I wrote this up in-between work for a 12-hour period. I am kind of worn out after writing it so I will get to the other half later. The second half is where I start to hallucinate and it gets weird… it will probably take me another week to get that one done.

Well I was just told that this would be the longest 12 hours of my life. I hope there is no one over my shoulder reading this. So I will begin this with where I am. There is a thing called an IMT (Incident Management Team) for the USCG where I have taken over the 12-hour shift for the Documentation Unit Yeomen. So this means that overall that I am ok… if you want to look at it like that. So I have 12 hours to kill and this is probably how I will be spending most of it. This will more than likely be a long story, I will try to tell it before my memory begins to blur.

Going back to Tuesday morning I remember wondering why I was going into work. The mayor had come on TV the night before to say that he is issuing a voluntary evacuation for the city of New Orleans. With the bright lights reflecting off of his shining baldhead he said that he will not issue a mandatory evacuation. He also did not feel confident enough that a cold front coming from the northwest would push off the storm enough to east to completely avoid New Orleans. At least this mayor did not look like an idiot on TV warning the city. A few years back the last mayor did something similar for a category 1 hurricane. He made it sound like the city was going to go for some crazy ride and that nothing would be left afterwards. This of course did not happen, but that is a different story.

Looking over my shoulder on channel 15 I am seeing footage of Pensacola. It really was a tragedy that hit even at those reaches of the storm. The rivers and waterways were flooded and the ports were thrashed by the storms. There has already been surveillance footage of looting during the hurricane reported into the news. You can see how choked up people are when they talk about their property and damage.

The drive to work was strange and it kind of sets up the rest of the day Tuesday. Were I to have evacuated with the few others who had at that time I would have hit some of the lightest traffic that the 90 bridge has seen since the last pre-hurricane. It was easy to get to work; I don’t think I have ever gotten there so quickly. I assume most were waiting for the rest of the family to wake up then head over towards Baton Rouge or elsewhere for the evacuation. I am glad for the little things that made the first half of the day easy, after the fact that is.

Right after getting into work I was greeted by my co-workers child. I have heard many stories about him but never met him before. I remembered hearing on the TV the night before that most schools were closed and Kerry (my co-worker) told me that her son’s day care was closed, but she still had to come into work. We both pretty much assumed the same thing: we are going to get cut loose to evacuate before too long. I was so confident that I did not even bring my lunch.

My wife was a bit upset about all this. It was inevitable that we were going to get the orders to evacuate. We live in the lowest point of Louisiana (possibly the US too being 9ft. below sea level), which is always the first to get evacuated. It is my understanding that shortly after I arrived at work the parish president (or the mayor, I am not sure who) ordered the mandatory evacuation of the parish. My wife was calling me about every 45 min to every hour after I got to work. Most of the time all I had to say was I was waiting for the admiral to give out the order and evacuate. At approximately 1100 the order was approved and I went home.

Going home traffic was even lighter than going to work. There were only a few times that I even saw another vehicle going in the same direction as me. The thing was that I was seeing looked exactly like a natural disaster movie. I wish that I had a video camera, as it would have made an excellent documentary. So instead of a documentary I offer up this non-fiction essay.

The traffic going out of the city was dense. There were very few areas with out bumper-to-bumper traffic, and those areas were mostly right after an intersection with a traffic light. This was all down LA 23 (Belle Chasse Highway). Once I entered Plaquemine Parish, police were directing traffic so there would be a smooth flow out of the city. Knowing that their job is not one they, more than likely, wanted to do I gave many of the officers a smile and a friendly wave as I passed. Surprisingly I got a wave and smile in return. I assumed they would want to evacuate with their friends and families and directing traffic would be the last thing they were “happy” to do.

I arrived home at approximately 1130. As some may know I live on a military base. It was quite creepy driving on base as I had never seen it as empty as it was. Aside from my neighbors there was only one other person I saw in the area. About 2 hours earlier the commander for the NAS (Naval Air Station) declared that the base was to be mandatory evacuated by 1800 on the envenoming of September 14th. So the base was empty because of it. I also knew that many units cut loose non-essential personnel the night before. In my little area of houses my neighbors and I were the only ones left.

