09/11/06

Game Requests!

Last year, this worked really well, so I'm doing it again.

If I get 20 or more suggestions for games to be played in the room this year, I will setup a permanent Super Smash Bros Melee station, running as long as we're open, all weekend long. No switching, no changes, all Smash, all The Time. Considering that game is my #1 request of all time, I think that's a pretty good deal. Here's the conditions:

1. The game you request must have a multiplayer function of some kind. We're not the "one person plays and 40 people watch him play" room. Honestly, my idea of hell is sitting there watching someone else play video games.

2. It should be for a relatively recent system. We're going to have our usual line-up of current consoles, but if I get enough requests for something, I may be persuaded to drag out some oldies. We're currently thinking really hard about a Classic Gaming Station, to show all your kiddies what you missed out on by being born so late.  

3. No duplicating requests. I need 20 different games on this page before I'll fulfill my end of the bargain. If you request something someone else asks for, I'm not going to count it. Ditto for requesting something 20 times. And don't include SSBM in your requests either, smartass.

I'll put all requests on the website. Please note that this is not a guarantee that you'll get the game you want, but I'll do everything in my power to get it for you, up to and including actually buying it for myself. So you'd better not request any games that suck.

1. Guilty Gear XX #Reload (working on XX Slash...but don't hold your breath)

2. HALO 2

3. Ratchet & Clank - Deadlocked

4. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

5. Burnout Revenge

6. Gradius V

7. Mortal Kombat Deception

8. Street Fighter Anthology

9. Pikmin 2

10. Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

11. Ikaruga

12. Star Wars Battlefront

13. King of Fighters Maximum Impact

14. Marvel vs Capcom 2

15. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence

16. Tekken 5

17.

18.

19.

20.

Come on! Don't you want it bad enough?

Regarding Dance Dance Revolution (or it's various clones)

Dance Dance Revolution will never be played again in my Video Game Room. Before you fire off a hate mail at me, read the rest of this article. I have not come to this decision lightly, and I'm not proud of going back on my word. However, the worst thing to happen during all of NDK 2003 was the Dance Dance Revolution people. Here’s the breakdown:

• The DDR people had the most complaints about the setup. Everyone had their own ideas about how it should be done, and I needed to go and change it just for them. Most people knew better than to whine to my face, but no one had a problem standing in line for DDR and complaining loudly enough that my doorstops got real tired of them by Friday night.

• The most flagrant rules violations came from DDR people. It was clearly posted before we opened: “Do not reach under tables. If there is a problem with a system, please get a Staff member.” Friday night we found the PS2 drug out from under the table and sitting open by the pads.

• It’s also clearly posted that you cannot have food in the VGR. All our doorstops were stopping people who tried to come in with food, so the DDR people started sneaking it in, presumably in their bags. How do we know they did this? They left their wrappers and empty bottles laying next to the pads, where they sat and ate while waiting their turn for the game. We found their garbage laying there when we closed for the night.

• The level of destruction wrought by the DDR people has set a new con record. The nice hard pads that were donated last year lasted 2 hours on Friday night, and then they were gone. The soft pads that we scrounged up lasted us through Saturday evening. Sunday morning, nothing we could do would make DJ Bullock's Playstation 2 work again. Presumably this was because of the handing of the disc and system that was expressly prohibited. That PS2 was later declared permanently broken, and had to be replaced by the convention. 

 This is a real dilemma for me, as I want to have popular games in the VGR. I want people coming in and getting excited and playing a lot – it’s why I’m here. I’ve got nothing against DDR, it looks like a lot of fun. It is the actions of the people who play it that have driven me to this, and me and my Staff are not willing to go through what we have to go through in order to have it in the room. Perhaps this is punishing everyone for the actions of a few poorly behaved people. I won't deny it. But I'm not going to change my mind. I’m sorry to have to go back on a promise I made last year, but I’m never having DDR or any game like it in my room ever again.