New Year’s Eve, 2010:
My nephew (at right), whose screen name is Eyeddeath13, and his friend, Player 2, are nattily dressed in wide neckties and dress shirts. They are 14 and 15 years old, respectively, headed later this evening to a dance at a Mormon Church in Omaha. They are not Mormons. They are playing Call of Duty 5: World at War on an Xbox 360 hooked to a 52-inch flatscreen TV. Eyedeath13 and Player 2 are buddies in real life as well as virtual. Tonight, before the dance, they shoot and stab waves of arm-waving, staggering Nazi Zombies attacking a World War II-era abandoned building. I listen to them as they operate multi-function controllers, their eyes intently focused on the vivid and creepily lifelike images of the videogame. Here is what I hear, as recorded with a LiveScribe Echo pen:
Eyeddeath13: “Max ammo, going for it…Like you’re recording what we’re doing right now?”
Uncle: “I’m recording the dialog.”
ED13: “Why?”
Uncle: “It’s about how teenage boys talk to each other when they’re playing videogames.”
ED13 (to Player 2): “Follow me real quick.” (sound of gunfire) “Got my back?”
P2: “Yeah. Good.”
ED13: “Ooh! Not bad!”
P2: “Did you seriously trade your…..?”
ED13: “Hey! You can have your crappy moments, I’ll have mine! Not bad at all. Hey! I want this guy.”
P2: “I can’t see so many points.”
ED13: “Let’s go upstairs (in the virtual building)…OK, this should be interesting. Are you recording everything we’re saying?”
Uncle: “Yup.”
ED13: “Are you recording what I just said to you?”
A Nazi Zombie
Uncle: “Yeah.”
P2: “You get the window, and I’ll cover you.”
ED13: “Say hello to my little friend.”
P2: “You’re so lucky. I just saved your butt.” (sound of machine gun fire) “Turn around.”
ED13: “Why?”
P2: “Because there’s a… Use your flame thrower.”
ED13: “How about I do what I want to do, and you do what you want to do?”
P2: “Okay… (Aside to Uncle) He’s jealous.”
ED13: “Hey, window! Window, buddy!” (Nazi Zombies climb through window of building.) “Oh, gosh. It’s not how I expected it. To the mystery box!”
P2: “Okay, I don’t have your back then.”
ED13: “Why?”
P2: “Okay, just kidding. I do.”
ED13: “Come on, give me something good. (He obtains a ray gun from the mystery box.) “Oh – ho! It is a good day!”
P2 (laughing): “You’re good luck. Okay. I don’t think we’re going to be too bad this time.”
ED13: “You take first shift. I’ll take window. Now if only I had the magnum.”
P2: “Watch out behind you!”
ED13: “Not bad! I’m going for it. I got the window. I’ll rebuild the barrier here.”
P2: “What’s the farthest we’ve ever made it?”
ED13: “Eleven.”
P2: “Are you going to the mystery box again?”
ED13: “I’m seeing if I can get the magnum. I have nothing better to spend this on.”
P2: “Uh, you…”
ED13: “No! Go! Go, go, go, GO!”
P2: “We can’t get magnum ammo.”
ED13: “The only sad part is that it won’t go through the wood. You have to have direct skin contact. We’re just wasting ammo if we do that. Let’s take turns. Good kill. Shot!”
P2: “Reloading.”
ED13: “Okay, let’s take turns like that.”
P2: “You’ll just have to anticipate where they’re going to be. Watch out. Watch out, watch out, watch out, watch out! I have to reload.”
ED13: “Oh, we are awesome! Let’s see if we can rack up some points on this one.”
P2: “Hey, we’re at eleven. If we get past this, we’ll be hot.”
ED13: “Yeah, we’ll be seeing records here. Oh gosh. Oh gosh!” (Sound of machine gun fire.) “Hey watch that window, can you?”
P2: “Am I in your way?”
ED13: “No, but stand by me, so then I can just…” (sustained gunfire) “I’m out. Got the window? Hey! Behind you! Come back here, because I’m… When they’re coming right at me, it’s just a clear shot…. Oh! What luck! Are you recording us?”
Uncle: “Uh-huh.”
ED13: “Are you taking pictures?” (Inaudible response from Uncle.) “It’s still not over.”
P2: “Watch out behind you!”
ED13: “Good team kill! Window. I’ll get the window. You just keep watching that one.”
