something i'm actively making my way to watch.

Curious why you thought it was meh? Uninteresting characters? Was it a generic story?

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 04/02/2018 at 11:45pm

The story is fairly generic: poor kid saves the world and finds love, but that was in the book, so I can give that a pass. Basically, the book has a lot more narration, and you understand the "why" more so than the movie. The movie doesn't seem to give you a good reason why the OASIS needs to be saved. Obviously, the big, bad corporation having control is obviously bad, but the book spends more time building the world and how the OASIS is "the world" to most people. Kids go to school in it, every works in it, there isn't much of a "real world" anymore. The main character lives in some futuristic slums, so it makes sense that he'd want to escape, but you don't get a sense of how the rest of the world looks/works. The movie looks amazing, but just isn't much more than a CGI reference extravaganza.

I'd call the movie REFERENCE THE MOVIE and the book NOSTALGIA THE BOOK. The book seems to care about the references more. Maybe it's easier as the nostalgia in the book is just from the 80's, and the author loves the 80's, whereas the movie has references from the 80's, 90's and 2000's, and they're just there.

Also, another gripe I have with the movie is the "B roll" type shots of people using VR. The main character has an omnidirectional treadmill, so he can run in any direction and not move in actual space, but so many times you see random shots of people running around the real world streets, with their headsets on, but fighting in OASIS. They should have been running into each other and buildings, but somehow they're just able to avoid everything. Also, there's some scenes where a lot of people die in OASIS (you can see some big battle scenes in the trailers), and you see people in the real world being kicked out of OASIS in the same pattern people died in OASIS. For instance, in a big battle scene, someone shoots a laser and kills a line of people. The movie then cuts to a line of people in the real world having to take their headsets off. But that's not how the OASIS works... they've been running around, battling, there's no relation to their real world presence and their presence in the game.

So, between a generic story and too many points that broke the movie magic for me, I can only give it a meh. It's beautiful, and fun at times, but the book is much better (and it has it's flaws already).

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/04/2018 at 03:31am

Thanks Adam. That really helps me understand it better.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/15/2018 at 02:36am

Katie and I just got back from it. She's read it, I haven't. She liked it more than I did but I'd still give it a Rad, though maybe not a high rad.

It was a daunting task to make the film, and you can tell Spielberg loved it (though he rates it one of his hardest films ever). The cast was fantastic except for, unfortunately, the lead. A lot of the narrative is told through voiceover and those segments just didn't land for me. The ending was incredibly saccharine and heavily changed from the book apparently. Katie explained the book's ending to me and it sounds much stronger.

I think the problems come from the compressed story, as is frequently the case with adaptations. They didn't have enough time to explore things as they needed to.

But it was a LOT of fun. I cared about the story even if it was the typical plucky band of heroes vs. the evil corporation plot. That plot comes back up so often because it works, I guess. I DO greatly wish that it hadn't relied so much on voiceover.

The action was fun and very well done and the animation felt accurate for the interface players use. Not perfect, not an uncanny valley, a lot of goofy stuff mixed with realistic stuff. The kind of hodge podge you'd expect from something with user-created content. It really sold itself as a futuristic VR game/world.

Ultimately Adam I think I agree with almost all your criticisms and have some that you didn't mention but it didn't pull it down as much for me. Mostly it made me want to read the book and to see an extended edition with an alternate ending.

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Cheerful Ghost Roundtable S2 E3: Getting A Gaming PC in 2014

In this episode of The Cheerful Ghost Roundtable we talk all about Gaming PC's. Build or buy, Mac or Windows, we talk about it all. At the end we discuss game pricing when I recently came to some sticker shock over $60 buy.

What We are Playing & Drinking

0:45m scrypt: Kingdoms of Amalur & FTL

2:45m Travis: TextMate

3:25m jdodson: catwebcams.com, Portal 2, Reus & Borderlands 2

Getting A Gaming PC in 2014

8.40m What are we current running and what do we like or dislike about our setups?

22:00m Building VS Buying

29:15m What is the most we want to spend?

36:15m Do we have any particular PC brands we like?

42:00m What PC did Greg actually get?

Game Pricing... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 02/20/2014 at 10:43pm

Thanks for the mention and the link to the post. You guys have made some excellent points and covered many things that I agree with. When Aurora arrives, I'll have to change my user pic. So far I can't tell what color the lights are because in the picture you showed they look red, but on the website's gallery they look purple. For now, I should get a pic of Blue64, I have the blue lights on, except for the side fan as I've replaced it with one that doesn't light (the original and replacement have died and has been replaced).

