Four TD's In One Game

Al Bundy once scored four touchdowns in a single game in High School. That was his claim to fame and even though he's a fictional character, I have to admit it would be cool to always have a memory like that. It's safe to say that if I played football, I probably wouldn't even be able to walk right now! So, it's probably a good idea I didn't attempt my legacy in sports when a trip to Maui can cause my knee to swell for months. If I have any claim to fame, it's in the virtual world of computer games. The contact is far less physical, but the competition is just as heated.

My game of choice has been the Unreal Tournament series. It started back in 99, and evolved to 2003 and 2004 versions. I don't even want to think about how many hours I've spent running around levels shooting friends, strangers, enemies, and everything in between over the years. Even when I think of people playing computer games, I think of pale skinned nerds with no life. I can't even avoid the stereotype, yet I've met some of my best friends (who don't fit the mold either) running around in a game trying to kill each other. That alone is kind of amazing to me that it's even possible.

To play an online game, especially one where the object is to shoot and kill the other person, you need a tough sounding name. This is where Ace comes from, it's my online name that comes from ten years running around in games (There's a much longer story behind the name that I'll save for another blog entry).

Here is the first video I made of myself running around. All the people in this video are friends, but I made this specifically to goof on Diablo45. He's a real character both inside the game and outside the game. This clip is a perfect example of him telling you a complete BS story with a straight face only at the end, laughing to give away his joke in the final seconds of the story. That's Diablo45. Camping is the term given to a player that stays in one spot and attempts for easy kills. Diablo45 was very vocal that he never camped, this video shows otherwise:



This next video is probably my favorite, not because it took the most time to create, but because of story behind it. It's common to find gaming highlight videos around, but there are some seriously talented people that not only make them, but are supremely skilled in their gaming abilities. Part of the fun of making the videos was learning new things, for example what is involved from the encoding to capturing and editing. Lets face it, I'm never going to be a director, but even the amount of effort to make even a short clip like this is time consuming. Not only did I meet IceColdFever (another gaming name if you couldn't have guessed) by playing games, but we also shared an interest in learning how to put these videos together. As it started, I think I made a quick video of me pwning (gaming for owning) IceColdFever in a couple of clips. That's all it took, then it became a mission to not only make a better videos, but get better clips of us killing each other. The beginning of this video includes the previous video IceColdFever made of himself pwning me. Of course, this one is called IceCold Payback:



Just like with anything, gaming can make friendships for life, but it can also make enemies. This next video probably is my 4 TD game, because it was labeled the Grudge Match. The story behind it was some cocky players, who I really didn't care for, came around talking all kinds of trash. It was decided that a Grudge Match would take place to stop the bickering. The match would be the best of three, 3 vs. 3, team deathmatch. Concept is simple kill the guys on the other team as often as you can in a set time limit. My teammates were Diablo45 and Optimus Prime. As far as I'm concerned, two of the best gamers out there. The first game we crushed the other team. The second game proved this really was going to be a Grudge Match, the other team beat us. Now the stage is set, one more game to get bragging rights. It was an absolute dogfight the whole way when disaster hit, Diablo45 got disconnected from the game in the final minutes. When this video starts, we are down 62 to 60 with ten seconds to go and it's now two vs. three. I don't want to spoil it, but I force overtime and the good guys win!



Yeah, it might not be 4 TD's in one game, but I think it was a very cool comeback. Anybody who thinks computer games are all fun and games, let me tell you, my heart was absolutely racing and my hands were actually sweaty. That situation was intense! I was so relieved that we won the Grudge Match, I even followed through with my promise to Diablo45 and took a couple of puffs on his cancer stick in celebration that we won. My first and last time EVER making a promise when it involves a cigarette!

Oh, and my other favorite part of this story (now that it has a happy ending), was listening to Diablo45 going crazy and screaming when he lost his connection to the game in the final minutes. Makes me smile just thinking about it ;)