Say, What Chu Looking At?

This is crossposted from Facebook.   It was a meme that I put enough time into thinking about that I felt it was worth posting.   I’m not tagging anyone here, if you want to do it you can do it on your own.

The rules: Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen video games you’ve played that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. 

1. Loom – This is still one of the first games that held my interest strongly enough to run through and finish.   The unique storyline and interface made for a wonderful little game.
2. Kings Quest – Sierra On-line – the original source of PC adventure games, these are the games that kept the PC Gamers happy.   Sierra On-Line released a huge number of games, like Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry (Naughty black bars, Naughty!), Police Quest, Hero’s Quest (YAY) and so on; but the true origin of my PC gaming came from King’s Quest.
3. Ultima V – My introduction to the Ultima series of games was with V, and it remains to this day one of the key PC Games in my memory.  Back when game lengths were counted in hundreds of hours instead of tens of hours – Ultima introduced the concept of a game where your character’s actions had a real impact on the world and NPC’s interactions with you, and the concept of ethical behavior…   Imagine that, if you were to just TAKE something from a city resident’s apartment, you might get chased down for it!
4. Wing Commander – Space Epic combined with a damned addictive and fun space combat simulator.   With graphics that were amazing for the time, some damned good music, effort towards a storyline and characters you actually gave a damn about — Wing Commander stands as a template that future games such as the X-Wing games would slot themselves into.
5. X-Com – Woah tactics.   Console gamers may have had Tactics Ogre, but PC gamers had X-Com.   Aliens!   Grid tactics!  Turns!  Characters that developed, that could DIE in an instant of just simple bad luck!   Mind rays, lasers, and worldwide development of bases!   This game sucked away so many of my college hours that I probably bombed out a class or two due to alien influences..Lets switch gears shall we?
6. Final Fantasy 7 – I know, I can hear the groans everywhere.   However, this was my introduction to the FF world, and still remains my favorite version of the game.   Fun 3D graphics, characters that entertained and intrigued and broke your heart, and addictive customization of things with Materia.   Not only did this introduce me to the squaresoft games, it actually introduced me to console style RPGs.   And of course, there’s Tifa’s chest. 
7. Final Fantasy Tactics – FFT really is the gem here.   With beautiful music and a wonderfully challenging game, along with an insanely convoluted storyline – FFT is in another caliber of games in my memory.   It is one of the few games that I have gladly played multiple iterations of.   Tactics Ogre, and FFTA, and other similar games barely scratch the itch that FFT created in my head.
8. Chrono Trigger – Say what you will, Chrono Trigger is another one of those classics, and I think is the other game that I played multiple iterations of.  From the moment the game starts with the simple ticking of the clock, you know you’re in for a treat.Switching gears again back to the PC…
9. A Bard’s Tale – No, I’m not talking about that piece of junk that came out recently.  I’m talking about the original computer game.   This was D&D on the computer, no doubt.  I didn’t want to play at night, because man, this game’s random encounters kept beating me up…
10. Might and Magic – Another dungeon crawl game.  One of the first games to make me tense up the minute I looked into the dead end of a dungeon and saw the message, “Don’t turn around”
11. Portal – Okay, talking a bit about the current batch of games… Portal!  I keep thinking with them!   I keep looking at day to day things and imagining how much easier it would be if I simply popped a hole in the wall and popped an exit somewhere else!   Commuting would be so much easier!  Dealing with troublesome coworkers – DONE!  Dinner would be instant delivery!   So many things would be easier!   Of course, as part of the Orange Box, the other games are good too, but Portal…  That game is something special.
12. Bioshock – This game reminded me that you CAN have games that are engaging and frankly creepy and frightening.   Playing this game with the lights out when you have no real idea what to expect is thrilling.   Especially when you live alone.   Anna pulled off a coup when she introduced me to this.
13. Fallout 1 – I still remember the anticipation behind this game.   The world that you are stuck in, along with the dark sense of humor, the intricate storyline, and the massive number of impacts that your action had on how the game would “end” led to many a sleepless night as I kept playing that “one minute more.”   And Dogmeat – your faithful companion through it all!   Sure, there’s Fallout 2, Fallout Brotherhood of Steel, and the current day Fallout 3, which brought it to a new level… But Fallout 1 was the originator…. or was it?
14. Wasteland – Okay kids, you know that whole Fallout thing that you play at?   Before Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 3, 2, 1, etc, there was Wasteland.   Many of the little things you love from Fallout, like the red ryder special BB gun, the alien encounter and alien gun, the random encounters, the exploration, even being able to blow someone into a “pale pink mist” — this all came from Wasteland.   Fallout is the spiritual successor to Wasteland.   (Although, in thinking about this, apparently a few years ago someone said they would be working on a Wasteland 2…. ooooh.)

