The Most Difficult Puzzle

"Layton's Apprentice Strikes Again"

The Professor's arm trembles under the weight of the job to be done, compounded by the weight of the weapon he carries. The barrel of the high-caliber rifle rests on the windowsill, Layton's trembling hand struggling to steady its aim.

"Every puzzle has a solution."

That was before the puzzle was Luke.

Growing up Luke was always a bit different. He had an unusual kind of inferiority complex that always flared up at the slightest provocation. And let us not even get started on the part about conversing with fauna. Layton had always thought it charming; the untainted aspects of a proud youth, still wrapped in his world of childish wonder. Never had Layton suspected, or at least allowed himself to believe, that those tendencies would only worsen, leading Luke down a dark path.

Luke reached the age of 16 when he took his first life. While trying to solve a mystery concerning a car bomb that meant to assassinate a visiting diplomat from the States, yet left no body, Layton and Luke thought it best to split up to investigate. Luke ended up down a series of alleys in a seedier part of town, and was eventually propositioned by a lady of the evening. Luke, being young, was able to feign an innocent curiosity; the same he had been feigning for the professor for a years. When the lady offered to take him around the back, Luke nodded. She took his hand in her own and guided him, not noticing that his other gripped a stray beer bottle out of a garbage can as she did.

They began to kiss. Then he struck. Repeated blows to the head left their imprint in her skull and her body on the ground. Luke panted heavily, wiping the sweat from his brow. The job was done. His years of puzzle solving came in handy when it came to hiding the evidence.

All of that was two years ago, and officially the murder was never solved.

Layton didn't suspect Luke until the 3rd victim was found. He never had proof, but his keen intuition was starting to kick in. His ability to place things together that most people wouldn't catch was unmatched; except, as it turns out, by his denial. Never being able to find solid proof, and never wanting to believe it true, Layton continued investigating the murders. It wasn't until the most recent one that Luke slipped up. A splash of red on his otherwise pristine blue outfit, explained away as berry jam from tea time, but unmistakable to a seasoned sleuth like Layton. When they found the body two blocks away, he was positive.

Now the Professor stands in a the 3rd story room of a rundown hotel, watching Luke through the sight of his weapon. Luke is speaking to another woman. She smiles at him, swaying in a gentle, seductive manner. He takes her by the hand.

"You have to do this, Layton," he mutters to himself. "A true gentleman cannot allow this monster to live." He began to imagine the headlines.


"Professor Layton trains to murder?!"

"Layton's apprentice strikes again!"

"Questionable relationships raised murderer!"

He could not let that stand. Whether it was his own reputation, or to save lives, Layton would have to argue later why he really did it. First, it must be done. He lines up his shot, just below Luke's blue hat.

Everything is accounted for. The current wind velocity, the lady's position (to minimize risk of harming her), and even the shaky aim. To compensate, Layton takes in a deep breath, his finger squeezing on the trigger.

"Every puzzle..." echoes in his mind just before squeezing the trigger. He let's out a deep sigh.

"... has a solution."

From the Writer: Thank you for taking the time to read this. I want to do more pieces like this in the future; little short fictions based on my crazy and wild interpretations on the video games I love. More of these will likely be coming down the line. How was it? Do you have any constructive feedback to leave? I'd love to hear it. Again, thanks for reading.

-Make it a good one.

The Three Dee Ess has Landed

I'm going to keep this one simple and sweet. I've spent a lot of time with my 3DS so far, and in short, it's pretty awesome. The built in software is great, the 3D looks way better than I thought it was going to, and even in 2D the games are looking pretty solid.

The software lineup isn't stellar, but it's doing me well so far. Street Fighter is pretty fun, and I'm really digging Pilotwings. People are criticising teh lineup alot, and while I agree it's not the greatest immediate batch of games, it's probably one of the better launches for a console. Way better than the original DS line up was.

I have some complaints about the 3ds, and it's mostly the finish. It's way to attracted to fingerprints, which makes it subject to looking kinda grody after a while. Also, and this one is more for me personally, I've been spending a lot of time with the DSi XL, so the small screens are getting used to. I say small, but they're comparable to the DSLite screens, only wider at top.

