Now there’s millions and millions of usernames in this world. You see them all the time especially in online gaming and forums and there’s always some you remember more than others. Probably from regular appearances, the type of interaction, perhaps even making you laugh or angry. Or even the names themselves can be memorable, creative names, normal names, offensive to just being made up of numbers. What goes on in someone’s mind during the time that they’re creating their profile?

I’m sure that we’ve all gone through a few names before settling to what we go by today. I’ve realised that my previous usernames, are almost like chapters of my life as a gamer. Each of which bring back particular gaming memories:

KungFuMissy – A name I often used offline and on save files. At the time I was heavily watching World Cinema and Hollywood movies that featured martial arts. Obvious right? Pretty cute when I recall this name being used for my alter-ego when creating female fighters in Def Jam Vendetta (PS2), WWF Smackdown 2: Know Your Role (PS1), Shaolin (PS1) and others.

Kikassgal – To put simply, I couldn’t fit ‘KungFuMissy’ when creating a username for Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 (damn Westwood!). So it was shortened to ‘Kikassgal’. I guess I was demanding to express being a violent lady of the warring world, ocassionaly spamming the F12 taunt key as well and getting told off for it by friends through XFire.

RazmatazzShaz – When I used to walk to school with a friend, we’d always stop by the local ‘Spar’ shop around the corner and buy sweets. There was a fizzy sour sweet called ‘Razmatazz’ (which tasted awful) and hence I placed a rhyming name ‘RazmatazzShaz’. Although it was goddamn confusing everytime I needed to spell this out for exchanging gamer handle contacts over speech. ‘No it’s two Z’s at the end of Razmatazz’… also I soon felt that the name was too long to pronounce over and over.

It’s kind of funny how some of us do call others by their gamer names instead of their real names. Or even to think of how a name can have an influence on them. In my early days of Xbox 360 gaming, my gamertag was born as ‘TinyShaz’. I met a new friend through Gears of War 1, who also had ‘T1ny’ as part of their username. So when two tinys entered the room, naturally they paired up and there was no end to the banter and laughter of the duo. There are some who actually call me ‘Tiny’ instead of ‘Shaz’ and to be honest, I’ve gotten so used to it online that it still works to grab my attention in the real world.

I feel there’s something to the names and I’ve heard many stories about them. Although the usernames are intended for the virtual environment, they have cropped up in our daily lives. However there’s a sudden disconnection or feeling a little lost when suddenly I log in to an account and lots of people change their names.

A name that brings memories, nobody forgets the tiny one!

I finally settled with my perfect gamer handle, ‘TinyShaz’. The name is short and simple, plus this sums me up as a person too. (It’s no joke, I seriously created that name putting my height and nickname together!)

Luckily this name is not often thought of by other online users, (as vain as it was) I proved this to myself through a quick Google search. The internet search engine then displays a chuck load of evidence showing where I had been taking my username; appearing under Ready Up, other gaming media websites, forums and profiles, etc. Having gotten used to being able to create accounts and be the original keeper of this name on most places I’ve gone to, I’ve become so attached to this name, I would flinch or feel somewhat envious if I came face to face with another who shares the name or if I couldn’t create an account with it. “Go get a different name, TinyShaz is my name!”

A friendly name which I abuse the power of its innocent sound online. Plus it suits me well don’t you think?

We invite you to come join us at one of London’s biggest arcade centres, featuring over four massive floors of bright, buzzing arcade machines. From retro to the new, from classics to the quirky, there’s plenty to suit our individual tastes. We’ve seen solo rivalries come face to face for a showdown, teams of gamers in fun competition, the talented players wowing the crowd and all in a friendly atmosphere with laughter to follow.

When we’ve finished running wild in the arcade, the location of central London means there’s plenty of places to grab a quick bite or to group up and chow down. Refuelling our energy leads us to pulling a Nintendo DS from our pockets to settle down for a friendly chat and easy-going session at the Horse and Groom pub (over 18s only) bringing two great communities, Ready Up and DS London, together.

