I'm a bath man at heart. I used to have this utter hatred for taking showers, I think both because the showers I'd first experienced had water pressure to the point where it was like they were taking strips out of your flesh, and because I was deathly afraid of getting water in my eyes. Especially soapy water. But when I moved into my current living space, I was forced to adjust, as the bathroom features one very roomy shower and no bathtub of any kind. Even so, I never thought I'd look forward to a shower as much as the one I took when I got home today. Why was this shower so exciting? Because sometime after I left for work on Friday, the hot water cut out entirely (it had been intermittent for a couple of weeks, but it worked often enough that it wasn't a *huge* problem). And until I got home tonight, it had not come back on. Four fricking days without a shower. Eugh. And no, I couldn't just shower cold. Even if it didn't cause me to hyperventilate (not kidding, alas), the water in this case was absolutely freezing cold. I can barely wash my hands when the water's that cold, much less stand in it for ten minutes.
In other news, I've been catching up on my Myst games. The series and I go way back. My mother bought the first game as our first entertainment software for our brand-new Performa 6115CD. It was attractive and interesting, but I wasn't anywhere near old enough or patient enough to deal with its brain-hurting puzzles, and while I did finish it, it was only with the assistance of a strategy guide. (We didn't get internet access for another two or three years, and it was longer than that before I discovered real online hint sources like Gamefaqs. Actually, I'm not even sure when Gamefaqs started.) And I never visited the Selenitic Age, since access required solving a music puzzle that the guide didn't help with and I was completely unable to do. (I'm pretty tone-deaf.)
I made an abortive stab at Riven when that came out, using a friend's copy, but our poor computer wasn't fast enough to run it. A few years down the line I picked it up for myself, and while I could finally run it, I got essentially nowhere before giving up. The puzzles were even more obscure and the disc-swapping got really annoying, really fast.
So fast-forward a bit until Uru: Ages Beyond Myst comes out. I give that a shot, and I very much enjoy it. The puzzles still aren't really my speed, but with widespread internet help available, it's not so bad. But the game references not only the first three Myst games (IV and V weren't out yet, as I recall), but the Myst novels, which I'd never read, dismissing them as unlikely to be any good. So I decided that it was time to bone up on backstory. I picked up the Myst 10th Anniversary Collection (DVDs, yay!), replayed Myst, which was a little more doable this time, although I still didn't get most of the puzzles, and finally went through the Selenitic Age like you're meant to. I then tried to move on to Riven, but quickly lost interest again. I also checked out and read all three novels. They turn out to be rather excellent, actually. At least as far as game-inspired fiction goes.
And then, as always seems to happen, my enthusiasm faded and I moved on to other things. Until a week or so ago. I had subscribed to Gametap not long before, largely with the intent of playing the 4th episode of the new Sam and Max games. And while I was subscribed, I figured I'd check out the reincarnated Uru Live. And I must say - Uru was a pretty neat game offline, but adding people to it ups the neat factor considerably. I can see why people didn't want to pay $10 a month for it, though. There's just not really enough added and changed in a given month to support a monthly fee, and unlike traditional MMOs, you can experience the existing content in a relatively brief time, and then there's not a heck of a lot of replay value in the near future. On Gametap, though, it's a bargain.
And naturally, this triggered the urge to finish boning up on my backstory. This time I just went straight to Riven, walkthrough in hand, and plowed through it on Thursday. Very pretty, very atmospheric, neat story and worldbuilding. Fucking insanely obtuse puzzles. Argh. I never would have had the slightest chance of beating that game without walkthroughs. Yes, plural. Pictures were necessary, also intelligible instructions. No single walkthrough combined those features consistently. And then I watched the Making Of movie, and uninstalled the game, replacing it with Myst III: Exile. That one I'm still working on, but the 360 degree panning is much appreciated, and the game is much more approachable than either of the earlier Myst games. I've actually solved quite a few of the puzzles by myself and many of the others with only a few hints. Also, the ages are quite creative and interesting to explore. I was dubious about a non-Cyan-made Myst, but maybe it's actually better.
Of course, I ever have to have other things going. Various Gametap games, watching some early Doctor Who, reading various comics, that sort of thing. In particular, I am now working on reading through some Japanese horror comics I picked up back shortly after Christmas with a gift certificate received then. Dark Horse's cleaned up, original facing, better translated, and more complete rerelease of Junji Ito's "Tomie" and "Flesh-Colored Horror" stories, now labelled "Museum of Terror" volumes 1-3. I had the original releases from Comics One, and let me tell you, the new versions are well worth the purchase whether or not you own the originals. They're at least twice the size (several added chapters), the quality of the paper and the printing is far superior, and the translation is leaps and bounds better. I hadn't really noticed anything wrong with the original translation at the time, but set side by side...no question. Admittedly, it's a bit tricky reading right to left, as ever, but that's a small price to pay. And man, the stories are every bit as creepy and grotesque as I recall.
