61 Frames Per Second : tetris

I Appreciate You, Game Boy

Nadia Oxford — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:29:00 GMT

It's the Game Boy's 20th anniversary, and I feel like I ought to honour the little white brick. Problem is, I have no idea what I can say that hasn't already been said. Writing all my good feelings towards the ancient Nintendo handheld that served as a springboard for the portable consoles I love today feels awkward, like writing a letter to a friend who's bailed you out of jail. Game Boy, I want to say “thanks” to you...but the thought of doing it makes me blush and squirm. There just aren't any suitable words for how much I care about you. I'll take you out for beers.

The Game Boy vaulted me into “real” gaming; it was my first console after the Colecovision/Atari 2600 Frankenstein that introduced me to gaming, but didn't necessarily make me fall in love with the pastime. Sure, I had previously been mystified by Super Mario Bros, but I wouldn't own an NES until late in the system's life. It was games like Super Mario Land, Double Dragon and Final Fantasy Legend taught me that video games could have form and structure; they could be more than a score-counter. They could have goals, and tell stories.

When I managed to separate my mother from Tetris, of course.

They could also affirm the crummy nature of the human race. I would have many video games stolen from me as I grew up, and I imagine I'll have still more spirited away from under my nose, but my first real story of loss came during a dark time when my parents were forced to put their house up for sale. This meant a lot of showings, which meant a lot of strange kids slipping away from their parents to rummage through our cupboards with snotty noses and sticky paws. One day, after one such showing, our copies of Super Mario Land and Double Dragon went missing. Theft is a serious accusation to make without any sort of proof, but daaaaaay-um, I owe those kids a kick in the teeth.

But before Mario was whisked away to another castle, I started and finished Super Mario Land all on my own. It was the first side-scrolling adventure I completed by my lonesome; back then, it seemed so expansive. A fairly recent replay reminded me of how tiny the adventure actually is. Oh, youth.

Now that I'm loosened/boozed up, I can say it. Thanks, Game Boy, for being my first “real” game console. When I'm rich, I promise I'll acquire a million of you and build a castle by the sea.

Related Links:

Nifty Nostalgia: Super Game Boy
Chiptune Friday: Game Boy Hero
Kid Icarus on Game Boy: Did Anyone Get To Play This?

8-Bit Love: The Ten Greatest Vintage Game Songs to Have Sex To, part 2

John Constantine — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Cyriaque Lamar is a New York-based writer with a New Jersey-bred weltanschauung. He’s had original work published at Cracked.com and performed at The New York International Fringe Festival. Cyriaque is thrilled to contribute to 61FPS, as it brings him one step closer to his childhood dream of living on the set of Nick Arcade.

5.) Final Fight CD – “Walk In the Park (Bay Area)”

System: Sega CD (1993)
Sounds Like: A sweaty nooner with Don Johnson.
I always loved the premise of Final Fight. The idea of a city’s mayor stripping down to his underjohns and beating the shit out of unemployed people in order to stimulate job growth was really ahead of its time. Wait? Mike Haggar was actually fighting to save his daughter from an evil street gang? And here I thought the game was some kind of radical Objectivist propaganda. This Bay Area theme is classic whatever console you play Final Fight on, but the Sega CD version pushes it to the limit with gale-force porno guitars. Seriously, these riffs are like an F4 on the Fujita Scale. In my mind’s eye, the person who would get the most out of this track wears a ton of sea foam green and frequents Fort Lauderdale whorehouses. Sometimes, you just gotta be that person. When it comes to the Sega CD, the only thing sleazier is Night Trap.

