John Zeitler

Time does not stand still, regardless of the observances of mankind. So it’s completely normal to have a ton of gaming news to have to catch up with, and I figure there’s no better place to start than with ( the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom announcement… » )

So this past weekend I turned 29. Not a big deal. I don’t really want to talk about getting old– I do that enough here anyway– but I do want to talk a little bit about what I did while I was celebrating.

I recognize that I have a bit of a compulsive personality, and that games in all their forms are literal attractors to me. That I don’t have a gambling problem, after living in such close proximity to a casino, is nothing short of amazing to me. I literally have to pass within 500 yards of one when I’m on my way to or from my parents’ house, regardless of where I’ve lived since the casino has opened. It was touch and go there for a while when I was unemployed in Erie, though; I’ll admit to spending a few dollars there when I really shouldn’t have. But, I’m actually closer to a casino down here (Mountaineer) than up there, and the fact that I’ve only been once in three years is also a remarkable testament to my self-control. Though probably not nearly as much of one as saying “I don’t want to go again” when asked on Sunday; we’d been on my birthday proper, and it was less than a successful trip.

Yeah, going again was a good idea. I spent longer on a blackjack table than I ever have before, without laying out any more money than my initial stake, and in fact building myself back up from dire straits twice before I left. A good time was had by all involved, and overall I broke more or less even.

Still, one thing came up, and that’s the fact that the casino has one of the best buffets I’ve ever been to. I understand, on an intellectual level, that the casino has such a spread due to its status as a “resort”, to say nothing of the exorbitant cost of admission (which is usually paid for by comps points– the casino is predictably good to repeat customers). However, when you put me in that line and show me the ridiculous amount of obscenely good food available, all reason goes out the window and I load my plate with everything I can get my hands on and successfully digest. Greed, for lack of a better phrase, is go. Anyway. The ultimate point is that this is probably some of the best not-cooked-by-my-family food I eat all year, and I look forward to it every time I go home. Oh, and that I was seriously tempted to go back to eating meat at least six times that day alone. Yeah, it’s that good.

Right, so that should give you a pretty good idea of why I go home. (Only not the entire picture, of course.) One thing which was not nearly as amusing or fulfilling was setting up a wireless network for my sister. Now, already going from my lovely, ridiculously overkill cable modem to a relatively pokey DSL line was rough enough. However, I learned one important thing about Windows’ wireless networking tool: it SUCKS and there has got to be a better way to manage wireless networks under XP. The network worked virtually out of the box on my Macbook, on my DSi and PSP, on the freaking Wii, and on the parents’ (wired) desktop XP machine… but my sister’s laptop(s) absolutely refused to connect to the damnable thing until I changed a completely unrelated setting on the router. If anyone has a tool they use to handle such things, I am pleading for open to suggestions.

I’m going to split this into two posts, because I have a favor to ask: the next post, the one about gaming and all that, I’d like you guys to spread the word on, just to see if it gets any kind of attention. I think it’s an interesting hypothesis and warrants discussion in the larger sphere of gaming news and suchlike. Thanks in advance.

I owe you guys a full-length post about the weekend; probably tomorrow. However, I don’t want to let the day pass by without doing something first.

I want to thank everyone, from the bottom of my heart, for the birthday wishes that were sent my way on Saturday. 29 isn’t a particularly interesting milestone; but, it is the oldest I’ve ever been (at the time), so there’s that to celebrate. It’s nice to know that you’re thought well of. Once again, thanks.

Like I said, the big post with all the personal stuff and all the gaming news is coming later on this week. Till then, catch you all later.

Oh! Since we STILL didn’t get the WiiWare version of Cave Story yet (seriously, that would have been an AWESOME birthday present, Nicalis…!), check out this sweet fan-trailer. I guarantee it supplies 100% of your daily recommended allowance of Hatsune Miku (which is a blatant lie; you can never have enough Miku).

I’m probably going to be dropping off the net for the next few days. Honestly this is all for the best, as I’m starting to run into some annoying physical limitations on what I can do, specifically the need for sleep. I should be back by Monday at the latest. Ciao.

I’m probably going to turn in early tonight; the laundry’s done, and the Penguins are dominating the Capitals… more than anything, I’m exhausted after a few too many long nights earlier this week, and the rest of the week isn’t looking to be much easier. Oh, the writing is still going on, ’cause there’s a lot more story to tell. Catch you cats tomorrow.

This is from the longer-form writing thing I’m doing, a non-fiction… essay… thing. It’s hard for me to define exactly what it is beyond “it happened”. I’m also experimenting a little bit with a different writing style. When it’s finished, the full piece will be up, either here or at Linguankery. In the meantime…

I can’t find a parking space. It doesn’t surprise me that a Monday evening sees a crowd of people in the Toys R Us; the crowding irritates me, yes, but it certainly does not surprise me. Children run through the aisles, celebrating good report cards and “greatly improved” marks; the board game aisle, in particular, has a few families, parents hoping to find a pastime that will keep their offspring from becoming too bored on the inevitable rainy days of summer break. I wend my way through the aisles and obstacles until I reach Animal Alley.
The usual suspects greet me. Bears, dogs, cats, and rabbits of varying shapes, sizes, colors, and realism levels are stacked upon each other. It resembles nothing so much as what would happen if a particularly deranged little girl were to try to recreate a concentration camp photo. For some strange reason, I don’t think the boys would like any of these animals. I wonder why I would think that as I walk around to the next aisle, labeled “Safari Friends”. Here we find a more exotic menagerie; penguins, hippopotami, elephants…
The light goes off in my head. A raccoon. That’s what Dad brought home that one trip. I remember that one, and how it stayed by my side night after night for a good long while, until it was finally too frayed and bald to be recognizable, let alone self-contained. I would love to share that with the boys. My eyes scan the shelves one more time. Then again. Then I go back around to ‘Hello Auschwitz’, circling both aisles a total of six times.
There are no raccoons in the store. My alternate idea, a fox, was also completely extinct as far as Animal Alley was concerned.

Not much else to say today, either. Patience.

Not a whole hell of a lot. I finished the Klonoa remake, but since it’s more or less identical to the original (except for, y’know, being drop dead gorgeous) I’m not counting it as a real clear. Had lunch with Pez, started Half-Life Episode One, made dinner… it really was a pretty quiet day, folks.

This week the fun really starts, though, so I should have some longer or more elaborate posts later on. ‘Till then.

Heading out to games day, so this is going to be short and sweet. I did dig the end of Half-Life 2; getting the super gravity gun was fun. Tossing bad guys around like dolls was extremely cathartic, as was blasting the snot out of the monitors. (“What have you created, Doctor Freeman?” ZOT “Why, Dr. Breen, nothing but a new sport: ‘Bowling With Mooks’!”) And I can see why people are creeped out by the G-Man. I do sort of wish the final ‘level’ was a bit more in-depth than just a rail ride up to the top of the Citadel… I was hoping for a bit more stealth and a bigger battle, but I suppose that’s what the Episodes are for. Glad I have those to look forward to.

And so now I go to partake of board games. Which is kinda cool. See you all tomorrow.

At 9:23p, I defeated the final boss of Half-Life 2 for the PC. This is the second game cleared in 2009.