Fallout 4 Week: Day 7

We did it!  Today is the final installment of my Fallout Week series of videos.

Thank you so much for watching, and so so so SO many thanks to Courtenay and Kal-El for giving me their time and energy.  This day was such a blast, and I still can't quite believe it happened.

Enjoy Part 7 of my video series:

 

 Also major thanks to Adrienne Arno for making it happen, Jarrett Sullivan (aka Boyfriend) for being my DP, and my friend, Jen Gelber for emotional support.

Fallout 4 Week: Day 6

We're in the home stretch of my week of videos, you guys!  

Here is Part 6:

 

Fallout 4 Week: Day 5

Guess what time it is?

Time for another Fallout 4 interview video!

Here is Part 5:

 

Fallout 4 Week: Day 4

Here we are at the half-way point of my whole week dedicated to Fallout 4!

Here is Part 4 for your viewing pleasure:

 

Fallout 4 Week: Day 3

Welcome back to my ENTIRE WEEK of Fallout 4 interview videos.

Here is Part 3 of the week-long (yes a real full 7-day week) video series!

 

Fallout 4 Week: Day 2

Ok, so I still can't quite believe that last week happened.  But it must have happened because I have video proof, right?  Right?  Unless all of this is happening inside my mind and none of this is real and I'm actually in a coma somewhere...

Holy shit, you guys I actually got to interview 2 people who were integral roles of a major AAA video game title.  AND they did so voluntarily.  I didn't pay them or anything.  I swear.  And they sat down with me for like 2 hours!!!  It was amazing.

So here is part 2 of my Fallout 4 Interview: 

 

Fallout 4 Interview: And Her Nerdy Little Heart Grew 3 Sizes That Day...Right Before it Exploded

So an amazing thing happened last week.

An old friend of mine reached out to me and told me she could arrange an interview with Kal-El Bogdanove, the lead vocal director on Fallout 4, AND Courtenay Taylor, the female lead voice actor on Fallout 4.

What?!

No really, WHAT?!

I know, right?

I replied back (trying desperately to sound cool and collected and totally professional) that it sounded great and I would love to as soon as I got back in town (you know, from Wedding Dress Weekend.)

Then I tried to put it out of my mind, because I assumed that like most things I've tried to accomplish in L.A, it would just not work out.

But then it did.

And it was awesome.  It was so awesome that it could not be contained in just one video.  But here is the first installment in my Fallout Week series of videos:

 

I Made a Thing! (UPDATED)

So this isn't really a post.  
It's just me saying, "Hey guys, I made a thing!  You should go watch it and give me constructive criticism."  
Kthnxbai!


 

After Boyfriend watched my video, I flopped down on the couch and released a massive sigh of relief because I accomplished something. Then this happened: 

Me: I did it! I made a thing. I posted a video. 

Boyfriend: You did! And it's good! 

Me: Thanks. 

Boyfriend: I'm proud of you. And you didn't record it vertically so I don't have to be embarrassed. 

Me: You suck.

Sunday Sunday Sunday!!!

So, remember that time I made a video blog?  And how I said my goal was to upload a video once a week?  Guess how long that lasted....yup, you guessed it, one week.  The funny thing is when you have a video that has 30+ minutes of footage and fuck-ups and do-overs, it takes a long ass time to edit.  Especially if you're trying to do all the editing yourself on top of trying to write creatively, take care of your dog, take care of your relationships, take care of yourself, and work full time at a miserable job in the 2nd circle of hell, all while attempting to build your dream career on the side so you don't have to work full time at said horror show.  Also, there comes a point where I'm tired of listening to the sound of my own voice, and I just need to walk away from editing myself for a day or two.

So, short-story-long, I finally finished editing my second vlog.  I have enough footage in the can for at least 3 other coherent short videos, and all the footage in the world for a whole mess of incoherent videos. It's just the editing process that is crap.  So, I did not abandon the video venture, I just may have bit off a teensy bit more than I could chew.  News flash.

Without further ado, my second video:




Link here if you can't see this video.

