Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the latest American Idol elimination, Milton Bradley being stressed out by earning millions of dollars playing baseball, or 61* being in the HBO rotation again, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I love watching my friend James play videogames. He gets angry. He curses out the television. And inevitably, he flings his controller. Sometimes it’s more fun watching his reactions than watching the game itself.
I’m usually pretty calm when I play games, but there are a few things that can drive me into a controller-throwing rage. Cheap deaths and cheap boss fights immediately come to mind. Last year I was playing Street Fighter IV while dealing with a malfunctioning Xbox 360 that often made the screen impossible to see. This made beating Seth — one of the cheapest bosses ever — even more irritating. This also made my hand hurt from punching my arcade stick.
Do any of you throw or break your controllers? What drives you into that zone? Consider today’s Coffee Talk therapy and release your videogame rage!
All of the final bosses in Tekken games made me squeeze my controller as hard as I could and shake it really hard too. Wanted to break it but didn't because I knew I would have to buy another one.
ive thrown controllers, sure
demons souls has given me PLENTY of motivation to destroy everything in house…i still havent beat that game….dont know if youve heard, its hard
Yeah…Demon Souls comes to mind about controller breaking rage. I have never done it though. I'm too cheap to do that.
I've thrown controllers but i put a pillow on the floor just so i don't break them! Controllers are expensive! Dying in a cheap way is one for me. When i first played God of War 1, Ares would give me a hard time as the third phase of the boss battle, i don't know why! It took me at least a week after trying here and there to beat him. I never get too frustrated at fighting games to throw my controllers.
@Milton Bradley the player
Man, this guy uses every excuse in the book when he's not playing right. He should just retire already.
@*61
I've never watched it but i should and will now.
Last night I was playing WoW….I was tanking Pit of Sauron and I noticed that my healer was just not that good. He/she was bad actually. So we got to the first boss….the healer died and it pissed me off…but no worries because I'm practically a raid boss myself so I used Lay of Hands and healed myself. Boss down. Then we move to a regular trash pull…the hardest in that dungeon….THE DAMN HEALER LETS ME DIE BECAUSE THEY THINK I WILL JUST HEAL MYSELF FROM NOW ON! The damn priest was in shadow form! WTF???
Luckily I was able to avoid throwing my macbook on the floor. Instead I rage quit on them.
Back in the early 90s me and my lil bros got so pissed while playing MKII (Shao Khan) we broke a controller. Three boys, one SNES, and one controller sucked! We didn't get another one for a month or so, lesson learned. (Years later) A friend of mine would throw his N64 controller into a pillow and when I feel that urge I looks fors a pillow. What gets me to that level? Well Seth in SFIV, loosing by a lot of points in any game, and YOU!!! Just kidding your great!
@thundercracker Good call on Demons Souls. I'm pretty sure that game has made people throw their entire consoles.
@tokz_21 61* is just a great baseball movie. Barry Pepper is fantastic as Maris and The Punisher is great as Micky Mantle.
@rpad
Ivan Drago was Micky Mantle!!!!!
I usually curse and complain when I get killed in a game but my girlfriend is almost worse than me with that… haha. I don't think I've ever broken a controller though, my older brother is the 'throw his controller type' though.
Aw yea just swapped SCC for FFXIII with my bro!
Nope, never thrown a controller before. Too pricey to replace.
When I'm home alone (and not using my mic) and I'm playing a MP shooter (BFBC2 for instance), I do tend to get a lot more belligerent than I'd like to admit. That's about all the game-raging I do.
@ ALL
Here we go again.. .http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=5167613
@Big Blak
Seems they'll never learn.
@Big Blak I'm interested to hear what you think of FFXIII. I'm 10 chapters in and I love it.
@Big Blak
It seems that LT will never learn. Drug abuse, spousal abuse, and now rape. I guess he doesn't like having freedom and being regarded as one of the best LB's of all time.
@ Ray
I will let you know, trust me! I'm going over the game manual at work I cant wait to play it in 1080p.
@ Tokz
Seriously man, its like wtf dude! Get a clue, I think he has used his last life line.
I throw my PS3 controllers all the time. Especially when playing online with dumbasses. I don't know what it is but if I am doing poorly or my team is losing I get super agitated and thrown thing at the cost of the safety of the people around me and my belongings.
did you guys know that the 56 in shockwave562 was because of LT? I idolized him growing up and it became one of my 2 favorite numbers (the other being 2). but seriously LT, his personal life is a disaster
@Shockwave562 And 2 is for Derek Jeter or Stacey Augmon, right? :P
There are so many great NY athletes from that generation that have become world-class f*ckups — LT, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, etc.
Lol, good call Rpad – Derek Jeter's Rookie card was the first baseball card I can remember owning. hence 2 was my favorite baseball number all throughout little league and High School. Actually, it's my softball number too.