4.) Chrono Trigger – Schala’s Theme

System: Super Nintendo (1995)
Sounds Like: Ravi Shankar, Level 12 Bard.
Another track from wunderkind Yasunori Mitsuda? Man, I should just wear my Chrono Trigger fanboyism on a t-shirt. Or a hat! Yes, a big fucking sombrero like those worn by morbidly obese stockbrokers at Jimmy Buffet concerts. My sombrero will depict the final battle against Lavos, with Robo, Lucca and Magus executing the Omega Flare triple tech. After I conceive my first-born son wearing this sombrero, I will store it in the broom closet until his first day of middle school, at which point I will place my abomination of a hat on his head and send him on his way. When he inevitably comes home tearful and bruised, his Chrono Sombrero torn asunder, I will embrace him and say, “Today you learned what it is to be a man. We’re ordering pizza tonight.”

3.) Streets of Rage 2 – S.O.R. Super Mix

System: Sega Genesis (1992)
Sounds Like: The Madchester music scene mashed into a Mega Drive cartridge.
I lived in Baltimore a few years ago. My neighborhood was more Pink Flamingos than The Wire, mostly pleasant with pockets of dicey urbanity. This track by the great Yuzo Kushiro (Actraiser) syncs up with that time in my life rather aptly. I had the streets and I had the rage. I also had the sick piano breakdown at 1:36. That emotional miasma and sweet key work made for a heady love making combo. Still does. It was a weird time in my life, but not Streets of Rage 2 weird. Game’s about a twelve-year-old in rollerblades who dismantles a heavily-armed crime syndicate. Go figure.

2.) The Last Ninja 2 – “The Mansion”

System: Commodore 64 (1988)
Sounds Like: Coming home from work, only to discover John Carpenter banging your wife.
Matt Gray’s soundtrack to The Last Ninja 2 is one of the better things in life, and “The Mansion” is one of its most memorable tracks. Its utility goes far beyond the bedroom. Sure, you and a buddy can thrust away to this instrumental’s nearly eight minutes of analog acrobatics, but why not use it for a more grand occasion? “The Mansion” is a more than adequate proxy for Pachelbel. It’ll make your nuptials more like the wedding scene from Big Trouble in Little China.

1.) Tetris – “A-Type”

System: Game Boy (1989)
Sounds Like: Tetris. Duh.
There’s nothing inherently sexy about the Tetris theme. Thing is, everyone knows “A-Type”, and if you blast it in the sack, you will be your partner’s most memorable lover ever. Period. It doesn’t even matter how good or bad the sex is. Every time this pops into an ex-lover’s head, he or she’ll have no choice but to sigh, “[Your Name Here] balled me to the Tetris theme.” Decades may pass, but once they recall those opening Bolshevik bleep-bloops, a mnemonic trigger will kick in and your shining nudity will be all they have ever known.

Part 1

Previous Top Tens:

The Ten Greatest Ice Levels in Gaming History
The Ten Greatest Classic Mega Man Levels
The Ten Videogames That Should Have Been Controversial
The Ten Greatest Opening Levels in Gaming History
The Ten Most Adventurous Sequels in Gaming History
The Ten Greatest Fire Levels in Gaming History

8-Bit Love: The Ten Greatest Vintage Game Songs to Have Sex To, part 1

John Constantine — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Cyriaque Lamar is a New York-based writer with a New Jersey-bred weltanschauung. He’s had original work published at Cracked.com and performed at The New York International Fringe Festival. Cyriaque is thrilled to contribute to 61FPS, as it brings him one step closer to his childhood dream of living on the set of Nick Arcade.

There are three reasons this list exists. First, I felt obliged to highlight 61FPS’s distinction as the gaming apparatchik of an internet sex publication. Second, I wished to showcase the unsung virtuosos of yesteryear who made masterworks using a limited palette of sounds. Finally, I intend to rebut those critics who still dismiss video games as low culture. Using the below examples, I intend to reclaim the carnal legacy of video games by evincing how early console music illustrated the gamut of human sexuality, from atavistic, heteronormative modes of eroticism to polymorphous perversity as delineated by Freud.

Plus, the thought of people sticking penises into vaginas to Nintendo music is funny.

