Game reviewers all have giant targets on their heads: Offer an opinion or score of any sort, and someone somewhere is going to want to kill you.
Or at the very least, tear down your character like it was a dollar-store piñata. During my 13 years in gaming media, I've been called biased for and against so many games and companies, I actually think they've all balanced out, and I'm technically back at "neutral."
In more recent years, however, due to the high review scores I've given to Halo 3 and Gears of War (10 out of 10 for both), I've been accused of being a Microsoft/Xbox fanboy by some message board folks. Well, damn...if I'm going to be called a fanboy, at least let me steer everyone in the right direction.
Sure, I've sat at my TV before, casually playing Halo by myself, studying maps, weapon locations and respawn times, jumping angles, and worst, the dispersing of shotgun pellets at various distances. (You'd think my game was better than it actually is....)
That's nothing, though. If I'm a fanboy of anything, it'd be these five games or series below. You want to see crazy? And unreasonable obsessions? Read on...but more importantly, tell us your stories on Bitmob (tag: "fanboy confessions") or in the comments below.
The game: Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (also: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory)
The obsession: As detailed on the last Mobcast, friend and former EGM coworker Mark MacDonald and I used to hold classes to teach our friends how to play and get the most out of multiplayer Pandora Tomorrow. That's right...classes. We'd have open voice chat and walk players through the levels, teaching them tactics and how to navigate the labyrinthine stages and look out for enemy-alerting motion sensors. It was an awesomely complicated game, and we were trying to get as many friends into it with us as possible.
I still listen to the Chaos Theory soundtrack by Amon Tobin today...one of the best in all of gaming.
I think I'm still in love....
The game: Dark Reign
The obsession: I once made charts detailing every unit in this real-time strategy game: their costs, movement, damage, damage type, and so on. Once you're making charts, you're in a new tier of dorkdom. We used to play all night then discuss strategies the next day at work -- it would drive our coworkers absolutely nuts.
Perhaps my proudest gaming moment ever was when I created and submitted a Dark Reign map, which made it into a user-map-compilation retail package. I'm still waiting for the royalty checks no one ever promised me...11 years later.
The game: Advance Wars
The obsession: I played through all the games in this series four to five times each, and I used to sneak in local wireless games throughout the workday with nearby coworkers back when I was at EGM. If that's not obsessive enough, then how about this: I would take unnecessary movement/steps/turns or beat a level the extra long and complicated way, all to work toward meaningless in-game achievements in Dual Strike. I never got all 300 of them, but I got sadly close.
The game: Soul Calibur
The obsession: Namco once brought by a preview version of Soul Calibur to the EGM offices. After they left, taking the disc with them, I was jonesing so bad, I was actually literally sad. We ended up jury-rigging an old Soul Calibur arcade board so that we could practice in the office until the Dreamcast reviewable or retail release came out. After getting the finished game, our office addiction got so bad, we used to organize tournaments and ladder competitions to give ourselves excuses to play during normal work hours.
The game: The Bard's Tale (the original)
The obsession: If you use recycled paper products, chances are you can find traces of one of my old Commodore 64 Bard's Tale maps in them somewhere. I used to spend hours and hours and hours mapping out every single square, wall, room, doorway, and special location in every dungeon and tower of the first game. (Thank God they introduced automapping for the 84 levels in Bard's Tale 3, or I might've been institutionalized.) So back then it was all pencils, truckloads of grid paper, and a lot of patience -- damn teleporters and spinners nearly destroyed my cartographer soul.
And Bard's Tale veterans probably remember a specific level-grinding gold mine of a fight with four groups of 99 berserkers. Go in, blast them with spells, leave after you've won, reset the encounter, and repeat for all the XP your nerd heart would ever desire. I spent way too much of my youth in this one room, mainly because it was a painfully slow battle -- to report damage, the game would load and list an individual line of text for each attack on each of the 396 berserkers each round until you've killed them all.
