Hello everybody. I've been a fan of Sega Racing games (Daytona USA 1/2, Scud Race, OutRun 1/2, Sega Rally, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Racing, etc.) ever since I first played Daytona USA 2 in the arcade around 2002. I like them and try to promote them as much as I can. Let everyone know about the magic that is Sega Racing Games!!!
So today was the big day of the Daytona 500. Unfortunately, it's been postponed to Monday due to rain delay. The whole process of arriving & leaving was an absolute nightmare (but in a funny way). Here's how it went down. But first, if you want to check out Daytona on Google Maps, here you go:
It's a one-hour drive from Orlando to Daytona Beach. Me and my dad get on the highway and are on schedule to arrive at about noon (race starts at 1 pm). Unfortunately, with 15 miles to the Daytona exit, traffic slows down to a stop. The road was wet from light showers. Apparently, we had assumed there was a wreck on the road but no--it was a couple of old people/rubber-neckers who decided to come to a near stop on a national highway. But that's cool! I like it because you get to narrowly dodge & swerve through traffic--just like real NASCAR drivers!!! You could tell you were getting close to the track just by spotting the Goodyear blimps in the air.
Thankfully, while on the interstate, we learned that the race had been delayed from its usual 1 pm time. We arrive at the track at about 1:30. It's set out in this vast undeveloped area with grass fields & trees. Typical of a NASCAR track to be set in a rural area. Unfortunately, there's no normal paved parking lot/garage like at Disney World or a football stadium. So there were makeshift parking lots free-of-charge--just park on the grass (like at Little League ball parks and Renaissance fairs), get out, and hop on the school buses that go to and from the stadium. This is when the fun begins.
During the walk from the car to the bus while carrying our stuff, it started to sprinkle rain. So that's not too bad--I was wearing my coat and I didn't mind getting a bit wet--it beats hot weather for sure. Hop on the super-clean school bus (I'm exaggerating) and ride to the stadium. The windows were incredibly foggy and I couldn't see the track. So expect to get a bit wet.
Take a look at the diagram above. My seat is at DePalma (before the pit entrance). We get out in a big paved area (no cars, just people walking around) and there's a grandstand right in front of us. Be aware that these stands are completely hollow underneath--just metal beams like typical grandstands at a high school field. Tents & small booths served souvenirs and food. Oh, and guess what--we were at the complete opposite side of the track (Lund & Allison). So guess what--we had to hop on a tram (little shuttle like you'd see at an amusement park) to get to the other side.
Unfortunately, the tram dropped us off at the west side of the grandstands (Lockhart) while we had to go way east to DePalma. So we had a lot of walking to do. This is when the weather REALLY becomes a problem. As I walked, I attempted to dodge large puddles in the concrete. I tried my best to keep my socks from getting wet (I was wearing a coat & jeans) but after a while, the shoes just absorb too much water and they inevitably get soaked. Most of the people around here were wearing rain ponchos. I eventually had to put on one as me and my dad huddled underneath the grandstands. Unfortunately, rain still came down on us through the cracks in the stands. Man, I felt terrible.
We keep walking and here we are--DePalma, Row 3. I finally got to see the track in all its glory. Amazing. There weren't a whole lot of people in the seats so we waited for the rain to clear out (must've took about an hour of us sitting there in our ponchos like idiots) and then let our clothes dry (I took my shoes off, kicked my feet up on the seat let the socks dry--trust me, they didn't reek of sweat). Unfortunately my socks never dried off so that sucked. However, the rest of my body nearly dried off so I was doing okay.
This makes me thin...you know what would be nice at these events when it was raining? A bit heater/fan to dry people off. Why doesn't anybody do this???
So, I'll go ahead and say this. Many people think that the NASCAR crowd consists of a bunch of rowdy rednecks and that if you go to a race, you'll be assaulted by white supremacists. This is completely untrue. I saw lots of nice clean people there--families, kids, teenagers, young women, minorities, senior citizens. Crowd seemed okay. Yeah, there's a couple of people smoking cigarettes and drinking beers chatting it up, but I didn't feel uneasy around there. That's my experience anyway so don't gimme that "NASCAR = redneck" crap.
All of the cars were in the pit road covered up. I don't think I saw any drivers or cameramen around. We were just chillin...literally, we were cold trying to recover from the rain. We did get to see some car action--a Toyota pace car zipped around the track at 50 mph and we cheered every time it passed by. The rain stopped but the skies were still cloudy. The big heating trucks made their rounds for about an hour, blasting air as they passed by.