So that's it in a nutshell. Obviously you're the only one who can decide whether you think it's worth it or not. That's just my two copper on the whole thing.

And here's my friend code: 5412 - 9891 - 9098

Feel free to leave yours down in the comments.

Make it a good one.
-Doc

Still Catching 'em All

Pokemons Black and White come out in less than 12 hours, and now seemed like as good a time as any to chronicle my love of Pokemon, and explain what the series means to me.

On the surface, it's quite simple. I was the target demographic when that game came out. It's an excellent series with hidden depth and approachability that make it enjoyable on a multitude of levels. You could just be here for a playthrough; catching a few pokemons, earning your badges, and becoming the champion. Or you could go even further, learning high-level math to help breed an unstoppable team of wrecking machines to take into some outrageous PVP. Also? Those Pokemon be cute as fuck, brah. Every kind of player can come to this series and get something out of it.

It was for the Christmas of 1999 that I received my Lime Green GameBoy Color and the Pokemons Red and Yellow. It was only a couple short months after moving from Texas to Michigan, so I had lost a good stable of friends. Relatively common, given my role as a child of somebody serving in the Airforce, but depressing all the same. We were staying with my grandmother, so I didn't really have my own room, just a borrowed one. None of my toys (yeah, I still had toys, what of it), my Nintendo 64, or my movies were there. It was that GameBoy and those little monsters that kept me company during those times. So few things then were mine, but those Pokemon and I were together. I played that game alot, and I've been playing it a lot ever since.

Silver still holds strong as one of my favorite games, though. With Pokemon Silver, the friends I had made while living in Michigan and myself had a game to talk about. It was something we all played and shared at the time, and no other game was quite like it. In fact no game really is to this day. But that social environment surrounding Pokemon stayed with me as much as the game did.

Here I am literally 10 years later, and it's about to happen again. I no longer live in Michigan, having moved to Austin to be with the man I love. I have a job where I have made a considerable number of nerdy friends, and guess what. A lot of them like Pokemon, and are just as crazy as I am. At least 4 of us will be picking it up and hanging out tomorrow, talking about what's new and (ideally) taking this crazy new journey together. It's a great time, since the game has this big "it's all starting over" vibe going on. Arguably, my life has changed significantly as well, so it's nice to have Pokemon along with me. And while I'm a great deal excited for a lot of things on the horizon (*cough3ds*cough*), none of them, I think, will be hitting the level of a shared experience that Pokemons Black and White will be.

I'm as excited as I was 11 years ago when I first opened up that Christmas present, and for that I could not be more grateful to Sugimori-san and his team at GAMEfreak. As long as I'm breathing, I'll still be collecting 'em all.

What about you, readers? have you any stories of Pokemon you wish to share? Feel free to drop a comment below.

Nintendo World - 3DS Summit in Japan

   To say that I'm excited about the 3DS, Nintendo's successor to perhaps my favorite gaming device, would be an understatement. So in that vain, I have been gorging on the Ustream coming out of Japan. There's a lot of neat stuff, including what appears to be face recognition Mii Creation.

   Details on the 3DS are all well and fine. You'll probably read more comprehensive takes on them all over the net, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Video game music is super important to me, and the live stream of Nintendo's event has presented with me a unique experience that I needed to share with you.

   Nintendo hired a professional band to perform some video game music on stage, and the results are amazing. I've found a Youtube video so you wouldn't have to navigate Japanese text to find the video. I know you're all fluent in multiple languages, including those of the East, but I thought I would save you a few page clicks all the same. I love you that much.



    Fucking brilliant. What was your favorite song out of there? I'm quite partial to the Donkey Kong Country and Animal Crossing pieces myself. But it was all good. I would buy this album twice. Thanks for taking time out of your weekend to spend with me. I look forward to presenting some discussion about level creation in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem soon, so stay tuned.

-Make it a good one.

