Extrasensory perception

I used to believe that I could sense when people were looking at me. In fact, even today I'm not sure whether it was my imagination or not. There was just this other sense when I was younger, much younger, that I could feel eyes looking upon me. I would turn around and people would be looking directly at me. I would glance over to catch eyes upon me. There was never a question in my mind that I had this power of perception, this sixth sense. It never failed me.

But then there came a point when it stopped working. Suddenly I had no idea whether or not people were looking. A sensation of people watching would come and I would turn to see nothing. Or people would turn to see me staring. What happened to what I had? My power of perception disappeared. Was it just simple science that when a little kid starts to turn his head you glance over at him?

I'm a strong believer in science, but I think there are elements of the universe that are beyond our current understanding of said science. Every couple hundred years we realize we missed something simple and yet extraordinary. So perhaps we're missing something big right now, like those things we can't "test". It's hard to justify this, yet I do believe there are things beyond our current understanding of reality. Ghosts, who knows? God, I think so. Everything being related, most definitely.

So maybe I did have this extrasensory perception and then I lost it because of my lack of belief in it or my increasing scrutiny of the ability. Trying to understand it, I lost it. That's how the tao works, after all. What does this say about life? I believe that we need to accept the wonder of it all, and hope that we maintain a sense of awe. Not that we shouldn't try and understand, we just need to love what's here and keep believing, keep stretching our thoughts and imaginations. Because maybe if we believe and keep believing, our thoughts will carry into our actions. And then who knows what might happen.

Election games

So we often call each other liberals and conservatives (I myself would probably/hopefully be labeled liberal), but what exactly do we mean? There seems to be this idea that liberals embrace change, whereas conservatives are, well, conservative and want to keep things the same. However, I view things in a slightly different manner.

I don't believe that liberals really like change any more than conservatives, or conservatives any less than liberals. Rather, I feel that the concept is more about what is change to the individual. A conservative has a more restrained view of how things perhaps "ought" to be. There is a tighter vision of what is normal and what is not-so-normal. Gay marriage, for instance, does not fit within the normal vision of certain conservatives, and as I see it, people are against gay marriage because it doesn't make sense to them, it is beyond them, and would require a change to reality of sorts. The liberal doesn't want to change things by making it legal, but rather sees it as something that was already there and is no change to reality. Therefore, a law would only enforce the freedom of what is already a fact of life.

I would keep going, but I feel a crash coming. Before I crash, I have to mention that election games are awesome. I've now done a turn-based battle for the US, popped other candidates' balloons, and, probably best of all, fought kung-fu against the various candidates. Look up election games. Not very complex, not very helpful about the election, but fun. Definitely worth the search.

Edit: I was really tired when writing this post a couple nights ago, and I don't think I emphasized anything about the election kung-fu game and it's much tougher a game than the other ones, much more soundly built for what it is. It's fun, and you have to actually settle down for a little and learn how to block your opponent and take the open shots where you can and each one definitely gets harder. They're very aggressive opponents (except John Edwards...). You get many choices of the candidates (from about a year ago) and they all have special moves and really seem to have different styles, at least visually. The only way you'd know they were candidates would be from their faces, but it just makes the game all the more amusing when the rest of them is a sumo wrestler or some crazy assasin ninja. Go play it if you like fighting games or just want to see Bill Richardson as a sumo or Michelle Obama kicking some bloody hurt into any and everyone. Funny and fun.

And here it is: Election Kung-Fu

Forgetful, but not about Crysis

Here I am, completely forgetting what I had thought of earlier. A muse that I thought would truly draw thousands to this blog. Bring people here every day to see if I've made another amazing philosophical breakthrough. But I forgot it.

But I guess that's alright, because that means that I don't have to post here every day or every other day. I can continue my sporadic entries, and I believe I shall.

So I've been playing Crysis, and I believe it to be one of the best FPSes I've ever played, and despite me not having played most of them out there, I'm sure most of you would feel the same with a computer that ran it so well. It's a gorgeous game, first off, really bringing you into your environment. A tropical paradise with waterfalls and beaches and villages...and explosions. The physics add to the beauty of the game, and the way things fall apart, the glorious fireballs that erupt from destroyed tanks, it all comes together in a beautiful opus of mayhem. What further enhances the beauty of it all is the free-roaming capability of the world. It supports stealth through the forests surrounding enemy encampments. Or perhaps you want to use speed and blow past the enemies. Or just blow the hell out of them with superstrength. It is your choice!

That might be the greatest strength of the game. Any play style can be fun, and whichever you choose, the nanosuit you start the game with allows you to play each role to its maximum potential. The enemies also really allow the variety in playstyles, being, overall, quite smart, and the game is good about throwing them at you, with reinforcements being brought in if you're overly aggressive or open about your attacks.

At the point I'm currently at, I have really come to appreciate the cinematic quality of the game. I just got dropped in to a war zone, and instead of starting out on my own, I'm taken through the US defenses as a jet crashes into the hillside next to me and I'm ordered to take out the AAA guns I can see across the harbor peppering the sky with shells. Maybe some stealth and some speed are in order. Maybe some raw explosives are about to be served up. This is good stuff. Highly recommended.

(I'll try and have some actual musings next time. I'm taking an Intro to Philosophy, so my brain has definitely been pumping with this jazz.)