I'm sure you all have much better stories to tell about your fanboyism and obsessions, so let's hear them!
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Comments (37)
Call of Duty 4: I used to play this for days on end when it came out. My wife can vouch for this as I would stay up till about 6 am every weekend in the MP. Even though I had to be at work back then at 7 am on week nights my games didn't end till about 10pm. Then again my alarm went off at 5 am where I would hurry up and get ready for work and get in some game time. Most of the people I played with didn't like the fact at the time that I could use my Shotgun on Overgrown and be in the top three each time. Then one day it got to be so much that I went cold turkey and started playing Viva Piñata: Trouble in paradise to break my obsession.
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July 11, 2009
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Team Fortress 2
I don't know why, but no multiplayer game has ever hooked me like TF2. Until last year I played mainly single player games, and now I find myself having to stop playing TF2 just to finish MGS4 or work on my Little Big Planet levels. The micro-mechanics of the gameplay and the interrelations between all the different classes and scenarios makes this game like brain candy. I played a lot of Halo 2, a little Gears, and some Splinter Cell, but I have logged almost 300 hours on TF2 and I have yet to even master the game. Actually, this game has actually royally annoyed my Fiancee, for I constantly tell her my latest exploits AND relate most social interactions to the interactions between the classes of TF2.
I don't know why, but no multiplayer game has ever hooked me like TF2. Until last year I played mainly single player games, and now I find myself having to stop playing TF2 just to finish MGS4 or work on my Little Big Planet levels. The micro-mechanics of the gameplay and the interrelations between all the different classes and scenarios makes this game like brain candy. I played a lot of Halo 2, a little Gears, and some Splinter Cell, but I have logged almost 300 hours on TF2 and I have yet to even master the game. Actually, this game has actually royally annoyed my Fiancee, for I constantly tell her my latest exploits AND relate most social interactions to the interactions between the classes of TF2.
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July 11, 2009
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Wow Toby...intense! And Lance...damn!
Mine would have to be Tony Hawk 2. Played through that and beat it like everyone else, but then I proceeded to beat it with every character, every unlockable character, and my created character. I saw the credits so many times. It got to the point where I could beat most levels in two playthroughs (remember, this was when you had 2 minutes to complete a certain number of objectives).
Mine would have to be Tony Hawk 2. Played through that and beat it like everyone else, but then I proceeded to beat it with every character, every unlockable character, and my created character. I saw the credits so many times. It got to the point where I could beat most levels in two playthroughs (remember, this was when you had 2 minutes to complete a certain number of objectives).
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July 11, 2009
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Greg I think that is one reason why I looked passed Tony Hawk due to my lack of skill.
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July 11, 2009
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I'm with you on Splinter cell and Soul calibur... and I'm with Greg on Tony Hawk...
But the biggest obsessions of my gaming past have been Phantasy Star Online, Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Zelda :OoT and Final Fantasy VIII (an under-appreciated title in my opinion)... oh and gran turismo 2.
But the biggest obsessions of my gaming past have been Phantasy Star Online, Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Zelda :OoT and Final Fantasy VIII (an under-appreciated title in my opinion)... oh and gran turismo 2.
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July 11, 2009
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oh, I guess I'll tell you my level of obsession. we'll go with zelda, since it's the least sad. I played through it regularly, which took forever. found everything and all that. Then I decided to make it a "perfect cart" by playing through it 2 more times to have three perfect saves. Then I decided to do the 3 heart challenge... when that was done I decided to do 3 heart/no fairies... then I had to find all the hearts again to have my perfect saves... Then my sister wanted to try it. So she played it while I passivly watched to help her out when needed... when she finished it... I rounded out the edges for her... to have a perfect save. oh... my... God... this was supposed to be the least sad. In my defence, I was in high school and still found time to go and hang out with friends.