10.) Radical Dreamers – “The Girl Who Stole the Stars”

System: Super Famicom Satellaview (1996)
Sounds Like: Koyaanisqatsi composed on Mario Paint.
Since roughly 95% of all human lovemaking involves someone with a XX chromosome pairing, I thought it necessary to seek out my female associates’ thoughts on which game music best applies to amore. The suggestions I received were few yet incisive — responses ranged from “the Kid Icarus theme” to “Who the eff effs to video games?” Ultimately though, I deferred to my own instincts and picked this pan-pipe jam from the Japan-exclusive, text-based sequel to Chrono Trigger. Composed by the legendary Yasunori Mitsuda, “The Girl Who Stole the Stars” is easily the most romantic theme on our list.

9.) Pole Position – Background noise

System: Atari 65XE (1985)
Sounds Like: Skynet becoming sentient.
The way I see it, there are two types of lovers in this world. The first type does it to The Whispers and The O’Jays, whereas the second diddles to Autechre, Radio-Activity-era Kraftwerk and the hum of AC units. The grating 8-bit drone of this Namco racing classic, is dedicated to the latter group — those who bang to cold, robotic minimalism. It’s also worth nothing that “PREPARE TO QUALIFY” is perhaps the best pre-coital war cry I’ve ever heard, particularly when your partner has no clue what you’re yelling about. Nothing improves foreplay like car metaphors and total incoherence. Remember the make-out scene from Gone In 60 Seconds?

Editor's Note: The Nerve and 61PFS by-laws state that no mention of Pole Position may go unaccompanied by this link.

8.) Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake – “Night Fall”

System: MSX2 (1990)
Sounds Like: Passion. Yearning. Crates.
Solid Snake, Big Boss, Naked Snake. Nobody pens phallic codenames quite like Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima. This harmonica-fueled ditty is from the Japanese version of Metal Gear 2. “Night Fall” is the only song on this list with an in-game pedigree as a sex jam — it plays when Solid Snake angles for some love during wartime. He totally strikes out, but what did you expect? With all that spying and peeping he does, I always figured Snake likes to watch.

7.) Zoda’s Revenge: StarTropics II – “Dungeon Theme #2”

System: Nintendo (1994)
Sounds Like: Vicki Sue Robinson’s “Turn the Beat Around” sung by an alcoholic Speak & Spell.
Most of the songs thus far have a “Quiet-Storm-meets-Q*Bert” vibe, so we’re going to shake it up with a certifiable club banger. When it comes to dance floor heaters about time-traveling teenagers fighting crudely-animated yetis, “Dungeon Theme #2” is impossible to trump. Play it at your next party and bookend it with some Crystal Castles and Futurecop. If some loser balks, matter-of-factly reply, “This is some old-school Japanese shit. Kanye’s totally sampling this for his next single.” You’ll only be half-lying.

6.) Donkey Kong Country 2 – “Stickerbrush Symphony”

System: Super Nintendo (1995)
Sounds Like: Massive Attack’s “Heat Miser” driven by a Casio horn section.
What the hell is this? This is a game about a pair of simians wearing Payless sneakers. It’s borderline profane to have a track this Sade-smooth in a Donkey Kong game, but consider the alternative — the DKC2 soundtrack could well have been five hours of the Donkey Kong Rap . Credit goes to Rare composer David Wise for making a bramble maze filled with bees sound downright silky. So silky, in fact, that it's perfect for exploring your partner's very own bramble maze.

Part 2

Previous Top Tens:

The Ten Greatest Ice Levels in Gaming History
The Ten Greatest Classic Mega Man Levels
The Ten Videogames That Should Have Been Controversial
The Ten Greatest Opening Levels in Gaming History
The Ten Most Adventurous Sequels in Gaming History
The Ten Greatest Fire Levels in Gaming History

The Perfect Recession Game: Tetoris

Joe Keiser — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Here’s a real find for anyone that’s found themselves without a job in this difficult time. It’s free, it’s long, it’s as addictive as Tetris, and the only system requirement is perfect 20/20 vision. It’s Tetoris, the Tetris variant where every line takes 20 minutes to break.