P2: “Watch out! Watch out, watch out…”
ED13: “Did that take two shots?”
P2: “Yeah.”
ED13: “That’s weird. Something’s….”
P2: “They’re getting harder to kill.”
ED13: “Yeah.”
P2: “What are you doing?”
ED13: “I’m seeing if I can get…”
P2: “They’re going to come and kill you.”
ED13: “No. Run. Run, run! They’re already here. Run! (Breathes heavily.) I’ll watch the window. (Moaning sounds of approaching Nazi Zombies.)
P2: “They sound so angry!”
ED13: “Good crossfire here!”
P2: “There’s crawling guys here, so watch out. I might need some help.”
ED13: “I’ll get the window! Hey!”
P2: “Watch out. Watch out, watch out!”
ED13: “Oh gosh…. Bomb!” (laughs) “Oh, new round! We are bad. Okay, let’s back up all the way to the corner.”
P2: “Don’t worry about the window. Just let them come.”
ED13: “Here, crouch down. There we go. No, don’t move. I’ll watch the window if they break through it. Got him…. Got him. Okay, you got him. I got the next guy. Going for it.”
P2: “They’re coming after you. Watch out, watch out.”
ED13: “Window!”
P2: “I can’t cover you.”
ED13: “Max ammo.”
P2: “Oh, coming, coming – a bunch of them!” (automatic weapons fire)
ED13: “Guard me! I’ll watch that window.”
P2: “Watch out!”
ED13: “I got the window sill. Tell me if you need help your way.”
P2: “Now it’s taking two shots more of them…”
ED13: “No it isn’t. You just have to plan… I’m going for the window.”
ED13’s Mother: “Are you playing, Len?”
Uncle: “No, I’m recording.”
ED13: “Oh! Fourteen! We have… Oh! We might break two hundred.”
Uncle: “Two hundred what?”
ED13: “Kills. Each.”
P2: “Be careful.”
ED13: “Oh gosh. Oh my gosh.”
P2: “We can do it.”
ED13: “I got the window. I’ll be right back.”
P2: “Drop back.”
ED13: “I’m reloading. Got my back? … Oh! You broke 200!”
P2: “Watch out! Watch out, watch out, watch out!”
ED13: “Back up.”
P2: “Go ahead and reload.”
ED13: “We both broke 200! Oh, that’s impressive! It’s going to be a good night tonight.” (Both laugh, give one-handed high five to each other.) “We’re impressive! This one’s going to be even more…”
P2: “This one’s going to suck. I don’t like this (laughing). I don’t know why we like this.”
ED13: “Oh gosh. Let me look down here. They’re not coming in there. What’s up? Oh, I thought I saw them. Ooh, you missed!”
Mother: (Calls ED13 by his real name.)
ED13: “What?”
Mother: “When you get done, get your trash out…”
ED13: “The trash? Okay. Let’s try some grenades. It’s like they know we’re running out of ammo, and the give us more.”
P2: “I know.”
ED13: “It’s like they want us to succeed…. I’m out!
P2: “Don’t repair it! Don’t repair it! Don’t repair it! Come back! … Reloading”
ED13: “I’m dying. (laughing) I don’t like this! Say hello to my little friend. (“16″ comes on the screen.) Oh! We still succeed! We’re on our way to 300.”
P2: “I don’t think we’re going to get it.
Uncle: “So 16 is the level? You’re at Level 16?”
ED13: “Yup.”
P2: “Yeah.”
ED13: “I at least want to survive a little bit.”
P2: “Here he comes!”
ED13: “Oh, bomb! BOMB!”
P2: “Reload.”
ED13: “Oh that is impressive right there, buddy! You still think we’re going to die?”
P2: “I don’t know.”
ED13: “Reload. Reload! Here watch this, watch! Sometimes lying down…”
P2: “Holy cats. Holy cats!”
ED13: “I’m going for it! Window! I’ve got the door!”
P2: “Watch out! Watch out behind you!”
ED13: “I got the door. You get the window! Go repair the window! Back! (Level 17) Oh my gosh! That’s too awesome! We’re on the fast track to the best night!”
P2: “It’s going to be so bad.”
ED13: “Hey look! We can buy grenades.”
P2: “I know. I’m throwing them pretty much early.”
ED13: “Here, let me go real quick. I’ll go real quick and then… Oh gosh. Hey, you’re in my way.”