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July 11, 2009
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Final Fantasy III (VI): I can still remember the names of all the relics and what they do. I would sit and grind cactrots for the 10 magic points so that each character could learn every spell. I also once tried, unsuccessfully, to make a machine out of K'NEX (we had a set that had a motor if you remember these toys) that would tap the "A" button over and over again so I could exploit the level up strategy on the Lete River (I didn't have a turbo controller). I would regularly quote Setzer: "My life is a chip in your pile; ante up!" and the man at the bar in South Figaro "that's SHADOW, he'd slit his momma's throat for a nickle."
Was I a pathetic child? Will someone post a similar obsessed story to make me feel better?
Was I a pathetic child? Will someone post a similar obsessed story to make me feel better?
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July 11, 2009
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I've logged 400+ hours into AWDS... Shoe, you and I secretly know this is the best Turn-based strategy game this side of chess.
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July 11, 2009
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Demigod is the first game since Halo 2 time I've actually became a little obsessed with.
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July 11, 2009
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@Chris: Ultimate Alliance was more a case of obsessing over Achievements. Different story. 
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July 11, 2009
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Perfect Dark 64...my buddies and I used to go for 24hr straight MP sessions on holidays back in high school. I blame that game for the reason why I can't look at tv screens for more than 2-3hrs now lol.
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July 11, 2009
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Metal Gear Solid 4....I'm a huge MGS fan and when MGS4 came out, I bought a PS3 and limited edition game at midnight release on a Thursday night. I hooked all the stuff up, placed MGS4 in the PS3, and next thing I know, its Monday of next week and I've beaten the game 6 times in a row, unlocking almost everything and devouring the story. My girlfriend still doesn't know what happened during those 4 days. 
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July 11, 2009
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Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Hitman: Blood Money. I played Hitman a total of about 35 times. Need I say more?
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July 11, 2009
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Shoe, how about the Godfather? I remember saying how you played it on like every platform (and of course obsessed over the achievements on the 360 version.
Also, Halo? On EGM Live, you obsessed a lot over the beta and I bet you played a lot of multiplayer on Halo 3. After all, everybody did call you "the world's leading expert on Halo."
Also, Halo? On EGM Live, you obsessed a lot over the beta and I bet you played a lot of multiplayer on Halo 3. After all, everybody did call you "the world's leading expert on Halo."
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July 11, 2009
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@Lance, I'm totally on the Team Fortress 2 trip. No other game has ever sunk its hooks in so deeply. I even had new years resolutions for the game (where I only played as the classes I hated for a week), and have ended up an omni-abilitied "Whatever you need, I'll be" player.
It's gotten to where it's a doubly-guilty pleasure - not only am I gaming instead of other activities, I'm playing TF2 instead of the other new games I want to play.
It's gotten to where it's a doubly-guilty pleasure - not only am I gaming instead of other activities, I'm playing TF2 instead of the other new games I want to play.
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July 11, 2009
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Zone of the Enders 2.
The game has been bested on numerous occasions across all difficulty levels, the majority of the challenge modes have been completed (the no lock-on ones are brutal), there are at least 6 save files on my memory card attuned to various awesome events in the game (e.g., the airship battle and 1,000 robot battle), AND I even played the hidden mini-game "Zoradius."
Lastly, I have crowned it my favorite game of all time.
The game has been bested on numerous occasions across all difficulty levels, the majority of the challenge modes have been completed (the no lock-on ones are brutal), there are at least 6 save files on my memory card attuned to various awesome events in the game (e.g., the airship battle and 1,000 robot battle), AND I even played the hidden mini-game "Zoradius."
Lastly, I have crowned it my favorite game of all time.
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July 11, 2009
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When I was 10 it was Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and Chrono Cross. I played these games through at least 5 times each. I can never imagine doing that again with an RPG even though I have all the time in the world.
Now it's the Metal Gear series. In the first week MGS4 came out I played through 12 times to get every emblem. Plus I've played every MGS game once a year since 1998.
Now it's the Metal Gear series. In the first week MGS4 came out I played through 12 times to get every emblem. Plus I've played every MGS game once a year since 1998.