The previous day my wife had packed up the house pretty much. All expensive items were moved upstairs and away from windows. All the upstairs items were moved away from windows, either into the hall, bathrooms, or closets. At night I disconnected all the rats nests of electrical cords. This includes mainly the audio receiver and the PC. The PC needed to be re-organized anyways, and I have been a bit lazy about that so it was nice to get it disconnected. I also boxed up the video game systems, which reminded me one of the reasons that I keep all the system boxes. It was nice to see all of the systems go back into their original boxes all the way back to the SNES.

After the house was pretty much hurricane “ready” it was time to pack up some evacuation items. My wife took care of most of this already during the day, but I had to pack some clothes and entertainment items for my self. Some things I grabbed incase we were not able to get back to out house – like more books than I can read – but I was reasonable in other areas because I knew space would be tight in the vehicle. My neighbors also took similar precautions to prepare for evacuation as well. So most things were taken care of the night before.

When it was time to go all we did was take the items that were charging (the 2-way radios and flashlight) and double check all the gear. I also had to do something that was tough for me – although I did not realize that it would be until about this time. I have two society finches, and they needed to be placed into the laundry room with enough food and water to hopefully last thought the weekend if needed. My wife had done this while I was at work, but I had to say goodbye and good luck.

I gave one of the radios to my neighbor while he went to the gas station. I wanted to test the radius of these as I had received them as “trash”. I assumed that the 1.5-mile distance to the gas station would be about as far as we would possibly get separated. He came in crystal clear over the radio when he was there. It was pretty fun messing around with silly call signs: “over – out” or “roger, roger!”

My wife got her turtle into his carry case (just a Tupperware container) and Bob (the pink bunny) into his carry case (a cat carry case). With them in their vehicles we got the dogs together and put them into the car. I really don’t think that the dogs had any idea what they were about to embark on so they were pretty excited to be in the vehicle. The sleeping bags that we had brought were placed into the foot well of the back seats and their beds were placed over the seats and the foot wells. So it was just like they had a back seat cushion and they were more comfortable than we were. Bob got to ride with the neighbors so I am sure he was comfortable in his little niche in their over packed minivan.

Then we were off. At approximately 1245 we departed with the initial destination of Lettsworth – a town that I pretty much pulled out of a hat, which was northwest out of the path of the hurricane’s projected route. After we got out of the NAS the traffic was light, or at least flowing well. The police officers that Plaquemine parish put up must have helped out. We first hit some major congestion on I-10.

When we got to the 90-bridge traffic was slow, but it was still moving occasionally. After you cross 90 is when you start to pick up vehicles getting on from the city and from uptown New Orleans. We were to stay on I-10 for 80 miles. At the one and a half hour point from getting on 90 we had just barely traveled 1 mile. The car had stalled out once by this point. I am still not sure why it stalled out that time. But at about 1630 (4:30pm) the electrical started to act up.

The car was running a bit hot at one point so I decided to turn off the AC. The temperature gauge surged up to almost in the red. It really sucks to sit in the sun in a black car that is not moving with no AC. I would estimate that about fifteen minutes later the CD player just shut off then came back up. I thought at first that it was just skipping, but then I looked down and saw that it was actually powering down then coming back up. I am not really too sure what happen, but then anything electrical shut down and the engine started to idle very quietly. I don’t know why, but I shut the car off to try to start it back up again.

No, it would not start back up. My heart started to race and I am sure that my eyes were darting back and forth between the dash, ignition, and stereo. I began to panic. After who knows how many attempts and a bit of cursing I radioed to my neighbors that the car had died. They pulled over to the side of the highway and then helped me push the vehicle over to the side of the road.

Now the connector for the battery has become loose before and made this problem happen. So the first thing that we tried was to adjust the connection. Then when that failed we attempted to bang on things with a wrench; like the solenoids and the battery. After a bit more cursing and panic Erin (my neighbor TC’s wife) started to pull things out of their minivan so that we can fit in there.

