Monday, August 23, 2004
No longer hurling myself across the void
I have a place to live in the fall. It's an immense relief, to be sure, but I still have some slight apprehension since I have not seen the place and know the area it's in only slightly. Still, it will mean that I have somewhere to live while I'm at school and that I can spend the week before class starts goofing off and having fun.
From what I understand, it's a townhouse, and so far I am the only renter, which in my opinion kicks ass. Some people freak out at the prospect of living by themselves, but I'm definitely not one of them. Call me hermitous, but not having to worry about the static that develops at the interation of personal space bubbles. As well, the location could make it slightly easier for me to go back to Taekwon-do. Fencing has been fun, but for various time and logistics reasons, I probably won't be continuing it once I go back. In addition, getting my second dan would be pretty awesome, and I can't get that if I don't train.
While I have figured out where I am going to be, I am still living in my apartment for another week, and boy does it look rough. In packing up my chair, table, DVD player, carpet, microwave, movies, books, music, games, posters, lamp and computer, I literally tore my place apart. Now all my stuff is liberally scattered about the room, I have considerably less in the way of entertainment and finding things is starting to be a pain. By the end of the week, this will probably be completely reversed, with all my stuff being packed away and I will be living out of my luggage. Hoo-rah.
Not having a computer, and lacking all my movies and games leaves me slightly bereft of things to do while at home. To help shore this problem, I picked up a copy of Maximo: Army of Zin and Mario Golf Advance.
The sequel to the first Maximo is a whole bunch of more of the same. You run, you jump, you hit things with your sword. They've changed the game just enough to keep it fresh though, with a new hammer, all new enemies and some improved gameplay mechanics. Just like the first one though, the game is stupid hard. Not as hard as Ninja Gaiden, but still pretty difficult on Normal. (I haven't tried Hard difficulty yet, but I'm quite sure that it's insane cranked to 11.) Having played the first Maximo, I'm probably a bit advantaged since I know what to expect, but anyone picking it up for the first time will probably be thrown off by its old-schoolness. You get a limited number of lives, and when those are gone it's Game Over for ya. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. While they have made Maximo more robust when it comes to beating up bad guys (or perhaps I'm just already used to the combat), the jumping puzzles are still just as unforgiving as they ever were. You can now use your sword to catch an edge, which makes some jumps easier, but they have accomodated for that by making a number of jumps deliberately out of reach, forcing you to just barely make it up. Very cunning, those folks at Capcom. The level structure is also a nice throwback to the days of yore, with a simple linear chain of areas, each having a set of enemies to kill, treasure to loot and peasants to save. No doubt something great is unlocked if you master all the levels, but I probably won't find out what it is. Basically, if you're a fan of the run-and-jump 3D platformer, don't mind a challenge and would welcome an old-school game in these days of copious save points.
Mario Golf is also a surprising amount of fun. While you don't get to play as Mario except in the Quick Round mode, the RPG-esque Story Mode is not too shabby. While the story itself is looking to be the typical sports movie type -- newcomer who studied under the last great golfer is looking to become the new champ and rival the legendary Mario -- it serves its purpose, providing a reason to golf in tournament after tournament. The golfing itself is typical golf game stuff, with the power bars and the timed button presses, but there seems to be enough meat to it to make for a good game. I happen to like it, at least, and will attempt to convince my GBA-wielding friends to grab a copy so that I can destroy them with uber-golfing "m4d 5k!llz", such as they are. In short, MGA is a good, fun little game for the casual golfer who thinks that the "real" golf games like PGA 2004 or Tiger Woods induce too much rage.
I also had the opportunity to read Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke recently. I read the 2001 series a few years ago and after reading Rama, I think I'm liking Clarke's style more and more. The way that all the sci-fi stuff in his books is so well thought out really appeals to me. I always get the impression that everything is accounted for, that if you ever had a question about something he dreamed up, he would have an answer for you that respected all the laws of physics and nature that we've discovered so far. It's like a big step up from sci-fi like Star Trek or Star Wars where too much seems like it was done just for appearances or for story. Especially with those two, they then go back and try to explain everything away retroactively, which while admirable, usually results in some rather hokey stuff being invented -- midichlorians anyone?
So that pretty much sums up my last few days and also the next few as well. A few things are lined up, but for the most part the excitement starts next week once I'm back in Edmonton. Moving, parties, getting ready for school, that kind of thing. Can't hardly wait.
