all your game are incomprehensible to us

Sunday, March 04, 2001

gemini://gemini.conman.org/boston/2001/03/04.3

Mark, [1] Kelly [2] and I are over at JeffK's house playing Dreamcast games. They start with this fishing game (fishing game? Like that would make an interesting video game?) and they keep pestering me to play.

I refuse. “I just want a simple shoot-em-up game,” I said.

“Well, I have this one shoot-em-up game,” said JeffK. “But it's nearly impossible to play.”

“Let's see it.”

JeffK loads the game. No idea what it's called, since it's all in Japanese, but it's this wierd overhead scrolling shoot-em-up game where a bazillion objects, enemies, bullets, lasers, power-ups, shields, explosions, the background, are all moving in six different directions at once and it's impossible to actually be anywhere on the screen for more than a second without being killed and we're all wondering This is a game that can actually be played?

We then moved on to a taxi-cab driving game.

And I thought Burger Time was a bizarre game.

[1] http://www.conman.org/people/myg/

[2] http://www.din.net/~kelly/

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Anthony Hopkins wasn't the only person to portray Hannibal Lecter

Sunday, March 04, 2001

gemini://gemini.conman.org/boston/2001/03/04.4

After playing video games, [1] we rented Manhunter, [2] the first film in which Dr. Hannibal Lecter appeared. Of course, this time he's played by Brian Cox [3] and not Anthony Hopkins. [4] But the plot is similar to Silence of the Lambs: [5] an FBI agent calls upon Dr. Lecter to help track down a serial killer.

It's not a bad film but it isn't in the same league as Silence of the Lambs. It actually comes across more as a very well done student film than a slick Hollywood production—the music is a bit loud and the mixing is rather jarring at times. But it's an interesting story and it's not revealing anything to say that Dr. Lecter does not escape.

And it's not nearly as graphic in the violence either.

It's worth a rental.

[1] /boston/2001/03/04.3

[2] http://us.imdb.com/Title?0091474

[3] http://us.imdb.com/Name?Cox,+Brian

[4] http://us.imdb.com/Name?Hopkins,+Anthony

[5] http://us.imdb.com/Title?0102926

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