Video Game Glory

Ok... I fully recognize that (a) I need to post more and (b) this post will put some to sleep... but for my video game geek friends, this will stir glorious memories and make them think about their own video game exploits...

So, I was talking to a buddy today about the new Madden coming up. I'm genuinely excited about some features I read and how they are supposed to (have heard this before) fix some legacy issues that have driven us crazy... even to the point of hardly playing this year.

But, the conversation reminded me of some seriously fun times the last few years holding a controller...

Enjoy or stop now to save yourself a long read of dumb video game exploits...

1) What very well may go down as my favorite moment in gaming ever... a couple buddies and I were playing GRAW 2 (if you don't know what that means, you might as well move on to another site now.) We were basically having 10 minute death matches. We would snipe and hunt each other, looking for the ultimate in bragging rights. Well... the unwritten rule was that we didn't allow grenade launchers because they were too powerful in the setting we were playing and wanted to reward precision vs 'blast zone' luck. As I was setting up the next game, the other team we were playing against were across the street (playing online) and my partner told me to see if they'd notice me including launchers. So I do. And they don't. :) Next thing I know, the game is starting and we know the choke-point they will most likely come through. And... our strategic placement played out perfectly. We see them enter the area and just absolutely unload w/ the launchers, blowing them to where the sun doesn't even shine! All I hear in my microphone was one of the guys deadpan and indcredulously say, "Hey man... I thought there were no grenade launchers..." Oh, sorry. Guess I forgot to tell ya! :)

2) Same guy... we go over his place and play some NHL Hockey. He has a big projector and we are gathered around in bean bags and a chair. Well, he had been playing w/ the beloved Dallas Stars and run his record to 19-0. (Some of which we helped with, but he was undefeated before we joined in.) We played a few games co-op. He started making comments about going the whole season undefeated and yadda yadda yadda. Well, as we start game 20 on the schedule, just before the game starts, I swap teams. So it's me vs him and our other buddy. Well... thing is in hockey, if you are out of position, it's VERY difficult to play defense. The CPU always has their guys where they are generally supposed to be. People, on the other hand are magnetically attracted to that puck, even if it means abandoning your post. Well... long story short, the Stars started off 19-1. :)The bitterness and anger was so awesome. I think I heard blood vessels pop in his forehead on the way out. Giggle.

3) I've had lots of Madden fun. And back in '10, I would play online a lot against some friends. One guy in particular was worlds better than I expected him to be. I just never pictured him to be big into Madden, but he really was... and new what he was doing. While I've been playing Madden for years, that was really the first year I really played vs human opponents much. And it's WORLDS different than beating up on the CPU. Well... among all of us who played, just like any sport, it's all about matchups and styles. I was one of the better players, but struggled against some others who really weren't that good. They just did a few things I struggled with. Well...Chris was widely considered one of the top players, but for some reason he struggled against me more than anyone. If he won 80% of his games (or more) against the other guys, we would split our matchups 50/50... and everyone would be really close. I may have had the edge. He may have. Never really kept numerical track. Well... one 'playoff' game we had started off very poorly for me. He jumped on me 19-0 (or something close) in the first half. I'm clearly upset and I'm just spewing all sorts of 'woe is me' and 'this game is over, I'm done' as we kick off the 2nd half. I get the ball and score. I'm still playing Chicken Little as I slowly peck away, peck away, peck away. Eventually, I tie the score and we somehow head into overtime. If there's ONE player on my team he hated dealing with, it was Ray Lewis. Well... Chris gets the ball first and is slowly driving the field. He's around midfield and decides to throw a pass across the middle.... Oops. Ray Ray is sitting there, waiting on the ball. I intercept it and weave my way in and around his defenders, going in for the winning TD in overtime. Let me just say... there is no better sound than ".... .... .... (silence)... .... good game... ... ..."

4) Madden '11. To me, this is my all time favorite Madden... I played so many games and got REALLY good. My two buddies and I started a couple of online leagues to play and just have a good time. I don't know how many GAMES we played, against the CPU or each other, but we were all in the same division to ensure we'd play each other as much as possible. We'd spend Friday and/or Saturday nights (and nights during the week) playing. We'd pop on the headsets and talk. If we played each other, it got really funny. We would all whoop up on the CPU pretty handily. A 'tight' game may be something like 49-14. Most games, we would score 70+... and this as against the hardest setting. So, needless to say, the only competition came when we played each other. But, we'd still have headsets on while playing the CPU just so we could talk. Few things are funnier than listening to people gripe about how the CPU is screwing them over when you're winning 84-7. "Oh, yeah... like they're REALLLLLY going to catch that?!" Giggle. My favorite is when we'd play each other and one of the guys would gripe about his QB sucking. Uh, dude... you're controlling the QB... Good times.

5) I've got a book's worth of Madden moments... but the last video game moment I'll talk about is my first experience playing Rainbow Six Vegas. I went over my buddies' place and he's very good at shooters. I've gotten worlds better, but this was probably the 3rd time I'd ever really played one. Well... we are making it through the first level, which is actually pretty tough for me. Rainbow Six isn't the kind of game where you can just spray and pray, mowing people down and hoping to survive. You have to be fairly deliberate and strategic in your actions. Well... we make our way to the very end. We clear all enemies and reach our objective: Heading down a man-hole to an underground area. We died a few times along the way and had to restart... so, we probably spent close to an hour making it through this one mission. JUUUUUUST as he leads the way to to head down the ladder, I just as a simple question: "Is this the end of the mission?" Eric says, "Yes." Quick thinking like I am, I was wondering if friendly fire mattered in this game. So... as he mounts the ladder, I unload a clip into him. Yep. Friendly fire matters. We failed the mission. :)

I could talk forever about my video game exploits and this won't be the last gaming post I make. I'm 37 years old and have been playing video games since the Commodore VIC 20. I'll probably be playing on my death bed if they let me. The why's and all that may be a topic for another blog, but for now, if you've read this far.... congrats. You're a geek. Welcome to the club.