That was interesting

Monday, June 23, 2003 » gaming update

In the last several days: around 24 non-consecutive hours of downtime, site deletion for unnanounced server maintenance, password changes, etc. Translation: I am definitely getting a new host.

In the last 12 hours: So we went to check out this place in Sunnyvale that offers LAN-style gaming. It was actually a pretty impressive setup, with a large room full of speedy PCs running all the popular multiplayer games, and then even a few side rooms with PS2s and Xboxes running party classics like Halo and, uh, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, and... Vice City? OK. They also had Centipede. Anyway. The first couple hours consisted of WarCraft III, and then I split off from the group to try out Battlefield 1942 and Unreal Tournament 2003 for a bit, since I had never played them before. After the rest of the group finished with WarCraft, there was some group Battlefield 1942. I did not know that we would end up staying there until 5 AM. After that, we drove around, fruitlessly looking for places still/already serving food until it became 6 AM and we ended up stopping for bagels. Now I am back here and ARGGGHHHHH it is so light outside.

By this point, I'm waiting for WWDC 2003 to begin and getting ready to madly refresh Apple's site. Then I think I will go to sleep.

Also, I made a new NES wallpaper for all the NES purists. I just realized that the A and B buttons are HORRIBLY MISALIGNED, but I don't really feel like fixing it right now. Huuuurrrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

And finally, Gradius Galaxies is fun. I feel confident in saying that it is what Gradius IV should have been. The graphics are nice and 2D. The music, while not so fantastic synth-wise, is definitely very Gradius-y and sounds like some of the old Gradius 1 and 2 songs at certain points. The difficulty is down a bit from Gradius IV (good), and I like the destructible section of the glass level, although it's a bit short-lived. If only I didn't have to play it on such a dark, tiny screen. Oh, for some reason I really like how there's a different color for each ship configuration. It feels sort of NES-y somehow, and I like that. And the new thrust laser, ooo.

Time to read Apple news and zzzzzz.