You guys are running better PCs than I currently am, but I'm about to smoke you. I've been building for the last decade or more and have been satisfied, especially when a custom built PC ran right away and booted fine. I always do my research when thinking about building and upgrading. One think I enjoy of building my own is the ability to get what I want and being able to upgrade later (if I choose to). That said, I thought about upgrading Blue64, which by now would be relatively cheap, but the motherboard lacks some of today's standards (DDR3 for instance). When researching on a new build or pre-built PC, I managed to figure out the components I drooled over and really wanted (like the GTX 690). In the end it was more expensive to get all of the components I wanted as compared to all pre-built PCs I looked at. When it came to Alienware, they had what I wanted and at a cheaper price than purchasing all components separately. Since I could afford to, I bought the Aurora. It's one to drool over.

My current specs are listed in the post along with the Aurora. Right now my only complaint with Blue64 (my current custom built PC) is that I'd like a little more speed at least. I've seen little lag in Terraria at high quality, but otherwise that runs fine. Minecraft runs ok, but will look sweeter with the new PC. FTL runs with no apparent lag. I haven't done much PC gaming except for some Command & Conquer, Magic the Gathering, and Morrowind, for example. Although, I think I'd like to play Starcraft 2 and The Sims 3.

I like the cheap cost of great Steam games like the two I've mentioned and Portal (which was a free download, and the other two were given to me). I haven't really questioned a $60 because I got used to buying console games. I haven't bought a lot of them and am particular when it comes to games. That and my budget hasn't always allowed me to buy many games.

I think Steam is my first experience with digital games and ones that are apparently in the cloud. When I move to my new PC, I'll see how all that transfers. Luckily, I know how to back up Terraria.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/21/2014 at 05:32pm

I think I need to build a computer sometime in the future. I would like to know more about how they work, so what better way than making one? Plus it's like this century's version of building a hot rod.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 02/21/2014 at 10:21pm

As an IT guy, like Travis, I'm experienced with working on Dell, Gateway, and HP computers, such as troubleshooting and all the tech basics. I've seen lots of issues, but that's what my job has been as a tech guy.

I'm glad you mentioned controllers. I don't have a 360 controller, so I'm interested in a good PC controller. I suspect Logitech would be my best answer. I've had some of their products and like them, but I found myself liking a wired mouse and keyboard better because of battery usage.

I've been loving AMD and buying their processors, but I am abandoning them for the first time in over a decade. I'm not sure what got me hooked on Nvidia as opposed to Radeon brands, but I've been sticking with Nvidia. Some of the CPUs don't be as expensive as I remember, but some really good stuff is expensive. You can easily build a decent PC, suited to your purposes for it, cheaply. It's a fun thing to do and be able to do. Researching components is something I'm fond of doing, even though I'm not always up-to-date on what's out and what's new and best.

Right now, I'm happy with buying as it does actually seem to save some money. This will be a somewhat new experience for me as I've been running this build of my PC for about 7 years. This recent purchase will give me a decent PC that I can let my son use and still do what we'd want it to do and with an ability to be upgraded at some time.

Aurora is still "in production."

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/21/2014 at 11:25pm

As far as controllers, I definitely recommend going with an Xbox controller. I bought a Logitech (PlayStation styled), and it definitely suffers. A lot of games are programmed for the Xbox controller. The Logitech can look like a Xbox controller to the computer, but you have to use a directional pad instead of a thumbstick, and it just isn't as precise.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 02/22/2014 at 12:02am

Should I just buy an XBox360 controller just for my PC? I'm not sure how much it costs, but I've heard it's great. It might be worth it. I tried getting my PS3 one to work, emulated as an Xbox360 controller, but it still didn't exactly work as I wanted with Morrowind. Maybe I need to change and set some of the controls more properly. I'd like to be able to use a controller for it the same way that I use my PS3 controller to play Skyrim on the PS3.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/23/2014 at 05:46pm

I think the XBox 360 for PC would be a good purchase. Like Adym said, "normal" controllers are fine BUT some games only want to the the 360 controller. That said, I got mine for under $40 I think. It's the USB one, I think the wireless ones would be a better idea.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/06/2014 at 05:43am

