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Эикельманн [РУС]
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Link to original post: [drupal=4690]Life and self criticism through my eyes: how a video game changed my life.[/drupal]
I'd like to make a quality blog post, since I haven't done it in a while. I figure right now, since so much is flashing through my mind, it would be the most opportune moment to do so. Tonight, I'll write my story about Super Smash Brothers Melee, and how it's heavily influenced how things are seen in my eyes. I posted this in places where smashers aren't, so try and read this from the perspective of a non-smasher, I suppose.
Reader, if you'd like to see the world through my eyes, please read on.
Hello. My name is Ian Mooney. I'm 19 years old, currently living in Tampa, Florida, USA. I don't attend college, or have a job. I'm not the same as the average human being of my age that would seem to be contributing to their country and society by obtaining a good education or minimum wage that their government sets. I'm just floating around, doing what I can to try and get along. I had a job, once. It was when I lived in Albuquerque just a few months ago. That didn't work out, though. People told me I'd never make it to Albuquerque, and I did. At least I stayed afloat for 3 months. I suppose I would have been fired quickly if their weren't so desperate for me, though. If I get a job here, I'll have to pick my act up.
One of my biggest hobbies is competitive gaming. I've been playing Super Smash Brothers Melee for the Nintendo Gamecube competitively, in tournaments around the world, for almost six years now. I was once the best player in Russia, and I've been to several countries for tournaments just because of the game. It's taught me many life lessons and has helped me grow as a human being, and and individual; morally, physically, and mentally. Through this game, I helped myself go from being 5'10, and over 220 pounds at the tender age of fourteen, to 140 pounds by the time I was sixteen.
Super Smash Brothers Melee is a fighting game where two characters have certain set attacks that can be combined to defeat the other character (or characters. I'll touch down on that later) you're facing. In this game, to improve, you must find your weaknesses, and make them strengths. You must adapt to the opponent and their strategy, and you must crush their mentality through your own prowess by a skill known as mindgames. Over the years, I've noticed that almost every single aspect of life can be applied in the same way it can be applied in Super Smash Brothers Melee on a competitive level. This is partially why I've advanced to where I am now.
Because of these things, I currently view myself as the character being played; my life being viewed as the playing field, and my weaknesses to be the opponent that I must defeat. The goal of this game is to bring myself as close to perfection as possible, and to hone my skills to the best of my ability. In Super Smash Brothers Melee, this is very easy compared to life, and I've done an excellent job of doing so over the years in game. In real life, however, I have not. This wasn't such an apparent problem until recently, when I let someone into my life, whom I now see every morning, night, and spend every waking second with. Because of this, I have realised my newly obtained flaws, and I must destroy them.
Never have I hit a brick wall in this department because I haven't been in this position before. I've never lived with someone before, and I've never had an obligation to a human being other than myself before. Of course, I speak of my girlfriend Jennifer at the moment. She is very, very important to me, and I would never want to lose her, of course. Flashback to Melee. When you're playing a very big or important match, you can expect to have a lot of watchful eyes on your match. Certain sides will expect certain things of you, people will want you to win and lose, and there will always be pressure on one side to do the right thing. I'm currently playing a very, very important match, and I feel the way I'm playing will cause me to lose very quickly if I don't pick up the pace.
Now that you, reader, have an understanding of how I view things, and put things into perspective. I'll make another flashback to the game. Remember how I said characters, earlier, as in more than one? In the game, there's a mode where you team up with a character controlled by a player, and battle against an opposing team of two other characters. This is known as doubles. In doubles, it is ESSENTIAL (again, ESSENTIAL to communicate. Without communication, chemistry can never be formed, the teammates will never know how to work with each other, what to do in certain situations, and they will slowly fall apart and be picked to shreds by the opposing team without the required synergy. Right now, I feel I have no idea what my flaws are in the game because my teammate, my partner, isn't communicating and telling me what is wrong.
Here arises the wall I've hit. I don't know how to figure out what these flaws are, and how exactly to fix them. I mean, of course I've analyzed what I'm doing, and I have an idea, but I can never be sure unless my teammate tells me exactly what they think I'm doing wrong, and what to do in order to ensure that we win the match.
And I really don't want to lose this teammate, because to me, they're the best player the world has ever seen.
