Apr 23 14:04:55 106 PA
From Chronicles
The current game time is: Sat Apr 23 14:04:55 106 PA.
It's just after 2 PM on a Saturday and Monkey Business is packed. Mostly of the younger set, teens and some young adults mixed between chatting, playing and watching others play. The air is thick with the noise of both the games and the gamers, voices lifted to be heard over other voices and the varied sounds of electronic beeps and blips as well as realistic sounds of conflict. Isn't that what most games are about is conflict and war?
Vixen, one of the young adults in the mix, is no exception to what she plays. A large, two player machine is what she stands in front of. 'Ultima Fighter 7' is the name that glows across the top and the realistic, visceral sounds of hand to hand combat leave no doubt that it's a fighting game. And she's deep into it, a younger male competitor beside her, his brow furrowed as the two twist their control sticks and mash buttons at a furious pace in their competition, with a few hangers on peering at the screen over and around them, jabbering at each other in their own personal commentary on the match.
Davian is not a gamer. Not exposed much to them, growing up on the road with the caravan. But, he's heard that the arcade is a good place to relax, and so he's decided to come and see the sorts of games that the city folk play. He enters, wearing his normal clothes, with his hat tipped back. He glances around the arcade, eyes sliding over the various games, when he spots someone playing a game that appears rather interesting, if fast paced.. He moves over, and watches quietly.
The game between the two is near an end on the broad screen before them, the image of a war torn battlefield is rendered in a two dimensions. It's a well done visual, with a foreground with twisted metal, the remains of broken war machines and armored soldiers while in the background a vast field of battle lies silent and dead. But in the foreground, a fight continues. The one Vixen is controlling resembling a slender, nimble mage of some sort. Perhaps meant to be a line walker by the theme of her armor and masked face, though the character pulses with magical power beyond what is real for a true mage. The younger competitor is sporting what looks like a juicer character. Again, a stylized version with great, popping muscles and elaborate armor and weapons.
The two trade blows, health dwindling for each players avatar. Both are good, going through smooth and swift motions with tie r respective joysticks, the mashing of buttons more timed and precise than it might seem at a distance. The difference is that the youth looks almost angry at the way the fight goes, while Vixen has a cool focused expression, eyes subtly narrowed as they remain fixed on the screen.
Davian cocks his head, as he watches.. It looks like a rather grim game, to be full of truth. Such violence, and such a dark background.. But the action is interesting. For all their exagerated nature, he sees some of the skill required by both the competitors. He mmms, watching almost silently, as the fight progresses. He glances over at Vixen, marking her cool attitude, and smiling a little. She's going to win.. he can tell.
While the young guy is quite good, he does get sloppy. And when he does, Vixen takes advantage of it. The slip of a power mage darting in.. or drifting in as it were. The character floats above the ground, save for when she's knocked down. But in she goes, assaulting the juicer avatar with a flurry of rapid punches and kicks, each attack enhanced by a nimbus of blue-white energy. Each a small hit, but they add up. And Vixen triggers a combo as her panicking opponent misses the combo breaker. The rapid flurry of attacks whillign away the rest of his health before the mage starts to throw more powerful attacks, juggling the juicer avatar into the air on a cushion of magical bolts, calling down lighting to fry him before her power seems to peak and at the end of the combination and she arches back, emitting a roar as she 'goes nova', blue white energy blotting out the screen for a moment before it fades and.. the other avatar is nowhere to be seen.
"Mystica wins!" declares the rough voiced announcer. "Ahh, damn," curses the young while Vixen grins, hands lifted, fingers flexing after the workout of the match. She reaches out to ruffle his hair and murmurs, "Good game, squirt. But I've been at it a little longer than you." Softly teasing, though the mussing of his hair seems to bother him more than the playful taunt. "I'll get you next time," he promises as Vixen turns away, his friends already ribbing him over it. She pauses as she comes to face Davian, her brows lifting slightly.
Davian smiles, and inclines his head to Vixen, "Well played." he says, glancing over at the kid, and chuckling, "You're quite good at that.. Been doing that long?" he wonders quietly, as he shifts his sunglasses up again, even though he's indoors, a habitual motion.
"Been playing Ultima Fighter since the third one came out," Vixen confirms. "And that's my favorite character, so I know her back to front." She then glances towards the coffee bar, then motions for him to follow. "C'mon. I need a coffee," she prompts before she starts walking that way. "Assuming you're looking to talk rather than play," she adds.
Davian laughs, and shifts his shoulders, "I wouldn't even know how to begin. I grew up travelling, never had much time for such things." he says, and he smiles. "Coffee does sound good though." he says, following after the young lady. "That's a lot of generations of the game. Does it change much from time to time?" he wonders.
"Better graphics, more characters.. I think they're up to fifty now," Vixen replies as she leads the way over, without glancing back for the moment. "Some more settings, new fatalities, but I have my favorites, really. Tightened up the controls in seven too." At the bar, she leans against it and says to the guy handling it, "Strong and black. You know the sort" And with that she turns, leaning back against the bar as she considers Davian.
Davian mmmmms, and nods, "Fifty, Hmm? that's a lot of people to remember the moves of." he says, and he slides onto a barstool, and glances over the menu. "Something with chocolate in it, if you please." he says, and he glances back out onto the video game floor. "How do you learn such games?" he wonders.
"That's why you specialize. No one who has a life has time to master all of them. I have five I like and know well. The rest are a mix that I mostly play for challenge since I don't know them so well." Vixen gives her shoulders a roll and reaches back for her cup when it gets delivered. "You learn by doing. Though with games like Ultima Fighter, having your own handheld to play it on for a while is the best way. It has a move library, so you can look things up. After that, its just practice. Other games aren't so specialized, though." She lifts the cup, lightly sipping from the contents.
