burnaby t wallace

I’ve spent thousands of hours gaming in my life. I’ve played hundreds of games, beaten quite a few, left some alone, and have spent many sick days sitting in front of my computer or television with my hands gripping a controller. Specifically…

• I can remember peaceful times spent at home while chaos ruled outdoors (Max Payne 2 during the Cedar Fire in 2003)
• Times forced staying at home, both beating and falling in love with a woman (Trisha, EA MLB 2004, during my sick leave at home fall of 2004)
• Emotionally bonding with bytes (WWII Captain in Call of Duty 1)
• Seeing the sun go down and come back up while sitting in front of a computer (every type of game, several times, LAN parties)
• Experiencing the most amazing feeling of glory and excitement at 4:30 AM (after a 7 hour 3-point round of Unreal Tournament, LAN party in Oceanside–still, nothing quite like it)
• Followed a gaming franchise as tightly as a fanatic follows their favorite team (Unreal Tournament 3–coming out November 19, first saw the technology demo at E3 2005, no update to the franchise since the gold disc in 2003)
• Getting married and racing cars (wedding day, Need For Speed: Most Wanted–I “lost” to my wife, OK, she won–fair and square)

Many of my peers get excited by watching football. Many like getting together to drink beers and smoke cigars. I have some friends who read (sheesh–who does that), some friends who spend a day alone to relax, and some whose fun comes from the shutter of a camera. Then there are those friends of mine who get together to destroy each other with a mouse, keyboard, and a ton of networking equipment. While I’ve been a heavy video gamer for most of my teenage and adult life, I have been away from the whole industry for a while (you can’t plan a wedding, move furniture, remodel the inside of a house, and frag at the same time, drats!).

Which is why the weekend of December 1 is so important to me.

My computer is up and running, set to be tweaked to its most pristine. I’ve installed the best hardware I could afford and updated all the drivers. It’s been a while since I’ve participated in a LAN party. It’s also been a while since my favorite game (Unreal Tournament) came out with an update. During that first weekend of December, I get to celebrate both. So if you are not part of that event, you can expect the phone to go to voice mail and emails to go unanswered.