My Aurora arrived today (well technically yesterday since it's after midnight). I now have two working PCs in my room that are turned on and ready. There's another very old PC in the room that I tried to set up for my son, but it couldn't handle Minecraft. I can't wait to play Minecraft on this new one with full, ultimate settings! Anyway, I have a point with this comment. Now that I have both PCs up and running in my room, something that I think Jon said in this video is really sticking out to me...the noise level. I built the old PC and the case fans are new and replaced the old ones not long ago. I can tell you that this Aurora is so quiet!!!! I can hear the old PC's fans running. It's not really loud and kind of what you'd expect from a PC, but it is loud compared to this new PC.

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Chroma Announce Trailer

Completely reimagining the classic Arena FPS formula, Chroma infuses fast-paced PC shooter action with music-driven gameplay. Join the fight as a Fader, a musical icon of the future, and battle for control of the all-encompassing cultural feed known as The Signal. In Chroma, music is your weapon. Sound is your arsenal.

Music-driven FPS gameplay – Music matters. Chroma features innovative first-person shooter mechanics that tie the game’s soundtrack directly to combat, traversal, and more.

Music is your weapon – Unleash streams of sound and music with your arsenal and bring the musical landscape to life in battle! From deep wobbling bass to the crunch of an electric... Read All

Metal Jesus Compares Super Famicom & Super NES Cover Art

Metal Jesus compares the cover art from the Super Nintendo and Super Famicom games such as Mother 2, Phalanx, Super Metroid and Link to the Past. As always, YouTuber Metal Jesus brings the awesome and as such this video is well done and contains some interesting history about the games as well.

Metal Jesus Rocks.

Game/Show: Are Angry Fans Hurting Gaming?

"The internet has been an amazing place for fandoms. Fanboys and fangirls can celebrate their love of a game, connect with other fans, and even reach out to creators. We now have the ability for greater levels of participation, but can this power turn ugly? Some fans spew anger and hatred when disappointed with a videogame, often directing their ire at the creators themselves. Is there a danger with this sort of behavior?"

Are angry fanboys hurting the gaming industry? Well... yeah, absolutely. In fact we did an entire episode of The Cheerful Ghost Roundtable about "The Internet Hate Factory."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-IwC9j1U8g

So watch Game/Show, then watch the... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 02/14/2014 at 03:29am

Yes.

I think it's that simple.

I haven't watched the video yet, but I think I can answer already.

The internet is amazing but people use it to complain quite a bit and it's a sea of negativity. That's to be expected and people should complain when there are problems that need complaining about, but overall it isn't as constructive as it should be. Anonymity adds a buffer that people can hide behind to criticize and be jerks without it being attached to themselves. I've been making an effort recently to distance myself from "panickedthumb" and use my real name where possible/feasible/safe so that I don't say anything on the internet that I wouldn't want attached to my real name for that very reason, actually.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/14/2014 at 10:56pm

I think that's a really good idea. "jdodson" isn't hard to parse out to my real name, but I like using it because its my unix/linux username and I kind of like associating with that level of nerd.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 02/15/2014 at 07:26am

Why did I read it as "Are Angry Birds Fans Hurting Gaming?" LOL! Still, he has a great point and I can't help but to agree with him. I can't recall the name of the developer that was mentioned in this video and in one of your roundtable videos, but it is sad that angry gamers can get a developer so upset. Is this also why Flappy Birds was removed from app stores today? That developer said that he couldn't "take it anymore," though I'm not sure what specifically he was referring to.

I totally agree with Travis, the Internet provides anonymity and people do tend to complain a lot and it is most definitely "a sea of negativity." Just look at your Facebook newsfeed, especially whenever something "controversial" is posted. Even though anonymity doesn't exist as much there, people will still comment negatively on a post you made instead of just ignoring it and scrolling through the rest of their newsfeed.

I also agree with Travis about distancing himself from his online alias, although that's not something I've put any thought into. At first (during the BBS years), I went by "Cobain" (yes, an obvious reference). I then later changed my alias a bit over the years to various ones, one that last a long time was some version of "Cupid De Locke" (The Smashing Pumpkins song) like QpiDeLocke. However, now I use "GregoPeck" as I've been called "Gregory Peck" or "Peck" for short and at college, I was nicknamed "Grego."

