Food & Gaming



Figure 1; Need For Speed Underground

   Hello again my amazing bloggers and readers of my blog!! I am here once again to give you an amazing, funny and informative blog. This time I won’t be giving you an insight and slight walkthrough on a game. Oh no… I am here to tell you about food. Yes, I know, I can read your mind in the past whilst you read in the future, you are thinking; “Eh? Is he mad? Why is going to be talking about food?” Well, I will be writing about food because it plays an important part in gaming. Just like I have found out, and not just because I‘m greedy. I will tell you how I have found this out. I was playing on Need for Speed: Underground [Figure 1], on my PS2, and I was eating a packet of Bombay mix, it’s nice you should try it. Anyway, I was eating and playing at the same time and I found that when I was finished eating, I stopped playing… its weird, I know but I didn’t know about the power of food at that time. So a couple of days went by and I bought another packet of Bombay mix, and lo and behold, I found myself on Need for Speed: Underground (I’ll shorten it down to NFSU, its easier) again. 

   So, I will do two bits to my amazing discovery. An intellectually written science part. And a madcap conspiracy part. Here is my science bit, and remembers, it is only theory, it hasn’t been proven, but it will be, one day. I have found out that certain games are easier to play on when snacking on certain food, like me with my Bombay mix and NFSU. I also did a self-experiment, I monitored myself on a game – Lord of the Rings: The Third Age – without any sort of snack, and I can say that myself concentration levels were down and I couldn’t focus well. I then did the same bit again but whilst eating those éclairs, not the choux pastry ones, I mean the sweets. And I found that my concentration levels were really high and I was focusing on smaller details of the game, like collecting items, ones which I never knew existed and I was becoming a slight pro at it. And if that’s a slight big-headed, then I don’t know what isn’t.  If you found that you do the same thing, please tell me, then I can give my theory plus evidence in for research.

   And now, my conspiracy theory, and again, this is NOT a real conspiracy!! Well, when we eat whilst gaming, we eat GM style snacks. They could be implanted with a super, top-of-the-range mind control chip that links us up with the game itself. It doesn’t matter what game, it, whether its old or new, it can be any.  Anyway, back to this chip, it links us up to the game and makes us become artificially upgraded to a higher, more superior human race. And if that is the case, I won’t stop gaming, as it’ll help me achieve my dream of being the first super ginger with superpowers.

   So my conclusion to all this is that, even though gaming is good and makes us aware of things in life, when we eat a snack whilst playing, our senses get more acute. In the sense that we have to concentrate on something extra, multitasking but maybe, just maybe, there is a slight hint that we actually become a part of the game itself. But I hope you see the angle form where I am coming from. If you do have any questions on my mad conspiracy theory or my more intellectual science theory, please comment and ask or drop me an email, ginge_y1@hotmail.co.uk. I’ll be happy to answer any queries.

   Until next time, keep gaming!!!

P.S. On the day this went to be published, I have linked another game with another snack food. Its Gran Turismo Tokyo – Geneva Concept 2002 with Salted pistachio nuts. It’s a crazy link but it works.

I will be back.

 

    Hello again friends,  As I am out and about researching different games for you and generally being nice to you lot, I am just posting this to tell you that I haven’t forgotten about this blog and that I will be back with a new post soon. As you read this I am currently working on a questionnaire. This will decide on my next post and the best thing about this? You get to control the outcome of my post. My main idea is to redo my first post but update it, add more information, give you a low down on each character, both good and bad. If you have any questions, ideas, suggestions or anything else just drop me an email. My email address is ginge_y1@hotmail.co.uk or just leave a comment below.

    Thank you!!





I say reasearch, you say wtf?!!!