I'm Melting

If you're in the Tri-State Area right now, you are probably melting like me. It's fuggin' hot, people! (fuggin = muggy + fuckin') It's awful here. I'm so happy this is my last summer in NY and I'm so happy I get to be inside most of the day today instead of outside working in the sun. Although, thanks to my job, I do have a small tan for the first time in a decade. But I digress...

My show opens tonight!!!! I'm starting to get a little nervous. I might need to take some anti-anxiety meds on top of the allergy medicine and the couch suppressants I'm already taking because of my allergies that have appaerntly turned into a sinus infection. 
Bleh. I hate NY in the summer sometimes. Anywho...

Have you guys gotten the new Mii Plaza update on the 3DS and/or the 3DSXL? It's flippin great! I plan to write a short review very soon, so keep a look out for that! But for now, I just wanted to check in and tell everyone to stay cool!

My show opens tonight. OOOOOOOOOMYYYYYYYGOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDD!

*hyperventilates

Confession: I Have an Addiction



Source

Gamers and nerds tend to be very passionate people, non?  We tend to become obsessed with things that others find a little out of the ordinary. Some of us might also be on the spectrum to varying degrees, which can give reason to our oft obsessive nature, but it doesn't make us any less passionate about what we love. It's because of these passions that border on obsessions that can often cause us to unintentionally alienate ourselves.  But when does passion/obsession get out of control?  When does it dangerously dance on the line that leads into addiction?  Does your passion change the way you interact with the world around you? Does it affect your relationships with others?  Does it consume your thoughts and make it difficult to accomplish simple tasks?  Then you might be an addict.

I may be an addict.  I may have a problem.  


I may be obsessed with The Sims.

Yes. You read that right. The Sims. 
I know I'm not alone in my addiction. I know you other addicts are out there. We are not alone! But, am I alone in playing too much Sims to the point where it colors my brain in my daily activities? Like, am I the only one who starts to picture plumbobs above other people's heads? Or starts humming the game's musical interludes to myself? Or starts zoning out when someone is talking to me and all I hear is Simlish? Or plans out my Sims' day when I'm not even at home playing? Or pictures my own "bladder" bar turning green while I'm peeing? Was that TMI? Maybe. Yes?

Don't you dare type Ctrl+Shift+C: move_object  you perv. (Sims Social)

My Sims obsession started with the original PC game from Maxis (remember them? Me either.) I got Sim Theme Park and my sister got The Sims for Christmas 1999 from our aunt -the original gamer in our family. Note that I did not receive The Sims as my gift (a fact my sister loves to remind me of any time I bring up the game.) For whatever reason, my mom's computer didn't have enough RAM to run the coaster game if Sims was installed. Psh. The 90's.  So, I was frustrated with my game lag, and in a fit of rage one night uninstalled it and decided to play my sister's game. Because I needed to game, you guys.  After the tutorial, I was hooked. I was obsessed. The graphics, the humor, the sandbox style was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I was in love. If someone had picked on me or upset me at school, I could rush home and make a Sim of them and ruin that Sim's life. It was the greatest stress relief ever. If I had a crush on someone, I could make a Sim of them and me and we could be in love and live happily ever after. Not the healthiest of choices, but it could've been worse, right? I became the resident Sims expert in my circle of friends (and by circle, I mean 2) who also played.

I would play into the wee hours of the morning much to my sister's frustration. She wasn't as avid a gamer as I was. She would play for an hour or so and then go do something constructive else. I built families and interwoven story-lines and epic sagas. The Sims was my story-telling masterpiece. Then, all of the expansion packs came out. I don't think I need to tell you that this only fed my obsession.

Yes, I still own these.

When my parents bought me my own laptop for college as my high school graduation present, the very first program I installed on it when they weren't around was The Sims 2 and all of the expansions. Seriously.  Nothing broke my heart more than when my brand new Dell I bought for myself when I was graduating college would crash any time I tried to play The Sims 2. Infuriating. But then there was hope, The Sims 2 was available on Gamecube. Alas, that game was severely inferior to the PC version. But it would have to do, I had to get my fix somehow. Unfortunately, I had to sell my Gamecube for extra cash before I moved out east. Thus, I had to quit Sims cold turkey. And I lived happily ever after.