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July 11, 2009
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There have been a few obsessions over the years but what stands out the most in my memory is a little known RTS for Genesis called Herzog Zwei. A friend and I rented it from a local video store and loved it but couldn't find it for sale anywhere. So we kept renting it over and over. Eventually the place went out of business and we were able to buy it from them.
It was split screen vertically and we were always accusing each other of cheating so we got a hold of a huge cardboard box and made a divider so that we couldn't see each others screen. One morning after my buddy had stayed over we played for around 9 hours straight. My mom had no clue we had stayed in the basement from the morning until late afternoon. She was FURIOUS when she came downstairs and saw us still with bed hair and in pajamas with cardboard duct taped to the television on a beautiful summer day.
It was split screen vertically and we were always accusing each other of cheating so we got a hold of a huge cardboard box and made a divider so that we couldn't see each others screen. One morning after my buddy had stayed over we played for around 9 hours straight. My mom had no clue we had stayed in the basement from the morning until late afternoon. She was FURIOUS when she came downstairs and saw us still with bed hair and in pajamas with cardboard duct taped to the television on a beautiful summer day.
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July 11, 2009
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Bards Tale! I used to carry that game's manual around with me and read it in school. Entire forests of graph-paper trees were clear-cut in the playing of that game.
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July 11, 2009
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I am not a victim of fanboyism. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get back to Fallout 3, THE BEST GAME EVAR!!!
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July 11, 2009
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@Luke - I think we need a self-help group Dude!!! Perhaps we can get Valve to sponsor it! 
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July 11, 2009
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For me it has been Halo: Combat Evolved. I was so into that game that I think I must have beaten it, and I'm not even joking, like 50 times biginning to end. And it got so bad that the day I learned that Halo 2 was going to let you dual wield weapons I had a dream playing Halo 1 with two assult rifles. And even today, with halo 2 and 3 out, I play the first one way more( single player that is).
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July 11, 2009
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I tend to spend most of my game-time devoted to multiplayer games. No matter how stale the mechanics of a game get, when I'm constantly playing with new players I'll have a somewhat varied experience every time. Here's my nerd-breakdown:
TF2: I've spent well-over 300 hours into this game...and that's from the console versions.
Street Fighter IV: Nearly 250 hours of fireball-spamming played. Though, recently, my love turned to pure hatred .
Kingdom Hearts: I nearly level-capped Sora, and to this day I still regret not finishing the would-be accomplishment.
Those are my only acts-of-insanity that I can actually put a number on. I'd be interested to see much time I spent in both Gears of Wars, or how long it took me to get to level 48 in Halo 3's Lone Wolves play-list. But when I'm done with Red Faction's multiplayer, I assume it'll be equally fanboy-ish.
TF2: I've spent well-over 300 hours into this game...and that's from the console versions.
Street Fighter IV: Nearly 250 hours of fireball-spamming played. Though, recently, my love turned to pure hatred .
Kingdom Hearts: I nearly level-capped Sora, and to this day I still regret not finishing the would-be accomplishment.
Those are my only acts-of-insanity that I can actually put a number on. I'd be interested to see much time I spent in both Gears of Wars, or how long it took me to get to level 48 in Halo 3's Lone Wolves play-list. But when I'm done with Red Faction's multiplayer, I assume it'll be equally fanboy-ish.
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July 11, 2009
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Loving the stories....and mass effect. I played that thing through about 20 times and 400 hours to try every different chpice combo... Cant wait for #2... But i am still trying to decide which of my 4 level 50 characters to play....!
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July 11, 2009
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I remember playing Chrono Trigger enough times to get that coveted ** level status for every character. I've spent around 200 hours maxing out every character in Final Fantasy Tactics, and around 150 hours on Final Fantasy X to get every single item and defeat every enemy in the arena.
Also... I, too, got close to getting those 300 medals.
Also... I, too, got close to getting those 300 medals.