At about 4:30 pm, the skies looked clear and we assumed the race would begin shortly. However, after all that effort to dry the track (and myself), it started to sprinkle again. So the race was postponed to Monday! A mass exodus occurred as we went in reverse--hopped on the tram to the Allison/Lund bus stop (we went clockwise around the track, therefore we made at least one lap, haha), hopped on the bus, and walked across the dirty field to our car and took off. All while the rain continued to drizzle on us.
Oh, and just like the traffic was bad coming in to Daytona, it was just as bad going out. Hey, you try to get 100,000 spectators out of a town at once. Parts of the highway were shut down for no good reason so we were rerouted to some small one-lane rural roads (which were still packed). We tried to stop a Chick-Fil-A but wait--it's closed on Sundays!! Turn your ass around and go up the road to a Wendy's (still wet, mind you). I got the W burger and we made it home at 7:30 pm. One more kick in the ass--I brought the Daytona USA strategy guides (I don't know why) in a separate bag and they got a bit wet & wrinkled during the whole experience. I'm upset but it's not the end of the world.
What a miserable experience but it was still laughable. Now I have a conundrum--the race is rerouted to Monday, right? Most people have work that day. I have a Programming class at school that is highly recommended I don't skip. I should drive straight to Daytona just to make it there at Noon (and hear the "Lady and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!!!" line). BUT...there's a 70% chance of rain in Daytona Beach on Monday. So even if it looks like it'll be rained out, the rain may go away just in time for the race to continue that day. And if I'm not there, then I miss out on a good bit of the race. So I have to drag my ass there all over again just to ensure that I don't miss anything. What a piece of crap.
BTW, the NBA All-Stars game was tonight at the Amway Center in Orlando...what a joke, a final score of 152-149??? Nobody cares.
I should have an excellent race recap tomorrow or Tuesday. Cya later and try to stay dry, please...
I will get to the FIEA capstone stuff later. Spoiler alert--Battle Fortress Tortoise (and Plushy Knight...psh) survive the final cut. Seriously, I can't be bothered to talk about school stuff for a while.
Anyway, my dad's in town for the Daytona 500 and we had a day to relax and do stuff. So we decided after our failed opportunity to visit Dave & Busters' in August, we would go today. Traffic along International Drive was bad but we made it. D&B's is usually packed to the fire limit but here, we got in right away since it was still daytime.
If you don't know about Dave & Buster's, it's basically a large arcade full of arcade games, a bar, and a fancy restaurant. It's not a Sega Gameworks but it'll do for now. D&B's is like Chuck E Cheese's but with fewer kids around--granted there were quite a few around sucking at every game imaginable. I'll cut through the crap now--there was a six-player Daytona USA 1 setup. There was also Fast & Furious Bikes, Sega Go-Kart Racing, Need for Speed Carbon, Dead Heat, NASCAR Arcade, four-player Pac-Man,, Time Crisis 4, Ghost Squad...I mean, who cares about any of that junk (except for Ghost Squad which is good)? We're here to play Daytona USA.
Take a quick glance at the 5-6 sec mark...see the Daytona USA cabinets in the background? Oh, and FnF, GTFO with that trash.
He's clearly playing Daytona USA in this scene although you never see the screen/logo.
This is what your Dave & Buster's Daytona USA setup looks like. This is NOT a picture that I took--I had this one on my hard drive months ago. It's not your normal Daytona cabinet. The screens are huge and the seat is cushy. Oh, and the seat shakes like all hell when you turn. Just like *BRRMMPPP*, the thing doesn't gradually slide at all--it just tilts back and forth like a simulator theme park ride. And the wheel force feedback was really tough--it took about two games before I got used to the setup. I persevered despite aching in my arms, legs, and fingers. You have to wrestle that beast to the ground. I'd like to see Team Marubaku put up WR's on these things. Thankfully the cabinets were clean & functioning properly--no broken shifters or pedals so props to the staff.
Each go cost about $1.25. You can't pinpoint an exact price since you had to swipe special D&B cards that you purchased credits for. The more credits you bought, the greater deal you got on them. We just plunked $25 and I played a lot of Daytona USA which was a damn good time.