Until The Sims 3 was released. Oh. My. God. I worked at a steak house as the daytime  hostess for a couple of years in Brooklyn, and the night hostess was just as obsessed with The Sims as I was. So obsessed, she brought her laptop to work and would play it in the coat closet when it was slow. She pre-ordered The Sims 3 and got the awesome plumbob USB flash drive. I imagine it was like a former smoker being exposed to the best cigarettes/cigars ever with the way I salivated over her game. The only thing stopping me from owning my own copy and plunging head-first back into addicts-ville was my piece of shit laptop would not run The Sims 3. Eventually I escaped that evil place of employment and moved on with my life. The yearning to play The Sims again in the back of my mind.

Cut to late summer 2012: I was in my local GameStop poking around and noticed a used copy of The Sims 3 was available on PS3. And at first I was all

 

And then I was like

And then I was asked to purchase something or leave the establishment. I sat on the idea for a couple of weeks knowing full well I could go into full-blown addict mode. Eventually I decided to risk it and made the purchase. It started off normally enough. Only playing for a couple of hours after work and on the weekends.  But since I lost my job, it got really bad really fast.

The point at which Boyfriend felt he needed to give me an intervention came when he discovered me at 6am one morning a couple of weeks ago passed out on the couch, controller in hand and The Sims 3 on pause. I had clearly dozed off while waiting for my file to save. Also, Boyfriend was tired of not being able to play his games when he wanted to. So, intervention time came last week.

In the form of a new 3DS game! If you're a Harvest Moon fan (and you know I am) and you haven't played Harvest Moon: A New Beginning yet. Get. Off. Your. Ass. It's amazing! I will write a full review at a later time. Whenever I can stop playing.

So short-story-long: The Sims 3 addict am I, but the cure? Get me addicted to a new game. Problem solved! 

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

I've concluded that unemployment playing video games like it's my job is probably not the healthiest of lifestyles. It's currently 8:53am on Saturday. I'm been awake since 2:00PM on Friday. My sleep schedule has been seriously out of whack for several weeks, but now it's getting out of control. Right now, my goal is to just stay awake for at least the next 7 hours and then hopefully a good night sleep will re-set whatever semblance of an internal sleep clock I may have.

Election Day Edition

All politics aside, I hope everyone was able to or will be able to vote today. I voted via absentee ballot a couple of weeks ago, but I went with my sister this morning to her polling place mostly so I could get coffee that we don't have in NY and an "I Voted" sticker (which are apparently also not available in NY.) It's the simple pleasures in life, you know. Also, for your political viewing pleasure, I am re-posting my PAX East video interview with Jeremy Handel about his game Uncle Slam. As of this post, Romney is leading Obama in wins in the Slambowl on the website.

 

Memory Lane Monday: You Can Sometimes Go Home Again

I'm writing from the road this week, so my time zones are all screwy especially with the Daylight Savings time change. This is a short and sweet post.  I started to write this post on an airplane, but since we all know how I feel about flying, that didn't last very long. I'm visiting family in Colorado this week, staying in my old childhood bedroom. It's always strange to come home. In some ways it's like slipping into a worn pair of sneakers and walking around comfortably. But, it can also be like walking into a room and a a tidal wave of memories (good and bad) and feelings hits you in the chest and you almost fall over. Or maybe that's just me...

I was looking through closets and drawers for old pictures that I wanted to digitize for preservation and I came across lots of things that triggered so many emotions and long-forgotten memories. I came across things and said, "I can't believe mom kept this!" and other times I would find parts or pieces of toys and say, "Why didn't mom keep the rest of this?!" It's a funny thing going home.

I was amazed at some of the games and toys my mom kept for me:

My GameBoy and the only 3 games I could find.

My Rubbermaid tub of toys I decorated with TMNT stickers

Our old version of Risk circa 1975 (and yes, my made-up rule sheets were still in there!)

My Little Pony puzzles!!!

Star Wars Monopoly which, shockingly, no one ever wanted to play with me.

Original Trilogy on VHS! Not special edition! Score.

And to top it all off, my Yoda Pez dispenser complete with decade-old strawberry Pez candy. 
It molds you, know.