DETAILS:

12pm – Meet the team, meet the community then meet the games at Funland, London Trocadero. We fight, we dance, we shoot, we drive, winning prizes and pride or losing with style and laughter. Food can be grabbed at the centre or from many of the shops and resturants located in and around the central area.

6pm – (Over 18s only, please bring your I.D) Joining DS London, we all sit down, relax with a casual session at The Horse and Groom. A drink in one hand and a Nintendo DS in the other, the evening is set for swapping stories, discussions and portable action along the way.

We hope to see you soon and we can’t wait for the day. So head on over to our discussion thread and let loose the excitement!

Eventually when all ideas have been exhausted it’s time to swallow your pride and log on to GameFaqs.com, or perhaps if you’ve got one of those BradyGames guide walkthrough beauties.

Here you shall find the answers about your game

Now this is where the dangerous bit kicks in. The moment you’ve resorted to a guide there’s this lingering temptation to just follow it straight afterwards, meaning that you now don’t bother figuring it out on your own. You just simply read along and do as it says (yes I know that’s its purpose) but this then spoils the game content when you know what to expect, changing the way you perceive the game. When this happens I pull out the term, ‘lazy gamer’.

Games tend to have built in guides, tutorials and hints (making me less bothered to read a manual) and I’ve started to realise that it’s turning me into a lazy gamer. Recently I’ve been playing Batman Arkham Asylum and admittedly I’ve been capering around seeing the world of Arkham Asylum only in detective mode. Detective mode highlights objects you can interact with and clues you in on what you have to do next. It’s a mode that you can switch on and off but it takes away seeing the true colours and graphics built around you (which is a stunning experience) if you’re using it. Unfortunately my lazy gamer would say, ‘I’ve had to use this visual mode for pretty much most of the time so why not be in it all the time for convenience?’

If the Tenchu games had this feature I'd be storming those GrandMaster Rankings!

When I was stuck on Obscure (PS2), I turned on the lazy gamer tactics. There are six playable characters with their unique abilities and the game often required finding and using items to progress. One of the characters, named Josh, had the ability to spot things in the room so after being stuck for a small time period; it wasn’t long after that I’d start abusing the powers of Josh. Running into every single room on the map location and just pressing the circle button waiting for two responses along the lines of, ‘There’s something in this room’ or ‘There’s nothing left for us here’. My horror game was no longer filled with silence and suspense, they were replaced by a character constantly rinsing and repeating these two sentences to the finish.

A different sense of laziness, while playing any of the Pheonix Wright series on the DS my thinking cap totally turned off after at least 10 minutes of being stuck. In short the game needed me to investigate various locations and speak to people to reveal clues and evidence for upcoming court cases. Now what you get is a still landscape background which you poke about with your stylus in particular areas to find things. However after you’ve taken twenty logical guesses where only half may have produced positive results, you’ll resort to a quick barrage of tapping with the stylus like a pneumatic drill all over the touch screen starting from left to right, top to bottom.

So the order is that if at first I don’t succeed, try, try, again. After a good portion of time while trying and I’m still trying, I’ll try by spoiling and abusing the game mechanics. Then if I’m still stuck I’ll log onto an online walkthrough and follow that to the end. Usually I get more satisfaction completing something by myself but nowadays I’ve become equally satisfied to just finish the game using a guide. I’m sure we’ve all been a lazy gamer at some stage.

The calm before the storm, September is coming and Byron Hall in London will see hundreds coming together (from UK and international) for Super Versus Battle 2009. Three full days of fighting extravaganza featuring tournaments in:

• Blazblue
• King of Fighters XII
• Guilty Gear XX Accent Core
• Capcom VS SNK 2
• Soul Calibur IV
• Street Fighter IV
• Street Fighter III 3rd Strike
• Street Fighter Alpha 3
• Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix

There’ll also be an exclusive hands-on preview of Tekken 6 the home version on Playstation 3. A chance for everyone to try out the game before it’s official release later this year. The game will also feature as a tournament.

