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 Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 3:12 am
So, this was the famous Guitar Hero game.
A girl with glasses and a purple sweater walked around it slowly, watching it as if it were some caged exotic beast. So this was it.
Alessa had heard about the game in this arcade. She wasn’t the most likely person to get in such a place, but not by far. She had tried DDR, and happily got her a** handed back to her. She’d played ParaParaParadise, and found it absolutely friggin' fun. (The singing games were left out because of her unability to sound even remotely harmonious while doing so, which was also why she never got into the choir.) Therefore, after hearing so many good reviews about another music game, she’d decided she had to try it to die happy.
A look behind her. Nobody that would witness her inevitable fail and make her feel bad about trying again. She stepped forward and inserted a coin.
She found her way around the menu quickly. She selected Midori, an adorably bright Japanese rocker, then when she was confronted to the song list, she had a block.
She wasn’t sure she knew any of these songs. That was much more problematic when you were supposed to play it than when you just wanted to dance.
“Oh, I know this one! Oh gosh, thanks.”
Obliviously, she selected Paint it Black, medium difficulty…
… and that’s where a whole song of pain started.
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:36 pm
"Cmon cmon cmon..."
Hands on the glass, Demy was staring intently as his claw dropped and latched onto a small panda plushie. Now if only it'd hold it he could sneak it home and give it to---
CRUD. Dropped it again. He really just wasn't any good at the damn claw machines, but when the panda had been spotted he -had- to try. Sighing he reached into his pocket for a few quarters to give it another shot.
Or, at least he -would- have, if it weren't for the sudden onslaught of rather negative noises he was hearing from his favorite game in the entire world. Who the hell was playing Paint it Black in a not so wonderful manner? Clearly he'd have to investigate.
Singing to himself (he wasn't a very wonderful singer either), Demy quickly wound his way through the arcade and came to a halt to the side of the machine. It was an excellent viewing angle, though the view at the moment....eh it wasn't that good. Poor kid playing it must not have much experience.
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Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 3:05 am
Note to self #1: take a look at a real guitar before attempting to play this, seriously.
Note to self #2: it’s a bad idea to play these games when you’re less than dexterous with your hands, anyway.
Note to self #3: you should really start on Easy difficulty next time.
The newbie was struggling so hard to hit the right keys on time she didn’t see what was going on around her anymore. For all she knew, a crowd could have suddenly appeared to throw tomatoes at her.
A few minutes passed. Verdict: her score was terrible. Her otherwise irreproachable nerves ********! ******** it! Why is it so hard?” she spat in anger, dropping the guitar controller violently. She was about to kick the machine.
Had been about to kick the machine. She realized there was a guy looking at her. How long has he been here? Her frustration seemed to vanish into thin air almost instantly, followed by a regretful expression on her face. “O-oh gosh, I’m sorry, it slipped, I didn’t mean to drop it like that…” Alessa was embarrassed, and almost certain those were her last instants at the arcade.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 6:47 pm
"It's not really hard, you just need some practice is all!"
He definitely made a face at the guitar dropping, but that was due to his love of the machine rather than any real authority to give her a swift boot out of the arcade.
"First time playing or something? You've got a good start but...well if you start throwing the controller around you'll never get good, ya know?"
Demy approached, but it was only to gently pick the controller up off the ground and hold it out in an offering to the other. No anger was present, hell he was even smiling.
"Maybe you should give it another go?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:29 am
She was laughing nervously, conscious of her puerile tantrum. “I-I guess… yes, it’s the first time. Oh God, I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t break it…”
Alessa smiled back, appeased by the boy’s own serenity. “Thank you”, she said when she took the controller back. Fortunately, it seemed to be working fine.
“You seem to know this better than I do… so other than starting the game in easy mode, what’s your advice? I’m not that good with that sort of game.” A pause. “Huh, how good are you, actually? Maybe you could show me?”
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 9:04 pm
"They're sturdy controllers, don't worry! And well...easy mode and practice, I guess? That's how I got started!"
Here he grinned, moving closer to the machine to eagerly point at names on the high score board. Especially one labeled 'STAR'.
"That's me! Good? Sure am! I play all the time though, so I've had looooots of practice."
At the suggestion of showing her he actually faltered. Just slightly, but it was likely still noticeable.
"Well um...yeah! Of course I could show you!"
Well -duh-. He wasn't going to pass up a chance to play -his- game to an audience.
"But um...man, I play on expert mode? So I dunno how much you'd learn...but I'm totally still willing to play! LOVE this game afterall!"
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 3:38 am
Alessa raised her eyes and pushed her glasses on her nose. STAR? It was pretty damn high in the list, and was the proud owner of a very large bunch of points. “Ooohh…”
She turned to Demy, half surprised, half amused. “You’re playing on Expert? No way! I thought Expert difficulty was made for professional players, something like that…”
She resisted the urge to ask if it weren’t, however, too hard. What do you think he’s playing on Expert mode for, seriously?