I had this huge fascination with New York City as a kid, I adopted the teams, I had NY city Wallpaper and pictures, I even built a Puzz 3D of the Empire State Building, the city is still awesome if you ask me.
Ahh… it's been one too many years since the last time I was there.
I think WCW/NWO Revenge caused more broken controllers than Demon Souls, Ninja Gaiden Black, and the Dam Level on the Original TMNT game combined. It was just from playing the game not even getting mad.
@arguello
That's a such a great game. It caused broken controllers but for my friends not me.
@tokz
I just remember spinning the analog as fast as possible to do specials and other stuff, resulting in N64 controllers with ED.
Sorry I'm quiet today guys… I'm kinda sick. I'm getting out of bed a few times to check up, but that's abiut all I can do.
@Arguello
Yeah that was pretty lame but i miss that control scheme. I don't play SvR games because i don't like the game play but i did rent SvR 2010 because there was a rumor that the Mickie James storyline in the game was the best out there.
@ N8R
Get well soon!
I usually try to avoid throwing my controllers just because I know how expensive they are to replace. I try to throw them in to a pillow or something a little softer if I do end up throwing them.
A friend of mine used to take all of his pillows off his bed and couch and put them on the floor around him when he would play because he never knew where the controller was going to be thrown so he just prepared for everything. That was a little ridiculous I always thought.
@ N8;
Hope you feel better.
By the way, my wife has a piano that is collecting dust in our living room. It is a piano that she inherited that she used to play on when she was little, but not anymore. Since I am a frugal person, I hate having things go to waste. I want to learn how to play the piano. Since you are the only musician I know, I wanted to ask you: what's the best way to learn how to play on your own?
-M
@ Iceman
I taught myself how to play the piano, do/have you played any instruments before?
@ Iceman
Just in case I miss you, the way I taught myself was to take one of my favorite songs and keep it on repeat. I would suggest learning the chorus/hook because it is usually fairly simple and the most catchy part of a song. Now just find the proper key on the piano that matches well with the song of choice (I started with happy birthday and twinkle twinkle now I can play Mozart and ish like that) and at the same time you'll be training yourself to recognize pitch. It is really hard at first but the rewards are excellent.
@ Big Blak;
My musical career has consisted of playing the recorder during my fifth grade music class and Guitar Hero 2 and 3.
That's it.
I appreciate your tips, but I think I need to learn how to read notes first, I think. I don’t know how to read the sheet music. Also, I don't really hear high-pitched sounds, so that could also be an obstacle, but hey, Beethoven was 100% deaf, so I guess I have hope.
-M
I'm a sailor online. Other than that I don't do much other than rage quit. Should have heard me yesterday before Iceman got online. Those were some really bs grenade fest matches and I'm surprised the cops don't come knocking on my door for disturbing the peace sometimes.
@ Iceman
Scales. Learn the scales (Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do) in every key. It's the easiest in C because it's all white keys.
The white keys are whole notes (A B C D E F G) and the black keys are the sharp/flat notes (A# C# D# F# G#). Every note has a sharp to it [C# = D flat, A# = B flat, etc. I'm gonna refer to them as sharp (#) because it's easier to write] except B and E. That should help you find C. Here's a basic diagram I hope comes out right and helps:
_ _ C# D# _ _ _ F# G# A#_ _ C# D# _ _ _ F# G# A#_ _
B C D E F B C D E F B C
Don't get too comfortable using one hand… you will need to use both simultaneously.
@ Iceman & Big Blak
Thanks.
@ Iceman
It didn't come out right… lets try again:
_ _ C# D# _ _ _ F# G# A#_ _ C# D# _ _ _ F# G# A#_ _
B C_____ D E F_______B C______D E F________B C
That should work.
@ N8R & ICE
Yea N8R is right dude I didn't learn how to play the scales for a while, I learned the steps backwards.
@ Sandrock;
I didn't hear you say one bad word last night. I wouldn't have pegged you for a sailor mouth. I wouldn't have mind if you cursed. We had plenty to cuss about last night as you mentioned before. By the way, who was that voice-gratingly annoying 9-year-old kid that joined us? I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Did he continue playing with you? I think if he continued talking to me, I would have felt the need to turn myself over to Chris Hanson.
@ N8;
Wow. That's more than I was expecting as an answer. Thanks. I was expecting you to point me to a book or website, but I'll jot down that diagram in my notebook and see if I can practice with that. But don't expect to see me in concert anytime soon.
-M
@Iceman
I'm worse when I play by myself. Also, I muted him after I made fun of him that first time. Reach auto parties players after a match if they haven't left the lobby before matchmaking starts. I guess that's how we ended up with him, but I didn't hear him. :P
@Sandrock
Yeah I am the same way…I try to tone it down when I play with anyone else just because I'm sure they don't wanna hear me the whole time. But when I am the only one playing I can get pretty bad.
