The grifters and the peddlers

Tonight I was approached by a man who has approached me on at least two other occasions. I saw him coming from a mile away as he crossed an intersection at a very odd angle just to catch me. And of course not a single person nearby for me to hide behind. As expected, he needed a dollar. He had four quarters. Well I told him I had no dollars. So then he asked if I had a five, because he had a few dollars and needed a fiver. Strange. I thought he had no dollars.

I do not carry much money with me these days, especially on campus where my student card gets me my meals. But it must be a hard time for small-time grifters these days. What I mean by that is that I am guessing the average guy asking for a buck today is about half as likely as someone asking thirty years ago because everyone uses debit cards these days. We all love to keep digital transactions of every time we spend money. We like to carry around a piece of plastic to pay for things. And most of all, we don't have change when the people who may or may not need it ask for some.

So to all you non-helpless people out there asking me for some change or a dollar for four quarters (I still don't get that one), I apologize that we do not carry change around to help you make a living. I am sure somewhere someone has got a modern trick up their sleeve that will sweep the nations of their debit cards and PIN numbers.

Hoppin at the AvoCondos has entered the kongregation

That's right, yours truly is now a kongregate game. Support me with a half cent or perhaps a .1 cent by visiting http://www.kongregate.com/games/upriser/hoppin-at-the-avocado-condos

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

enter the confusion, pt. 3

As the day started to slip away, I felt a fell breeze whisper through the trees around me. Goblins, probably. The grim thought remained with me as I trudged through the undergrowth in a verdant valley. I was learning its layout very quickly. This was the third time I had passed that cluster of rocks, and I was quite sure I now knew where to go to exit this strange land. Up the hill, to the right of the rocks, I spotted an open field. From that vantage point I should be able to see what was next.

Stumbling over myself I climbed the slope. I was starting to get tired. I might need another apple soon, I thought to myself. Strange too, as there had been no goblins yet to sap my health. Why on earth would my health be dropping for just traveling? I couldn't even ask my companion for help as he had disappeared hours ago, intent on finding more nuts to throw at passersby.

Exhausted, I made the top of the hill and the field that sat upon it. Beyond the valley I had been struggling through seemed to lay another valley. Great. I had quite the quest laid out ahead of me, it seemed. Onward and upward...

GDC 2009

I'm going to GDC! I realize this is actually about a month late, but I had yet to mention this on a blog primarily about games. So now you all know! I am really really really looking forward to going and getting to experience all that is the legendary GDC. I have got a to-do list right now, basically trying to make myself look good by then. I need business cards, a resume, a killer set of images and game-work to show people. Hooo doggy, there is lots to do. So why am I still writing about this? Time to write important things! Like stories and designs and other things of that nature!

Le Tranchant du Miroir

Everyone is making a mistake with Mirror's Edge. Players, critics, and even DICE themselves are trying to believe that ME is a first person shooter. It is impossible to escape genre cliches in a game that so heavily relies on them, with constant firefights erupting around you, helicopters above shooting at you and the ability to use not only melee skills but guns as well to retaliate at your aggressors. It's even more impossible when the game's loading screens seem intent on showing you how to fight enemies with karate-like "flow".

But play the game and you're shown a different focus; holding a weapon eliminates most of your dexterity. Melee is only beneficial to disarm one man and then use his gun to take out others. You keep wanting to fight, you want to refine your melee skills, but in the end you are outnumbered and underpowered. Why? Because you aren't meant to fight. The game was made for you to run.

Mirror's Edge is a racing game. You want to run, and you should. Each level is a course with a few different ways to move through the level and one of those ways is the fastest. It seems harsh when the game is criticized for requiring just the right touch because that is exactly what a racing game is about. Play Trackmania for more than ten minutes and you know that just the right angle around a corner will lose you that Gold medal time. So it is the same for Mirror's Edge. You are trying to make the most efficient use of space and time to manuever your way to the exit. In Story mode it gives you helpful red markers, but finish the story mode or turn away to the Race mode and you see that it really is all about getting that exact right line. Learning the movements, finding the route to propel you the most quickly to your destination.

I am really enjoying the game. I acknowledge random small issues that annoy me, such as sometimes unclear goals or the somewhat common lock-up. But I love the challenge the game has presented. I'm still working through the story, but I've got to give DICE props for making what I think is an incredibly solid Parkour game.

Oh, and it's gorgeous as well.

Pixar: The Thomas Kinkade of the Animation World?

Perhaps? I just had the thought and I had to share it with you all.

You are too connected when...

You bring your laptop into the bathroom with you.

I realize that I work on the same floor as Google personnel, but seriously? This guy came in and set his laptop on the sink as he took a leak. I hope to heaven there was some crazy macbook thief on the loose in his office. Otherwise, come on!

Oh, and you're a very ballsy girl if you wear a miniskirt out in weather that's less than 10 degrees. I say this because a couple nights ago, sure enough, I saw some girl bundled up heavily down to her waist wearing only a miniskirt with lots of leg showing. How clearly can one look like they want sex? Or, put more diplomatically in the words of my girlfriend: "suffering in the name of fashion".