So rewinding back, I’ll give you a catch up of my journey for the fight. I first discovered the UK fighting community scene at Battle of Destiny 2008 which gave me a new insight to the genre. Seeing the level of gameplay at the tournaments inspired me to further my gaming skills in fighting to competitive standards. From then on came the release of Street Fighter IV which put everyone back to the stepping stones, new ideas, tactics and tricks are still being learned today.

A lot of hours were spent online on Xbox Live playing against many fighters. All my friends grew accustomed to seeing me involved with Street Fighter in different ways, playing the gaming series (Xbox and PS2 house sessions, pound coins spent in arcades), watching youtube videos, looking through guides, discussions and constantly picking up new things.

After Stunfest in May, friends and experienced players of the UK community Zak Bennett (Former Evo Competitor and SFIV World Record Holder), Ryan Hart (Evo Champion and SFIV European Champion) along with many from Neo Empire helped me practice for tournament level fighting. Relocating myself to London where more players could be found locally, I continued playing and occasionally am found practising SFIV or Street Fighter III 3rd Strike in Casino (Goodge Street) or Trocadero (Piccadilly).

Below is a clip recorded of a match between myself (TinyShaz) and fellow UK competitor, Femy (F-Word) at Casino Arcade. We had both been wielding Ken and defining two different playstyles of the same character. My strengths lay in kara-throws and he was more capable in punishing combos.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So here comes Super Versus Battle where I’ll be jumping in for competition of SFIV, SF3 3rd Strike and Soul Calibur IV. Joining me is Ready Up’s Nick and he’ll be entering SFIV, SF3 3rd Strike and SF 2 HD Remix. Catching up with my fellow gamer and writer here’s what he had to say about his preparations and what he expects to achieve:

‘Ok well I’ve been training mainly on 2dFighter and LIVE for HDRemix and Third Strike. Then we have a small Irish scene on Boards.ie where I have been playing SFIV.

I skipped Third Strike in terms of gameplay so I’ve found the best way to play this is to go onto GGPO and 2DFighter as the standard there is quite high. For parry training I’ve been using an old copy of Street Fighter Anniversary for the Xbox. If I get a respectable level on the pool stages I’ll be quite happy! HDR is a little different. Xbox has been my main training for this but as there are some casuals hosted in Dublin twice a week, I get some decent games off guys based there.

Street Fighter IV though is my main game and I’ve pretty much hit all types of areas for training, research and general information. Boards.ie has started monthly tournaments as well so I’m hoping to get more experience against characters not so common on Xbox Live as there’s no known SFIV Arcade Machines in Dublin.’

Wishing the best of luck to the both of us, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing familiar and fresh faces to play with. The best part of it all is seeing the rallying support of the gaming scene to keep events like this happening.

• ‘Damn I forgot to eat!’ or
• ‘Woah when did the sun go down?’ or
• (sniff sniff) ‘Oh no the pizza is burning!’ or
• ‘Ack! I’m late for work…(true case and I’ve been late to work and university many times!)  and many more.

”Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted’ ~ John Lennon

In my personal experience I can recall being a victim to Final Fantasy VII and Eternal Sonata. RPG’s tend to be the classic example for really keeping me down in my seat. It’s pretty understandable though as they’re are in-depth games. I swear the ending cutscene to Final Fantasy IX was pretty much an hour.

However it’s not just the RPG’s that keep me at bay; you’ll be surprised at the amount of time I can spend on simpler games. Puzzle and arcade hi-scoring games have me going for endless hours, maybe reeling me in to the equivilent of the hour marathon playing of Burnout Paradise.

I’d like to call the two genres as my ’simple pleasures’. I like the fact that in contrast the designs to these as to RPG’s, ‘less is more’ and certainly these games are more than enough to keep me content.

