Gaming Confidence: Dead in the Water - Editorials

Omni gets whooped at Mario Kart 64 by a Japanese school girl.

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Gaming Confidence: Dead in the Water

I’ve always thought of myself as a competent gamer and, on occasion, an exceptional gamer. But all that came crumbling down after playing Mario Kart 64 with a 16-year old girl from Nagasaki, Japan. Until then, I figured I had all but mastered the 8-year old Mario Kart title. I was so grossly defeated that my gaming confidence has plummeted to about 1 (on a scale of 10).

My old N64 had been stored away in a closet for the last couple of years, but it was dusted off when our exchange student noticed it. Mario Kart 64 happens to be her favorite game and I, always ready to play games, agreed to play against her. The slaughter began.

She knew every shortcut, every cornering trick, basically anything and everything that would put her ahead. It was when she was lapping me that I started to get really frustrated. I did my best to keep up but I could feel myself slipping toward

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desperation. Race after race, circuit after circuit I was soundly defeated. My best finish was 4^th place! It went on like that for a while. But what really stabbed me through the heart of my gaming prowess, deflating it like a balloon in a field of cacti, was when she paused the game to get her glasses!

Completely shaken after this, I started making mistakes left, right and center. I might as well have been playing with two broken thumbs! It was nasty.

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Then, suddenly I came in 1^st place! I smirked with satisfaction. Then the empty hollowness came: she let me win.

Like some kind of deranged acupuncturist, she seemed to know exactly what pressure points to press to kill any confidence I had. I did my best to mask the damage to my ego by chuckling with each mistake I made. I finally begged off on some excuse and put down the controller. (Actually, I think I just backed out of the room.)

So how the hell do I get my gaming confidence back? Start with the classic games? Play games that I know I’m good at? Find a game that I can demolish our Japanese exchange student? The danger with that option is that I might pick a game she has mastered. (Unless it’s an Xbox game, then I might have half a chance!)

I don’t think there are psychiatrists or psychologists that handle this kind of malady. Can anyone help me with this? Help me get my confidence back!

- Omni

omni@armchairempire.com

(August 8, 2004)


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