Okay, so playing Tetoris as if it was Tetris is almost certainly impossible, as you’ll go cross-eyed and mad after only a few hours of the attempt; we are talking about a game where a conscious attempt to die can take upwards of ten minutes. Still, this is actually quite a fascinating little take on the puzzle as endurance test, and there’s actually more to do than just play it. Race to your first line, or to (heaven help you) your first double, or to death: see how long it takes you to get there. Or just let Tetoris run in the background while you work. After a few hours, you’re likely to have a lovely bit of organic tetromino art.

You can play it here. You can also experience it there, if playing becomes overwhelming.

Related Links:

It's My Tetris Party And I Can Waggle If I Want To
Bastard Tetris will Make You RAGE
I Wish I Had Bought Tetrisphere.

Mega64 Calls On the Elite Beat Agents

Nadia Oxford — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:46:00 GMT

The world would be a better place if the Elite Beat Agents could fly at our everyday problems singing and dancing. Flat tire? Beautiful voices can re-inflate that. Broken vase? The Elite Beat Agents can coax those pieces back into place. Failing with your girlfriend in bed? Maybe not. She might run away with Agent Spin (I know I would).

Game-related comedy troupe Mega64 has catapulted to nerd fame by videotaping themselves bouncing around in a kuribo, performing stealth operations in a grocery store as Solid Snake, and wandering around PetSmart as a lonely Tetris L-piece looking for a corner to lean on. This time, the group dressed up as the Elite Beat Agents and tried to bring joy to Californians by the ocean. Unfortunately, Californians seem immune to joy. Actually, given the demographic of San Francisco, they've probably just learn how to politely step around crazy people the same way suburban dwellers have learned to step around piles of dog poo.

Video after the jump.

Watching this makes me nostalgic for Elite Beat Agents. It was a great game with a fantastic localisation, but it wasn't the Nintendogs successor Nintendo was obviously hoping it would be. Despite careful retooling of the source title, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, the sharp anime art style was still a bit intimidating for mom and dad.

Related Links:

How Chicago Inadvertently Penned an Anthem for Dead Fathers
Ready? Okay! Wii've Got Spirit, Yes Wii Do...
No Alternate Soundtrack: Chibi Robo

This Functional Game Boy Costume Will Show Us the Way

Nadia Oxford — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:06:00 GMT

Video game cosplayers, take note. We've seen enough of that smelly Cloud costume that gets dragged out of the closet year after year, convention after convention. The cardboard sword is sagging, and a moth ate through the crotch of your pants. I don't know what continuity you're honouring by letting Cloud go commando, but either way, the fantasy is dead and the children are frightened. Give it up.

Cosplay has long been the Internet's equivalent of that guy who sits above a dunk tank at a carnival. I have nothing against this particular perched gentleman, same as I have nothing against cosplayers. I just can't resist taking a shot.

In fact, everyone jabs cosplayers now and then. There is an ancestral instinct that causes us to mock men in tights; it's how our forebears protected themselves from bards. But it's a petty person who won't recognise true costume-design talent when they see it. I've seen some fantastic costumes in my (regrettable?) years of anime con attendance, but there hasn't been anything quite like the functional Game Boy who waddled around Ohayocon 2009 and graciously put up with people playing Tetris on his chest.

A video of the costume in action lies under the jump.

I haven't seen too many people dress up as game consoles, but the original Game Boy is by far the most popular choice. This is just the first time I've seen a Game Boy costume that works, though I have also witnessed wishful thinking. One year I took my little brother trick or treating on Halloween. He ran up to a kid on the street dressed as a Game Boy and started punching him in the buttons. That was a particularly violent Hallow's Eve.

Related Links:

Kid Icarus on Game Boy: Did Anyone Get To Play This?
Many Colors in the Hardcore Rainbow
Wasted Rentals, Wasted Youth: Bram Stoker's Dracula

I Only Took Piano Lessons as a Kid.