I started thinking that with adding the two dogs, a turtle, and two people; that the van would not possible have enough room to hold us all. I forcefully stated my opinion on this and there was some heated … argument going on for a while. Skipping back to the real problem, TC had thought that we initially might get a fix out of just getting a new battery. But would anything be open? We were luckily near an off ramp (the Tulane exit) that was flowing well and we could cut over and look for something.

After finally getting over into an outgoing lane that was when TC decided to mention that it is more than likely something that a new battery will not fix and there is probably a problem with the alternator. Well this started to make me nervous… as if I were not enough already. When we started going up and down the streets of New Orleans it was looking like no matter the problem of the vehicle nothing was open to fix it. Everything from Pep Boys to Shell Gas was closed. Luckily this rinky-dink little service station was open, “Mr. P”. I asked if they sold batteries for cars. The guy who I first talked to looked at me as thought I spoke another language. In his blue, oily, jumpsuit he told me it has been a hectic day and I have to keep track of him… “Ok”. He wanted to see the battery and I lead him across the street to where TC parked the car.

After briefly looking at the battery he told me to follow him inside. After we got in there an older black man with a dirty brown jumpsuit was referred to me. He slowly came over and asked what battery I needed. I told him the make and model of the vehicle and showed him the battery. Behind me there was a row of 6 batteries on a piece of wood on cinder blocks. I looked down and hoped that one of those would work, please let one of those work.

Now lets backtrack a bit. When I left to go find a battery place Sara was trying to find us another way to get out of the city. It was all looking pretty bleak. Our best option was a small BMW taking us to Baton Rouge. This was not really an option for us as we had the dogs, bunny, and turtle. She was also convinced that a new battery would not fix our problems with the car. So she was re-packing all of our, and our neighbor’s, luggage on the side of the road. She really thought it was possible to fit all of us into the minivan and get out of the city. I say that the minivan would have had to be practically empty to fit 6 people, 2 dogs, a cat (the neighbors), a bunny and a turtle in that thing. She must have been pretty upset and stressed about this by that time as well. I could tell with our communications over the 2-way radios. While I was getting the battery she was talking with TC on the radio getting updates of it.

So the older guy that was helping me with the battery figured that one of those six would work with the car. I was quite relieved, but still worried in general that it may be the alternator. The total came up to about $75. They did not accept credit cards so I had to run across the street to get out cash from an ATM. I then got the battery and returned to the car.

Now when we had to pull over we were heading west on I-10. When we pulled over bringing back a battery we had to face east. We pulled the new battery up to the car and placed it in. Unfortunately the connectors were not in the right spot so this made it difficult to fit into place, but it did. When I got in and tried to turn over the engine I was praying. It did turn over and I was so thankful. TC pulled the positive lead to the battery momentarily to make sure that the alternator was not a problem and I guess he found out there were no problems with the alternator. Overall from start to finish this whole thing only took about 30-40 min, but it seemed to take forever.

While out getting the battery I guess there were many people who pulled over to offer help to my wife Sara and Erin. There was even one guy who stopped while he was heading east. This really says a lot for a city that I pretty much despise and think that the majority would leave you to rot while dieing. The last guy to pull over and help, the one heading east, said that he just came from that direction and we should head there – going the wrong way I might add – to circumvent the lake before heading west. We listened to him and tuned the car off the road in the same manner that we had to get the battery so that we could head east. We caught up with the neighbors and turned onto 10 east towards Slidell.

Things went smoothly for a brief while, but we caught up with the traffic really quickly. The speed of traffic was a bit smoother here going at the brisk stride of 2 miles an hour. After we got over the river on I-10 east we decided that this speed was ridiculous. It was coming up at 6 pm and we had not even gotten out of the city yet. I was beginning to really feel trapped in the city as though it was trying to keep us in. Also after we got the new battery in we did not want to over use it, so we did not turn on the AC or radio especially considering that we were idling so much. No matter what route we took the city kept us from leaving. I said; we need to get off major roads and use as many side roads as possible to get to a safe area. I did not care if we were traveling at 5 mph the whole way, it was still quicker than 1 mile per hour and a half or 2 miles an hour.

