[BLOG] A Brave New World…or What’s Left of It.
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Minnesota
A Brave New World…or What’s Left of It.
Written by: Phineas Delgado
Find him on: Twitter
Writer at: "How Science Fiction Failed Us"
Not many people know this, but December 6th is the Feast of Saint Nicholas. If you’re not Catholic you have no idea what I’m talking about, and if you aren’t of central or eastern European descent, you likely never knew the joy of waking up to presents a full three weeks before Christmas. It was sort of a “Christmas Lite†for us. We’d put out our stockings (or shoes for some people) and on the morning of the 6th, we’d wake to find them filled with candy and knick knacks. This year, though, my gift didn’t come until Midnight (and no semantics about it being the 7th as of midnight… none of us mentally clicks over like a watch… it was still the 6th, damn it).
I went to the GameStop at 11:00 to turn in some old used GameCube games and get my ticket to stand in line. The night air was particularly frigid, but thankfully, the nice gentlemen at the GameStop in Kenwood took pity and let us wait inside the store since the games would be passed out lottery style (because they had a door prize). My ticket was number 7, it said. Seven has never been a particularly lucky (or unlucky) number for me, so I stood among the rest and nervously chatted away the minutes until midnight. Of course, I forgot my cell phone, so I had no idea what time it really was, but I could hear people commenting as the night wore on. “Thirty minutes to go,†one would say. “Only fifteen, more minutes,†another chimed in. We all regaled how we had done the same thing twice in the past, but never under such hospitable conditions. WE also noted how few people were there. A symptom, it was agreed, of the available online purchase and download system. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to wait with my compatriots. My world is digital enough.
As we waited, two TV’s battled for my attention. One with the ever lovely face of Felicia Day as it played a recent episode of “The Guildâ€, the other with some sort of televised launch celebration. We watched and commented about previous expansions and how some people preferred the older cinematics to the newer ones, and so forth. One person mentioned that they had only played for a year, and never experienced things others of us held as fond memories. I related my experiences to a few awed faces and some knowing nods.
Finally the time was here. We formed a line (like responsible adults would) and began getting our prized packages and rushing home. The funniest part is that we all knew we wouldn’t be able to enjoy our news games for another three hours. I’m not sure how effective cursing a time zone is, but if it were, surely the Eastern Time Zone would have been a rather large toad by now. I got home, installed the game, and watched as the already familiar draconic face met me with its toothy grin. There was no way these old bones would be able to wait until 3 AM, so I slept.
And while I slept, someone, somewhere, hit level 85.
Read the rest of the article at CustomPCMAX.com
Written by: Phineas Delgado
Find him on: Twitter
Writer at: "How Science Fiction Failed Us"
Not many people know this, but December 6th is the Feast of Saint Nicholas. If you’re not Catholic you have no idea what I’m talking about, and if you aren’t of central or eastern European descent, you likely never knew the joy of waking up to presents a full three weeks before Christmas. It was sort of a “Christmas Lite†for us. We’d put out our stockings (or shoes for some people) and on the morning of the 6th, we’d wake to find them filled with candy and knick knacks. This year, though, my gift didn’t come until Midnight (and no semantics about it being the 7th as of midnight… none of us mentally clicks over like a watch… it was still the 6th, damn it).
I went to the GameStop at 11:00 to turn in some old used GameCube games and get my ticket to stand in line. The night air was particularly frigid, but thankfully, the nice gentlemen at the GameStop in Kenwood took pity and let us wait inside the store since the games would be passed out lottery style (because they had a door prize). My ticket was number 7, it said. Seven has never been a particularly lucky (or unlucky) number for me, so I stood among the rest and nervously chatted away the minutes until midnight. Of course, I forgot my cell phone, so I had no idea what time it really was, but I could hear people commenting as the night wore on. “Thirty minutes to go,†one would say. “Only fifteen, more minutes,†another chimed in. We all regaled how we had done the same thing twice in the past, but never under such hospitable conditions. WE also noted how few people were there. A symptom, it was agreed, of the available online purchase and download system. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to wait with my compatriots. My world is digital enough.
As we waited, two TV’s battled for my attention. One with the ever lovely face of Felicia Day as it played a recent episode of “The Guildâ€, the other with some sort of televised launch celebration. We watched and commented about previous expansions and how some people preferred the older cinematics to the newer ones, and so forth. One person mentioned that they had only played for a year, and never experienced things others of us held as fond memories. I related my experiences to a few awed faces and some knowing nods.
Finally the time was here. We formed a line (like responsible adults would) and began getting our prized packages and rushing home. The funniest part is that we all knew we wouldn’t be able to enjoy our news games for another three hours. I’m not sure how effective cursing a time zone is, but if it were, surely the Eastern Time Zone would have been a rather large toad by now. I got home, installed the game, and watched as the already familiar draconic face met me with its toothy grin. There was no way these old bones would be able to wait until 3 AM, so I slept.
And while I slept, someone, somewhere, hit level 85.
Read the rest of the article at CustomPCMAX.com
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