Amber Ahlborn — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:00:00 GMT

I love video game music. I already post the occasional remix here on 61FPS but I also love listening and watching enthusiasts play classic game tunes straight. I am a science buff and enjoy digging up all manner of interesting and often esoteric facts and scientific oddities. Finally, YouTube is a strange and wonderful place. Add these seemingly unrelated statements together and you get...

And for the grand finally I give you: one Insulated Suit + two “light sabers” + Tetris + High Voltage =

And a shockingly good time was had by all.

Related Links:

WTFriday: The Mario Paint Music Showcase

What's in my MP3 Player: Kindred

OST: DuckTales

Whatcha Playing: Weight of the Stone

John Constantine — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Videogames are rich with memorable moments. Born of both play and story, there are those images, those brief passages of achievement, that are emblazoned in your memory: the first time you clear 100,000 points in Tetris, the dogs bursting through the window in Resident Evil, the booming march that begins to play after the baby metroid’s sacrifice during Super Metroid’s climactic battle with Mother Brain. We are tied to these events thanks not only to those games’ mechanical and artistic design but because of our agency in them. We facilitate these conclusions and, since the game is well-made, we feel them. Another classic: Solid Snake’s first fight with the cyborg ninja, Grey Fox. Like so much of the Metal Gear Solid series, this sequence is ludicrous: simplistic to play, overdramatic, over-everything. But when Grey Fox begins screaming, “Make me feel!” and your controller begins to shake in time with his uncontrollable gesticulations, the scene becomes something else. In 1998, rumble technology was still relatively new in home gaming, so having this drama reflected in the physical world made that much more of an impression. Every time Snake was kicked in the gut or when you landed a hit amidst this half-man’s yowling was tangible.

I feel a lot like Grey Fox when I play videogames these days, particularly action fare. I want an action game to make me feel. Not necessarily a profound emotional reaction – though that’s always a plus – so much as a physical one. When I’m playing an action or sport game, it’s essential that the game translates the physicality and impact of my actions well lest the aesthetic façade covering the game’s rules be ruined. It’s no easy thing to affect either. This past week, I finished playing through what may well be Lucasarts’ final in-house game, the damn-near-ubiquitous Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. TFU is a good game, not a great one; its big-scale Jedi power fantasy is marred by some serious glitches and questionable design choices, like its over-reliance on quick time events. Even though I had a good time playing through it, I was perturbed by how weightless much of the action felt. It’s incredible that TFU’s three physics engines allow me to pick up almost every part of a game’s environment and toss it about willie-nillie, but a mammoth, building crushing boulder shouldn’t feel like it has the same mass as shoe-sized robot. (Before any of you Star Wars nerds pipe-up about size mattering not, shut up. Idiots.)

Alternatively, Sega’s Yakuza 2, a nearly three year-old game running on hardware that couldn’t hope to run the engine beneath TFU’s hood, has been an eye-opening physical experience. Yakuza 2 is, at heart, a modern Japanese role-playing game that trades ponderous turn-based fighting for beat’em-up combat that recalls Die Hard Arcade. Yakuza 2’s combat is deliciously precise and, more importantly, visceral. Every impact of the fist is felt in Yakuza 2, and it keeps what would otherwise be a very repetitive game constantly rewarding, but it takes every facet of the game working in concert for this to work. The fights are fast, never lasting more than ninety seconds, and there’s no discernible delay between your button inputs and your character’s moves outside of what seems natural (throwing a fat guy over your shoulder or landing a jump kick should, after all, take a few more seconds than a jab.) This is on top of impact sound effects (grunts, the exaggerated thump-pop of a blow landing). What puts it over the top is the game’s “Heat” moves, a one-button super move that activates a contextual one-hit kill provided you’ve filled a meter. “Heat” moves are brutal enough to make Tony Soprano blush, but their presentation is remarkable. The screen becomes slightly washed out, the camera provides a shifting, dramatic perspective, the controller shudders, and the onscreen characters enact serious violence like, say, ramming a thug’s head through a car windshield. But it all takes little more than five seconds. Every single aspect has weight and every aspect of the game is built to translate that weight to the player.