At this point hunger was calling as well. We got off of 10 and decided to look for maps and anywhere that was open to eat. I want to say that I made the call to stay off of major highways, but I don’t recall for sure and don’t want to take too much credit. We had hoped to at least be out of New Orleans at this point in time so that we could sit down and re-plan our route. We ended up finding a Rallys that was open. It took us over 30 minutes from ordering until we got our food and by this time it was about 1930 (7:30PM). We had been on the road for 7 hours and were no where near our (normally) three and a half hour drive destination… hell we were not even out of New Orleans still.

Well we got 2 maps, 1 of New Orleans and the surrounding area and then one of Louisiana. We traveled many back roads and hit a few blocked off roads, but in under 30 min we had traveled more distance than the rest of the trip thus far. Mainly taking West Esplanade we made it all the way down to Power blvd where we headed south to see how Airline Hwy looked. It was about 5 miles further south than I-10 was. We had to pass an on-ramp to I-10 to get to Airline and it was backed up, extremely. To get on to I-10 heading north on Power Blvd I cannot imagine the wait time, but it was backed up a good 3 miles bumper-to-bumper with almost no movement.

While driving past all this we began to wonder how bad was Airline (Highway 61) because these people must have seen it and headed over to 10. Well we are not sure what happen, or why it happen, but 61 was not too congested. When we got to the New Orleans International Airport we had traveled about 5 miles and it only took about 30 or 40 minutes. This was true speed I tell you! Anyways, we stuck with it because it was a bit smoother than either route on I-10 were. Then we were coming up onto the onramp for I-10 and I decided to just stay on 61 and see it out, it could not be really any worse, only longer. Well no sooner than we passed the on-ramp to I-10 did traffic clear up, and I don’t mean going 20 mph. After one other light we were hitting cruising speeds of about 50 miles per hour. I never expected that.

Around 9pm we hit LaPlace or was it some other town. Nonetheless all of these towns that we hit in between Baton Rouge and New Orleans were alike this so I will cover them all in one fowl swoop or you would probably be bored … if you have even read this far.

Some towns would only have about 5 lights and it would take a little while to get through them, but other “larger” towns would have many lights. It would take anywhere from 30 min to over an hour just to get through one town. There were some towns where it was just one traffic light that had horrible timing holding every one up. There was another town where everyone was trying to get into a 24 hour McDonalds… well I can assume that much because traffic lightened up after that. But you could always tell which light was the last one: when the traffic was not backed up after it. In between towns we could usually hit the speed limit, which again I never expected, but it still took a long time to get around.

Let me backtrack again. When we left we knew that we had to get out, and that was about all. We were hoping to get out of the Baton Rouge area then pull over and find a Hotel. If not then we would keep trekking northwest until we found a campground and then stay there if no Hotels were found. We never really had a solid plan and I did not know that the neighbors really had no intention of camping. I knew, and had mentioned, that there were no availabilities though out most of LA and parts of TX, MS, and AL. So I was mentally prepared to tent if this turned out to be true. Knowing this I will tell the story from this point on from my perspective… as clouded as it may be.
~~–//\\–~~
As stated this is where it starts to get interesting. If you wondering about the “I will tell the story from this point on from my perspective” thing, I was telling it from a general consensus thing before. I start to get a bit upset at others at this point so they probably saw events differently.

I returned home Thurs. night. I want to thank all of those who responeded to my last entry. It ment alot to me.

Either tomorrow or monday expect an enormous post with the whole story.

Well, I am about to disconnect my PC. In case you have not looked at the news lately I am in the path of one of the strongest hurricanes in “modern” history… what ever the hell that is. So, you may not hear from me for a while.

If this thing hits dead on New Orleans I may have to start everything over. So I am praying. My first safety is of my family … my wife, 2 dogs, rabbit, turtle, and 2 finches. Unfortunatly the finches are going to have to fend for themselves. They will be left with ample food and water, but there is no room in the car for them. While this saddens me I am confident they will be fine.