Thankfully, my Daytona XBLA skills really paid off. I wanted to play the Advanced and Expert courses, but if anyone joined during the 15-second wait time, you were forced to do whatever course they selected, usually Beginner. When I did do Advanced & Expert (people stopped jumping in later on), I smoked the game. Put up 3:02 on Advanced, 3:27 on Expert. Ok, so the Expert time is pretty bad but it's up to par on my XBLA skills and I need to go back and improve. It was the best I could do.
When I did play multiplayer, it was always on Beginner. And I just about smoked everybody. You'd be surprised the amount of people who hop on and have NO IDEA how to play the game at all. How typical that they pick automatic transmission, bounce off the wall on the Sonic turn, accidentally go in the pits on occasion. Only thing keeping them in the race is the major rubber-band/catch-up. Noobs driving AT behind me didn't even have to strategize whatsoever--they were about a second behind the whole race but I made no mistakes. Took the Sonic turn at about 180-185 mph each time and put up low 17 second laps. I won.
Must've played about 12 races myself, let my dad try a few times. We left feeling good about ourselves. Finally, I had some fun for once in my life. We will hopefully come back another day.
Here's another Daytona USA pic for good measure.
Now some other things about D&B's. The place had a Star Wars arcade game (Model3, baby!!) and that game's just weird shooting your blaster with the flight joystick. I can see using that thing while piloting a ship but not while traveling on foot. Oh well.
And I also saw a new Midway/Raw Thrills game called "Big Buck World." Now I know about those cheesy deer hunting games in every arcade/pizza place imaginable, but I just want you to take a look at the logo and see if you notice something:
Don't see it? Well, lemme help you out:
That's right--the buffoons at Raw Thrills decided to recycle part of the Cruis'n World logo. I can't believe--Eugene Jarvis and the crew just blow me away with their games. The level of crap in their games is evident even in the logo. Just great.
As for the rest of the games, there was a couple of HUGE basketball games (sink baskets not from the free throw line but the 3-pointer line) and a ton of slot-machine ticket games. It's basically like a casino but kids are welcome to play. Yeah kids, come on down and gamble your cash for a couple of Chinese finger traps and Jawbreakers.
The ticket redemption area is in the corner of the arcade and it looks like a small Disney gift shop. You'll see toys, candy, soccer balls, giant stuffed animals, t-shirts, grills, blenders, deep fryers, iPads, PS3s, Xbox 360s, I mean what the hell??? If you want a blender, go to Target and buy one. How many adults are in dire need of a blender that they would be willing play Wheel of Fortune/Deal or No Deal redemption games to get the tickets required???
Honey, get that deep-fryer with the Dave & Buster's logo on it!!!
Aaaannddd...there's the restaurant which is just like your normal Applebee's/TGI Friday's stuff. Place looks nice and has a bunch of TV's with ESPN. The cheeseburger was alright, nothing new but satisfactory. Then we went home. Had a lot of fun. Daytona USA was great.
Now I have to go to bed and drive to the Daytona 500 tomorrow. It's gonna be great. I'll try to bring a sign that says "Hey Sega, wish you were here, bring us Daytona USA 3" but I don't know if they take signs. EDIT: No, signs are stupid but I'll bring something Daytona USA-related anyway. Hahaha, later guys.
DAAAYYYYYTTTOOOOONNNNNAAAAAAAA!!!! ROLLLLIINNNGGG STTAAARRRTTTTTTTT!!! BLUE BLUE SKIEEESSSSS!!!
Nice to know that Sega is getting really port-happy these days. But is this a straight port with a few graphical enhancements (see Crazy Taxi) or will they go the distance with this one? Most likely the former
Hey, at least you spoiled little brats on XBL have NO excuse not to know what Jet Set Radio is.
This was a topic that's been on my mind and now I have time to share. What is it that the most popular games have in common? Check it out.
Back in the 70's during the Atari/old funky arcade era, gaming was so pathetically simple. You got the cartridge or the quarters, played a few rounds, and then quit. That was it. There was hardly anything to accrue from these games other than the simple satisfaction of playing for a high score or just for simple entertainment. Then something came along and changed everything:
SAVE STATES...such as SAVED DATA, DOWNLOADED/USER-CREATED CONTENT, ETC...
Legend of Zelda on the NES was one of the first (if not, the first) games to have save states. Oh wow, so I have something to "gain" from playing the game. Games became longer and more structured. You didn't just play the game aimlessly--there was always something to do. If you didn't know what to do, the game basically told you what to do. It's nice for advancing a story and for those who don't like to think.