That's cool about yours, Jon. Mine is similar too as I sometimes use gawoodruff (adding my middle initial after the first to differentiate from my Dad who is also named "Greg").

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/15/2014 at 02:28pm

As far as I am concerned, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is the best album of all time.

Dates me some I suppose :D

Travis Admin wrote on 02/15/2014 at 02:36pm

Ah, Mellon Collie. Such a damn good album. I wouldn't call it the best of all time, but it's by far my favorite SP album. That's mostly because I don't care for their other work much, but I could listen to Mellon Collie on repeat for days. If Billy Corgan's voice were different, I would probably agree that it's the best album ever, honestly. I've just never cared for it.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 02/16/2014 at 02:21am

Yes, MCIS was fantastic! What else I loved is that the released all the singles in a box set, which contained more songs (some very good covers, in fact, like "You're All I've Got Tonight"). It probably is my favorite album by them, although Gish and Siamese Dream are right up there with it. I listened to their latest one a few times and liked it.

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Story Time with Cap'n Curry - Halo 2

My experience as an Xbox player was atypical, to say the least. I was months behind on game releases, and tended to play single-player games, so when some of my coworkers invited me to join them for a few rounds of Halo 2 online, I was slightly concerned that I'd repeat my performance of the original Halo (see http://cheerfulghost.com/Travis/posts/1872).

But, since it was competitive, and nobody could *actually* see my screen, I figured that while "competent" might be a bit of a stretch I might be able to avoid becoming a legend. What I didn't realize is that I had gotten good enough at the Xbox family of FPS's that I could play on my tactical strengths, and I became a... Read All

Outerlands: An Episodic Documentary About Video Games

Back this on Kickstarter!

Full disclosure, I came to know about the Outerlands Kickstarter very recently. As such, if you are looking to back it on Kickstarter you should do it soon as from when this post drops they have 63 hours left. That said, Outerlands is an episodic documentary series brought to you by the people that created the One Up Show, Co-Op and several great documentaries about awesome classic games such as Street Fighter and The Last of Us.

The Outerlands Kickstarter provides some really great options that allow you just get access to the films themselves and upgrade for more insider access as well. You can even pony up to get the whole works on BluRay.

Watch All The 2014 Steam Developer Days Videos Now

Valve has released the set of Steam Developer Days videos on YouTube and you can watch them right now. Gabe kicks things off and tore right into a quick Q&A. I am currently watching the "Steam Machines in 2014 - Opening up the Living Room." It's a really great presentation with Alienware and Intel taking the stage talking about what they are doing to bring Steam to the living room.

Overall there are 27 talks that should keep you in Valve bliss for quite some time. If you are interested in watching the Steam Developer Days videos come back and let me know what you think!

hardeyez wrote on 02/13/2014 at 10:05pm

here's the link to the playlist of the videos http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLckFgM6dUP2hc4iy-IdKFtqR9TeZWMPjm It was surprisingly difficult to figure out (if you start with a youtube search of steam dev days... not a lot, then hit valve's channel and you just see a teaser... It's actually the "Steamworks Development" channel...

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/13/2014 at 10:57pm

I've been watching them on and off today as work allows and I'm finding the controller video to be incredibly intersting. They're walking through the design process and talking about how the design evolved.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/13/2014 at 10:57pm

interesting* that is

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/13/2014 at 11:15pm

I agree, they are really great. I think I'll watch them all sooner or later.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/14/2014 at 08:33pm

Just finished the Getting Started with Linux Game Development talk, and totally learned a lot. And I don't even program (nor use Linux) :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/15/2014 at 02:26pm

Finished up the Evolution of Consoles, Steam Features and a few
Talks on OpenGL and optimizing for Intel and AMD.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/17/2014 at 09:26pm

Almost done with Community and Communication in Games-As-Services, and I'm really happy to hear about how much Valve values it's players input. They're actively looking for users to talk about the game, and using what they learn from users to improve their games.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/17/2014 at 11:10pm

Valve apparently has the attitude that people that pay them for things deserve attention. Who knew :D

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/17/2014 at 11:50pm

I wish Autodesk felt the same way ;)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/18/2014 at 03:08am

I wish all companies did man. Frankly customers make them rich but I don't think they understand that entirely.

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Funniest video game moments

Please make sure your speakers aren't turned way up when you watch the embedded video.