All of my DVDs (all 400+ of them) are moved upstairs and put in the bathroom (a room with no windows). All of my game systems (all 10+ of them) were returned to their boxes and put in the upstairs closet on the highest shelf. My IIDX controller and Pop’n controller are also secured in high areas. My arcade cabinets are being disconnected… as you can see my priorities are a bit off from “normal” people.

I hope that I am taking all these precautions and that this misses completly and all I did was “waste” time. I hope that I complain about this later. It does not look that way.

Well I am off to pack clothes and unplug everything non-essential.

Shaper M.C. - out

well… shit. This damn huricane might hit here. Even if it is not a direct hit we should get really bad flooding none the less. I am going to head home tonight and take pictures of all my stuff for insurance purposes.

Wayne came over Saturday. Even though he kicked my ass at alot of stuff I still had a blast. Hopefully he will come over again sometime. I also learned that I suck ass at 5-Key beatmania…

Stupid huricane.

Cleared:

Power Folk 6 Hyper (29)
Fresh EX (30)
Techno Pop - 321 Stars Hyper (31)
Turban Hyper (33)
Hip Rock Hyper (34!)

@_@

Then I got in a bad mood and could not pass some of them again when I was on the wrong side of the border for Candy Pop - Candy <3… oh well.

Well I guess that my “gaming journalism” fell through again. The site has appeared to die and the artist “quit” and the owner “disapeared”. So with out further adeiu here are the articles I wrote for it. I will probably update my website with them when I get around to it. Oh well this weekend should be fun and get my mind off of my 5th faild job at this.

~~\\__–__//~~

A Gamer’s War:

While reading TIME, the August 9th issue, I ran across the mandatory “OMG! Doom 3, better than sliced bread” article. I am not horribly interested in playing Doom 3 (if you knew the specs on my PC you would understand). So, have no fear, this will not be the umpteenth Doom 3 article out there. No, something else about the article caught my eye:

“The hard core has become the mainstream. This isn’t a subculture, it’s a culture. A generation is defining itself through virtual combat, without the casualties or consequences of World War II and the Vietnam War.” Interesting. The quote is mainly in reference to Carmack’s creation of a virtual battlefield.

Are we, as gamers, marking time in our lives in reference to games? Sure I remember where I was the first time I played Donkey Kong in an arcade. I recall the bike rides I took to play Mortal Kombat. I know where I was when I first heard about Metroid Prime. But this is the same with any generation in parallel to other events or hobbies.

On the other hand, the time that I defeated “the flood” in “the library” of Halo is not some defining moment. Having not played Halo in over a year now it is even hazy to me. I know that there was many times my team succeeded in capturing all the strategic locations in Day of Defeat (Half-Life mod). Recalling more than a handful of humorous situations would be a struggle for me.

None of the events that happen on a virtual battlefield would be more than a bore story to someone who did not know the games. Most stories from World War II or Vietnam would appeal to the average person. Why? Because the outcome of these events effected not only the people involved, but also the country they were in, and the country they were representing.

“The Wizard” is probably the only videogamer drama (if you can call it that). The Last Starfighter and TRON don’t really count… possibly Wargames. Compare that to the hundreds of war films out there. But is there more interest for gamer drama? With movies like “Bang the Machine” (http://www.bangthemachine.com/) not even seeing the light of day you have to wonder if there really is.

Are there people who are extremely serious about the events that take place on a virtual battlefield? Absolutely, or there would not be tournaments featuring $100,000 in prizes. (http://www.thecpl.com/league/) But is there anyone convoluted enough to claim that these competitions are defining a generation? I hope not.

Do people really have this opinion of gamers? Does Joe Average think that there is a generation of people who are in such anticipation that we jump out of our chairs and shout with joy on release day? That we line up, as if being drafted, to pick up our copies of Half-Life 2? Perhaps my friend will find time to write me a letter and get it to the post during the down time of Shellshock: Nam ’67. It is frightening to think there are people who may have these thoughts.