¶ 5:04 p.m.
I have a place to live in the fall. It's an immense relief, to be sure, but I still have some slight apprehension since I have not seen the place and know the area it's in only slightly. Still, it will mean that I have somewhere to live while I'm at school and that I can spend the week before class starts goofing off and having fun.
From what I understand, it's a townhouse, and so far I am the only renter, which in my opinion kicks ass. Some people freak out at the prospect of living by themselves, but I'm definitely not one of them. Call me hermitous, but not having to worry about the static that develops at the interation of personal space bubbles. As well, the location could make it slightly easier for me to go back to Taekwon-do. Fencing has been fun, but for various time and logistics reasons, I probably won't be continuing it once I go back. In addition, getting my second dan would be pretty awesome, and I can't get that if I don't train.
While I have figured out where I am going to be, I am still living in my apartment for another week, and boy does it look rough. In packing up my chair, table, DVD player, carpet, microwave, movies, books, music, games, posters, lamp and computer, I literally tore my place apart. Now all my stuff is liberally scattered about the room, I have considerably less in the way of entertainment and finding things is starting to be a pain. By the end of the week, this will probably be completely reversed, with all my stuff being packed away and I will be living out of my luggage. Hoo-rah.
Not having a computer, and lacking all my movies and games leaves me slightly bereft of things to do while at home. To help shore this problem, I picked up a copy of Maximo: Army of Zin and Mario Golf Advance.
The sequel to the first Maximo is a whole bunch of more of the same. You run, you jump, you hit things with your sword. They've changed the game just enough to keep it fresh though, with a new hammer, all new enemies and some improved gameplay mechanics. Just like the first one though, the game is stupid hard. Not as hard as Ninja Gaiden, but still pretty difficult on Normal. (I haven't tried Hard difficulty yet, but I'm quite sure that it's insane cranked to 11.) Having played the first Maximo, I'm probably a bit advantaged since I know what to expect, but anyone picking it up for the first time will probably be thrown off by its old-schoolness. You get a limited number of lives, and when those are gone it's Game Over for ya. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. While they have made Maximo more robust when it comes to beating up bad guys (or perhaps I'm just already used to the combat), the jumping puzzles are still just as unforgiving as they ever were. You can now use your sword to catch an edge, which makes some jumps easier, but they have accomodated for that by making a number of jumps deliberately out of reach, forcing you to just barely make it up. Very cunning, those folks at Capcom. The level structure is also a nice throwback to the days of yore, with a simple linear chain of areas, each having a set of enemies to kill, treasure to loot and peasants to save. No doubt something great is unlocked if you master all the levels, but I probably won't find out what it is. Basically, if you're a fan of the run-and-jump 3D platformer, don't mind a challenge and would welcome an old-school game in these days of copious save points.
Mario Golf is also a surprising amount of fun. While you don't get to play as Mario except in the Quick Round mode, the RPG-esque Story Mode is not too shabby. While the story itself is looking to be the typical sports movie type -- newcomer who studied under the last great golfer is looking to become the new champ and rival the legendary Mario -- it serves its purpose, providing a reason to golf in tournament after tournament. The golfing itself is typical golf game stuff, with the power bars and the timed button presses, but there seems to be enough meat to it to make for a good game. I happen to like it, at least, and will attempt to convince my GBA-wielding friends to grab a copy so that I can destroy them with uber-golfing "m4d 5k!llz", such as they are. In short, MGA is a good, fun little game for the casual golfer who thinks that the "real" golf games like PGA 2004 or Tiger Woods induce too much rage.
I also had the opportunity to read Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke recently. I read the 2001 series a few years ago and after reading Rama, I think I'm liking Clarke's style more and more. The way that all the sci-fi stuff in his books is so well thought out really appeals to me. I always get the impression that everything is accounted for, that if you ever had a question about something he dreamed up, he would have an answer for you that respected all the laws of physics and nature that we've discovered so far. It's like a big step up from sci-fi like Star Trek or Star Wars where too much seems like it was done just for appearances or for story. Especially with those two, they then go back and try to explain everything away retroactively, which while admirable, usually results in some rather hokey stuff being invented -- midichlorians anyone?
So that pretty much sums up my last few days and also the next few as well. A few things are lined up, but for the most part the excitement starts next week once I'm back in Edmonton. Moving, parties, getting ready for school, that kind of thing. Can't hardly wait.
¶ 5:04 p.m.