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July 11, 2009
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The Bard's Tale?! Wow, I didn't think I'd see that mentioned anytime soon! Great pick, so many fond memories about it.
The third one was my favorite out of the bunch, not because of the automapping, but because of the crazy variety of monsters and the epic feel to the whole thing closing out the storyline. Where else could you fight against Nazi soldiers and Red Army heroes with spell and sword?
The first dungeon was also repeatable for lots of XP. You kind of needed to do that because importing your characters from II was almost a necessity given how tough the third game was. But it was so much fun. It's one of the few RPGs that I've repeatedly played through at the time. Even at the end, even though you were supposed to use a thief to crit stab the last boss, if your party was strong enough, you could kill all of the Slayers that he'd summon and walk up to him and then just thwack him with your sword.
The third one was my favorite out of the bunch, not because of the automapping, but because of the crazy variety of monsters and the epic feel to the whole thing closing out the storyline. Where else could you fight against Nazi soldiers and Red Army heroes with spell and sword?
The first dungeon was also repeatable for lots of XP. You kind of needed to do that because importing your characters from II was almost a necessity given how tough the third game was. But it was so much fun. It's one of the few RPGs that I've repeatedly played through at the time. Even at the end, even though you were supposed to use a thief to crit stab the last boss, if your party was strong enough, you could kill all of the Slayers that he'd summon and walk up to him and then just thwack him with your sword.
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July 12, 2009
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I put over 200+ hours in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. I got every single character and item and beat every single mission. I played it almost every free hour I had my freshman year of college even bathroom breaks and in between classes. My only regret is that I traded it in four years ago. I wish I had still had it around just as a record of my progress.
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July 12, 2009
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Super Mario 64 - OMG! I got the N64 and this game that two days before launch, when a lot of retailers started selling them to the people who pre-ordered. SM64 really offered something new at that time and I played literally almost every waking hour that first week-end playing this game. I've never done that with any other game. I had all 120 stars within 4 days. It was just so addicting, and no other offline game has ever sucked my time away like this one.
Goldeneye - What a game. Beat every difficulty in every mission of the single player. Replayed it...Replayed it...Replayed it... Multiplayer... Replayed it...Replayed it...Replayed it... Turned on "slaps only" in the multiplayer options... Replayed it...Replayed it...Replayed it...
Goldeneye - What a game. Beat every difficulty in every mission of the single player. Replayed it...Replayed it...Replayed it... Multiplayer... Replayed it...Replayed it...Replayed it... Turned on "slaps only" in the multiplayer options... Replayed it...Replayed it...Replayed it...
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July 12, 2009
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I'm with Greg on Tony Hawk 2... that was one of those games I played until my thumbs hurt, and then played more. It was pretty ridiculous, considering that you're basically playing the same game over and over about a dozen times.
Other than that, I'm an MGS freak. I've probably gone through MGS1 at least 30 times, and it still seems like a find new bits of dialogue that I missed out on the previous 29 times. I even drew a picture of Ken Imaizumi (executive producer on MGS4) and handed it to him after miraculously finding him, Ryan Payton, Kojima-san, and what I can only imagine to be Hideo's personal army around the side of the Metreon during the MGS World Tour. I actually waited about 4 hours in line and didn't get my copy of the MGS4 Limited Edition box sign, beforehand. My dream job is to someday become a janitor at Kojima Productions. I'll settle for being a janitor at Bitmob, though!
Other than that, I'm an MGS freak. I've probably gone through MGS1 at least 30 times, and it still seems like a find new bits of dialogue that I missed out on the previous 29 times. I even drew a picture of Ken Imaizumi (executive producer on MGS4) and handed it to him after miraculously finding him, Ryan Payton, Kojima-san, and what I can only imagine to be Hideo's personal army around the side of the Metreon during the MGS World Tour. I actually waited about 4 hours in line and didn't get my copy of the MGS4 Limited Edition box sign, beforehand. My dream job is to someday become a janitor at Kojima Productions. I'll settle for being a janitor at Bitmob, though!
