Thinking With Chime

PSN being down was definitely disappointing for me and that was before we found out exactly why it was down. I’m not going to go into the reasons why it was unavailable over chocolate egg weekend and for ages after, because there are a lot of people who have already done that. I’m just going to babble on about the reasons why I would have liked to go online. For a start, I wanted to play Portal 2 co-op. I’d finished the single player and wanted more. The whole reason I bought my copy for PS3 was so that I could play with my friend who’d bought it on Steam. I felt it was important with Portal 2 to choose a co-op partner and stick with them throughout the co-op campaign. There wouldn’t be a lot of fun in playing a level that your partner already knew the solution to. I chose this particular friend because he was the person I could see myself having the most fun with as we tried to figure out the puzzles without eventually beginning to hate each other… much. But aside from that, I just think that having Steam on my PS3 and the choice to cross-platform co-op is pretty cool.

I was also looking forward to the release of Chime Super Deluxe. I love Chime. I remember first hearing about it last year, and it being special because over half of the proceeds from each sale would be going to charity. As soon as I saw the trailer, I was intrigued and once downloaded, I fell in love with it almost instantly. I’ve probably played the XBLA version far too much and have attempted the Steam version, but that only served to remind me just how shite my laptop is as it runs frustratingly slowly on there. One day I will own a decent P.C. One day.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmLY-sI0-lw[/youtube]

Probably the best part of the Steam version. If only I could run it…

Part of the reason I love Chime so much is that I can get very satisfying scores on there; I am pretty sure that the reason I’m 35th or thereabouts on some of the XBLA leaderboards is that not enough people are playing Chime.  More people should be playing Chime. If you’re not playing Chime, you’ll never know if you can beat my scores. And if you don’t try, I’ve beaten you by default, and I get to make an annoying smug face.

The other thing I love about Chime is that it gives me a chance to think. Yes I’m having to put pieces in the right places to make them disappear and score points but there’s something special about the way Chime plays – it’s all very relaxing. It’s pretty, and bright, and the music is trancey. It reminds me of being younger and out in clubs, where I’d get so into the music that I’d ignore what my body was doing and my mind could freely wander and wonder.

It’s not often in day to day life that one gets to truly detach from the physical world and become immersed in thought, but Chime allows me get very close to that feeling. I hadn’t even realised ’til recently how often I simply switch off and just think while playing it. From the weekly shopping list to life and the universe, there’s no telling what could run through my mind as I try to beat my high scores. Five tracks that accompany five levels have kept me happy for over a year, with me maybe playing a few hours once every couple of weeks. With Super Deluxe bringing five new tracks and a four-player versus mode, when PSN gets sorted, I think I’ll be busy for quite a while.