Well, that completes this trip down Memory Lane. Everyone remember to vote and no matter the outcome, be good to each other. I leave you with this:

You can go home again, but sometimes when you get there, your childhood candy is rotten. 
Or something else philosophical...
#ThingsYouCantUnsee

Memory Lane Monday: Educational Games of Childhood

NOTE: Sorry this edition of Memory Lane Monday is a day late being posted. I don't really have a great excuse.  I got busy with Real Life. Sorry. I promise this will most likely never happen again.

Playing Girls Like Robots had reminded me how much I enjoy logic games. Then, that reminded me of how much I enjoyed all of those classic educational games of my childhood. How I miss those wonderful old "now-the-teacher-can-go-have-a-smoke-break-while-the-kids-are-learning" games in all their 8-bit glory. Those were the days. Even though many times, they danced dangerously on the line of educational vs loosely based on something you may learn about in school, we didn't care as long as we didn't have to take notes.

My very first learning game was Ernie's Big Splash, which I have discussed in the past. Ernie was essentially my "gateway game" but my mom was hesitant to buy lots and lots of computer games, afraid of turning my brain to mush. So we started simple with educational games like:

Reader Rabbit

Source

Reader Rabbit was a spelling and reading game. I don't remember much about it except that it involved trains and a word factory and you had to fill in missing letters or group together words that were alike. Well, actually that was the whole game, wasn't it? I also remember that it taught me how to spell and read simple words at an early age. I already loved books and reading as a wee one, but I really do credit this game with my ability to read to myself by the time I was four, and also why my reading comprehension levels were off the charts throughout my school days (surely the only thing that saved me and my depression/anxiety-riddled brain from being placed in a "special" class.) I also know this game was a success enough for my mom because she continued to buy me more games. Thanks, Reader Rabbit!

Number Munchers & Super Number Munchers

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Number Munchers was a Pac-Man-like game that was a better way to be quizzed on math skills than flash cards. You had to move the Green Muncher around the grid on the screen and make him eat the numbers that met the criteria on the top of the screen ("multiples of 5" for example.) But while running around on the screen munching numbers, you also had to watch out for Troggles, ugly purple guys who would eat the Green Muncher if he caught you.  This game was one of many attempts by my mom to improve my math skills. I had horrible math anxiety as a kid which was not made any better by having two parents who were very good with numbers (my mom trained to be a CPA at one point.)  But the Number Munchers games did eventually help that math anxiety. As an adult, I have discovered that I have a slight dyslexia with numbers, so the anxiety is still there a bit, but it is manageable now. I liked Super Number Munchers the best, not only because the graphics were better, but mostly because the Green Muncher wore a cape. What other reason does one need?

Mavis Beacon

Who remembers this bitch? Who else had this as a staple int heir elementary school?  Since these newfangled computers appeared to be necessary for every day life in the future, all kids in school were required to learn typing skills. What better way to do that than introducing them to a fictional typing expert? One of my teachers in school must have been Gutenberg's typesetter or something, she was so old and crotchety and when you were in her class, it was a dictatorship. If she even suspected you of thinking about looking at the keys (aka "cheating") while typing, you were shamed with being boxed. No, not ear-boxing- I didn't grow up in the South. She would but a modified shoe box over your hands while you typed so you couldn't look at the keyboard. I was "boxed" so many times I had my own. I decorated it and everything. The TMNT and pony stickers did not make the box any cooler, however.  In all seriousness, I did like Mavis Beacon as a program. It was a lot of fun and I much preferred sitting in front of a computer screen to sitting in class taking notes off of an overhead projector (remember those things?)  Mavis was a really great tool that taught me a lot.



And they wonder why texting and driving is such an epidemic nowadays. Thanks, Mavis!


Super Solvers


Wiki

My dad bought me Super Solvers Outnumbered as yet another attempt to improve my math grades in school. I really enjoyed playing this game. Alone. When I played alone, I could run away from Telly the robot in the hallway that made you do a math quiz. When playing with my dad, he always made me let the Telly catch me, and sat there while I sweated through the pop math quiz. Go away Telly! I don't want to do math!  This game had a lot of qualities I loved. It was a platformer where you wandered around an old TV station at night looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the Master of Mischief. Yes, there was math, but it also involved logic puzzles and word problems, which I never seemed to hate as much as everyone else. Plus there was always immense satisfaction when I earned enough points to get my ranking to go up.

