sgGamers

Singapore just played against Japan. How I wished it was videogames they played, but no - soccer it was. And we lost 2 to 1, which is pretty good, according to soccer enthusiasts (I still can’t grasp the concept of ‘Offside’).

The match was played at the Jalan Besar stadium. Thousands bought tickets, Singaporean and Japanese alike. Thousands more watched the live telecast on TV. Yet thousands more would have caught the prestigious event live, if the National Stadium was not booked for the night.

I was in the lurch, for I do not understand the beauty of watching 22 sweat-suffused men chase after a ball as if it was their girlfriend, when there were tons of curvacious ladies who would gleefully giggle if they could score a date with these men.

Instead, I spent my evening playing Rez (PS2) while a bunch of soccer fans swat flies in Jalan Besar. Nobody was around sharing a bag of slightly pee-flavoured (someone probably doesn’t wash his hands) peanuts with me. Nobody pulled my shirt up and over my head when I defeated one boss after another.

Gaming is not a solitary hobby. If anything, some of our foreign counterparts in Japan, Korea and America can prove that. Even a game like Rez doesn’t necessarily warrant a solo play session. And that’s only the tip of the ice berg. There are the 16-player LAN Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Halo, or Crimson Skies gaming fests. There are the 4-player Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Mario Party, and Everquest: Champions of Norrath sessions. Then there are the online addictions - you know what they are.

Bottomline: gaming is just not as hot in Singapore as it should be.

Need more proof? I don’t think you do, but hey, I’ve got something ridiculous on hand and I’m not going to hold back.
Continue reading ‘You Know Your Hobby Isn’t Popular If..’

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There’s a curse going on, I tell ya! There’s a curse behind it all! *throws a look at Joachim, who is totally innocent*

‘History repeats itself.’ - a saying that applies to me so very relevantly.

November of 02, I had had my GameCube for 3 months, and was eagerly anticipating Phantasy Star Online Episodes 1&2. The Japanese version was released a month earlier, but I would need to mod my GameCube, and buy a separate memory card (note for GameCube idiots: US game saves cannot be mixed with Japanese game saves. Not sure about EU game saves, which nobody cares about. :P) if I were to play that version. No, I wanted my GameCube to be a virgin. I was going to hold on longer, and when I hold the game in my hands, I would savour it like a famished beggar would to a fresh piece of bread.

But it was not to be. The US game never reached the sunny shores of Singapore soon enough. November was gone, and December came. Day after day I called my favourite retailer, along with all other reputable game retailers, hoping that the wait would finally be over. My friends and I had already planned our PSO itinery a whole six months ago.

We were all eventually disappointed, for in late December, I had decided to sell away my small collection of GameCube merchandise. I was determined to quit gaming, and that was the first Neil Armstrong step I would take. The US version of said game eventually fell into my fellow GameCube enthusiasts in mid-January.

A weak-minded person I have always been. Hence it was no surprise that I bought my second GameCube in March, 3 months after I dipped my hands into the golden tub. My former passion for the purple machine soon returned, only this time, the machine was platinum.

But not all of my passion came back. In particular, Phantasy Star Online Episode 1&2 no longer meant anything to me by then. It was ‘O’ level year, and nobody would have the time to role-play, much less role-play together in a multiplayer title such as thee. Or so we thought..
Continue reading ‘My Ill Fate with Phantasy Star Online’

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