Saturday, March 05, 2005

I had a SuperNerd Friday

It dawned on me this morning that going a day or two without reading blogs means a LOT of reading to catch up on. I can’t think of a more pleasant problem, and have enjoyed my morning thus far doing just that, catching up.

A bit of nerd history for you. I was 9 (or was it 10?) years old, and after much saving and hoarding, I finally acquired a NES. It was a banner day for me, more so being a socially rejected super-nerd growing up in an oppressively religious environment. Somehow I conned my parents into letting me put the spare TV in my bedroom, and then (unbeknownst to them, of course), proceeded to play Super Mario Bros., Pro Wrestling, and Mike Tysons PunchOut! for nearly 72 hours straight (minus meals and bathroom breaks, of course). In my lifetime it was/is the longest gaming binge EVER, where my nerdiness actually worked to my advantage for once. When asked how I managed to get away with that, my parents said, “We thought you were holed up in your room reading something.” I have never been able to stay awake that long since, even with illicit help.

My reason for not reading any postings yesterday? Fight Night: Round Two. For those who don’t know this is an Xbox game, and while I’m normally a tried and true PC gamer, the console certainly does fit the bill at times, especially now that I can play in full 55” widescreen loveliness with surround sound. My passion for video games isn’t what it once was, but on occasion you can still find me putting in a 10 to 15 hour session if I can when I get a hold of a good PC game, the most recent being Half-Life 2. It is truly a rare occasion when I do something similar with a console game.

I spent about 8 straight hours yesterday landing haymakers and inflicting all sorts of Rocky-esque shit on my virtual opponents. If you are a boxing fan and you like video games even a little bit, you should get this game (it’s available for all the consoles). Everything about it is a huge improvement over the first (which wasn’t bad), and nothing says fun quite like seeing a slow-mo replay from different angles of your opponents face getting mangled (with attendant impact blood and sweat) from a great knockdown punch.

Only one complaint: This game BEGS for a custom soundtrack option, as hearing the same selection of rap songs OVER and OVER gets very tiring. You can turn down the music portion, so it’s not a huge deal, though.

As I sit here this morning with sore thumbs and a bit of a headache from staring unblinking at the television for so long, I can’t help but be a bit wistful where my childhood videogame days are concerned. Damn, those were the days.