That’s really about it.  I don’t have a 15th.  I got too caught up thinking about the first fourteen.  I mean sure, if I scrub in my head I can think of many other games that sucked away some of my life.   There’s Tetris, Mercs, Space Rangers 2, Civ V, Dragon Quest III and IX, Professor Layton, etc etc… But those fade with time.   These, they’re seriously ingrained in my head — and all future games really get held up in comparison; to determine if they’re worth the cramping fingers and the burning eyes that come with true game obsession. 

Mmmm, I got a package in the mail today…  What could it possibly be?

They were pretty clear about this warning...

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Ladies and Gentlemen: Let the fight for domination BEGIN!

I have registered to play in the WBCOOP PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! You too can Play Poker Online at PokerStars.com and take part in the WBCOOP which is open to all Bloggers by registering on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 885712

Time for the last home game of the year.

Saturday December 5th – from 5PM until whenever the last person standing is.  Last game had people playing until 7am.  (Eep!)

Usual low stakes game, but even at low stakes last game there was a $120 pot that fell.  That’s no joke!

If you are interested and want details and an invite, shout out here. 

By request of one of the regular players, an impromptu game is being held this saturday evening.  Usual low-stakes lunch money game.

If you want in, let me know.

So here I was, sitting at my desk at home, working on an email.  Life was busy, but not bad.   I was ok.   Then I needed to sneeze.   While normally this would not be an issue, I had eaten almonds earlier.

“Almonds?”, you say as if to ponder where this is going.

Yes, almonds.  See, when you eat almonds sometimes there are little shards of almond skin and fragments that still sit there, like little land mines of the mouth, just waiting their time.

“Dude, you were talking about sneezing.”

Right.  Sneezing.   So I was at my desk, minding my own business, when I suddenly needed to sneeze.   The body kicked in, taking a nice big inhale.  Through the mouth.  Where the previous land mines were waiting.

You see where this is going.  Let me slow it down a bit and describe the next two seconds.  Picture Hollywood and CSI style slow motion for this..

I inhaled, a single bit of almond fragment went down my windpipe, my body reflexively started to spasm and want to cough, but I was mid sneeze, and…  Well, the body started to think it was choking, and closed off the pipe.   And then my diaphragm finished its spasm, and I sneezed.

… or I tried.

All the pressure hit a very closed windpipe, and my upper lungs took the hit of a massive spasm with still mostly filled lungs…

Zoom out of my windpipe to me making this strange comical inhale, then what can only be described as the worlds most pathetic sneeze.  Sort of a “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhCCCHoor.. aaa… cough? ”

Yes, you CAN put a question mark at the end of a cough.   I did.

…  An hour later I still feel dizzy..  I’m still laughing but I’m still dizzy and I have a headache.

First, a short summary.  At Tuesday night’s local poker game I was running in top form, Lady Luck was with me, and I had opponents at the table willing to give me action.  These are rare circumstances, and usually lead to very “healthy” results.  In 3 hours I almost quadrupled my money.   (I’ll leave you to do the math — the actual numbers are not really that important.)

I entered a severe slump in March that emptied my bankroll completely and severely shook my confidence, but over the last few games I’ve been rebuilding my game and instincts, and last night brought me back to full form.  THE CHU IS BACK.