His face had lit up as she asked him for a demonstration. Even if she didn’t actually want to see him in action, it would have been cruel to deny him the occasion. “It’s not like I could possibly unlearn anything by watching you… so please, go ahead… hey, by the way, how should I call you?” She wasn’t really eager to remember the guy as “STAR” only.
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Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:30 am
"As much time as I spend on the game it might as well be my profession."
Here he laughed. Man if such a thing existed he'd be -all- over the chance to play the game professionally. But hey, he was slowly learning the real guitar so that could be his profession. In the long run that'd be even cooler! Or so he hoped, if he could pull this off.
"Alright I'll show you! But then I promise to help you out okay?"
Because if he -didn't- make some deal to get himself back off the game he'd do nothing but play it the rest of the day and....well he had to try and get that panda out of the claw machine. Gently taking the controller back, it took mere seconds for quarters to be inserted, a song chosen, and the difficulty of expert picked out.
The thing about expert is the normally quiet board of easy mode was turned into a literal minefield of notes EVERYWHERE. But that was okay, because this particular boy was only really happy when his hands were flying all over the guitar to hit the notes. It was fast, it was intense, and it was usually a pretty good way to expend his overflow of energy.
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 3:29 am
“Thank you!” The boy’s boasting made Alessa expect some incredible feat. She was both amused and intimidated. How skilful could the champion be to master Expert mode? He must be extremely good with his fingers. (No pun intended.)
The selection was made so fast she almost didn’t notice him starting. And when he did start, oh boy. She whimpered at the huge amount of notes raining down on the screen.
Even more impressive, he didn’t seem to miss a single note, no matter how fast they arrived. “Gosh, you’re really good… how long have you been playing the game before managing to do that?” she asked slowly, mesmerized by the screen, forgetting completely to watch his technique.
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:53 pm
Notes continued to fly by, and even as Demy answered her questions he managed to hit most, if not all of them.
"I've been playing a few years? Not totally sure but man it's so fun. Thank you!"
He played through, putting a pretty good run on the song (but not the best, oh well he could try again later!). Once finished the boy turned, grinned, and offered the controller to Alessa once again.
"Ready to give it another shot? I promise it's not that hard, you'll learn! Really!"
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:53 am
“A few years”, gaped the brunette, raising eyebrows behind her glasses. All of a sudden, her motivation collapsed like a sawed pine tree at this time of the year. She didn’t give much of a reaction when given the controller back. “I’m not so sure about t-this anymore” she lamented, however making her selection on the game screen, with a slowness hinting at reluctance.
The same song she tried before started, on easy mode this time. With concentration, she did better than last time, but while she was focusing on the notes and keys exclusively, it stopped feeling like a game. “For your information, I never was really good with musical instruments…”
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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:28 pm
"No no no it's okay! Really! You just need some practice, it won't take -years- to get decent you know? That's just how long I've been playing. Big fan and all."
He stood back, allowing her plenty of breathing room while she played. Really she was already doing better than her previous attempt, and that was a start right?
"I'm not so good either...I'm trying to learn the real guitar now though! My buddy's encouraging it, and it's fuuuun but a lot of work. It's way different from the game...but I still love it!"
Once finished he nodded at the improvement, even clapping a bit. Everyone deserved an applause from time to time.
"Seeee? You're doing fine!"
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Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 9:13 am
During a very short instant, the applauding made the brunette feel warm and fuzzy inside. “Really?” she asked hopefully. Then the feeling collapsed like a house of cards in a storm. It was the guy at the top of the high score board in front of her. There was no way in hell she could get an ounce of his talent. She was just a waste of his time. She should just apologize for all this, and run away…
… but she was too shy to disagree any further with him.
“Th-thank you! Maybe I’ll learn to play on Medium before tonight… ahah.” Her gaze went from the guitar-shaped controller to the stranger, feeling like she’d forgotten something. “Oh, and what did you say was your name again, by the way? I’m Alessa.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:29 pm
"Name's Demy, nice to meetcha Alessa. And really, don't stress! You'll learn the game over time, no need to be an expert by the end of the day right? I sure wasn't!"
No, it had taken him quite some time to build up the skill. Now of course he flaunted it every chance he got, but he still remembered when he too could barely play.
Practice makes perfect!
"Anything else I can help ya with? Or do you think you're good to practice...?"
He had a panda to be winning afterall.
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:20 am
The girl shook her head with a smile. “Thanks, Demy, but I guess I’ll be okay for now!” She didn’t feel like any additional amount of help would get her to improve noticeably today. Or any other day. For that matter, she wasn’t sure she liked the game as much as she was supposed to, but for the time being, she kept pretending she wanted to practice.
“Thanks for the help” she repeated. She waited for Demy to get away, so that she could leave the arcade without guilt.
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