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July 12, 2009
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I think the biggest thing that can show how obsessed over games I am is that I buy about 3 to 5 of them a month. I worked this out for a long time by making a detailed mental inventory of what games I wanted to buy, which I wanted to keep after playing and which I wanted to trade to fuel more games.
This formula worked very well when I was getting paid to work as a freelance writer. It was not a ton, but I stretched that $20 per review to the hilt and managed to play almost every big game those years.
Now that I am not getting paid to write and am still buying games on my own to review I am really feeling the pinch.
That is one of those reasons all of the bitching about used sales kind of bothers me. While I see why developers and publishers hate the practice, I could never afford to buy as many games as I do if I could not see some of my funds back on games that I buy but are not keepers.
The worst part is that the whole time I could have just been checking these games out since I am a Gamestop employee. My obsession with games just will not allow this, though, because I feel like it is my duty to help fund the development of more games.
I know that it is probably time for me to try to put feelers out to publishers to see if I can get retail copies to review for the site, but I feel like it is a bit early to ask for that kind of stuff... once the site sees hundreds of viewers each week I might feel better about this.
My biggest game based obsession, though, would have to be the hundreds of hours I spent playing all versions of Phantasy Star online. I owned the Dreamcast, Gamecube and Xbox versions- and put at least 70 to 150 hours into each one. The worst part is that my obsession was mostly playing single player so that my character would be totally boss when I went online... which I did not do much, and never did on the Gamecube version.
The saddest part is that I rolled pretty much the same character in each version that I played.
This formula worked very well when I was getting paid to work as a freelance writer. It was not a ton, but I stretched that $20 per review to the hilt and managed to play almost every big game those years.
Now that I am not getting paid to write and am still buying games on my own to review I am really feeling the pinch.
That is one of those reasons all of the bitching about used sales kind of bothers me. While I see why developers and publishers hate the practice, I could never afford to buy as many games as I do if I could not see some of my funds back on games that I buy but are not keepers.
The worst part is that the whole time I could have just been checking these games out since I am a Gamestop employee. My obsession with games just will not allow this, though, because I feel like it is my duty to help fund the development of more games.
I know that it is probably time for me to try to put feelers out to publishers to see if I can get retail copies to review for the site, but I feel like it is a bit early to ask for that kind of stuff... once the site sees hundreds of viewers each week I might feel better about this.
My biggest game based obsession, though, would have to be the hundreds of hours I spent playing all versions of Phantasy Star online. I owned the Dreamcast, Gamecube and Xbox versions- and put at least 70 to 150 hours into each one. The worst part is that my obsession was mostly playing single player so that my character would be totally boss when I went online... which I did not do much, and never did on the Gamecube version.
The saddest part is that I rolled pretty much the same character in each version that I played.
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July 12, 2009
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The Bard's Tale series was my favorite group of RPGs growing up, and I have a soft spot for them. My favorite encounter was with the Soul Sucker in the Catacombs -- you couldn't beat it when you first encountered it, but you could always go back and trash him later.
Boy, I miss gaming with graph paper....
Boy, I miss gaming with graph paper....
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July 12, 2009
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I was obsessed with Mortal Kombat 2. Yeah, I look back on it now and think, "Why? Why did I spend so much time obsessing over a game as broken as Midway is now?" but I did.
I was 12 in 1993, and in middle school I had absolutely nothing else to do. So I played MK2.
I went to school and talked strategy every day during gym class. I went to the arcade after school and homework to practice and play against people. On the home front, I had a wall in my room in our apartment dedicated to MK. Seriously, it was covered in ads from mags like EGM and GamePro, box covers from all of the games, posters and drawings of characters that people had given me.
When the first movie came out, I had it memorized and and I bought both the album by the Immortals and the soundtracks (score and OST). I even sat through the second movie in the theaters on opening day.