I really don’t think that these things are defining a generation. Sure certain things are defining certain aspects of a generation, but I don’t think that this will be the last generation either. Are we experiencing combat with out “consequences”? I am sure there are a few schools that would not agree with that. I don’t really think we are experiencing anything close to what could be considered real combat, no matter how life-like the graphics or interactive it is.

So I shall return to watching CNN’s coverage of the “war” in Iraq. Who knows, perhaps I can define myself through real combat. This will always leave the question: will I be better off? I doubt it, but I might as well give it a try, I read it in mainstream media.

~~\\__–__//~~

Self Controlled Horror:

Enter the Survival Horror: coined by Capcom, but mastered by Konami, (and filled in-between with, well, filler) this Genera*1 began in 1996. By the sounds of it, the designers are inviting you to turn down the lights, brew some coffee and get ready for a good jump. This is what most people got and the reason why they return for more. Familiar settings with unfamiliar creatures lurking in the dark and powerful ammunitions ruled for a time. Then Konami decided to throw the genera for a loop.

During the middle of the day, in a sleepy resort town you’re looking for your daughter after a car crash. Right away the shifting and slanted camera angles set your nerves up. Blood covering the ally and a strange fog doesn’t help you in this situation either. Fighting for your life will shortly ensue and … well find out for yourself.

That is the magic of the genera, finding out for yourself. Back in late ’99, shortly after Halloween, my wife got Silent Hill. I watched through the entire thing as she solved riddles and tried to track down Harry’s daughter. I was not watching because of the graphics, the story, or the gore. I was watching for the simple reason that my wife was too scared to play alone.

Through my viewing of it I became enthralled with the mythology of Silent Hill, and concerned for the characters. Watching my wife jump would also provide the occasional comic relief. The atmosphere, music, and sounds were perfect for this type of game. The bizarrely twisting and turning story also fit the genera. But, I still never understood why she jumped. Was there a reason behind running into a room only to look around and run out to prepare? Why did she, when confronted with a creature, decided to turn and run before coming back to fight it?

When the fear was too great and one thing mounted upon the other she would turn the game off. Breathing fast, and a little jittery, she would ask if I wanted to watch TV or a movie. Did it really scare her that bad? It was just a game…

None of these answers can be found by the viewer. Even if you do get answers, they will not make sense. I continued this way for 3 games and about 4 years. I once, while trying to figure out these things for myself, asked why she keeps playing if they scare her so. She replied with something to the effect of, because they scare her so.

Still not in full understanding I decided to give the games a go myself after 3 had been released — and completed by my wife. Thinking that these games could not possibly startle, scare, or unnerve me I tried to help the game out a bit. I played at night, turned out the lights, and opened the windows a crack. Warming up the Playstation 1 I started in order, Silent Hill 1.

Looking back, helping the game was not really necessary. In this day and age of realistic graphics and lighting effects, I expected the blocky polygons of the Playstation 1 brethren to distract from the experience. Not the case at all. After about 30 minutes I understood why my wife wanted me in the room.

A strong breeze would kick up outside and make me jump out of my skin. The game had my nerves so wound up that, at any other time, I would have been ready for a real fistfight. White knuckled and teeth gritting, I would aim for the next area.

You could find your safe place and wait there if you wanted. You have a radio that tells you if anything is coming. The pace is self-controlled. I do not have to take too much in at once. The Hospital was the next place to go, I had no other clues. While heading there I wonder why it seems like the edges of the world have caved in. Where did all the residents go anyway? Oh no… my radio is picking up static again, but from which direction!

After I finished my first night in town I realized why my wife played these games, and why she was so damned jumpy.

The story in Silent Hill 2 was by far what made me an enormous fan of the series and the mythology surrounding the sleepy resort town. As James I search for my dead wife. Perhaps she would really be here… in Silent Hill.

Now James is one messed up individual, and it shows. Unfortunately I am not going to go into the psychology of James or the plot, but it has been done by others*2. The characters in this one really steal the show. They invite you to travel deeper and further into the surreal. The trip is a wonderful, if you can call it that, one to take.

