“Ha ha! Didn’t see that coming did ya? You want some more?”
The sounds of growls, yells, and blows landing filled Shryp’s living room, all of which came from the surround sound system he had installed when he first moved into his new house. Ryon grinned as he looked ahead of him, the thrill of victory nearing his grasp.
“Oh yeah, keep talkin’, mouse boy. It ain’t over yet!”
A sudden flash of light encompassed the room, a veritable fireworks display going off all around the two. The announcer’s cry of “KAY OH!” was quickly followed by the scream of a character’s demise. Ryon sat back on the couch next to Shryp, giving a sigh before glancing in Shryp’s direction.
“I think it’s over now. Don’t you?”
“Careful,” Shryp warned, chuckling lightly, “You know what happens when you get too cocky. Let’s just start the next round.”
The two were taken back to the Character Select screen after a brief statistic screen showed the number of wins, losses, and ties that they had.
“So, you think you’re gonna catch up to me anytime soon?” Ryon asked, referencing the three win lead he had on Shryp.
“One, you’re only up by a few wins; two, I don’t play this as much as you do; three, I’d figure that you have more experience playing with your ‘joystick’ than I do.”
“Hah, funny, but I use pad,” Ryon corrected, tilting his control pad up a bit, “I never got the hang of joysticks in fighting games.”
Shryp chuckled, “Yeah, a ‘pad’ sounds more your style anyway.”
Ryon just grinned at Shryp’s continued joviality, “If your skills were as good as your jokes…nah, it still wouldn’t be enough.”
The character versus screen gave a brief melody before succumbing to a brief silence, their characters facing off in the pause. After a few seconds, the stage loaded and placed them both in starting stances. As the match began, the soft taps on their control pads were soon overtaken by the sounds of the game in play.
“I just play for fun,” Shryp began, eyes focused on the screen, “I’m not as hardcore of a gamer as you are.”
“I’m not that hardcore either,” Ryon replied, “I’ve tried that sort of thing before, and it doesn’t really suit me that well.”
“You mean the time you went to that gaming tournament? I figured you knew what you were getting into.”
“Archery tournaments are one thing; I’ve been at that since we were kids. I never got too far into gaming beyond doing it for fun, even if I do know a few advanced tactics.”
The screen gave off yet another display as the announcer cried “KAY OH!”
“Not that advanced,” Shryp smiled, having won the first round. Their characters were reset to their original starting positions as the second round started up for them.
“Yeah, I admit that,” Ryon smiled, “For one, conversation between competitors don’t usually take place in the middle of a heated match. The crowd’s cheers and jeers are enough as is, and the players would be too busy with all that’s happening on the screen in front of them. Talking comes usually before or after a match, rarely during.”
“So you didn’t do too well, huh?”
“Oh, I know when to shut up if I really want to win a match. But I also like having fun when I play. Some quantify ‘fun’ as ‘winning,’ so they’ll usually go to great extremes in playing and practicing to make sure that they always have ‘fun’. When money’s on the line, being serious is no problem; but you really get tired of having to be ‘serious’ in every single match that you have to play.”
“I’ve gotta feeling that there were a lot of people there that had more ‘fun’ than you then. I know enough about those tourneys in how most of the top players use joysticks instead of control pads. That must’ve made winning tough for you.”
The announcer’s “KAY OH!” echoed about the room once more.
“It all depends on who you play,” Ryon grinned, having won this round. Their characters were reset once more as the third and final round began.
“So you didn’t have fun at all when you last went? You sounded as though things went well after it was all over.”
“After seeing some good matches, it was. And getting in the top 10 of one of the many games there was pretty satisfying. But I’m not as dedicated as some of those at those tournaments. I don’t have that much fun when I have to play too seriously, and that sometimes causes me to get bored and lose a bit of my focus. Besides, you get pretty nervous fighting in front of a crowd of screaming gamers, especially if you want to win.”
“So where would you put yourself in that hierarchy?”
“I’m more in the middle: I tend to get a little more wrapped into a game than a casual fan may get, but I don’t practice to the level that makes me hardcore either. I can play tournaments if I had to, though.”
“This is why I don’t mind playing you in these games,” Shryp admitted, “I can play, learn, and relax all at the same time. You make it so that we don’t have to go crazy trying to beat each other, but neither of us has to be at the top of our game either.”
Ryon gave a quick glance around the entertainment system that Shryp possessed before focusing on the game again, “All of these games you have, and yet you think that I’m the one who’s ‘hardcore’ in gaming?”
“Oh, those? Yeah, the girls love to play some of these, and it’s a nice way to lighten the mood for ‘other’ activities too. A little motion sensor here and there, allow a game or two of dancing or sports where you’re the ‘controller,’ and it makes for a nice ‘pre-game’ warm-up, if you will.”
Ryon shook his head, “Now how did I know that you’d go there again?”
The room lit up again, in light and sound, as the announcer’s cry of “KAY OH!” rang out once more. Shryp jumped up in excitement, cheering for himself at his victory.
“HA! Because I ALWAYS score! Thought you were gonna run out the clock, huh? Not today!”
Shryp proceeded to do pelvic thrusts into the air, Ryon able to do nothing more than laugh at his antics.
“Okay, fine,” Ryon responded through laughter, “All you need now are two more wins to even the score. Think you can handle that?”
Shryp jumped back onto the couch, propping his feet up on the foot stool in front of him as he leaned back, “Sure, I’m game. Wanna put some money on it this time?”
“Now who’s getting cocky?” Ryon grinned, leaning back as well and propping up his feet, “I’ve no problem with hardcore gamers, and I actually like their dedication at the games they play. I’d rather keep having fun, though, so I’ll pass on that offer.”
They quickly selected their characters and waited through the character versus screen.
“You just may need those ‘serious skills’ against me soon, mousey man. I’m on a roll now, and I have no intention on losing again.”
“Yeah,” Ryon smirked as the characters on screen were put into their starting stances, “we’ll see.”
They both chuckled lightly as they focused on the screen, the first round already underway.
