I admit that when I was young, I missed the gamer's meeting where it was called out that Final Fantasy games are awesome as hell. Due to this, Final Fantasy VIII was the first game of the series that I played. It was great and easily one of my favorites, but the personal connection I made with one of the characters of Final Fantasy X was something that was both unexpected and welcomed at the same time.



I am talking about Tidus. Not the Whiney Tidus from the beginning of the game. Not the Tidus that could barely get off his own home island until invited to be Yuna’s Guardian on her Summoning Pilgrimage. And DEFINITELY NOT THIS Tidus:



The Tidus I am talking about is from the end of the game. I’m talking about the accomplished Tidus that trounces all the monsters in his way, and comes to realize his place in the world, and in the story that is Final Fantasy X. For me, the defining moment is where he realizes that the only way to save his Love Yuna and the world, is to sacrifice himself, and he accepts it. When he is hugging Yuna as he fades away, I cried my baby eyes out in the same way I did when Simone died of heart failure on NYPD Blue. DON’T JUDGE ME!! =p



Here is the reason why this emotional connection was created:

Tidus and I made the same revelation at the same time. The story set me up for it well, and I fell right into it. I’m playing this game, thinking Tidus is an awkward loser (see video above), and then all of a sudden the story unfolds and Tidus simultaneously becomes resolved to his fate, welcomes it and charges head on to save the world. I realize what Tidus must do AS he does, and I instantly relate myself to him, put myself into his shoes. I become him, or rather, he becomes me, and therefore, he becomes REAL to me.

No worries, I’m not so obsessed that I would become Tidus THIS much:



I give the character a lot of credit here but I kinda feel like Tidus is real, in my mind anyways. It’s hard to explain. As Tidus spoke, I realized “I would make the same decision he just made.� If I could save the world, and more importantly, save my True Love by sacrificing myself, I would do it. Like Tidus I would try everything I could to get out of it, but once all avenues were exhausted, I would let it go and accept my fate.

That last paragraph is the crux of my connection, not necessarily because I truly believe that is how I would react. But, it is how I HOPE I would act if faced with that problem. Tidus, at that moment, IS the person I want to be. You always want to believe in yourself, that you would make the right call when faced with something horrible. Seeing Tidus do it, right in front of my eyes (I know….not real….whatever), gave me a sort of moral marker in my brain that I hope will guide me when I am faced with serious problems in the future. Will I remember to become Tidus? I believe that I will.

Dagerr
Proudly wearing my WWTD wristband

In this (final) attempt at Halo 2 Infamy, I display my skills to keep myself entertained without needing to have a team. Low maintenance!!

Keep in mind, I did this about 8 months ago, far before I started seeing all those CRAZY plasma grenade tricks in Halo 3, which I am of course insanely jealous of....

Enjoy, no camera tricks involved:



Now, I need to figure out some cool unique things to do in TF2....

Today I bring you my second attempt at Halo 2 infamy, lemme set you up the story:

My buddy called to me from the other side of the map, telling me to quickly get to him. So I grabbed up a nearby Ghost and punched it, jumping Dukes of Hazard style over an offramp. I don't remember the rest:



I love this video cause unless you go slowmo with it, it just looks like I disintegrate. I dunno though, being put into a low orbit can't be much better...

If any of ya'all want yer face eaten online in Halo, give me a call. I always play under the name Dagerr and I am normally Orange in color in FFA battles.

I submit my credentials below:



I ask you, DO YOU WANT A PIECE OF THAT?!?!?

Check out this flash game linked below, called Cursor*10:

http://www.nekogames.jp/mt/2008/01/cursor10.html

What a great game mechanic! It's amazing how some game, some very simple game, can reinvigorate your hopes in the gaming industry to produce quality innovative gameplay instead of rehashed copy-pasting.

I'm not going to say much, I believe the game speaks for itself. It's only a few minutes long, try it out. =)

WARNING: First Blog Entry Incoming:

I’m married to a non-gamer. I was warned to never mix religion in marriage, but I convinced myself that I could work through anything…

Well, for Christmas I gave my wife a Nintendo DS (the coolio LE pink rose one) with a copy of Brain Age 2 – something I thought would be taken at least as a nice gesture of inclusion, and would hopefully be a good start into full-on gaming obsession. She opened the DS, and I instantly could see the body language and speeches of someone that was trying very hard to be REALLY nice to someone that just gave you something you will never use (It’s the same pattern when Her grandfather gives us a HUGE box of Hickory Farms and Some Boxed Fruitcake that clearly is not meant for actual human consumption.)

Now, this wasn’t the only thing I gave her, it was sorta the kind of ‘side’ gift that I was just checking to see if she would like it, but man…. I was hoping that I found that magic bullet to convert someone with no gaming experience into a fledgling addict.

So, I’m fighting depression over my $150.00 gamble that didn’t pay off. Any of you guys have similar problems- What has worked for you in the past? What has critically failed?

Dagerr