New addition on the way

That's right folks, I just spent the last 5.5 hours on newegg and throughout the internetting finding and purchasing all the components of a new computer. Mmm, she's shaping up to be a doozy. I'm feeling great right now, as long as the newest nVidia card will fit into my case. And as long as Vista doesn't fuck with my soundcard as it apparently likes to screw with soundcards... But I'm happy and it's 5am and I really should go sleep now.

Here's to my next wave of gaming! (as my ps2 cries in the corner)

Space (Under?) Siege

So yesterday I spent a good chunk of the day downloading the Space Siege demo. About 930mb later I had the tantalizing demo waiting on my computer. I was ready to spend all night checking out the new action RPG from Chris Taylor.

Well, I watched the intro cinematic, a pretty looking attack on earth with capital and fighter ships dueling on the edge of Earth's gravity. Finally, the awesome movie ended, and I was taken to the intro menu, where the same movie began playing again, but this time with a menu around it... So I started a game and after a short in-game cinematic of aliens assaulting my ship I commenced my defense of humanity.

The game uses the WASD setup to control many things, except movement, and I have to say this threw me. The mouse moved and controlled firing while A and D were used to rotate the camera and W and S zoomed in and out. The controls otherwise were very convenient and straightforward, but finally as I began to get comfortable with the non-FPS scheme, the demo ended.

I'd say I finished the demo in not more than 30 minutes, after downloading almost a gigabyte. I was disappointed. I think it was a fun game, and it looked awfully pretty, but I'm back into a phase of trying demos of all the new games, and it's hard for me to discern if my excitement of a game is warranted after 25 minutes, especially with such a hefty download. I realize that's how games are today, but you'd think I could get a little more content for a gig. Also, I'm still trying to figure out if the game is deep or not. It was straightforward, and though pretty, also quite simple. Well, Chris Taylor, the ball is back in your court. I'm intrigued, but not sure yet about $50 of intrigue.

A game called reality

So I'm now home for a couple weeks recovering from actuality before I head back to my senior year of college and work and all that jazz.

What exactly is this actuality that I'm dealing with? I decided to ride a bicycle from Boston to Washington, DC. And I did it! I'm one who often doesn't do a lot of actual preparation, I usually prepare in my head and then either do something or don't. I find so many things fascinating that a large-scale project is daunting and unlikely. I do lots of little things, except for when I'm at work or school, because having that framework gives me a solid set of boundaries that I actually find the most comforting. Pressure, I need a box to not necessarily be thought within, but to allow myself to bounce off the edges and come back to reality.

But rarely do I think about non-creative endeavors. I certainly think about travel, but just about how I should go travel, go visit other countries. Never solid plans. So lo and behold, I thought that this summer would be the ripest time, a last ditch effort to be crazy in college, for some sort of road trip. And I settled upon a crazy biking trip, realizing that a trip between Boston and DC would be feasible and probably fun. I started preparing by telling everyone I knew that I was thinking about it, so that if I didn't go they would call me out. Then I got a bike (somewhat necessary) and just started biking again. Then I alloted time for the trip, asking for a leave from work and not having school anyway. I followed this by continuing to tell people about my trip and started making a list of things I would need.

Then I just continued to ride and began to train with a friend. We went a solid 150 miles one weekend to test out the items needed. It was good we tested our equipment and what would be needed, because I was not entirely aware of all I would need. But then I bought that, I kept biking, and then, well, after some route-planning, I found myself stuck on the trip.

It was great. It was really a learning experience, a challenge, a mission, and just relaxing. I had worries during the ordeal, but they were so pure and simple that I think my brain really enjoyed the trip. Never again do I plan on doing a long challenging trip like that alone, because a pal would have made it so much more fun. But it was nonetheless an incredible experience that I definitely am proud to say I completed.

570 miles in 7 days of riding. Not bad, eh?

Now back to games!

Karateka

I often find myself trolling from one classic game download to the next modern game trailer to a Flash game. Having not been a gamer for the golden age, or whatever you think the period should be called from the mid-80s to the mid-90s, I often download full games in about 20 seconds and then play a few levels. And then sometimes I find even older games and download them in 2 seconds.

A couple days ago I ran across Karateka, a game by Jordan Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia. Clearly the precursor of POP, Karateka has the player moving a ninja forward through a flat environment and a wave of opposing ninjas. Like a typical fighting game you have movement and then keys for upward, straight, and down kicks and punches. Finally, there is one more button to switch your character from running to fighting stance. Your goal is to move forward and rescue your love at the end. So simple, and yet pretty enjoyable.

In terms of gameplay it was very simple and I never really felt much depth to the combat, but the simplicity of the presentation made it all work. You've got arrows at the bottom showing your health and your direction while whichever ninja you're currently battling has the same health arrows. Anytime you defeat a ninja your health returns to full and you can run forward until you hit the next ninja. Just be careful not to still be in running mode when they attack or it's game over. My fascination with the game ended, however, when suddenly a gate fell on me as I ran forward under it. No warning, just spikes falling on me. The revenge of old games and their arbitrary deathtraps! I decided then that I didn't care for my pixelated love enough to fight through the hordes again.

And I found out about this game because apparently Karateka shall be returning in next-gen form sometime in the future with Mechner at the helm.

the original Karateka

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