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater produced by Konami for the Playstation 2

   Right, a heads up on me, I am a big gamer - only on the PS2 though, so don't judge! My favourite game of all time has to be Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater produced by Konami. The reason being is that I borrowed the game from my mate and being me, I was really reluctant to play on it as I wasn’t too sure about it, but I kept on top of it and I now think it’s the most epic game ever!!! But before MGS3, I was an absolute crap gamer - seriously I was. But now I just think it’s awesome. And also since playing on MGS3, I have been introduced to a broader horizon of gaming genres, like fantasy, medieval, racing and combat. But going back to the start of this blog, I mentioned that I had borrowed Metal Gear Solid 3 from a mate and when it came to giving it back, I was very emotional and I was even considering emigrating so I could keep the game. So, a few months went by and I was mourning the loss of an awesome game and always seemed to be failing in my all out attempt to find it. But one day, like magic or maybe fortune was in my favour, who knows, I saw a copy of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in Grainger Games. It was second hand and it was going for £7.00!!! I knew I had to get it, so I did! Now it stands proudly next to my recently acquired Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. So, let me talk about what makes MGS3 a proper game. And yes, it will be a slight walk-through.


Figure 1; The main character, Snake Pliskin

   The storyline is full of twists and turns, and as you are playing the main character, Snake [Figure 1], your missions change according to the result of your actions. The story itself pulls the player into the game, it draws him/her in and envelopes them within the action of the game, so every bit of damage affects not only Snake but also affects the gamer. So, now the backstory for all of the eager people out there, Metal Gear Solid started because there was suspicious activity on Shadow Moses, and Snake Pliskin is recruited to try and see what is happening. What he then found triggered off a string of games following on from that incident. Through each game you are going through a new challenge which then forces you to become Snake in a way. But don’t be fooled, the second game - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - follows on from the first, but MGS3 goes in a completely new direction in the Metal Gear story.  

   The graphics in the game too are to be commended as the gameplay is just so smooth and uninterrupted and it flows easily from scene-to-scene without any glitches or buffering. The cut scenes included are really good too, as they don't magically transport you in the opposite direction of where you stopped, like most games which I have played and which I won't name - Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. But, I’ll get back to the graphics in a bit as I will be linking it in with my next section, which is the huge variety of weapons you get, both good and bad.  At the very beginning of the game you have a limited arsenal of weapons available to you but you can acquire new weapons throughout the game and also when you defeat the certain bosses in certain ways, it’s a similar story with the camouflage index which I’ll get to in a minute. And now this is where I am going to link the weapons with the graphics. All the weapons available to you seem to be different in the way that they act. What I am talking about mostly is how they are all unique; the sound and the way they are integrated. They aren’t made in the sense that they all sound the same - they all sound the way they should, and act exactly how they should. But there aren’t just weapons which are the graphic champions, there are radars and other extras which are available, which again react in different ways according to what they are and what they do, and the added extra of how they lose power throughout the game as well is a good touch - okay it’s annoying but it’s good.

Figure 2; The Uniform camouflage index

    Now, the camouflage index [Figure 2]. There are two types of camo available to you - the face and uniform. So let me do the…erm...face first. This is a similar sort of thing to the weapons - you are able to unlock new face camo designs throughout the game and the variety of designs and way they look when applied is great. And Konami doesn't stop there… they actually go ahead and add flags from various countries and I applaud them for pulling that off in a spectacular way. I like the way they added the flags as it adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the game itself, as it is a little too serious at some points. And now the body, the various designs, and unlockables are great, and funny. I like to run about with no body camo and no face paint on and pretend I'm Rambo!!! But seriously, Konami may have done well with face paint and body camo, it’s just... I can't put it in words, it’s just so amazing!! But what I like about the body camo is that you can unlock new designs, like The Fear and The Pain. But when unlocked, they come with a price and I won't tell you what it is, and yes, you are probably crying as you read. I can't spoil it, but I can hint: you'll need to constantly eat. But as I was saying, the body camo is pulled off really well and to add the humour in the game, Konami has put in absolutely random suits. They do help, but it lightens the game up a bit because the game does get a bit stressful and probably gets heavy, but my personal stressbuster is to shoot the hell out of the enemies. Okay, I won't talk about the bosses because for one, I'll be giving you all the secrets of beating them and what they are like, and that is what I will do, and also I don't want to be spoiling the whole game for you, so...

 

   ...I hope you enjoyed this as i found it really nice to write.I hope you found it good and useful. Until next time, buy the game if you haven't got it yet, and before I go, you can now buy the Metal Gear Solid HD collection. Don't forget to leave me your feedback, you can correct me if you think i need to be corrected, Seeya later guys.

 NB- If you are interested in downloading Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater on Playstation Network, the price is £11.99.  Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty costs the same too.