Preface - A Licence to Explore

I remember...

I was just enjoying an other day of playing great games and letting time gently slip by. Nothing special was on my agenda and I was thankful for it. Controller in hand I was messing around in a game I cannot even remember the name of today. Funny that since I am pretty sure the thing that happened then would be worth telling.

As I tried to reach for my cup of coffee, I accidentally spilled it over the highly unstable nuclear power cell I use for my home gaming center. A fantastic explosion ensued, but I heard no sound. Everything turned to light and I felt my body fly over a great distance, as if I had become almost weightless, a ragdoll of my former self. Then the floor appeared, closer and closer, rushing towards me faster every second, I could not move, I could not glide, I had no means of avoiding what was probably going to be a painful landing.

But when I crashed, my limp body just bounced ridiculously as a broken toy and finally stooped at the foot of what appeared to be a huge sign. Apparently unhurt and completely able to move again, I jumped on my feet in an awkward animation that was probably missing a few frames and looked up.

WELCOME TO

VIDEO GAME LAND

Population : highly variable

The sign was unexpected indeed.

But as I looked past the sign and into the horizon, I started gasping in awe, shaking a little in the fearsome view that was materializing into my view as far as the draw distance could go. On a distant hill, the shape of what had to be Princess Peach's Castle stood tall, answering to the amazing view of could only be the city of Midgar. Everywhere my eyes stopped, a new Video Game world laid, boggling my mind. I was pretty sure I was dead, but it was hard to decide if I was in heaven, hell or something else altogether.

I picked up one of the tourist guides that were made available at the foot of the sign and looked at the map. Immediately, I saw highlighted areas all over the thing and it was pretty obvious I could touch them. Not wanting to temp fate, I looked for some kind of tutorial area, or tourist info center if nothing better was available. Luck was on my side the Tutorial Bureau was almost immediately next to where I was. I touched the icon and suddenly, I was there, looking at a door. I did not bother to knock and let myself in. A seemingly never-ending wall of prospectus faced a counter. I walked toward the latter and press the button.

A sensual female voice came out of nowhere. "Please enter you name."

"Kim - I replied uncomfortably

- Specify the reason of you visit.

- I'm lost? I don't know what happened, I was brought here.

- Were you hired for the Chronicles?

- How do you do it? Putting the capitals in speech I mean. Never mind, yeah, why not, I don't have a job right now, so yeah, I'll take it with pleasure.

- Great, your passport will be given to you immediately.  You can now access any part of Video Game Land.

- Right, ok. How do I go home?

- You start by fetching some material for the Chronicles, you will gain access to additional plans of reality later."

The voice then stopped. It's soothing tone did not help hiding the fact that I was not going home any time soon. I looked at the map again and saw a bunch of game zones lighting up. But no menu, exit or return to desktop button.

That was the start of my chronicles of Video Game Land. I have no idea how many games I will have to explore and report on before I can go home again. But I must admit that I can think of worst situation to be in. Nevertheless, because the publication of my Chronicles is a clause in my contracts, I will publish the results of my explorations here.

Enjoy, comment, HELP..........