P2: “Sorry. Okay, I’m reloading.”
ED13: “We’re running out of ammo… I’m reloading.”
P2: “I’m reloading.”
Mother: “Okay, what time do you guys have to be there?”
ED13: “Seven.”
Mother: “At (name of girl)’s house at seven?
ED13: “What?”
Mother: “What time does the dance start?”
ED13: “She said she’s leaving at 7:30.”
Mother: “So the dance starts at about eight?”
ED13: “Help, help, help!”
Mother: “What time does it get over?”
ED13: “Eleven!”
P2: “Probably about eleven o’clock.” (ED13 pauses the game.)
ED13: “She’ll take us home. Good bye. Please? Please continue on. Please. (Mother walks into other room.) I love you Mommie! Hit resume. Go! Go! We have a war to win! I got you!”
P2: “You better have me.”
ED13: (Level 18) “Oh my gosh!
P2: “That’s eighteen!”
ED13: “Oh my gosh!”
P2: “Get some grenades.”
ED13: “I have full grenades. Oh my gosh. That’s too impressive right there.”
P2: “Oh my goodness. We’re going to be so bad.”
ED13: “Hey! We’re beating (name of a friend of theirs) right now!
P2: “Why, what’s his level?”
ED13: “Thirteen. Reload! You reload! Oh gosh! Let’s make this interesting why don’t we.”
P2: “We’re at 18,000 points.”
ED13: “Bomb, bomb! Oh, oh! We are too bad!”
P2: “They’re still going to come.”
ED13: “I’ve got the guy on the ground… Help!”
P2: “Got my back?”
ED13: “Yeah. Go! Reload if you have to. … I got the window.”
P2: “Don’t repair it, just…”
ED13: “Oh my gosh..” (Level 19)
P2: “We’re at 19. You think we can get to 20?”
ED13: “Yeah, we have time. We’re out of ammo, though.”
P2: “It’ll be fine.”
ED13: “We need a max ammo this round or we’re done.”
P2: “I’ve got 47 left.”
ED13: “I’ve got 38. I’m going to use this for a little bit. Watch that window.”
P2: “I can’t watch the window.”
ED13: “Okay, fine. Let’s just… Go where you see…”
P2: “You get those guys.” (Steady gunfire, sound of approaching and dying Nazi Zombies.)
ED13: “Ohh.”
P2: “Watch out!”
ED13: “Just go! Fight! Fight, fight! Fight!”
P2: “Ahh..”
ED13: “Fight! Fight… (On screen: GAME OVER. YOU SURVIVED 19 ROUNDS.) Oh! That’s impressive, though. It’s going to be a good night.”
Uncle: “So, that’s as far as you’ve ever gotten?”
ED13: “Yup.”
P2: “We got to Eleven before.”
ED13: “Why? Are you doing a report on this?”
Uncle: “I’m going to do a blog piece, yeah.”
ED13: “What do you have?”
Uncle: “I’ve got all the notes. I’ve got a photo. I’ve got art. I’ve got everything here, so I’m good.”
ED13: (Looking at LiveScribe Flip Notepad) “What is this here?”
Uncle: “I’m still recording. So why is that fun?”
ED13: “I don’t know. I find it stress-relieving.”
P2: “Exactly. Shooting Nazis to pieces.”
Uncle: “Is it going to help you be more effective at the dance?”
ED13: “Most likely.”
P2: “Probably.”
ED13: “At least a good omen.”
Uncle: “It’s a good omen that you got to Level 19?”
ED13 and P2 in unison: “Yup.”
Uncle: “All right. Well, good luck.”
ED13: “Thank you.”
Epilogue: My nephew’s mother dropped me off at the house where we are staying, before driving the boys to the girl’s house. I still remember my own clammy nervousness 45 years ago at their age, anticipating the Fall Sports Dance in the school common room in Belmont, Mass. My nephew and his friend did seem slightly apprehensive. But maybe not.
In the back seat of the car, my nephew said to no one in particular, “In my mind, I’m carrying a ray gun.”
Audio and Notes: You can hear the sounds of the videogame and see the notes I took in the following LiveScribe pencast:
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After having spent substantial time with Black Ops, I stand by my initial impressions. The overall balancing has proven to be exceptional as there is no single “money” class to exploit or be forced to use in tough games. The maps are fun, weapons and upgrade system a blast and all of the customization available makes the game really enjoyable.