Once a friend asked me how I could play these games over and over. What more was I enjoying in the reptition of the game which didn’t carry much of a plot. Putting my hands together I thought long and hard but in the end I couldn’t come up with an impressive worded answer. Instead I simply clapped my hands to say, ‘I don’t know, it’s just fun!’

He then questioned the story of Left 4 Dead, albeit he enjoyed the game but at the same time he was persistent to ask, ‘What started the zombie outbreak? Why are they there? who are these people?’ Which then I turned around to reply,’It’s just meant to be a mock of a generic zombie setting, why does there need to be an explanation or a background to who these people are?’ I couldn’t provide answers without having to make up my own fictional background to Left 4 Dead. So once more I put my hands together and said,’I don’t know, it’s just a great game!’

Lately I was introduced to Lumines and upon first try it had already become my gaming addiction. It has no story but it’s own magic entails the progressive music and the easy-going colour co-ordination puzzle gaming. Those two elements alone are more than enough to keep me happy.

Geometry Wars doesn’t have a story but it’s fast, exciting and blowing things up just gets addictive. The game makes me more rowdy as more of those neon shapes invade the play area while I steer my ship around and yell in excitement. Geometry Wars in particular has been the common cause for my late attendance at meetings or work. You wouldn’t think that but you don’t realise how many times you keep hitting restart and saying ‘well it’s only three minute rounds so it’ll be quick’.

So it’s not always the high end next gen graphics or the overloading plot that have to mark the criteria for a good game. Even I find more longevitiy and satisfaction from Lumines over Lost Odyssey. I wonder if you can say you have a virtual obsessive compulsive disorder from puzzle gaming though?

]]> http://ready-up.net/2009/08/02/simple-pleasures/feed/ 5 http://ready-up.net/2009/07/17/the-taste-of-video-games/ http://ready-up.net/2009/07/17/the-taste-of-video-games/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:00:46 +0000 Shaz http://ready-up.net/?p=9779 It’s those times when you spot a familiar face/item from the corner of your eye and suddenly our inner geek hearts just explode wildly. A sudden rush of excitement and you’ve become Phoenix Wright helplessly compelled to point your finger like crazy.

I know certain members of Ready Up go weak at the knees for gaming merchandise. Video game shrines of all sizes from book shelves to walls, computer desks to wardrobes, displays of rare gaming collectables, promotional items; there’s usually something geeky we’re holding onto in our homes.

Personally I’m a sucker for gamer apparel and cosplay. Sometimes it’s kind of surprising to see the lengths we go to for particular things, for example I actually sat down and waged a fierce mouse-clicking battle with someone over eBay for a Mirrors Edge bag… and I won, hehe.

Recently I was given a Street Fighter energy drink for my efforts in using Ken in Street Fighter IV, it just so happened to be a coincidence of the can! Unfortunately I can’t really say what it tastes like because I don’t really drink energy drinks. Looking at what’s in it, I’m more likely to expect sugar to just flow out of the can rather than carbonated liquid. Right now it hides away in my fridge but for once I’ve never felt quite so confused about what to do with it. At some point I’ll have to empty it as I keep envisioning it bursting out its fizzy content. Although it’s one hell of an awesome can there’s just a voice in the back of my head that says it’s going to end up in the bin. One reason is because at the end of the day, it’s a drink: the can is likely to get dented (accidentally or on purpose), it doesn’t have an outer packaging (which is the saviour of keeping things pristine) and so poor Ken is left unsociably inside a fridge.