By this time the town’s role is more prominent. Pulling and pushing at your nerves you try to get from one location to the next only to have Silent Hill throw in new perplexities. My nerves were just as on edge as with the first game, perhaps even more so. But this damn town, what the hell is wrong with it, and why does it call me.

The location takes up its largest role in Silent Hill 3 by summoning Heather back after she’d been gone so long. While 3 leans more toward the action department than previous installments, the scare factor is still there. If you’ve played it you probably have quite a few images burned into your memory. Need I mention rooms with large mirrors?

Silent Hill 3 one of the weakest Silent Hill experiences, at the same time it the most overboard. Pushing the limits of your sanity, you will try to tie up all the loose ends left dangling from Silent Hill 1. Even as said by the director, the level of ingenuity is quite low in this game. Not as much thought went into the creation of characters, creatures, and locale. Parts of town are still the same as they were for James (if you know the background you should understand this would not be the case). Still it does progress the mythologies and make things whole.

On September 7th, this year, the world will re-enter a gaming state of mind without comparison. We will be hit in one of our most secure places, our room. Were we to be trapped in our room would we go mad? I look forward to finding out the answer to this question in the not-too distant future with Konami’s release of Silent Hill 4: The Room.

When you prepare for your next visit to your favorite sleepy resort town there are a few things to remember and consider.

There are moments in all of these games where the fear is so intense that you will more than likely be physically shaken when your done with it. More than once did I pause to go outside, wander around, or just calm my nerves. Actual fear about… something. It’s not like you really die if you die in game.

The quickest way to get over a fear is disassociation. With your ties – or connection - to the character the sensory connection and control will extend into emotion. This emotion is potent and will grip you.

Total emersion through Virtual Reality is used in psychology. This is how powerful emotion can get through a “game”. Psychologists will even go a far as to say that better GFX/controllers/audio will better in aiding this “fear”.

The classifications of visual/kinesthetic/auditory are used in psychology to identify people. They will order these on how you process, identify, and learn information. These games are clearly geared towards visually predominant people. The better you can connect all these senses the higher your experience will be. So turn out the lights, crank up the volume, grab your controller, and enjoy the total experience.

*1: Prior to 1996 there were games released which could easily have fallen under the genera of survival horror. Alone in the Dark comes to mind as one.
*2: President Evil wrote an excellent plot guide: http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/game/30429.html

~~\\__–__//~~

I would enjoy any comments on these be it criticism or praise. I spent a fair ammount of time on them to just have them go to waste.

http://ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=13061

This is the most dispicable interview I have ever read. Scary too.

Bahh, not much else. I have a large event at work tomorrow and have to prepair for it. I also updated a few PNN scores…

Well I entered most of my PnM9 scores :( Yea, I need to work on score.

Anyways recent accomplishments:
Cossack [H]
Energy Rock [H]
Super Euro Long [H] (only because of a simple ending)
Trance - Colors [H] (finally fugging fell down!)

There were a few other songs that I came close to beating (only one or 2 bars off), but alas, nothing else. So my focus for a while will be score because I kind of suck.

Going through with my Pocket PC and copying down all my scores I realised that most songs I only played 1 - 3 times just enough to beat them. The songs that I scored decently on were ones with 5+ tries… Man I am lame.

I only got a little more than an hour to play Beatmania IIDX last night… still I managed to crank out a few more A’s and one new AA :D YAY!

Beautiful Days
Doigts De Fatima
Holic (Yay!)
Jelly Kiss
Romeo & Juliet
…
Comment Te Dire Adieu (close to the AAA)

Yea 6th Style… -_-;

I played a bit of IIDX last night. I got 6 new A’s and improved quite a few scores. I did not realise how much I have improved the last time I played. Now I see that I may not be able to beat anything new, but my ability to beat alot of the L7 stuff has improved. Like I said 6 new A’s:

Deadline
era(Nostalmix)
Love Again Tonight(this is close to a AA)
Ride on the Light (Hi Great Mix)
Still My Words (BORDER BONUS! OMG! >.>)
TenGoku No Kiss

Did I mention that I played 5th Style?
I know I can do better, but for only playing like twice in the past month or more, not bad.