SNAAAAAAAAAAKE!
I’ve been weak.
I won’t waste your time with excuses. I knew what I was doing. I knew it was a bad idea, and I did it anyway. In some ways, I did it because I knew it was a bad idea. Sometimes when you’re feeling down and out, the situation calls for a little self-flagellation and that’s all there is to it.
I bought a PlayStation 3.
There are a variety of reasons why I did it, of course. The demise of the HD-DVD platform had left me without a viable high definition movie format, and I was concerned about my p’s, for example. I wasn’t sure how many p’s I’d need to be happy, but I felt confident 480 p’s was not enough. Will 720 of them satiate me? Only time will tell.
There’s also the Metal Gear Solid issue. I loved the first MGS, felt insulted by the second, and was too turned off by that experience to even touch the third. But despite the craziness, I wanted to know what the hell it was that everyone else was seeing that I had missed out on. I wanted to know if there truly was some kind of masterpiece; a milestone in gaming that lurked just beyond my stubborn grasp.
There’s a significant number of things in this game that baffle me outright. The controls are complex enough that I feel like I’m fumbling with an awkwardteenage lover, and the combats which I frequently feel forced into are just simply not any fun. There’s also the issue of the overly Japanese story. For example: Pretty much all of the protagonists are utter dicks to a little girl who keeps trying to make them eggs. There’s also a supporting character who literally can’t stop shitting himself. These aren’t the sorts of things that I see and immediately think “masterpiece.”
This is not to say that I am deprived of pleasure from the game, but I feel like I’m working pretty hard for it. There are some really excellent aspects to gameplay and occasionally moments of really inspired brilliance, but the next minute I’m watching a cutscene of a guy SHITTING HIMSELF. I’ve started taking Khoo’s advice by allowing myself access only to the tranquilizer gun most of the time, and so far it’s been helping me feel a little better but not enough for me to describe the game as “blooming.” I’m going to keep trying, though.
I was digging through some old emails and found the original design Kiko did for this site back in 2001. The site has been through so many different modifications to the design and back-end that I’d forgotten what a ridiculously beautiful work of art it used to be, and how badly I’ve managed to mangle things since then. I’ve started a new project to make a new Wordpress theme that incorporates as much of Kiko’s original design as I can muster. I can’t say how long it will take me to complete, but I’m excited to see what results I can muster.