Now, fast forward 30+ years in today's age. Take a look at this selection of popular games and tell me what they have in common:
Call of Duty World of Warcraft Farmville Forza Motorsport Pokemon Skyrim Fallout Grand Theft Auto Xbox Achievement Points Minecraft Cow Clicker (???)
....
So what is it? They all have seemingly infinite content (from game features to just measly points) to unlock and/or play around with. I tell you the truth--there's a reason why people are addicted to the +100 XP of a Call of Duty kill, the Xbox Live *badonk* of the achievement, or a stupid farm because you can always go up. The sky's the limit and thus people really invest a lot of time into these just because of the euphoria of getting something new. Even better is that it's not a zero-sum game so no matter how "poorly" you play, you always get something.
It's (usually) that's easy.
Hey, people like making money and buying lots of stuff in real life. I'm not saying that's a bad thing--the Declaration of Independence permits private property and the pursuit of it which fuels capitalism and economic progress. But in gaming, it can become a serious problem.
Lately, when I had the chance, I would dabble in Forza 4. Now I know the game's not made by Sega but the game has an overwhelming amount of cars and stuff to unlock. So it's really fun to buy a car, pimp it out, win a race, then go repeat the cycle over and over again. Also, I have reached Level 15 prestige in CoD: Black Ops and have over 67,000 XBL Achievement Points. I also have 1200+ Rock Band songs to play (that's a lot of money). Not bad.
But this is where things start to get troubling, with an emphasis on Forza vs. Sega Racers. Now, don't get me wrong--in a head-to-head match, Daytona USA is more fun than Forza. But Forza has so much more stuff in it. Even I find this hard to compete with a 2011 Triple-A title with massive amounts of production value. And that really sucks.
In Daytona USA, there's nothing to "gain" other than the thrill of just playing the game. Yes, there's fast times to beat, but there's never any guarantee that you'll actually beat it. And thus, if you need a game to tell you what to do (i.e. a campaign/mission mode), then you're out of the loop. On the other hand, Forza just throws money at you to buy more cars, race online with a much broader audience, buy/design decals, etc.
What do little arcade games like these have on bigger, next-gen titles? No wonder arcades are dying here--you can pick up something like Halo or Skyrim and play for days. On the other hand, with something like OutRun or Daytona USA, once you've played through a few hours, that's it--not much else to see. As a matter of fact, businesses thrive off of our "greedy" sides with "gamification"--turning non-gaming things into games to get points or unlock stuff that really doesn't mean anything, all for the sake of lucrative advertising.
Is there something wrong with gamers nowadays if we're sucked in the allure of more stuff = better game? I still think there's the elegant simplicity of arcade racers like Daytona/OutRun/Scud Race in that you pick a track, car, transmission and you go race. On the other hand, something like Forza (or even Initial D) you have to wade through about a minute's worth of menus and it really sucks if you want to jump into the action.
I'll leave you with this quote by Yu Suzuki (Dec. 2010 interview with 1-Up)...I already mentioned it before but here you go:
JM: How do you feel the gamer has changed? The industry is still very young -- only 35 years-old or so -- but 15 years ago you created Daytona USA. Look at how much has changed in that time. In Hang-On you have only one motorcycle. Games like Daytona you only have two or three cars to choose from. Now, Gran Turismo 5 is out and it has over a thousand cars in the game. Personally, I'll never use 1,000 cars, maybe only 6 of them. Do you think people have now mistaken quantity for quality? Is there such a thing as too much? YS: Yeah, user expectations are to blame, too. If given the option of 1000 cars and 10 cars in a game, the user will most likely take the game with 1,000 cars. Games with fewer options can't compete on the same level because the user will always choose the game with more cars.
So basically, as long as the industry continues to skew in favor of these big-ass games with lots of stuff, then those "middle" games that aren't AAA-quality or super-cheap are in serious jeopardy. And Daytona is in the crosshairs. I can't be arsed into talking about this further since I don't have a good response. I mean, I want a new Daytona game with more cars & tracks in it (well duh) but I don't know if that means I'm taking the original Daytona 1/2 for granted in the process. Just something to think about, that's all.