Pro bitches!

The Super Solvers franchise had a lot of other really cool games like Treasure Mountain! which I never owned, but played a lot of at my friends' houses. Now that was an awesome well-rounded game.  Except for those little magic-coin-stealing elves. Those bastards were evil. 

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Wiki

Long before the iconic red trench coat and hat, and the 90's game show on PBS, this green box came to mind whenever I thought of Carmen Sandiego. This was a game I'm pretty sure my dad bought for himself under the guise of buying it for me. It was a little too advance for me to play all by myself in the 80's and early 90's, plus with my dad being very interested in travel and having travelled lots of "exotic" places for work, he knew a lot more about geography than I did. I loved playing this game with my dad. I credit this game and my dad's love of travel with my interest in other cultures and the reason I can use a map like a champ. This game should really be a required learning tool for everyone, especially for like such as US Americans who don't have maps and such as...


The Oregon Trail

Photo credit: The_Pug_Father via Flickr

What list of beloved childhood educational computer games would be complete without this classic? We learned so much from this game, like...there really was a trail to Oregon and people really loaded up wagons and rode on in the 1800's.  And...also...lots of people died of dysentery...which is basically pooping yourself to death...and...yeah. 
Ok, so The Oregon Trail game danced on that line of "educational game" much like the "inspired by actual events" line that Hollywood likes to dance on, but it didn't matter. If you were a kid in school in the 80's and 90's this game was the greatest thing in the classroom since the A/V cart. 

Source

Thanks to PCMag.com, YesterYear Gaming, and Old-Games.com for inspiration, information, and a stroll down memory lane. *Sigh* now all I want to do is play all these old games again. Argh! Stupid not having administrative privileges on work computer! Er...I mean, playing games on my work computer would be wrong. Yes. Very very wrong...

And Then There Were Robots. Lovable Lovable Robots. (A Short and Sweet Game Review)

After months of waiting, Girls Like Robots was finally released last week! Produced by Popcannibal LLC and distributed by [adult swim] games, it is available for Windows, OSX, iPhone, iPad, and Android.  I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Margaret Scott, the sister of Popcannibal's founder, Ziba Scott, at PAX East in April of this year. She was delightful, charming, and informative. After talking to her and playing the demo at their booth in Indie Alley, Girls Like Robots was definitely one of my most anticipated games of this year.


Copyright Popcannibal LLC

  When I spoke with Margaret in April, the projected release date was set for July, so I have been eagerly waiting for the game's release since then.  I was disappointed when the game was delayed, but if they needed those extra months to make the game better, then it was totally worth the wait. Girls Like Robots is a puzzle/logic/seating arrangement game, simple in concept and design, but also adorable and tricky in execution. There are darling animations, cut-scenes, and a pleasant string band soundtrack accompanying the 100 levels of increasingly difficult and creative puzzles.

In the tutorials, you learn that girls like robots (obviously) and robots like girls, but not too many girls. Nerds like robots too, but robots feel very "meh" about nerds. Nerds like girls, but girls hate nerds. Nerds also hate other nerds. The game starts you off with a simple grid of "seats" and a bank of characters off to the side. Based on the relationship criteria, you must arrange the characters in the most ideal way on the grid to fill up your happiness meter. It sounds easy, but the combinations continue to get more difficult as the game goes on; the grids change shape and size, and new characters with new relationship requirements are introduced. 



Copyright Popcannibal LLC

Believe it or not, there is a plot to the game as well. A budding romance between a loner bug-loving girl and goofy sporty guy need your help to go to the dance together. The silly story-line leads you through town (and up into the stars) where you meet some charming characters, are bombarded with puns and one-liners, and there's pie. Lots and lots of pie. While the plot of the game isn't exactly a nail-biter, it is an added touch of charm and humor in this already creative, cute, and devilishly challenging game. Girls Like Robots is completely worth the $.99 price tag on iTunes.  For those who enjoy puzzle and logic games, this app will appeal to the casual as well as the more hard core of gamers. I found this game to be delightful!

