Favorite Interactive Media Experience

I enjoy watching movies for their own sake, but I also particularly enjoy watching them with other people. Certain movies I remember as much about the people I experienced them with as much as I remember the movies themselves: Return of the Jedi, Au bout de souffle (Breathless), the Phantom Menace, the Star Wars rerelease, the Matrix, L'Ascenseur pour l'eschafaud (Elevator to the Gallows), Knife in the Water, The Hudsucker Proxy, Independence Day, The Shawshank Redemption, and La Lectrice (The Reader -- not the Kate Winslet one) are but a few examples. I could tell a short story about the first time I saw each of those movies, and the people I saw them with.

But it's even more fun sharing interactive media with other people for the first time. Mostly 'cause, well, it's interactive. And if it's something like Chrono Trigger, it reminds you of how excited you were the first time you played it when you see someone else enjoy it for the first time.

I was thinking about this when I picked up Chrono Trigger again last night. A friend of mine just got into video games, and now we want her to play Chrono Trigger to further stoke her interest in RPGs. And I was reminded just how immediately engaging the first half hour of the game is. Just a crazy mix of the giddy enthusiasm of Back to the Future mixed with the earnestness of Dragon Quest all thrown into the fun atmosphere of a county fair.

What's interesting about it is that the game gives you quite a bit of freedom right from the get go. You wake up in your bed and then your mother suggests that you check out the Millenial Fair where your friend Lucca is going to debut her latest crazy invention. But you can take your time, talk to your cat, bet on the races, earn some Silver Points to spend on events at the fair, play some minigames, enter a soda drinking contest, talk to people, help a little girl find her cat. You (literally) bump into the heroine, who asks you to show her around the fair. By the time you check out Lucca's invention, about fifteen to twenty minutes in, the game's big plot hook drops, and the adventure begins. It's so much more engaging than simply watching some overheated CGI cutscene. Plus, the game's already filled you in on the main characters and given you a taste of its intuitive controls and unique sense of humor.

So, this is all a roundabout way of me asking you:

Do you have a favorite interactive media experience? One that you enjoy sharing with other people?

I'm particularly interested in video games, but stretch the definition in whatever direction you like. It could be movies, or music, or whatever.

starting a band

I'm feeling creative these days. I posted a call for musicians on craigslist last night, after writing up some song lyrics. Here's the ad:

"I'm looking to start a low-key, creative, motivated group of musicians and musical dabblers. Influences include Joy Division, New Order, Roxy Music, the Killers, Tortoise, Stereolab, the Who, the NES, Yoshitaka Amano, steampunk, and 8-bit NES RPG cliches.

I want to keep this group small, no more than 3 people. Ideally, you are curious, creative, collaborative, and some musical experience (singing, guitar, keyboards, accordion, whatever). You don't have to be a rock god, but some basic skills would be helpful. I just want to get a group of creative people together to see where this goes.

Let's have fun with this."

I hope to find some fun people to bounce around ideas with. I'm excited.

Now Playing: West Indian Girl

Saw these guys at the Tucson Club Crawl a couple months ago. They're kind of like a modern, shoegazy Fleetwood Mac, if that makes any sense. I dl'ed their latest album, 4th and Wall, through iTunes. It's very breezy, with lots of sustained harmonies and busy keyboard melodies: the perfect sort of album to listen to while staring out a moving train window.

Official site

Myspace

Crush Object of the Day (and perhaps Week)

Ladytron.

Looks, musical ability, and intelligence: HOT.