Feel free to give me criticism. Negative and positive alike are welcome and wanted.
I'd like to make a quality blog post, since I haven't done it in a while. I figure right now, since so much is flashing through my mind, it would be the most opportune moment to do so. Tonight, I'll write my story about Super Smash Brothers Melee, and how it's heavily influenced how things are seen in my eyes. I posted this in places where smashers aren't, so try and read this from the perspective of a non-smasher, I suppose.
Reader, if you'd like to see the world through my eyes, please read on.
Hello. My name is Ian Mooney. I'm 19 years old, currently living in Tampa, Florida, USA. I don't attend college, or have a job. I'm not the same as the average human being of my age that would seem to be contributing to their country and society by obtaining a good education or minimum wage that their government sets. I'm just floating around, doing what I can to try and get along. I had a job, once. It was when I lived in Albuquerque just a few months ago. That didn't work out, though. People told me I'd never make it to Albuquerque, and I did. At least I stayed afloat for 3 months. I suppose I would have been fired quickly if their weren't so desperate for me, though. If I get a job here, I'll have to pick my act up.
One of my biggest hobbies is competitive gaming. I've been playing Super Smash Brothers Melee for the Nintendo Gamecube competitively, in tournaments around the world, for almost six years now. I was once the best player in Russia, and I've been to several countries for tournaments just because of the game. It's taught me many life lessons and has helped me grow as a human being, and and individual; morally, physically, and mentally. Through this game, I helped myself go from being 5'10, and over 220 pounds at the tender age of fourteen, to 140 pounds by the time I was sixteen.
Super Smash Brothers Melee is a fighting game where two characters have certain set attacks that can be combined to defeat the other character (or characters. I'll touch down on that later) you're facing. In this game, to improve, you must find your weaknesses, and make them strengths. You must adapt to the opponent and their strategy, and you must crush their mentality through your own prowess by a skill known as mindgames. Over the years, I've noticed that almost every single aspect of life can be applied in the same way it can be applied in Super Smash Brothers Melee on a competitive level. This is partially why I've advanced to where I am now.
Because of these things, I currently view myself as the character being played; my life being viewed as the playing field, and my weaknesses to be the opponent that I must defeat. The goal of this game is to bring myself as close to perfection as possible, and to hone my skills to the best of my ability. In Super Smash Brothers Melee, this is very easy compared to life, and I've done an excellent job of doing so over the years in game. In real life, however, I have not. This wasn't such an apparent problem until recently, when I let someone into my life, whom I now see every morning, night, and spend every waking second with. Because of this, I have realised my newly obtained flaws, and I must destroy them.
Never have I hit a brick wall in this department because I haven't been in this position before. I've never lived with someone before, and I've never had an obligation to a human being other than myself before. Of course, I speak of my girlfriend Jennifer at the moment. She is very, very important to me, and I would never want to lose her, of course. Flashback to Melee. When you're playing a very big or important match, you can expect to have a lot of watchful eyes on your match. Certain sides will expect certain things of you, people will want you to win and lose, and there will always be pressure on one side to do the right thing. I'm currently playing a very, very important match, and I feel the way I'm playing will cause me to lose very quickly if I don't pick up the pace.
Now that you, reader, have an understanding of how I view things, and put things into perspective. I'll make another flashback to the game. Remember how I said characters, earlier, as in more than one? In the game, there's a mode where you team up with a character controlled by a player, and battle against an opposing team of two other characters. This is known as doubles. In doubles, it is ESSENTIAL (again, ESSENTIAL to communicate. Without communication, chemistry can never be formed, the teammates will never know how to work with each other, what to do in certain situations, and they will slowly fall apart and be picked to shreds by the opposing team without the required synergy. Right now, I feel I have no idea what my flaws are in the game because my teammate, my partner, isn't communicating and telling me what is wrong.
Here arises the wall I've hit. I don't know how to figure out what these flaws are, and how exactly to fix them. I mean, of course I've analyzed what I'm doing, and I have an idea, but I can never be sure unless my teammate tells me exactly what they think I'm doing wrong, and what to do in order to ensure that we win the match.
And I really don't want to lose this teammate, because to me, they're the best player the world has ever seen.
Feel free to give me criticism. Negative and positive alike are welcome and wanted.