This marks the difference between a good game and a great game. Not every game needs to translate literal physicality, but every game should leave you feeling like you’ve transcended the many, many barriers between you and the actual game. When the controller, the television screen, and the cognitive dissonance between your brain and making something happen on screen disappear, that’s when the game becomes something more. It becomes unforgettable.

This is What We’re Playing. Here’s What We Played.

Whatcha Playing: Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles!!!
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Whatcha Playing: Cleaning House, Finding Roots
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Whatcha Playing: The New Adventures of the Nintendo DS

The Future is Mystifying: E Ink

John Constantine — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:34:00 GMT

One-hundred thousand copies of Esquire’s October issue, hitting newsstands across the good ol’ U.S. of A. as I write and you read, are freaking me out. The other ones aren’t, they’re just magazines. But the one-hundred grand I’m talking about look like the future. The covers of these issues are equipped (infused? I’m not sure what word to use here.) with an E Ink display. That is to say, the paper itself is an electronic display with a shifting image. It’s fairly innocuous looking in this video, but the casual implementation here, the cover of a consumer magazine, has far reaching implications that are both terrifying and exciting as hell. Terrifying because we’re one step closer to Back to the Future II’s vision of 2015 being real. Exciting as hell because E Ink could be a whole new world for videogames.

Not just games journalism mind you, though that’s certainly a consideration. Imagine picking up the latest issue of Edge and finding previews of not static screens but pages and pages of game footage. No, I’m thinking of going to your local newsstand and walking away with an issue of full games. Given, the technology isn’t even close to this state yet, but just fantasize with me here: you walk into the shop and pick up the October 2035 issue of EGM. Turn to page four, touch the page, and play the latest revision of Tetris 4D. Centimeter-thick Super Mario Bros played by touching the bottom of a piece of paper. It would be, in a word, mad.

The future, dear reader. It’s looking awful futuristic.

(Link and video courtesy of Engadget, via NeoGAF user TTP)

Related links:

R.I.P. Xbox 720 and Playstation 4: The Future of Gaming
Bringing Sexy Back: Retro Controllers of the Future
The Death Of Awesome Pack-In Material

I Wish I Had Bought Tetrisphere.

Amber Ahlborn — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Tetris, who isn't familiar with Tetris? I owned the original Game Boy once upon a time so naturally I had the game that started the craze. But I have a secret to share. I wasn't really a fan. It was okay, but I seemed utterly immune to its spell. Really, I'm not much of a puzzle game fan. Oh sure, I like puzzles that are worked into other games, like platforming games or adventures and such, but pure puzzle games have never attracted me that much.

But I really do wish I'd bought Tetrisphere.

I rented Tetrisphere numerous times for my N64 but I never bought it. I thought about buying it, but never got around to actually buying it. When enough time passed that the game had become all but impossible to find, I regretted not buying it. While the original Tetris didn't do much for me, and I can say the same of all the puzzlers inspired by Tetris, Tetrisphere was different. It mesmerized me. It even had a really good techo/trance soundtrack. Now, many years later, the game still pops into my mind and I hold out hope that it will hit the Wii's Virtual Console.

I still wonder why I never purchased this game when I'd had the chance.

Related Links:

It's My Tetris Party and I Can Waggle If I Want To

Mega Man 9 Goes Back to Your Roots. Way Back.

Watcha Playing: Cleaning House, Finding Roots

It's My Tetris Party And I Can Waggle If I Want To

Derrick Sanskrit — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Named by Entertainment Weekly as the number 1 "new classic" video game of the past twenty-five years (almost all of video game history), it was never a question of if Tetris would grace Nintendo's wildly popular WiiWare digital distribution service, but when. While we still don't have a precise date, Official Nintendo Magazine has confirmed that the Hudson Soft developed Tetris Party will be released this autumn with a slew of Wii-specific features.