@ Iceman
I actually screwed the placement of the white keys up. There's really no spaces between them. This is much better:
http://www.colomar.com/Shavano/PianoNotes.gif
@Big Blak
I just thought that I would inform you that you keep getting my hopes up…and then crushing them…on XBL.
Now that I've hopefully intrigued you with that comment. Just now was like the third time that you have signed in on XBL when I thought I got an achievement instead…and my hopes have been crushed. lol.
@ tokz
What the hell happened in that baseball game yesterday?
im ashamed to admit that i just went to g4 to see the new transformers game hands on preview….im a whore, im sorry
@thundercracker
the power of christ compels you! the power of christ compels you!
@Smartguy
No, Fox News made him do it.
speaking of fox news….what the hell is this bitch thinking??
@thundercracker
News broadcasters think!? Now that is news to me.
a fox station, not fox news. i wonder what the hell she was thinking nevertheless?? wow.
interesting read on net neutrality.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/195…?
@smartguy
im all for anything that hurts comcast…very interesting read.
@N8R
*shrugs* It's the Cubs and i didn't have high hopes for them this year but they shouldn't get swept by the Pirates either. What happened to the Penguins! They might lose to the Habs.
@ tokz
People said we were gonna lose to the Senators too. The series is even… I have faith. If we don't beat them, props to Montreal.
Not only did we sweep the Cubbies… but the score yesterday was like 11-1. That's insane. Lastings Milledge is SOOOO gonna get traded before halfway through the season.
@thundercracker
All this mess because of then CEO of ATT Ed Whitacre. He accused Google, MS, eBay, et al of getting free ride. He said they won't do it on his pipes. That's what happens when your head guy only knows how to do big business and ignores the customer.
There's a good reason the govt picked him to run GM. They needed a guy who will stop at nothing to screw customers and make shareholders profit at any cost. And they say they hate greedy ceos….lol
@n8r
Yeah i saw the score was 5-0 in the first. I turned it away and played MW2. If Lastings Milledge gets traded I hope it's to the Cubs! They haven't fleeced the Pirates in awhile.
@ tokz
We only trade our good players except for McCuthcheon. For some reason, he still gets to waive the jolly roger.
The only thing that might keep Milledge with us is the fact that he was with 2 other teams that parted with him because of his terrible ethics. He doesn't get along with people in the locker rooms very well. Long and short… he's a dick. Club owners know this too.
@n8r
Club owners may know that but Milton Bradley is still playing (not now since he's seeking treatment) and still gets traded to other owners thinking they will turn him around.
@ BSU
Sorry man lol we go from TV to Nexflix about three times a night.
Here is more on LT
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/06/lawrence…
@Big Blak
OMG, you didn't hear yesterday that it was a 16 year old? I heard that a couple of hours after you posted that link. I thought it was in that ESPN link. LT is going to jail, another NFL great in jail.
OR….
It's trumped up BS.
@ Bsukenyan;
Achievement unlocked: Your friend is online – 0G
-M
@ Tokz
Nah man I had an off day yesterday I wasn't really paying attention to much.
@ N8R
That is always a possibility, how ya feeling?
@ Iceman
LMAO that's pretty awesome.
@Big Blak
Yeah I can be the same way sometimes
@Iceman
They really should have gamerscore for that too, 5G for five friends online at a time or something like that. haha.
@bsukenyan
They should give me an achievement for watching 90% of Netflix's anime on their console >_>
@ Big Blak
A little better, thanks for asking.
I throw controllers. A lot. And I get set off pretty easily. It's like all the little frustrations of my day get unleashed when I get frustrated in a video game. More often then not it's not something the game did, but something I did that get's me ticked. Like swinging at a pitch that's clearly a foot out of the zone in MLB, or accidentally hitting the wrong button in the middle of major boss fight.
But often it's the frustration on the game itself that will make me toss a controller across the room. Most recently I've found that spending 15-20 minutes trying to kill Adamantoises in FFXIII only to have it drop NOTHING in the way of loot has made me toss a controller or two in utter frustration (150 hrs in and I'm still trying to level up my damn weapons).
Frankly, I'm amazed I don't break more controllers. I generally don't toss them hard though unless I'm extremely frustrated with something cheap the game is doing. I actually haven't broken one (yet) this console gen. I remember that I broke at least PS2 controllers 3 playing Devil May Cry 3. At least 2 of those were those cheap Mad Catz controllers though, so I'm not sure if that counts. I stopped buying those after that cause I figured if they're gonna break that easy I might as well pay extra money and get the name brand ones.
I figure if I'm gonna break anything, I'll probably snap a PS3 controller in half one of these days since they feel like they could just come apart in my hands.