I was recently reminded of the legendary Laddergoat video and have been going through youtube trying to find more hilarious videos I might have missed.

Many hilarious videos come out of streaming and Lets Plays. Sometimes intentional, sometimes a bug or an unexpected event will bring the hilarity.

For those who haven't seen it, this video is a recorded stream of one of the guys at Dopelives playing Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. He sees a goat, and the goat does something unexpected. It's funny, but the streamer's reaction is the best part. Such an infectious laugh.

Dopelives have done... Read All

CapnCurry Supporter wrote on 02/08/2014 at 09:33am

I wish I had a video of this, but alas, this was a long time ago. My friend Harry was introducing me to Halo - he was a veteran, but it was the first time I'd held an Xbox controller. Most notably, I wasn't used to the analog triggers.

Over the course of the game, I performed some *spectacular* failures. I found a way to lose the tank on the Rolling Thunder level, forcing us to take a long jog to our next objective. I could empty a clip at an enemy at point blank and hit nothing but Harry, but somehow I was a damn prodigy at driving the warthog. I could weave that jeep through impossibly tight spaces and park it on some asshole's head like it was no big deal. Of course, that led to me wanting to hold on to the warthog, so I tried to fit it through the door of a building. I wedged it in there so hard that we didn't think we'd make it to the next level, but we did something clever with mounting, dismounting, and grenades that somehow wound up doing the trick.

I also pioneered combat ballet. I'd hear an enemy, and I'd turn around and start firing my machine gun. Thing is, I had a tendency to pull the stick toward me as I turned, and the look sensitivity was set too high for me. From Harry's perspective, I'd get startled and react by doing a few tight pirouettes and shooting the shit out of the ceiling.

But my two favorite moments are the reasons I forever after had to take point in all of our co-op sessions. The first was when Harry was ahead of me, and starting to climb down a ladder. He commented that it was dark and he couldn't be sure there were no enemies. So, I walked up right behind him and turned on my flashlight. Or would have, if I hadn't mixed up my "flashlight" and "melee attack" buttons. You might already know that a melee attack from behind is an instakill. Harry chose to interpret this exchange as "Hey, it's kinda dark in this hole," "THEN IT IS A GOOD PLACE TO MURDER YOU AND HIDE YOUR BODY".

The second was when we were creeping along a hall, wary of enemies. We were moving slow, things were tense, and I didn't realize that I was holding my controller a little too tightly. Without a positive "click" to inform me I'd hit a button, my left trigger finger slowly crossed the shear line and tiny fluctuations in my grip shuttled it back and forth before I realized what was happening. My Master Chief *spazzed* out, and I twitched all four of my sticky plasma grenades right into the back of Harry's head. Harry said "Shit! I hear a plasma grenade!" I was staring, dumbfounded, at what I had done, and couldn't find the words to explain to him that the action had already been resolved. After a spectacular explosion that flung him clear down the hall, and left me battered but still alive, he looked at me and asked "What the hell just happened?"

I said, "The good news is, it's all over, and it can't happen anymore. The bad news is that I'm out of plasma grenades."

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/08/2014 at 01:51pm

Oh, Capn, I'm sitting in the office reading this right next to the bedroom where my wife is still sound asleep. It's been a while that I've had to struggle this hard not to laugh. I, too, wish you had video of this.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/09/2014 at 10:29pm

Oh man, can we start a new feature on the site called "Story time with CapnCurry?" Seriously, that was hilarious. I also have my new favorite out of context quote ever: "... we did something clever with mounting, dismounting, and grenades that somehow wound up doing the trick."

There are a ton of interesting/weird things you can do in that rolling thunder stage, like getting the Warthog into place it's not suppose to be or getting access to a banshee and skipping half the stage. One time we got the Warthog inside one of the buildings where the hallways were so narrow that the enemies had no where to run and we just ran them all over on our way through. I really miss the days of indestructible vehicles. With clever use of rockets and grenades you could really do some interesting things with the vehicles.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/09/2014 at 10:37pm

Yeah with this story and the tale of Gonzo the Norn, I think regular stories from the Cap'n are in order. :)

CapnCurry Supporter wrote on 02/13/2014 at 10:05am

Ooh, I'll have to go and refresh my memory - I've got a yarn or two about Halo 2 multiplayer, at least, and I might be able to dust off some old Twisted Metal II tales for good measure. :D

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