I've been a PC gamer for a long time. Don't get me wrong, I harbor no dislike of console games…I just heart my PC games too much. But a change has occurred. It happened innocently enough. I mentioned in an earlier blog entry my son was captivated by my brief play of Shenmue and God of War. I theorize he sees it as a cartoon of sorts. Taking my cue from his sudden interest, I began playing games that I had subconsciously stockpiled over the last 5 years for some long-forgotten purpose that is only now coming to the fore. I have now experienced a console gaming renaissance in the last month. Like an early, troglodytic man I have at long last left my cavern and discovered there is more outside waiting to be found. For this I blame my 2 year old son. If not for him, I would be content to keep playing PC games in my stuffy office. Now, God of War has at long last hit the ‘completed’ pile of my collection. Super Mario Galaxy is the latest to fall, though I am likely to play it more from time to time in my effort to collect the stars I missed on my first time through the game. Of course, this is all in addition to my nightly Left for Dead excursions. Thanks to my son, I have achieved some sort of gaming zen balance in my life for the first time. Good job kid.
We had our first brainstorm session this weekend for planning out our custom L4D campaign. One of our idea men wasn’t present, but we managed to hammer out a reasonable outline of the campaign. We roped in a sound man and even a writer to script our voice work. A lot of work and exciting times lay ahead. I’ve also been downloading some user-made campaigns here and there…to see what the competition is up to. There are some pretty well-done maps out there, but also maps that contain pitfalls I want to avoid. Item placement, pacing, flow, all of these are things that can significantly add to an experience if done right and outright hamper it if done wrong. A lot of time will go into this project. I want to make sure we get it as right as it can be.
If only making L4D campaigns was my real job. *sigh*
I have managed to find myself playing 4 different games on Nintendo systems: Wind Waker on Gamecube, Zack & Wiki on Wii, Final Fantasy 1 on Gameboy Advance, and Yoshi’s Island. Don’t ask me how that happened, or how I’m keeping up with them all. Somehow I’m managing it. I can’t get back into Bioshock for some reason…I think I allowed too much time to pass and am now at the crucial point where I’ve lost the rhythm of the game. If I pick it up and can’t remember the controls…may as well set it aside and play something else. I hope to come back to it soon, I fear the Bioshock 2 media coming out is going to spoil the ending for me despite my best efforts to prevent.
Two great things came to an end for me this last week: the fifth season of Lost and my first read-thru of Stephen King’s The Stand. Both are masterfully told stories. I can only hope to tell as compelling a tale one day. Speaking of which, I am slowly putting together material for a short story I’ve had on my mind for awhile. I should have details in a future blog. For now I’ll simply say that it has zombies. And a boat.
V out.
We had our first brainstorm session this weekend for planning out our custom L4D campaign. One of our idea men wasn’t present, but we managed to hammer out a reasonable outline of the campaign. We roped in a sound man and even a writer to script our voice work. A lot of work and exciting times lay ahead. I’ve also been downloading some user-made campaigns here and there…to see what the competition is up to. There are some pretty well-done maps out there, but also maps that contain pitfalls I want to avoid. Item placement, pacing, flow, all of these are things that can significantly add to an experience if done right and outright hamper it if done wrong. A lot of time will go into this project. I want to make sure we get it as right as it can be.
If only making L4D campaigns was my real job. *sigh*
I have managed to find myself playing 4 different games on Nintendo systems: Wind Waker on Gamecube, Zack & Wiki on Wii, Final Fantasy 1 on Gameboy Advance, and Yoshi’s Island. Don’t ask me how that happened, or how I’m keeping up with them all. Somehow I’m managing it. I can’t get back into Bioshock for some reason…I think I allowed too much time to pass and am now at the crucial point where I’ve lost the rhythm of the game. If I pick it up and can’t remember the controls…may as well set it aside and play something else. I hope to come back to it soon, I fear the Bioshock 2 media coming out is going to spoil the ending for me despite my best efforts to prevent.
Two great things came to an end for me this last week: the fifth season of Lost and my first read-thru of Stephen King’s The Stand. Both are masterfully told stories. I can only hope to tell as compelling a tale one day. Speaking of which, I am slowly putting together material for a short story I’ve had on my mind for awhile. I should have details in a future blog. For now I’ll simply say that it has zombies. And a boat.
V out.
3 comments:
There is nothing wrong with Xboxnintendoplaystation. It is a gateway to a much larger world. *cough*pcgaming*cough*
But if you start playing animal crossing again I may have to break something.
Looking forward to the new left for dead map. I know you guys have been putting a lot of time into it. I will have to set aside some time to learn source so I can help out.
Super Mario Galaxy is awesome! No shame there. I was addicted to that game about a year ago. Strangely, I got very close to the end yet never finished it. I think I'll have to pick the ol' Nunchuk up again, lol. Naven
Super Mario Galaxy 2 was just announced Naven! Better go back and get the first one finished up.
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