WA, Books, Videogames

On 07/09/2013 at 02:28 PM by transmet2033

I hate trying to start something when you have much to say, but no starting point...

So, I just got back from WA. One of my cousin's was getting married, and my wife and I decided to go to out. It was a glorious week long trip filled with spotty coverage and plenty of National Parks. We ended up at Mt Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Park. I will say that being older makes the national parks much more enjoyable than I remember as a kid. I hunted for the trails that seemed to be less traveled, and wanted the longer hikes. As a kid, I remember complaining about everything... this trail is too long, it is too hot, it smells weird. Nowadays, I love it. It was nice to take a break from life, but I am glad to be home.

This week long break from regular life meant a break from videogames. I did not take any handhelds along with me, so I did not play a single game. In what little free time that I had, I decided to read. I finished "The Man in the High Castle," which was good, but does not compare to the amazing tale of Gulliver Foyle. "The Stars My Destination" is one of my favourite books ever. I still cannot believe how good Alfred Bester was at writing, there is something so timeless about his books. I know that they were written in the 50s, but they do not feel like it. I also got a good ways through "To Your Scattered Bodies Go," which has been a really good read.

I ended up breaking down and picked up a handful of games before I left for WA. I picked up The Last Story, Pandora's Tower, Metro: Last Light, and downloaded A Link to the Past and Super Mario World. I had been playing Faxanadu, and was hoping to have completed it before I went on vacation. I failed miserably. There was a massive difficulty spike that I had to take a break. I will hopefully get back to Faxanadu shortly, but I have fallen in love with Super Mario World, again. I had played SMW before, but it has been quite some time, and my memory is a little fuzzy. It is an amazing game, and I constantly am in awe at the little things that Nintendo puts in their games.

Here lies the biggest problem of them all. Finding a starting point can be a problem, but losing your train of thought can be disastrous. I got distracted and now cannot think of what else I had to talk about. No matter what I do, I cannot seem to recall what was next.

daftman

07/09/2013 at 03:06 PM

I'm never read anything by Alfred Bester, except maybe a short story (I've read a lot of short stories from that era), but you have definitely piqued my interest. I'll keep an eye out for him. Vintage sci-fi is the best! I love Isaac Asimov.

transmet2033

07/09/2013 at 03:28 PM

Never read Asimov, but I know the writer. Foundation has always been on a list of books that I would like to read, so I think that I will definitely pick it up sometime.

07/09/2013 at 03:51 PM

I haven't yet read all the foundations books he wrote later, but the initial trilogy (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation) is really really good. You gotta read those at least.

07/09/2013 at 04:03 PM

That is actually exactly where I was going to start. I know that he made some prequels, but I am worried that the 30 years between them may have an affect on how they read.

Virtual Unrealities is the collection of short stories that I have by Bester, and they were all enjoyable. Otherwise, The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination are novels worth reading. I know that he has done a bunch of other stuff, but I cannot vouch for any of it.

07/09/2013 at 07:12 PM

Thanks for the recommendations! I can also vouch for Asimov's robot novels, The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and The Robots of Dawn, which are murder mysteries, and the Lucky Starr series, which are adventures set in our solar system. Good stuff!

Super Step Contributing Writer

07/09/2013 at 03:21 PM

I think what you wanted to say next was um....

07/09/2013 at 03:29 PM

um... what?

07/09/2013 at 07:51 PM

errrrr....

GeminiMan78

07/09/2013 at 07:45 PM

I'm a bit envious. I would love to go see the parks in WA. We have Jean Lafitte state park here, but since its mostly marshland there are not a whole lot of trails. Still worth the visit but not quite the same.

Got Super Mario World a few months back. Its the only Mario game I have actually beat, but that was like 17 years ago, and I can't remember were all the secret areas and keys are, lol. So yeah my progress has been a bit limited.

07/09/2013 at 11:03 PM

Olympic National Park was the highlight. Rainforest and mountains, it was gorgeous there. The first half of SMW I had no problem with, and I got all but two of the key exits... then I got to the chocolate mountains, or whatever that place is called.

Aboboisdaman

07/09/2013 at 10:32 PM

Sorry to hear about your troubles with Faxanadu. NES games can be rough. That's awesome you got both A Link to the Past and Super Mario World. They are both fantastic games! That was always my favorite Zelda. I bought it again a ways back, but have yet to play it again.

07/09/2013 at 11:01 PM

A link to the past is Zelda perfection in my eyes and I have beaten it at least a dozen times. I just wanted my own copy, so I went to the VC. I have loved faxanadu so far, I just need a better sword, and that apparently does not come for a while.

Chris Yarger Community Manager

07/10/2013 at 06:13 AM

Faxanadu...

That was an old NES game right? I think I remember playing that quite a bit whenever I was younger. Thank God for Game Genie's or I may have never beaten it! lol

PixlBit