The Agony of Defeat

The Olympics upped my interest in hockey, so I've been trying to improve my relationship with the sport and the NHL.  I'm a gamer, so I thought snagging a copy of NHL 14 would be a step in the right direction.

Well, it is, and it isn't.  Truthfully, I love the game.  The presentation is incredible, the action comes fast and furious, and the score is great.  It's a nice product, to be sure.  However, either I really suck or this game is really freaking hard.  I've been playing Madden for decades (true story) and I'm a dominant force in that realm.  This is an entirely different story.  I'm too old for the kiddie pool, so I jumped right into All-Star gameplay.  And I'm apparently not an All-Star when it comes to NHL 14.  Not even close.

I bet I played seven or eight games before I scored my first goal.  I've probably played somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 or 60 games, and I may have won five of them.  Honestly, I'm still having a blast with the game, and I'm in every game I play, but I'm not winning many of them and I have to wonder: is it just me?  Some of the rules still don't make sense for me--I thought the game would be a learning tool in this regard, but offsides and icing penalties seem to come in so many different situations that I can't figure out just what the common denominator is.  That's part of it.  And apparently I can't shoot for shit.  I say that because while I'm steadily losing to the CPU, I'm taking way more shots.


I don't have a favorite team, not yet anyway, so I'm trying lots of different clubs out and playing lots of different opponents.  I seem to enjoy playing with Washington more than anyone else, but I've used most of the teams available and the difference has certainly been negligible so far as my record is concerned. 

Most contests are two or three goal affairs, but in the rare event that I manage to score more, the computer doubles up on me.  And I seem to have an uncanny knack for giving up a winner in the closing seconds.  Overtime has not been kind to me, and neither have shootouts.  My boy P-Rod wants me to dial down the difficulty, but it's too late for that.  I'm all in, and I'm going to sort this out.

Until then, I'm having a good time getting my ass kicked, and that doesn't happen often. 

For Dom

Dom Santiago

I'm fond of saying that sharing is caring, and that's not just a saying, it's something I live by.  Truthfully, I probably share way too much, and this blog is going to serve as a fine example of my generous spirit.  You see, I'm a gamer and I'm a big Gears of War fan.  

Now, typically I spend a lot more time on multi-player than in campaign mode, which is why I had yet to conquer the story on Gears of War 3 until this week.  Yes, I know, those of you who don't play video games now think I'm a nerd, and those of you who do play video games think I'm far enough behind on this one to lose valuable nerd points.  It's that kind of world.  Anyway, I finally beat Gears of War 3, and (SPOILER ALERT: If--by some miracle--you are also a Gears fan but you have yet to beat the third game, here there be spoilers) I'm not ashamed to admit (though perhaps I should be) that Dom's death hit me pretty hard.

Kris was in the room at the time, and I think she found the whole thing quite amusing, but Dom was a crucial character I had spent a lot of quality time with over the years.  Seriously, I can't tell you how many times I've actually spoken to this guy.  

Example A: "Dom, you son of a bitch, revive me.  Now!"

Example B: "Dom, you son of a bitch, stop walking around me and revive me.  Now!"

Example C: "Dom, you son of a bitch, are you blind or what?  Your feet are in my face and I'm lying here bleeding to death.  Revive me.  Now!"

Yeah, there isn't a lot of variety there, but we've had other meaningful exchanges too.  Like:

Example D: "Dom, you son of a bitch, feel free to chip in and shoot some of these bastards.  Now!"

Anyway, Dom gave his life to save me and the team and the game did a fantastic job of turning a sappy scene in a bloodthirsty video game into a genuine moment.  It was almost like watching the end of Rocky II.  Almost, I didn't cry.  Wow.  Sharing is caring, right?  I'm definitely not writing this blog to achieve cool points, but in all seriousness, it was easily one of the most emotional experiences I've had while playing a video game.  It was potent enough that I felt the need to get on my blog and give Dom a shout-out.  For the record, Gears of War 3 was the best game in the series, and the Gears series is (in my humble opinion) the best thing happening in the world of video games these days aside from the glory that is Madden.  

Nice job, Epic Games!