Davian chuckles, and nods, as he hears about specializing, "Ahhhh, I see." he nods, as you talk about having your own handheld, and he cocks his head, "Do handhelds play just one game, or more than one?" he wonders, as he gets his own, and takes a sip, glancing around. "I'd never imagined there were so many video games." he says with an eye towards the 'retro' section, looking over the elaborate pre-cataclysm hardware with interest.. "You are new to it, aren't you?" Vixen seeming casually amused by that. "They have game chips. You can swap 'em and play a load of things. Just depends what you're interested in." She glances towards the retro section in the back as he does. In a separate rom, but there are plenty enough signs pointing back to that treasure trove of gaming history. "I guess you've never played these kind of games before?" She looks back to him, her brows rising slightly.
Davian chuckles, "Oddly, we didn't deal in a lot of entertainment. Mostly mechanical stuff, weapons, armour, pumps, parts.." he says with a chuckle. "Things that you can always sell, in any settlement." he points out. "We'd occasionally have a few disks, pre rifts books were a collectors item.. but pure entertainment software was a rare thing." he says with a shrug. "No, I've never played much of any video games." he admits.
"Then you should get your feet wet. Only costs a few credits per play. Not much as long as you're moderate at it," Vixen says, motioning towards the vast array of games. "You should work your way up to Ultima Fighter. Not a game for new fish to be sure." She considers as she eyes the various machines nearby. "Maybe a scroller.. something simple, like Deadboy Bomber." She turns her attention back to Davian and adds, "Unless you've got something against bombing virtual Coalition troops and such."
Davian chuckles, and shrugs, "I'm.. Not sure. I'm not much of one for killing people..." he says hesitantly, and he shrugs, "But I may try something... I'm just not sure where to begin. I mean, there's so many." he points out with a laugh. "I thought I would come and see them, since I enjoy technology... I thought it would be interesting to see what it was that people did for fun, you know?"
Vixen snorts faintly. "Well, you're not killing people. It's just images.. not real, so you don't have to worry about hurting anything as long as you keep that separation." A topic spoken of airily. "C'mon." She motions again, straightening and lifting her cup to drain the rest of the coffee in one go. Cooled off and diminished, it isn't too hard. She sets the cup down and starts to move back towards the mix of games.
Davian laughs, and cocks his head, "I'm not sure it's /just/ images. Things you do, things you see, they tend to help you acclimate, and accept." he points out with a shrug. "But regardless." he says standing up again, and following after, setting his coffee aside, half finished.
"What'd I just say? If you knowthe difference between fantasy and reality you're fine. And you sound like you do, so relax," Vixen says, glancing back over her shoulder at Davian, a casual smirk curling her lips. She leads him up to said Coalition Bomber, the machine complete with a Coalition skull with a plump bomb hanging over it as the game's symbol, emblazoned on either side. The game itself is your typical scrolling shooter, top down camera. Except the graphics for it are very realistic, rather than cartoony as some are. The generic make aircraft you fly is set against a mix of Coalition unuts. SAMAS, Skycycles and rockets in the air and various CS powered armor and vehicles on the ground, like Skull walkers, Abolishers and other such recognizable shapes.
"This one is simple. You just fly back and forth and shoot and try to not get hit," Vixen points out as she indicates the game, then pulls a token out of one pocket, flipping it towards the man. "Here, slide that in and give it a try." She moves to the side of the machine, where she can lean against it and get a look at the screen without getting in the way.
Davian eyes the machine, and chuckles. "So you say." he says with a shrug, moving to take the control stick, and tap the buttons a couple times, testing them out, before he slides the coin in, and begins to play. He's got fair reflexes, but he's certainly no game wizard, struggling to shoot the SAMAS and the rockets down, and dodge out of the way of all the different shots. It doesn't take him terribly long before the complexity matches his meager skills, and he dies. He plays on, but it's clear that he is not going to get much father, as his next few deaths come in quick succession.
Vixen watches without much comment as Davian plays, though that light grin lingers on her lips as she observes, growing a little as the deaths come. Though the expression remains a light one all in all. And when the final life is expended, she chuckles lightly and looks at him. "Not too bad for a beginner. Mostly you need practice, though. No book learning to be had for games. Gotta build that reflex for it."
Davian laughs, and shugs. "I'm not sure it's really for me." he says with a smile. Though, thankfully, this game didn't have too many /people/, but the realistic graphics were a little offputting. "Maybe something a little less.. I don't know.. twitchy." he says with a smile.
Vixen smirks a little at that. "Twitch is what you're going to find here, mostly. "Quick games that don't take too much time to play. Longer games go out for consoles. Maybe you'd like an RPG. There are a lot of those out there. Most don't appeal too much to me, but some are alright." She turns her head a little and glances out along the various machines. "But I've been here too long today. Should do something else." Not that a fresh idea seems immediately forthcoming as her expression turns thoughtful.
Davian chuckles. "Well, the fighting game looked interestin." he says with a shrug. "But it looks as if it would take some time to learn it. As for doing other things.. Is there a gym somewhere? My apartment is too small to really do my daily exercises in." he says with a shrug.
"There is," Vixen replies, straightening from her casual lean against the machine. "I can show you where it is. Also, if you want to get into Ultima Fighter, pick up a hand system and get the portable version of version five. Has the best characters of the current crop and a good tutorial mode." She starts to move again, motioning as she starts moving again, heading for the exit. "C'mon."