Obviously, Mii integration is a must. They make parents and children happy and were an absolutely charming addition to Dr. Mario Online RX. Wi-Fi multiplayer? Of course, but we had that in Tetris DS. We all love Tetris and will play it forever, but what makes this version new? Why, ten never-before-seen modes of play, naturally! These modes will include IR pointing-and-shooting support for the Wii Balance Board (seen implemented above, apparently).

A new Tetris on the Wii is bound to be a huge hit with the casual mom-and-pop crowd, assuming they can figure out how to download WiiWare. While many would look at the new game modes and argue "if it ain't broke...", and while 99% of Tetris players will never play any mode other than traditional "clear the stack", I must admit that I rather enjoyed all of the alternate takes on Tetris presented in Tetris DS. From the "Push" versus mode where two players took either side of a single stack and tried to push it towards the opponent to the "Catch" mode where the player rotated and navigated a single satellite as it collected floating Tetris blocks in space, these modes took the familiar Tetris formula and introduced new twists and mechanics that kept the experience fresh and exciting for those looking for a new challenge. While I have no idea how much fun shooting or balancing Tetris blocks will be in practice, I'm certainly willing to give it a shot when Tetris Party hits WiiWare this autumn.

Related articles:
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It’s Dangerous to Go Alone

John Constantine — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Some scant meditations on the nature of travel, the common language of games, and life imitating art written on Friday, July 18th.

I’m sitting in Penn Station and the pedestrian traveler traffic is unusually heavy for 2:30pm on a non-holiday weekend. There’s a strange thing that starts to happen to you if you’ve lived in this town for long enough, particularly if you spend the majority of your time in Manhattan. You start walking like Sonic the damn hedgehog, moving just a little too fast alongside other people moving just a little too fast, dodging left and right, always looking three steps ahead, finding the quickest path. Living in New York is like playing an RPG; you’re always holding down the run button.

I’ve been playing a lot of Shiren the Wanderer. It’s the first time I’ve ever played a “roguelike”. Rogue was new to me about a year ago, a tiny little hole in my gaming history, and one more brutally difficult classic from the days when playing a videogame was akin to learning an entire new language as opposed to an alphabet. Shiren’s a little bit more palatable to a modern gamer than Rogue, its large, expressive sprites and detailed random dungeons make the game’s vicious learning curve more inviting than its inspiration’s forbidding abstraction. Its repetitive play and variable environments make playing it while traveling feel almost farcical. You don’t know exactly how the trip is going to go, so you prepare as much as you can and bring only a select number of support items. I have a bag with me and it’s full of clothing (equipment), this computer (the menu, options?), a bottle of water (hunger is a stat in Shiren), and books (tutorial).

My life’s imitating art, my art’s imitating life, but there’s no in-game corollary for the actual game device. Shiren doesn’t carry a Nintendo DS and it’s a shame because I think it might make the journey a little easier on him. Personally, I’ve never found meeting people on the road an easy endeavor, the usual small talk of where-you-going-and-why makes me want to take a nap more than hold a conversation. You’d think that playing videogames would exacerbate the problem, but I’ve found the DS to be the quickest route to meeting people nowadays. People ask what you’re playing, they ask you if you want to race, have a match, trade pokemon, etc. A guy, about thirty years-old and wearing headphones, is playing Tetris slightly down the hall in the New Jersey Transit waiting area and I’m already hoping he’s on the same train I am so I can ask him if he wants to play. A few weeks back, I spotted a young woman playing Phoenix Wright in the 30th street train station in Philadelphia and I’m still lamenting that I had a ride to catch; I really wanted to ask her where she was in the story, what she thought of the characters.

My 3 o’clock train is going to be boarding soon and I’ve got a long trip ahead of me. One of my earliest gaming memories was the old man in Zelda, offering up a wooden sword for protection. It’s dangerous to go alone. I’m equipped and slowing down, finger off the run button, ready to cross paths. Wish me luck, dear reader.