Now I’d been aware of video game energy foods and drinks and so this made me a little curious to scope out what else is out there. I had seen glimpses of Street Fighter energy drinks being given out in America. However I didn’t realise just how far the aisle stretches for other brands too. Surprisingly the results were many:

Heaven for the candy kids but it’s quite a task if you really want to get a hold of these things. I know for certain ESC in Glasgow have Mana potions and I’ve seen Mario Kinder Eggs in ‘Artbox’ in Camden Markets, London. I’m guessing you may find some of this stuff at conventions but otherwise my guess is a Google and import job. Although I enjoy sweet confectionary, this is the kind of thing that those opposed to gaming would just love to point out because of their narrow beliefs in them causing obesity, lack of sociability, unhealthy habits, etc. However, I did also find the healthier options, with some amazing video game bento boxes:

So there’s a little taste of video games for you. Kudos to those who took time to make these fabulous lunch boxes but gosh these pictures are really making me hungry now!

However they’re not the only old dogs who return with new tricks, as days go by there’s an increase in more legendary video game heroes arising under new rendering fashions: we’ll always be wowed by the lushness of Lady Lara Croft, the surviving Snakes of Metal Gear Solid, the cocky-Dante of Devil May Cry, the vibrant cast of Street Fighter… such is the joy being a gamer that our accompanying characters grow and adapt in our modern lives.

Above all though, my first companions on the Playstation One could not have surprised more with a recent spotting. I felt like I had walked into a scenario of ‘This Is Your Life’, my nostalgic gamer heart popped like Pringles and I burst into shock and excitement. There was no mistake that I had spotted two familiar faces from the World of Phantomile, oh… my… god… it’s the return of Klonoa and Huepow and goddamn, how beautiful you’ve both become!

Click here to view the embedded video.

So that was a video of the introduction to Klonoa on the Wii, which personally brings me an overwhelming flood of memories. Yeah I bet your jaws dropped seeing the rebirth of a super-awesome classic PS1 title. Those who have never played Klonoa, I bid you to pick this up because trust me, as your fellow gamer here on Ready Up, I don’t want you to miss out on a great tale of friendship which is potent Disney in a video game form.

Seriously for my sake, while I’m unable to relive the game my smile widens to know that here lies an opportunity for everyone else to experience it. I want to reminisce once more about Klonoa and yet at the same time learn of the new things you’ll see and do in the Wii’s version of the world of Phantomile.

And while we’re on the topic of having the old favourites brought back to life, what would you love to see come back? I could label dozens but I’m going to break it down to three.

Firstly as if the entire globe wouldn’t throw their hands up for a return of Final Fantasy VII, god wasn’t that PS3 tech demo such a tease! I remember signing an online petition to beg for a remake. Though it’s not set to happen, if dreams came true that’ll be the day I go straight out for a PS3 machine whatever the circumstances.

Secondly a Gamecube title which I felt was underrated, PN03. The arcade shoot-em-up mixed with progressive trance tracks and the most fluid moving combat cyber-soldier, I would love to see the bopping, rhythmical and explosive return of Vanessa.

Lastly because I feel there hasn’t been any groundbreaking, innovative racing games lately, *sigh* I never did get my childhood dream of a Tyco Rebound remote control car but I did get the next best thing, Rollcage on the PS1. It was fast, it had weapons, it had four gigantic wheels and you could drive upside down!

Who knows, eh? Maybe somebody out there will hear my plea *hint hint lovely developers*

Remakes of these would soooo kick ass and you know I'm right!

The answer would always be the same, I’d tell them to just surprise me and unsurprisingly, my surprises come in the forms of video game gift cards or readily gift-packaged bathtime luxuries. Now it’s the thought that counts and these are wonderful things to have been given on my birthdays. Thanks to all who put towards the cost of my gaming passions and for telling me that for years I still smell and need a bath.

Today I finally came up with an answer to that yearly question:

‘Birthday Coins’

I’m happy to reveal that celebration of my date of birth is cheap and cheerful.

My heart lies within the haven of the bright, buzzing atmosphere of gaming arcades; there you’ll find me as happy as a kid in a candy store. The blipping noise, the crowds, running around in excitement over more than four floors of brimming arcade machines. It’s no wonder I fall weak in the knees and end up losing my voice at London’s Trocadero.