On my patented scale of 5 nerdy things, Girls Like Robots scores a solid 5 Happy Robots!  

Copyright Popcannibal LLC

Lions, and Tigers, and Pomeranians, Oh My! (Minor Spoilers)



This is the most bad-ass a Pomeranian will ever look.

 Much to my excitement, Tokyo Jungle (developed by Playstation C.A.M.P. and Crispy's!) was finally released in the US on Playstion Network! I had no idea what I was getting into, but I was excited to play this game. Based on the trailer it is difficult to tell what genre the game falls into. It calls itself an "urban based animal survival genre" which I'm pretty sure isn't really a thing. Maybe it's a sub-par translation from Japanese, or maybe the game is so new and different that it doesn't fit into any one genre of video game, so they had to make up their own. Whatever they call it, this game is pretty damn enjoyable.  After my first viewing of the trailer online early this year, I wasn't sure if I was to expect the game to be more like Sim City or The Sims except with animals and violence, or if it was an RPG, or more along the lines of a battle royale type game. After spending several days playing it, I concluded: yes. It is all of the above.

Tokyo Jungle takes place in post-apocalyptic Tokyo, Japan. All humans have strangely disappeared and all animals from the wee chick to the mighty Velociraptor (didn't you know they had dinosaurs in Japan?) have taken over the city. The player's goal is to survive as long as possible as your chosen animal while completing various challenges, and trying to locate USB drives containing human archives that offer clues as to why the humans all disappeared. Obviously the game requires some suspension of disbelief (last I checked animals could not use USB drives or, you know, read.)



Caption deemed unnecessary due to awesomeness of picture.

 Tokyo Jungle has two modes: Survival mode, and Story mode. You start off in Story mode with the tutorial. The controls feel a little clunky and are tricky to get used to at first, mostly because the game concept is unique and the game play is not exactly "standard." For example, even though the world in the game is 3-dimensional, you cannot control the camera angles or your view of the world at all.  You have to go with the flow of the game, which is confusing for anyone who is accustomed to using the right analogue stick to adjust their view of the action on screen.

Once you complete the tutorial chapter in Story mode, you must go to Survival mode and choose which animal you will play as. There are dozens of types of animals to play as (with more being added) in the game, with different breeds/colors to choose from, but you must unlock or buy them first. The animals fall into 2 categories: herbivores or carnivores. Your 2 animal options when starting are the Pomeranian, and the Sika deer-also known as the spotted or Japanese deer (I didn't know what it was either, I had to Wiki that one.) The main goal in Survival mode is to survive as long as possible (duh) and once you reach certain milestones or have lived a certain number of years, challenges will become available to you. Challenges range from travelling to a certain location, to eating a certain number of kilocalories, to mating. By completing these challenges, you can unlock new animals, gain additional skill points, and find useful items or outfits (oh yes, I said outfits.)

Nothing strikes fear into the heart of predators everywhere like a feral cat in high tops.

However, as ridiculously fun and silly as this game is, there are a couple of annoying drawbacks to the game play. Once you die, it's perma-death. No resurrection. No loading your previous save. You are dead and have to start over, including any challenges you completed.  The survival points you accrued during your animal's life by completing challenges are tallied up and posted on the online scoreboard for all the world to see. The most annoying part about this is the game never explains this to you. I figured it out on my own through trial and error after I found no way to continue or load a previous save. Once I discovered this perma-death, I got very frustrated and nearly rage-quit, pissed that I had bought such a stupid game. It was like being transported back to my 9 year old self playing Lion King on Sega and screaming at the Game Over screen because Scar had kicked my ass once again.  But I persevered, and I'm glad I did.  While it is really irritating and almost foreign nowadays to not be able to load your saved game, all is not lost once you die in Tokyo Jungle. If you have mated and bred a new generation(s), that data is saved and any new stats your offspring inherited will also be available the next time you play as that animal. For example, if you played as a Pomeranian and were able to stay alive long enough to level up and mate, but died before any of the offspring (2nd generation) were able to breed, then the next time you enter Survival mode as a Pomeranian, it will read 2G next to it and any stats your 2nd generation of offspring inherited will apply, and so on and so forth.  In addition, any outfits, archives, or new animals you found or unlocked will be available to you in the animal "tree" on the Survival mode home screen. This perma-death facet gives the game a very arcade-game-like quality.