As a growing teenager, I bought Sub-Zero Mythologies when it came out and subsequently own all versions of MK1, 2 and 3 except for the PC and Sega 32X versions. I also developed and drew up a concept using Mortal Kombat II characters in the vein of Mario Kart for the SNES. Imagine my surprise when, years after I stopped playing, there was the Mortal Kombat kart racing game included in Deception. Every idea there, I had written up and planned for such as using special moves for items. True, it's not like it's the most well-developed idea ever, but I really sat down and focused on it because I thought it would have been a neat concept to combine one of the hottest fighting games at the time with THE hottest kart racing game at the time. If only I'd sent in my idea to Midway ... I'd probably still be broke.
Within two years of playing, I had mastered every character in MK2 and 3 through playing at least once a day. I played so much in the arcade that I could walk in at any time during the day and get 30 tokens for practice.
Years after my local arcades closed down and only one was left, I went out one night to play some SF Alpha 3. One of the guys standing in line kept looking at me strangely and finally came over to ask a question. I recognized him vaguely as someone I played in MK2 but was unsure where and when in my old days of playing. He looked at me and said, "You have to be the MK girl." I replied, "Probably. Where you from and where did you play?" "Aladdin's Castle in 1993, 1994. You have to be that girl! Oh my God, you're all grown up and still killing people!" he said. That's when it really hit me: I was an MK addict.
I'm not so much now, as in I rarely play though I have stuff up on YouTube. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has put in a lot of time and effort learning and playing a particular game.
I was 12 in 1993, and in middle school I had absolutely nothing else to do. So I played MK2.
I went to school and talked strategy every day during gym class. I went to the arcade after school and homework to practice and play against people. On the home front, I had a wall in my room in our apartment dedicated to MK. Seriously, it was covered in ads from mags like EGM and GamePro, box covers from all of the games, posters and drawings of characters that people had given me.
When the first movie came out, I had it memorized and and I bought both the album by the Immortals and the soundtracks (score and OST). I even sat through the second movie in the theaters on opening day.
As a growing teenager, I bought Sub-Zero Mythologies when it came out and subsequently own all versions of MK1, 2 and 3 except for the PC and Sega 32X versions. I also developed and drew up a concept using Mortal Kombat II characters in the vein of Mario Kart for the SNES. Imagine my surprise when, years after I stopped playing, there was the Mortal Kombat kart racing game included in Deception. Every idea there, I had written up and planned for such as using special moves for items. True, it's not like it's the most well-developed idea ever, but I really sat down and focused on it because I thought it would have been a neat concept to combine one of the hottest fighting games at the time with THE hottest kart racing game at the time. If only I'd sent in my idea to Midway ... I'd probably still be broke.
Within two years of playing, I had mastered every character in MK2 and 3 through playing at least once a day. I played so much in the arcade that I could walk in at any time during the day and get 30 tokens for practice.
Years after my local arcades closed down and only one was left, I went out one night to play some SF Alpha 3. One of the guys standing in line kept looking at me strangely and finally came over to ask a question. I recognized him vaguely as someone I played in MK2 but was unsure where and when in my old days of playing. He looked at me and said, "You have to be the MK girl." I replied, "Probably. Where you from and where did you play?" "Aladdin's Castle in 1993, 1994. You have to be that girl! Oh my God, you're all grown up and still killing people!" he said. That's when it really hit me: I was an MK addict.
I'm not so much now, as in I rarely play though I have stuff up on YouTube. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has put in a lot of time and effort learning and playing a particular game.
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July 14, 2009
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I spent, in game time, weeks of my life in Final Fantasy VII getting every single character a Master Materia of every single type.
To be clear, this isn't the same as having a mastered version of an individual materia, like Lightning or Ifrit, but a Master Materia of each type, a.k.a Magic, Summon and Command materias.
To do that, you must indeed master every individual materia of a type. This spawns new materia that you then master agian. Each time you have mastered set of all of one type, you fuse it using huge materia into a Master Materia of that color (which provides all the abilities of all the materia from that whole set). In all it means mastering 400 individual materia.
