3142: We Got The Beat
My experience with the drums [note I am picking at a new avatar, but getting the best frames @ most optimal filesize is hard] is that the range in which a hit counts as a hit is irritatingly small and such that my hammering gets much harder as a result, which makes my wrists hurt from the pounding. I can't figure out what's supposed to be the correct video/audio synchronization, or if it's even that instead of--say--a bad drum kit, so I'm not getting any particular amount of progress due to all of these factors combined.
It's aggravating in Lode Runner as well, because the analogue and d-pads both seem to NOT consistently register which way I want to go: Say, up and *slightly* to the left registers as left. The problem is I really have no tactile way to tell with the analogue stick whether I'm drifting into a diagonal, much like the lack of tactile feedback when using an iPod touch, and the d-pad not only has VERY sensitive directionals, it's also annoyingly uncomfortable to use for too long. I've lost so many rounds due to this imprecision + requiring split-second reflexes that it's very very very hard not to succumb to the archetypal image of a gamer throwing a controller across the room after a bad run. At least I'm already hitting the drums--what's a little more abuse ¬_¬
I know the argument goes around that rhythm games are pointless--why play DDR when you can just dance?--but ALL games are pointless--why play Halo when you can join the damned army? [or play Airsoft, if you're not patriotic] The thing is that meeting someone else's challenge is an ego boost, while screwing around is kind of... whatever. Challenges make life interesting. Games are fun because they have an interesting catch that make us want to do our best, to come out on top. Beating things with wooden sticks just adds to the appeal.
It's just that--as with all things--when something doesn't behave the way it should, it's hard not to blow up over it.
We headed up to PA again for the usual BBQ fare and watched the last two episodes of X-Files S4 [and I'm perplexed how I remember how Mulder came back, because it's hard for me to remember any episodes in any depth besides "D.P.O."], but no particular gaming occured--though I went through Thomas's Apples to Apples crate + expansion crate. [On that, I'm annoyed that they had "Calvin & Hobbs" as a cardARGH XO SPELLCHECK PEAS]
...work tomorrow? Really? =p Just when I got used to not working again... *bother*
It's aggravating in Lode Runner as well, because the analogue and d-pads both seem to NOT consistently register which way I want to go: Say, up and *slightly* to the left registers as left. The problem is I really have no tactile way to tell with the analogue stick whether I'm drifting into a diagonal, much like the lack of tactile feedback when using an iPod touch, and the d-pad not only has VERY sensitive directionals, it's also annoyingly uncomfortable to use for too long. I've lost so many rounds due to this imprecision + requiring split-second reflexes that it's very very very hard not to succumb to the archetypal image of a gamer throwing a controller across the room after a bad run. At least I'm already hitting the drums--what's a little more abuse ¬_¬
I know the argument goes around that rhythm games are pointless--why play DDR when you can just dance?--but ALL games are pointless--why play Halo when you can join the damned army? [or play Airsoft, if you're not patriotic] The thing is that meeting someone else's challenge is an ego boost, while screwing around is kind of... whatever. Challenges make life interesting. Games are fun because they have an interesting catch that make us want to do our best, to come out on top. Beating things with wooden sticks just adds to the appeal.
It's just that--as with all things--when something doesn't behave the way it should, it's hard not to blow up over it.
We headed up to PA again for the usual BBQ fare and watched the last two episodes of X-Files S4 [and I'm perplexed how I remember how Mulder came back, because it's hard for me to remember any episodes in any depth besides "D.P.O."], but no particular gaming occured--though I went through Thomas's Apples to Apples crate + expansion crate. [On that, I'm annoyed that they had "Calvin & Hobbs" as a cardARGH XO SPELLCHECK PEAS]
...work tomorrow? Really? =p Just when I got used to not working again... *bother*