I wonder if anyone understands how much the release of HL 2 means to me. I wonder if anyone can understand how emotional I get just seeing the concept art. The first Half-Life defined more than a year of my life, the way decades have defined phases for previous generations. Half-Life was my favourite game of all time, not even second to Chrono Trigger. It was an experience, a journey, not just a game, and the sequel is being released tomorrow.

I formatted my machine yesterday (something I haven’t done in over a year, even though I used to every quarter before the release of XP), to clean up my system in preparation. I’m hoping I’ll be able to run it on a decent graphics setting; my video card is a little dated now, but it’s still a DirectX 9 generation ATI Radeon.

I can’t wait. The entire idea that something I’ve been waiting more than four years for will be released tomorrow hasn’t quite set in my head yet.

I was on gaming hiatus for a few months (my longest yet), but now I’m back into the old swing of things with Soul Calibur 2. I didn’t play much of it before because I didn’t know anyone else who played it, but Aaron and Jessie have been addicted since the beginning of the month. Now I actually feel like I can invest some time into training a character and learning their fighting dynamics. The game is so deep and involved that I can practice for weeks and weeks and still be considered a beginner. I mean, Virtual Fighter 4 had a pretty involved system, but SC2 extends past the “basic” guard>attack>throw>guard with added sidestep>vertical attack>horizontal attack>sidestep, and mid-guard>high/mid attack and low-guard>low/high attack, not to mention the options that open up with soul charging and unblockables.

The problem is that SC2 has so many cool characters that I want to use. There’s something about using a character that matches the personality. It’s like a projection of the self in a fantasy world. Whenever I do RPGs, I usually create a character that’s like me (although with height modifier +6 when the option is there). That’s why I never use the “evil” characters in fighting games.

I started SC2 with Kilik since he had the most recognizable traditional Shaolin fighting style (my favourite), although Xianghua’s and Yunsung’s moves have fairly obvious Chinese roots as well. Kilik ended up being too boring for me (no personality, predictable moves), so I switched to Yoshimitsu, cause he’s really cool and sneaky, but his moves ended up being too awkward. I realize that this is how Yoshimitsu is supposed to be played (with off-timing balance), but the character didn’t click for me.

Right now I’m using Raphael, who happens to be the most interesting character move-wise, but also the biggest pansy out of all of them. He can go in and out of stances easily, with several attacking options in each stance, making him an offensive, but difficult-to-master, character. He has amazingly variable combos, and in between hits, his foil guard-impacts, just like a fencer. He’s unlike any other character in the game, and I have to applaud Namco for coming up with the idea and making him so realistic.

My nerdyness is coming back. The same nerdyness that used to say, “Why make out with you when I could be playing a game?”.

On a side note, I’m also back into big breakfasts with bacon, sausages, and milk tea on the weekends. My arteries hate them, but I forgive them and love them all the same.

I had the chance to hang out with Sonas on Wednesday night. He brought over some wine and cigars just as a chance to relax. He graduated last month and is looking for a job before he looks for a law school. The thing is, he’s not tied down by anything at all. His girlfriend is in Seattle, finished her studies and working as a pharmacist, but he has no plans on moving there. He’s perfectly fine with moving back home, out west, or even overseas to find a job. I have to admire that kind of freedom, especially since he’s in a relationship. There’s a trust there that really goes beyond most of the other relationships that I know. We ended up ordering in and hanging out on the balcony. I can’t relate to him very well because I don’t know much about him, but I can definitely say that he’s an easy person for me to talk to, which is a rarity in itself.

Yesterday I had the chance to hang out with Pat, and just kick back with some Soul Calibur II. We were pretty evenly matched, although I had the upper hand because I actually own the game and have a steady character. We’d really learn each others moves, so it ended up being a game of reflexes and feints, instead of button mashing like it is against most people. He’s the only person I know who used to be a hardcore gamer the way I used to be, so it was great to be able to talk about fighter styles and relate on that level.

I’m generally not a superstitious person but I have this one superstition when I’m listening to my iPod. I always have my songs on random, and if two songs ever play in a row that were meant to be played in a row (i.e. in order on an album or if the second song develops the motifs from the first) then I think I’ll have a good day.

I think it started when I used to play ladder matches in WC3 with Jacky. She always listened to music when she was playing, so she had her 8000 songs queued up. If Sigur Rós ever came up, she would know that we’d win. I don’t think she was ever wrong.

I can’t study without rewards. This may possibly be the fault of my parents, telling me from an early age that I’d earn something for every spelling test I got perfect. I told some of my classmates at the time, who would earn nothing but the paltry praise of their parents, and they rather precociously told me that such a system was unhealthy. Of course, I was too young to understand such things at the time, and now I find myself unable to be motivated to study without thinking that I’ll get to do something fun as a break.

I’ve been trying to study for my accounting mid-term all week, and couldn’t actually get started until I knew that there was something entertaining I could do. At first it was playing Chrono Cross, but my emulator was just too buggy. Then it was trying to make a new background, but it ended up being too much thinking for a break. I moved onto Uru, and I’ve been playing it ever since. I have to admit that there are worlds that completely take my breath away. It’s one of the few games that really make me appreciate a high-end GPU. I wish I could be playing with Trolley, but I rather like being able to solve the puzzles by myself. I’m always, always, ALWAYS the slowest one in figuring things out, and never the one who gets the answer if I’m playing in a group.