(no subject)

1. In the last week, I have gotten my teeth cleaned, my hair cut, a more intensive but quite manageable exercise routine, and updated glasses. So I became a new man in the course of six days. :)

2. Maybe everyone who cares already knows this, but I recently realized something about video games then and now. Back in the NES days, there were many games that took place at least partly in dreams. Super Mario Bros. 2 is the most famous example; there were also Little Nemo, Dream Factory, Day Dreamin' Davy, and the sixth level of the Simpsons arcade game. These games had no Matrix-like explanation of why it mattered if your character "died," so as a kid, I thought them absurd if not troubling. (This was before I heard the rumor that if you don't wake up before falling in a dream, you die -- which was not the case for my sister, or so she reports.)

I can't think of a post-1991 game that delves into dreams without some sinister psychic force or something. Instead, we have games that take place partly in flashbacks. When you think about it, that makes even less sense. For example, in X-Men: Legends, you can listen to Wolverine describe his escape from Weapon X. What does it mean if you don't get thru that section?

"...And that's when I drew my last breath."
"I thought you said you escaped that day. Besides, you're still alive. Hey, wha-- where'd you go?"

There's also Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, which takes place mostly in a book. At least the book has the excuse of being magical and eerie, partly for its transcendency of the space-time continuum. But if Edward Roivas just died 2 weeks ago, why would Alex be reading about his demise 48 years ago?

In short, games still have screwy premises. I enjoy them anyway.