 Survival mode also has a local multi-player option. Boyfriend and I played it a few times before we got a little fed up. This mode requires a ridiculous amount of teamwork, and strategy to master. In Survival Multi-player mode, you each choose an animal-it can be the same animal or a different one. One or both of you must survive as long as possible.  If one of you dies, you can use animal medicine to resurrect the fallen ally. Defending yourself from predators or competition is slightly easier in multi-player mode since there are more of you, but you must also share food and the game does not double the food sources just because there are more players. This obviously gets very frustrating especially when some food sources provide an uneven number of "noms" for both of you to share. Another frustrating aspect of the multi-player mode is you can't share the same nest to mate and create offspring and you can't mate with each other.  If you both find worthy mates, you'll have to decide which one of you gets to mate first, then go find and claim a new nest for the other member of your party, all while trying to complete challenges and unlock new items. Did I mention that once your individual animal reaches the age of 15, it automatically dies? Yeah. That happens. Overall, we both found the Survival Multi-player mode to be annoyingly difficult. 

The other mode in Tokyo Jungle is Story mode. The Story mode episodes are unlocked by finding the USB drives I mentioned earlier. You can read the data/archives on the USB drives in the Start menu, and they will give clues as to why the humans have all mysteriously vanished from the Earth. Also, once you collect 3 new USB drives/archives in Survival mode, a new episode in Story mode will become available for you to play. The not-necessarily-linear episodes in Story mode follow the lives of different animals, beginning with the mighty Pomeranian.

Ah yes, the noble...pom-pom dog.

Eventually, I believe Story mode is supposed reveal why the humans are no more, but (SEMI-SPOILER) I have yet to get more than some vague clues about abnormally violent animals and some sort of time rift (which may explain the presence of Velociraptors and Mammoths.) The drawback to Story mode is there won't be additional USB drives available to find in Survival mode until you complete the most recent episode in Story mode.

Tokyo Jungle as a whole is rather strange, and a little repetitive, but fun. The translation from Japanese may be lacking a little-I definitely think some nuances in the tutorials are missing-but the game is quirky and enjoyable. Is it worth the $14.99 PSN price tag? If for the convenience of downloading the game versus walking to GameStop and purchasing it for $50 is the trade-off for no disc/instruction guide, I say, yes it is worth the price. However, my recommendation for those who don't like the challenge of figuring out how to play a foreign game with little to no guide, I would wait until the game has been out for a while longer. As of now, there are no decent walk-thrus or Wikis for Tokyo Jungle online, at least not in English.

So, on my patented* scale of 5 random/awesome/nerdy things, I give Tokyo Jungle 4 Hammer-Wielding Otters.

Source



*Not actually patented

Memory Lane Monday: When Gaming Brings Us Together

During the summer before I started middle school, a semi-traumatic event occurred in my (usually) quiet suburban neighborhood. I was outside in my backyard futzing around when an ambulance and fire truck screamed down my street and I could here the brakes screech to a halt not too far from my house. I sprinted down the hill in my bare feet, anxious, and morbidly curious to see what was happening. Once I got down to the corner a small crowd of neighbors had gathered and were milling about murmuring to each other. I could make out the form of my 8-year-old neighbor, Bailey, sprawled out on the pavement. An overturned bicycle lay in the grass near her where someone had clearly tossed it in haste. She was screaming like a feral animal. I could see blood dripping down her leg as her mom knelt helplessly next to her and the paramedics attempted to assess the situation. 