I'm going to keep this brief. Right now, at the end of the day, I have very little mental energy left for posting blog stuff. How typical of game studios (FIEA) to lock you in a room with dim lights and no windows so you can't even see the trees or flowers or squirrels or birds or bees flying around outside...sit in your little box staring at electronic devices for 10+ hours a day. Can't be good for our health now is it? Then again, if we weren't game designers, we'd be staring at our computer screens that long anyway so w/e...
All I really do is drive to and from FIEA, that's it. I'm boring but it's not my life's aspiration to go to bars and get wasted. Sorry, I like to stay clean...and driving-ready at all times.
Anyway, there's a theater near the FIEA building and one of the shows they held recently was a Billy Joel orchestra. Now I really like Billy Joel and it would be nice to actually do something besides sit in front of a computer surrounded by slobs and miscreants. But tickets cost $70 (plus $10 parking but I have a pass to get in for free) and I was busy that weekend. So no go--another lame weekend.
But my birthday is coming up. And I was looking around for something to do and I have a bit of an opening from work to do something different for a change. And I'll go ahead and spill the beans:
Tickets to the Daytona 500!!!!! Third row from the track!!!
^ You gotta crank this up for maximum effect...
It's February 26, less than a week away. Going to the race with my dad. Daytona Beach is only one hour from Orlando so that's an easy drive. You see, let me go ahead and tell you why I'm so pissed about all these other racing games. They are so full of crap--none of them convey the "intangibles" of racing thrills like Daytona USA 2 (and other Sega racers) do. So they load their games up with crashes and other phony baloney garbage. I mean, for those of you who critique NASCAR...you actually have to be there to get the full effect. Four hours of racing...holy cow, I can't wait. I'M STOKED!!!
Yeah, I know that NASCAR isn't considered "cultural" like visiting a museum, a 5-star restaurant, or the opera but I don't care, rofl. You don't need to be a redneck to like NASCAR.
BTW, the Final Destination 4 NASCAR scene is just utterly shameful & disgusting...I piss all over that scene--go take your carnage elsewhere. Seriously, I lost IQ points watching that garbage. If I lose my head from a loose tire (not very likely), then I'm gonna be f'n pissed. NASCAR is supposed to be a good time, not mind-numbingly retarded...
I keep reading on these websites that this game is another "crap Sonic game." First, this game wasn't crap--yeah it wasn't flawless but it was good (78% on GameRankings). Second, in case you couldn't read, it's a "SEGA" game, not a Sonic game. The only really good Sega racer we got in recent times. Really, what else am I supposed to play? Mario Kart? Where are all these people flipping out over Mario Kart 7? No, cause Mario Kart 7 is mediocre (don't shoot me for this). Move over, Nintendo, cause Sega can do Kart racing too.
Look, the Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing talk isn't old, I went into detail about it long, long ago. Sumo Digital also ported OutRun 2--I have a lot of faith in these guys to do better with SaSASR 2 than with 1.
EDIT: Guess I'll say this. I know that SaSASR 1 was lacking in the content department. Too many Sonic characters and recycled track assets. I think if they append what they did from the first game to the second (I am all in favor of re-using tracks from the previous game even if they undergo few changes) then that'll be great.
....Aaaaaannnnnddd, I can't talk much nowadays since I've done so much programming homework that at the end of the day, I'm not in the mood to stare at the screen. Second homework assignment I turned in five minutes before the deadline (11:55 pm). It's like defusing bombs with seconds to spare--it's fun!!!
Quick, you have 16 hours to finish the 32 hour-long assignment or else you lose 10% credit for each day late, PROGRAM FASTER YOU NUBS!!!!1!!1!!!!!!!!!!! What's that--you only have one hour left? Thirty minutes??? TEN MINUTES??? Will I crash the build if I submit this? WWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good Guy Rjay e-mailed me these a while back and I presume he wants me to post them so here we go. This is from Dreamcast Magazine, Issue 6 (date some time in '99-'00). Now this isn't a very long article and it doesn't really tell us anything we don't know but it's got some funny lines. Stuff written in bold are quotes from the article. Here goes:
FUNNY QUOTES:
* Fancy a quick spin around the race track? Then strap yourself in and prepare for the ride of your life...and a touch of dizziness???
* Getting Dizzy With It
* It's not easy going, however, as you must navigate the track eight times without being rammed into the wall or, worse still, going cross-eyed with dizziness.
* With Daytona USA 2Dreamcast-bound... BWAHAHAHA!!! NICE CALL GUYS!!! THANKS, SEGA!!! Thanks for the laugh.
