My wife is going out of town this weekend. The Wookie and I might get together for some BBQ and God of War 2. Would be a opportune time for me to show him the cardboard box that I just ran into.

The cardboard box is something of a recurring theme in vgcats, the comic. I didn’t and don’t understand it at all having never really played any of the Metal Gear Solid series. I’m playing it now but I use the term playing for me mashing the controller with my face and having all the guards come running at me. It’s a stealth game. And where you’re supposed to move like a snake in the grass, the guards come running at me because I move like a rake in the ass.

I’m following a walkthrough as usual. It’s by this guy named Alex Eagleson. He writes a ton of guides on gamefaqs. He must have a lot of time (some would say the same of me). But he’s exceptional at not making dumb jokes or giving instructions like “go here and do stuff”. So I sent him an email thanking him for his great guides.

From: Chris
To: _beleted_@gmail.com
Subject: Love your work on gamefaqs.

Just wanted to write you a note thanking you for your obvious hard work on so many games that I couldn’t have possibly beaten without your well-written guides. Your style is funny and informative but not kiddy and confusing. I look for A l e x on any gamefaq page especially RPGs) that I don’t want to stumble through or be confused again when I put them down for two months.

I’m glad you included your email because as I’ve read your guides exclusively for hours on RE4, FFXII, GTA:SA and currently Xenosaga1 it’s less like reading a FAQ and more like beating a game with a friend that speaks my language in shorthand.

Good job Alex, you’ve allowed me to put down and pick up games without the annoying gamer “metal RAM” problem: “where the hell was I?”

He quietly replied:

Alex <_beleted_ @gmail.com> to me
From: Alex <_beleted_ @gmail.com>
To: Chris
Subject: Re: Love your work on gamefaqs.

Thank you very much

-Alex

So although it’s such a small deal, it’s a cool feeling talking to a personal celebrity on the Internet which flattens so much information and stardom.