As I stood huffing and puffing in a small state of shock, my best frenemy who lived down the street pranced over to me. I really didn't like her and only hung out with her when it was convenient because she was a manipulative little snot who had done some very cruel things to me in the past. But, I had just gotten back from Bible camp (yes, I said Bible camp) and was still overwhelmed by my newfound saved-ness/spirituality and all this forgiveness and proselytizing stuff, so I thought Frenemy and I could wipe the slate clean.  We started chit-chatting about the coming school year (7th grade was going to be the best) and about what was happening in the street in front of us. Frenemy said something kind of funny and I laughed really hard, but mostly out of nervousness while watching this small child scream on the pavement. I was immediately consumed by guilt (thanks, Bible camp!) That guilt was made even worse by Bailey's howl, "Stop! It hurts! Just get me to the damn hospital!"

That's when I knew shit was serious. When an 8 year old girl is in so much agony that she screams orders at 3 full-grown adults in uniform, you do what she goddamn says. What put the kibosh on my dislike of Frenemy and got me thinking that I'm not so good at this whole 'forgive people because Jesus says so' thing, was when she started mocking Bailey for screaming so much. Maybe it was Frenemy's way of dealing with her discomfort of the situation (I'm pretty sure she had some serious psychological issues even before this,) but at that moment, I was angry at her for being such a bitch, and embarrassed that I was hanging out with her. I don't think we spoke again after that day, but I felt that Bailey deserved retribution for how Frenemy had mocked her, and for how I had laughed, even though I didn't actually do anything wrong.



Source

A week or two later, we all learned that Bailey had suffered a broken leg, but no life-threatening injuries. My sister and I put together a mobile lemonade stand on our little red wagon and wandered around the neighborhood selling our wares. We quickly realized that there was a reason lemonade stands weren't mobile. It was messy and sticky and our neighborhood had lots of hills. Not to mention, people don't really like it when you ring their doorbell trying to sell them warm lemonade in a Dixie cup. Nonetheless, we were determined. We'd raised all of $1 when we stopped at Bailey's house.  Her mom answered the door and we told her we brought Bailey some get-well-soon-lemonade. I remember the touched look on her mom's face when we told her we were trying to raise money for a get-well card/present. She invited us in and we presented Bailey with her complimentary Dixie cup of lemonade.

But it looked so easy in the stock photo!
Scholastic

My sister chatted with Bailey since they were closer in age, and I talked to Bailey's mom. Bailey's leg was up in a traction sling with a dozen pins and screws sticking out of her leg brace. It was definitely the grossest thing I'd seen at that point in my life. Her mom told me that Bailey had been riding her bike, skidded around the corner, and fallen near the storm drain, nearly falling in. She fell at just the right angle to give her leg a compound fracture and royally mess up her knee.  We stayed for a little while and played some Nintendo with Bailey.  As we were leaving, Bailey's mom told us we could come by any time and hang out with Bailey because she was getting lonely being cooped up in the house all day. That's when I knew what I could do: I loved video games, Bailey loved video games. I saw a way to make her happy, and ease my well-meaning but very misplaced guilty conscience.

"Religious guilt at your service!"

Copyright Disney 1940

For the rest of the summer until school started, I went over to Bailey's house for a few hours nearly every day and played on her SNES with her. She was sweet and spunky and if we'd been in the same grade, we probably would have been really good friends. While I don't remember what we talked about every day, I do remember the look on her face when I would come over.  It was like I was pulling her out of a dark pit and she was seeing the sky for the first time.  She had hope, and it felt good. When I would leave, her mom would thank me profusely, and even tried to pay me a couple of times.  I wasn't doing it for money, and I told her so, but she insisted on giving me a few dollars every now and then. At first, my pilgrimage down to their house was like a self-inflicted penance, but I found that I really just liked having another girl to play video games with, and I know Bailey did too. What started out as an obligation to right some imagined wrong, ended up being a fun and memorable summer.

 

 After school started, I didn't see Bailey much anymore because she was still in elementary school and I had moved up to middle school with all the self-absorbed drama it entails.  Also, once she healed and could walk again, Bailey didn't need me to come over every day. She had friends her own age to pay with. As I struggled through 7th grade, and health issue of my own, a part of me longed to be back in Bailey's living room playing Super Tennis again. Her family moved away the year after that, so I didn't see Bailey again, but, I still remember the summer I got to make a little girl with a broken leg happy just by playing video games with her. Best guilt trip ever.



This is seriously the only reason why I understand how tennis works.