* Daytona USA 2 is the last game to be making the transition from coin-op to Dreamcast and is yet another beast of a game from Sega and its all-conquering AM2 department. HAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHWA
* Daytona USA 2 might be 'just another racing game' to some, but to others it is a religion, with its high speed capers and dirty tactics and cutting up opponents. I wouldn't call Daytona a religion...that would imply worship of false idols. But it can change your way of life!
* Despite the fact that all Daytona USA 2 requires you to do is drive around in circles... Who's writing this article? Aren't there two other tracks in the game, neither of which resembles a NASCAR oval???
* ...offering all the thrills and spills of the real thing...without the threat of killing yourself. Yes, because Daytona can drive you to suicide. No, it's the exact opposite--IT LIFTS YOU UP WITH THE VITALITY OF A DOZEN 5-HOUR ENERGIES!!! Without the tingling.
* The whole experience is made all the more realistic by the fantastic control offered by the steering wheel and the force feedback that is generated through it when skidding for ramming other cars.
* The speed is conveyed brilliantly, especially with the in-car views and the sound isn't bad either with a (words cut off) of engine revs, commentary, and music blasting in one ear and out the other, making the whole experience a veritable feast for the senses.
Compliments, lols
* Graphically, the game looks fantastic--much better than the original--with pop-up and other sinful entities banished to a far off land. Banished to the far off land of Cruis'n World.
* This game will incite the boy racer from within everyone!SPEEDY SPEED BOY!!! We all wanted to be superheroes when we grew up. I wanted to be a race car driver. Suck it, Spiderman.
* In truth, Daytona USA 2 is much like Sega's alternative arcade Sega Rally 2 in regards to its gameplay and instant fix of speed and adrenaline--that that that's a bad thing. No doubt Sega will include a greater number of cars, tracks, and modes for the Dreamcast version, much in the same way that Sega Rally 2 was beefed up for its home appearance.
* With this in mind, Daytona USA 2 could well be another Dreamcast success for the men from Sega, especially with a four-player mode...
* ...but for now we shall just have to wait and hope for the best...
Oh, right. There's two more pages to go.
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK? We were so impressed with Daytona USA 2, we went in search of other speed junkies to find out what they thought of Sega's top racing game...
* Jonathon Eason the bank clerk: "I like it. The controls are really good and it reacts well to the steering. It gives a good sensation of speed too which is good." The other three guys (students) say pretty much the same thing. So we unanimously agree that the controls & sense of steering are good, OK??
More user reviews:
* Jon Petty the occupational therapist: Hold on a second, you don't need a therapist when you got Daytona USA 2--that's all the therapy you need.
* Nancy Davis the "carer": OMG, THERE'S GIRLS THAT PLAY DAYTONA!!! WE MEN ARE NOT FOREVER ALONE!!!
* Campbell Morrison the builder: He does one thing right and another thing wrong. First, he only reviewer not to use the word "good." Seriously, people, the blue-collar worker has a better understanding of the English language than you all. Hello, here's a thesaurus of words describing Daytona USA 2:
Oh but then when asked if he would buy it for the Dreamcast, he replies "Probably not."
AW HELL NAW, I AM NOT IN THE MOOD FOR THIS...
Either that or he successfully predicted Sega's ineptitude on releasing the game. You can't say you'll buy something that doesn't exist, can you?
Then the article ends on this:
IT'S NOT JUST A GAME. That's right, Sega has done something rather special with Daytona USA 2 by linking up certain machines from around the world so that arcade fans can compete for a $1000 prize for posting the fastest time. Rjay talks about this a lot. It was who runs the fastest time on Beginner with the Scorpio AT. Here are the records:
Top 10 UK Times: 2:16.366 to 2:17.929
vs.
Top 10 US Times: 2.17.660 to 2:19.310
So basically, the best US time barely beats the worst UK time. It's great to know my fellow countrymen suck at racing games. They are too busy playing Call of Duty and WoW to even give damn. To quote: Well, you'll be glad to hear that we're trouncing the Yanks, confirming us Brits as the kings of track.Watch out for those Asians while you're at it. Rofl.
Until then, if you got any unmentioned Daytona/Scud Race/other arcade material you want me to see, shoot me an email. Adios.
I'm sitting around FIEA again and when I'm not burning out my eyeballs with C++/Unreal Script coding, I get to hear interesting things from Mr. Rick the Production teacher.