Also also: I believe I wrote earlier about how much I sucked at Guitar Hero II with the guitar controller. Well, I can't say as that's likely to change, but Gamefly delivered Guitar Hero (the first one) to me on Monday, and the controls for the regular PS2 controller make so much more sense and are way, way more me-friendly. I now get the magic of Guitar Hero, and I do believe that I may well wind up purchasing both games. Sans guitar controllers, thank you very much.
In other news, I've been catching up on my Myst games. The series and I go way back. My mother bought the first game as our first entertainment software for our brand-new Performa 6115CD. It was attractive and interesting, but I wasn't anywhere near old enough or patient enough to deal with its brain-hurting puzzles, and while I did finish it, it was only with the assistance of a strategy guide. (We didn't get internet access for another two or three years, and it was longer than that before I discovered real online hint sources like Gamefaqs. Actually, I'm not even sure when Gamefaqs started.) And I never visited the Selenitic Age, since access required solving a music puzzle that the guide didn't help with and I was completely unable to do. (I'm pretty tone-deaf.)
I made an abortive stab at Riven when that came out, using a friend's copy, but our poor computer wasn't fast enough to run it. A few years down the line I picked it up for myself, and while I could finally run it, I got essentially nowhere before giving up. The puzzles were even more obscure and the disc-swapping got really annoying, really fast.
So fast-forward a bit until Uru: Ages Beyond Myst comes out. I give that a shot, and I very much enjoy it. The puzzles still aren't really my speed, but with widespread internet help available, it's not so bad. But the game references not only the first three Myst games (IV and V weren't out yet, as I recall), but the Myst novels, which I'd never read, dismissing them as unlikely to be any good. So I decided that it was time to bone up on backstory. I picked up the Myst 10th Anniversary Collection (DVDs, yay!), replayed Myst, which was a little more doable this time, although I still didn't get most of the puzzles, and finally went through the Selenitic Age like you're meant to. I then tried to move on to Riven, but quickly lost interest again. I also checked out and read all three novels. They turn out to be rather excellent, actually. At least as far as game-inspired fiction goes.
And then, as always seems to happen, my enthusiasm faded and I moved on to other things. Until a week or so ago. I had subscribed to Gametap not long before, largely with the intent of playing the 4th episode of the new Sam and Max games. And while I was subscribed, I figured I'd check out the reincarnated Uru Live. And I must say - Uru was a pretty neat game offline, but adding people to it ups the neat factor considerably. I can see why people didn't want to pay $10 a month for it, though. There's just not really enough added and changed in a given month to support a monthly fee, and unlike traditional MMOs, you can experience the existing content in a relatively brief time, and then there's not a heck of a lot of replay value in the near future. On Gametap, though, it's a bargain.
And naturally, this triggered the urge to finish boning up on my backstory. This time I just went straight to Riven, walkthrough in hand, and plowed through it on Thursday. Very pretty, very atmospheric, neat story and worldbuilding. Fucking insanely obtuse puzzles. Argh. I never would have had the slightest chance of beating that game without walkthroughs. Yes, plural. Pictures were necessary, also intelligible instructions. No single walkthrough combined those features consistently. And then I watched the Making Of movie, and uninstalled the game, replacing it with Myst III: Exile. That one I'm still working on, but the 360 degree panning is much appreciated, and the game is much more approachable than either of the earlier Myst games. I've actually solved quite a few of the puzzles by myself and many of the others with only a few hints. Also, the ages are quite creative and interesting to explore. I was dubious about a non-Cyan-made Myst, but maybe it's actually better.
Of course, I ever have to have other things going. Various Gametap games, watching some early Doctor Who, reading various comics, that sort of thing. In particular, I am now working on reading through some Japanese horror comics I picked up back shortly after Christmas with a gift certificate received then. Dark Horse's cleaned up, original facing, better translated, and more complete rerelease of Junji Ito's "Tomie" and "Flesh-Colored Horror" stories, now labelled "Museum of Terror" volumes 1-3. I had the original releases from Comics One, and let me tell you, the new versions are well worth the purchase whether or not you own the originals. They're at least twice the size (several added chapters), the quality of the paper and the printing is far superior, and the translation is leaps and bounds better. I hadn't really noticed anything wrong with the original translation at the time, but set side by side...no question. Admittedly, it's a bit tricky reading right to left, as ever, but that's a small price to pay. And man, the stories are every bit as creepy and grotesque as I recall.
Also also: I believe I wrote earlier about how much I sucked at Guitar Hero II with the guitar controller. Well, I can't say as that's likely to change, but Gamefly delivered Guitar Hero (the first one) to me on Monday, and the controls for the regular PS2 controller make so much more sense and are way, way more me-friendly. I now get the magic of Guitar Hero, and I do believe that I may well wind up purchasing both games. Sans guitar controllers, thank you very much.