Get Off My Lawn: Game of the Year Awards

   It's 1:30 in the morning and I just can't do it. I can't bring myself to write about the games that came out this year and why one of them is better than the other, or who the best Nolan North character was, or even why Mass Effect 2 was overrated. I just can't.

 

I've been watching Firefly again. I'd take any excuse to post Malcolm Reynolds at this point. 

 

I want to tell you why Super Meat Boy is awesome, or why I'm disappointed that people seem to have forgotten (or just haven't played) Cave Story. I mean, it was a great year for independent games, and for music, and for platformers. But why would I write that? You already know that. If you pay attention to the industry at all you already know what most people think of games this year. So what's the point of all of it?

   Look, I know I don't handle the end of things well, so maybe I'm a little more hysterical than usual. I just don't see what the point of all of these comparisons are. Who does it serve other than the advertisement committees who slap "Game of the Year Edition" on a box as an excuse to keep it from dropping in price. Hell, I'd be willing to bet most folk haven't even played all of the games. You see that stack. It's taunting you.

   I'm not saying  "let's just all get along." I'm saying anybody who truly cares about video games should be getting their hands on anything and everything they possibly can, not trying to validate that their purchases were the best purchases. Nobody is truly qualified to make any of these broad decisions, and they only serve to smother games that still do important things.

   This was a pretty awesome year, and if we want to reminisce about all the different games that came out, great. But games like Amnesia don't stand a chance to games like.. I don't know, what did kids like this year. Mario Galaxy 2, right? Sure, we'll go with that, that was pretty good. How is Amnesia, which is unique, but clumsy as fuck supposed to compare to Mario Galaxy 2? It's not like Amnesia has Nintendo's funding or distribution. And how do you fit Super Crate Box into any of this? You can't, you shouldn't, so why won't people stop?

   Alright. That's probably enough about this from me. I just needed to get my word in. What do you think about all of this madness? Is there any game you wish would get any more spotlight before the year ends and we all move on with our lives? Feel free to drop a comment, and thanks for reading.

Turns out I don't need an excuse.

Music Appreciation - Super Meat Boy

Because music is all that keeps the silence away.

   What is Music Appreciation? It's where I present the fine work of the men and women in the video game industry's long under-appreciated music design. What are my qualifications to do so? Virtually none. I'm a writer by trade, and have little to no understanding of what makes the funny sounds come out of the round things on my desk. What I do know is what I like; video game soundtracks.

   For my first run, I have the esteemed pleasure of presenting a few samples of the soundtrack to Super Meat Boy. When I first started following this Indie Darling, I was hooked with the neo-retro design, the outrageous sense of narrative, and the good ol' fashioned controls. The game delivered all of that by the pound and then some. What really caught me off guard was how striking the soundtrack was. It's almost immediately apparent exactly what Super Meat Boy is going for: something that throws old school and new, without disappointing on any front.

   (I always told myself I wouldn't include these jumps, but honestly, it's probably much easier on my page viewing. My apologies ahead of time.)

I Always Hate the Beginning...

It's so hard to start off well without falling back on reliable staples. Some people try and draw comparisons or they'll try to set up their credibility or knowledge. Every so often, they start you with something from the end and then, when you're like "What the hell is going on?!" and then they hit you with a "48 hours earlier..." screen.

I like it short and sweet so I can get to what I'm here to do: talk about games.

Video games, card games, board games. I've got things to say, and things to show. Let's be clear: I'm not reviewing games. That's not what I'm here for. I can't tell you whether you will like a game or not, so I'm not going to bother. But I think Video Game Music deserves more credit. I think glowing red is not an acceptable substitute for a clear life bar. I think even bad games can have merits, and sometimes a bad game can do something amazing... It's just still a bad game.

In any case, you'll see a lot from me. My obsessions, my interests, the little things. And every so often you might get a piece of creative writing. I'm currently working on a piece about Professor Layton. I'm not talking about Fan Fiction, although I suppose it is in the loosest sense. I'm talking about something... well, different. You'll see.

Any questions? Care to get to know me? Feel free to hit me up the comments. Also feel free to follow my frequent quick-rants on Twitter @docrandle