One of the things that is paramount is any career is to get connected with other people. It's like advertising--you can have all the skills in the world and/or make the best products but if no one knows, then you will get nowhere. But there's always other people. Higher-ups who see value in you. You make friends and expand your opportunities. It's common sense, though people don't tend to think about it. Some day, you may luck out and your dreams come true because you lucked out and met all the right people. But it's very unlikely you'll meet one or two people and then all your dreams come true--it takes a multitude of relationships before you are elevated to greatness...lame, you gotta do all the hard work there. Wish it was just like in the movies.
Great examples: In the 2006 feature film The Pursuit of Happyness (based on a real story), Chris Gardner (Will Smith) plays a completely broke man trying to get a job as a stockbroker in San Francisco. This means undergoing a long-term internship with no pay or guarantee of getting the job. Of course, this also means dressing up nice and duping his superiors into believing that he's not a homeless bum. All while trying to find places to stay and take care of his son.
Eventually, he impresses one of his co-workers by solving a Rubix cube in a matter of minutes. Then he does a good job selling stocks (or whatever) that the same co-worker offers him a free seat at his luxury suite at a 49ers game in Candlestick Park (oh God no). Then Chris gets the job. I bawled my eyes out.
If I got hired by Sega, this is what would ensue.
Another example is Harrison Ford. Since the 60's, he's been hanging around Los Angeles trying to catch a break and become a movie star. Failing numerous times, he became a carpenter for the stars. He eventually made some kitchen cabinets for a certain movie director called George Lucas. The two became friends. Georgie needed someone to play the role in the little 1977 movie of his called Star Wars and...well, the rest is history. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
BUT HAN SHOT FIRST!!!
Back to the real world. I'm just not very good at socializing with new people. You have to find what you can advertise like...oh, like my programming skills, my l33t video game skills, my excellent blog, or my determination to win at Sega stuff. But from what I hear, about 60% of all murders are done by people who are relatives/acquaintances of people they know. So basically, the more people you meet, the more likely you are die.
I think it all comes down to fate. You just need to be lucky. But hard work and persistence will greatly raise those odds.
Now, here's my plan. We're going on a Yu Suzuki/Toshihiro Nagoshi watch. Check any possible conventions/PR events and go get those guys. I know here at FIEA, a few of the instructors got passes for GDC in San Francisco (March 5-9) but they cost $750 a piece. San Fran also happens to be the HQ for Sega of America. The goal is to get to any of these guys--hell any Sega guys in general--and deliver my "elevator speech," that'll be so moving I'll get hired on the spot and get in there and save the video game industry. Ridiculous, yes...but we got to try!!! There's always other conventions like E3 or Comic-Con to check out. Just keep your eyes peeled. That's a good start.
"Sorry, I don't speak English"...DAMN my elevator speech failed.
Until then...try appealing to some EA guys. I know there's a paintball outing coming up soon. I've never played paintball before but it would be hella fun to shoot the crap out of EA guys!!! Lol, no, I'm getting over my head. Dueces, man, dueces.
Check out some new Sega-related media I found. This pic I think I fluked out on since it's not even on a "website." I found it in a Google image search:
A blog called "Mapstalgia" consists of user contributions of video game stages/levels drawn from memory. Like this, holy cow. Someone attempted to draw the Crazy Taxi city. Here it is:
Alright, let's see how you did today--let's take a look...
Take this real map, try to get it to lined up with the sketch and it's impossible. Looks like you twisted the city into a pretzel (both coasts parallel to each other) but nonetheless, this lineart is very piretty! Quick, now I will try to draw track layouts from memory:
That's some mad skills right there.
Also, I saw some French dudes drew up a concept logo for Sega. Here it is:
If Sega were to change their logo, it would be the kiss of death...
Remember Rare?? Remember long ago when they made awesome games like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong, etc? Now remember the time they changed their logo and were forced to make pathetic sports Kinect games for their tenure at Microsoft? C'mon man!!!
And Kotaku posted a link to some music video--an "ode to arcade games" or something. Gee whiz, the last time a band tried to do this, the results were shocking. But this music video is pretty much all about Streets of Rage 2 (a modified version that is). If you love Streets of Rage and pop music, then this is most definitely your thing. But I also spy with my little eyes a Daytona USA 2 cabinet. And Time Crisis 4. Seriously, I know that Time Crisis 4 even with the crap "Game Over" logo you pasted on the screen.