Details on several key hands under the cut (for you poker geeks. )

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So got woken up by a phone call at 7:30A.M.  Instead of hiking through possible thunderstorms, family decided they would go to Atlantic City.

We got there about noon, parked at Caesar’s.  Walked down one way towards Showboat, toured the amusement parks.  The family splits here, with some of us invading Trump Taj for free money, the kids and their uncle exploring the amusement parks and getting an addiction to go-karts, and me going off to see if I could make some money putzing around on slots.  (The poker rooms were full up, I figured there was no way for me to get any gaming in..)

I putz away 20 bucks, the rest of the family get delayed and I find myself bored in Atlantic City with another hour to burn.  (Usually a bad thing.)  I walk back to Showboat, and get lucky enough to score a poker table (2/4 Limit), and make back some of my cash.   This is a great table but I’d agreed to meet my family at 5:30, so I rush back after winning just a couple of hands.

Then the slot players turn out to be delayed AGAIN, leaving me to lounge outside the Taj.. Just to see a really tall fellow hanging out by the Amusement Park.   Its Penn Jillette, completely casual, hanging out with his family.   I leave them alone, as I often do with celebrities, as I figure they usually are just trying to have a nice day with their loved ones unbothered by the unwashed masses.

I wander over to the Tropicana, where we finally all link up, and snag a huge stomach busting dinner at Carmine’s.  We stagger out of Carmine’s, and as we get to Caesars I muse about trying to snag free parking.  The kids jump on this idea, figuring “HEY lets do the go karts again!”  My uncle is all for this, as I think he’s getting addicted to.

… I go on Video Roulette, drop twenty trying to get free parking, then win it all back and ten more.

Finding myself with another 40 minutes I walk down to the poker room (following a very pretty white dress) and sit down at another 2/4 table.  I PROMPTLY win sixty in the first hand with a river flush. (Classic limit scenario, had flush and straight draws, with a ton of callers before me, so I had to keep going..)

Later had KK and took another pot down, but bled away a little bit with blinds and broken draws.  On my very last announced had, I land pocket fives, which improve to trip fives.  Unfortunately, I have one person on a draw who rivers a straight and busts my fives.  That’s OK — since I started at the table with a rivered draw to nail five people, its only fair for it to happen to me.  I left the table still ahead by 37 dollars on a 60 dollar buy in.

After ups and downs I landed 42 dollars ahead, between dinner and other food my trip was basically paid for.

And I got the free parking.

—–

Postscript 1: On the way back we ran into traffic on the Garden State Parkway.   We passed by near work, and found the cause.  A horrific accident, looks like both sides of the road had been shut down, and there was a white SUV that skidded, flipped, landed upside down on the driver’s side ON the divider railing, and skidded some MORE on the railing itself..  Three fire trucks and two ambulances, one with their sattelite antenna raised, and about 15 people crowded around the truck.  Thankfully, we did not see visible blood on the outside, but…  Well, one hopes they get the guy out, cus it was clear the only way he was being removed was by cutting him out….

Postscript 2: Got home, got to my floor, and startled two women who were CLEARLY dressed to go out and impress.   I was speechless.   One of them (I think the one who lived on my floor) said an almost embarrassed “hello” — I think I responded likewise but I was still a little too brain broken to do much else.  A pleasant “eep sorry almost ran you over” ending to the evening.

Postscript 3: Surprise, one more.  I think I’m going to sleep in on my holiday day…  But I’ll probably check on my parents.

Postscript 4: Last one, I swear.   HOUSEWARMING IS IN LESS THAN A WEEK!  WHEEEEE!

After an epic 9 hours of play, I’m pokered out but happy and ready for my next foray into Vegas.

End result, I spent 6 hours staring at a really cute woman from Wales who was serving our room, and almost busting out before making an epic comeback, leaving me 20 ahead after food and tips and stuff.

No, I didn’t get her number.  I’m way too introverted for that.  Poker details for you diehards after the cut.

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