Then, I went to various locations, mostly the downed Shinra plane (the Gelinka), and morphed enemies into Guard Sources, Power Sources, etc. until every single character was maxed out in their base stats, meaning without any armor or materia equiped, their stats were maxed, (which is 255). This has the potential to take a long time.
In the end, I had everything you could get in the game and everyone was maxed to the max and my save games had issues because they couldn't handle the amount of gil I had accumulated, leaving the numbers showing weird characters instead (like when you get too many extra lives in mario).
To be clear, this isn't the same as having a mastered version of an individual materia, like Lightning or Ifrit, but a Master Materia of each type, a.k.a Magic, Summon and Command materias.
To do that, you must indeed master every individual materia of a type. This spawns new materia that you then master agian. Each time you have mastered set of all of one type, you fuse it using huge materia into a Master Materia of that color (which provides all the abilities of all the materia from that whole set). In all it means mastering 400 individual materia.
Then, I went to various locations, mostly the downed Shinra plane (the Gelinka), and morphed enemies into Guard Sources, Power Sources, etc. until every single character was maxed out in their base stats, meaning without any armor or materia equiped, their stats were maxed, (which is 255). This has the potential to take a long time.
In the end, I had everything you could get in the game and everyone was maxed to the max and my save games had issues because they couldn't handle the amount of gil I had accumulated, leaving the numbers showing weird characters instead (like when you get too many extra lives in mario).
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July 15, 2009
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Oh, I forgot to mention in my previous post, I've played through Final Fantasy VII more than 20 times in all and have sat down for one single period to beat the game in less than 24 hours (ended up being about 23 and a half)with my characters barely over level 30.
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July 15, 2009
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Diablo II.
So many games could flesh out this post, but in my 36 years, Diablo was the only game I played obsessively for over 5 years. Sure, I worked in many other gems during these 5 years, but...
I still remember the time my first level 90+ hardcore character died. RIP Marie Roget of an obscure Edgar Allen Poe poem surrounding a mysterious death of a woman of the same name. Then the day I got my first SOJ became a date of observance within the house. My first Tal Rasha armor find was special. I could run the Pit in my sleep. Addiction to amassing wealth is an understatement.
@Shoe - you mentioned how your mood changed when they took Soul Calibur away - I nearly died every time one of my hardcore chars level 85+ died. Likewise, I took on a nearly silly level of satisfaction in finding players who were truly new to hardcore and bestowing grand wealth upon them. So much so that I would be happy for days after really making someone's day.
3 computers later and too many ladder runs to remember, I quit cold turkey on a ladder reset over a year ago. Maybe Diablo III will become another perfect storm for me, but probably not. Too many other exceptional to come.
So many other games would make my Top 10, but there is a wide gap between #2 and #1.
So many games could flesh out this post, but in my 36 years, Diablo was the only game I played obsessively for over 5 years. Sure, I worked in many other gems during these 5 years, but...
I still remember the time my first level 90+ hardcore character died. RIP Marie Roget of an obscure Edgar Allen Poe poem surrounding a mysterious death of a woman of the same name. Then the day I got my first SOJ became a date of observance within the house. My first Tal Rasha armor find was special. I could run the Pit in my sleep. Addiction to amassing wealth is an understatement.
@Shoe - you mentioned how your mood changed when they took Soul Calibur away - I nearly died every time one of my hardcore chars level 85+ died. Likewise, I took on a nearly silly level of satisfaction in finding players who were truly new to hardcore and bestowing grand wealth upon them. So much so that I would be happy for days after really making someone's day.
3 computers later and too many ladder runs to remember, I quit cold turkey on a ladder reset over a year ago. Maybe Diablo III will become another perfect storm for me, but probably not. Too many other exceptional to come.
So many other games would make my Top 10, but there is a wide gap between #2 and #1.
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July 21, 2009
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