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It seems that Bernie Peng, a financial software engineer from New Jersey, wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Tammy Li. And he also wanted a very creative and sure-fire way to make her say “yes!” Of course, in recent years we’ve all become familiar with sports fans popping the question on the Jumbotron, and crossword junkies sneaking “Will you marry me” into the daily newspaper puzzle, but what if your beloved is a big Bejeweled fan instead?
Well, if you’re Bernie, you spend a month working out how to modify the game with your own custom programming. And once he was done, Tammy’s favorite morning pastime had a romantic surprise inside: when she reached a certain score, Bernie’s message popped up on the screen, along with a picture of a wedding ring. Now that is one heck of a level bonus.
But wait, it gets even cooler. PopCap, the company that developed Bejeweled, didn’t merely forgive the love-struck hacker, but they offered to fly him and his soon-to-be-bride out to the PopCap offices in Seattle as part of their honeymoon. They’re even providing free copies of Bejeweled as party favors for the wedding. And as for Tammy Li, I’d say she’s one smart lady for taking Bernie up on his offer: how many guys are willing (and able?) to say “be mine forever” in binary?
For the whole story, check out this article on MSNBC.
I finally figured it out!
I had an epiphany the other day while cleaning my living room. At long last, I finally understand the true attraction of hidden-picture games. It’s not because they’re so challenging; it’s not for the rush of adrenaline when you finally spot the tiny thimble on a screen full of metal-colored objects; it’s not even because the story keeps you going. No, it’s because they make you feel better about your own home. “Hah!” you say to yourself as you play a level of Polly Pride: Pet Detective or The Nightshift Code, “This guy has junk all over his bedroom! You’d need a backhoe to even make a dent in this stuff. And sheesh, there may be dust bunnies under my couch, but this woman has live bunnies under hers! My place will never get this bad.”
Well, okay, it’s also for the challenge and adrenaline and storyline. And the minigames between levels – Polly Pride has a picture-unscrambling one and Nightshift Code has a really nifty message-decoding one – and even just the whole Where’s Waldo nostalgia of it all. But I’m looking at these games in a whole new light now, and I’m having a grand time comparing the sort of weird stuff lying around their virtual homes with the sort of weird stuff lying around my real one. Maybe I’ll assemble all my oddest stuff in one room, snap a photo, and make a list of things to find! That would be an awesome card to send to family and friends.
We don’t just make games…
…we love to play them, too! Not a huge surprise, I suppose. But the latest big addiction around here, at least on the Xbox side of things, is Rock Band, a four-player music game with special controllers that mimic real rock instruments. Anyway, last week we had an all-office tournament for Rock Band players from around the Windows Gaming division.
Why do I mention this? Just as a prelude to posting this wonderfully goofy photo of certain members of our art department rocking out with fake guitars, plastic lightsabers, and a real microphone. Yes, these are the guys who design all our badges. Explains a lot, doesn’t it?
Okay, fine… I give up!!
A month or so ago, I loaded up Plantasia again, and started the game over from scratch. Much as I love that game, it always bothered me that I’d never managed to get an Expert score on one of the levels. So I thought, hey, if I start over again and play all the way back through, maybe I’ll pick up a trick or two I didn’t think of last time, and sail straight through that troublesome level when I get to it. After all, I’m good at this, and I probably just missed something obvious the first time I played… it couldn’t possibly be that I was beaten by a bunch of virtual insects, right?
Right. Well, here I am, back at the end of the game again, and yes, only a single level shows up as Standard instead of Expert, and yes, it’s the same one. I’ve probably tried it two dozen times, planting different things, moving plants, worrying about the color circles, not worrying about the color circles, going prematurely gray, and so on, but still, complete victory eludes me. I really hate to do this, but I finally have to ask for help. If there are any Plantasia experts out there, could somebody please give me a hint or two on conquering the third level of the Moon Garden? It’s the one where you start with a few scattered flowers, a whole bunch of vegetables, and a Hercules beetle.
If anyone can get me through this level with an Expert score, I will sing your praises here and admit that you’re much, much better than I am.
Help!
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