So all I ask for is a coin, a coin that rewards me with the greatest five to twenty minutes of gaming pleasure. In these moments I get psyched, putting my fists up to a ‘Street Fighter’, jumping on the spot ready to show some ‘Dance Dance Revolution’, preparing my hands for ‘Hyper Bishi Bashi’ motion or maybe found clambering around the wheel and trying to reach the acceleration pedal for OutRun 2. Whatever machine I’m on, there’s fun and hilarity to follow.

I choose the short bursts of joy in arcades over long investment gaming on home consoles. Why? Because I like the large peripheral toys, I may be older and wiser (cough) but I’m still a big kid inside who likes to climb trees and walls pretending I’m Faith of Mirrors Edge. If I ever win the lottery, Channel Beat will have a very happy customer. Having the presence of my friends over online gaming is fantastic, having them with me physically is even more fantastic where real life reactions and expressions are priceless.

I love a day out and I love a live atmosphere; hence you can expect something special will be happening later this year. It’s a little way away yet but when my day comes, I’m rocking the Troc!

I’ve yet to jump that fence and see how green the grass is there in the HD quality world. I haven’t really fussed over gaming visuals since I moved out of my original hometown, where I had access to a gaming PC; flicking all settings to high resolution, high details and the like.

While the XBox 360 and it’s games still do well to make my gaming heart explode with joy, there’s always going to be a few particular things that anger the beast inside of me; when games are clearly made for HDTV.

A frustrating situation when I often find myself sitting closer to my ‘normal’ TV squinting as my eyes, trying to guess by the shape of these thin, blurred in-game text. There are a few number of games that I truly wanted to enjoy but I couldn’t have pleasure without pain.

Dead Rising was the first title to curse me with this and for ages I’d have to look up a guide to find out what I was meant to be doing. It tends to be the text that causes the main problem and I still have troubles in my gaming leisures today. What upsets me the most to raise this issue is that recently I can’t enjoy my favourite game, Street Fighter IV, properly. Unfortunately, I can’t read the character command menu in training mode which infuriates me immensely.  I stumble across the name of a move I need to learn for part of an execution, combo or link up and so I need to refer to the command sheets but when I get there I can’t read what is what!

Believe me I look forward to my future with high definition but until then, give me some alternative to in-game guiding text so I can at least get by and progress. Or somebody get me a HDTV!

There are people who roar a lot about their winning streaks, there are some who don’t and there are others who rumour or talk of your wins to others. Whichever way it goes when you come face to face with whoever it may be, take it from me and remember ‘you win some, you lose some’. That’s all. Chances are you could probably win, maybe make a name for yourself for beating them and that’s when you prop yourself up thinking, “oh, you’re not that great then…”

A funny thing from my experience, when people lose to you in a game, they say, “If this was <insert a different game title to the one you are currently playing> then I’d easily be owning you”. Well it’s not is it? LOL.

My personality as a gamer is cheeky and everyone’s seen that in games, forums, Xbox Live parties and so on. So as Simes mentioned already I made rivalries in the 24 hour Burnout Paradise marathon and you’ve got to admit, it’s kind of humouring to have a toy car pulling up close to you with its high pitch revving trying to stare you out. There you go, that’s one of the many games that I’m not so great at but willing to keep going with because it’s fun.

So abilities, skill and reputation regardless, the thing I notice most about gamers is their attitude. Winning can be a dangerous pride and there’s a lot of players who can get so emotional about it. Is it really worth getting upset that after all your months of practice you get headshot by a fresh face? At times I lose at my own favourite games too, but if anything you learn from where you went wrong. Practice makes perfect and that to me, is where gamers of good reputation come from. Everyone has to start from somewhere because nobody was born a great!

So here at Ready Up, the writers and the community; you’re all winners to me, whether you’re good, whether you’re learning, whether you’re funny, whether you’re a crazy gamer, no matter your ‘reputation’ (as long as you’re not unpleasant) there’s a lot of good games, a bundle of laughs and support for your growth as a gamer.