Strange Radiation Archive
« your 5¢ worth | Main | note to self »
Oct 14 03: the force is with me
The Niners lost last night, and that was degrading. Much of NYC is bent out of shape because the Yanks lost this evening. But in my little universe, a major victory: the completion of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. (Didn’t I mention recently that Bob lent me his XBox? I guess not. Well, he did.) Yes, I’ve defeated Darth Malak, saved the Republic from the forces of darkness, et c. et c. But I prefer to think of it as reclaiming that much more of my brain, which had been consumed by the need to solve just one more puzzle, to explore just one more corridor, and to add just one more link—well, okay, maybe two—to the long long chain of and-thens in its protracted tale.
Narrative junkies such as myself should stay away from this game. Not because it’s bad—in fact, it’s great—but because it took me something like 36 hours and 41 minutes to play it from start to finish. Plus the time spent dying over and over, and having to pick back up from a recent save point. I didn’t play it all in one sitting, of course. I actually started the odyssey back in June. But over the last few days, I will admit, I may have played in longer blocks than were prudent. I saw the far side of 3am more than once.
Having one’s beloved out of town for a few weeks means never having to say you’re coming to bed, and the XBox has made my nocturnal tendencies ten thousand times worse. However, it’s over now, and I can throttle back on my scary-bachelorhood. You know: no more reassuring myself that Cherry Garcia is, in fact, a vegetable. Maybe even getting to bed before midnight.
Tomorrow, that is. I’ve missed my chance for tonight. But tomorrow, I start behaving more like a normal person.
(Paul, if you’re reading this: don’t worry, I haven’t allowed the house to collapse in upon itself. I’ve watered the plants, taken out the trash, eaten home-cooked meals…hell, I even vacuumed when I thought the San Franciscans would be coming over to watch the game. Still, you keep me anchored to the world of actual people sometimes. I like you better than XBox. Hurry home.)