Determination pays off

I finally advanced on Shaun White! I guess I was more determined than frustrated. Instead of giving up and skipping the downhill race that I was not capable of doing in less than two minutes, I spent about an hour or so trying different strategies to complete the task. The end result was that I accomplished my goal and I got a decent leg workout.

The benefit of playing Wii is that it is physical. When you are snowboarding you stand on the Wii Balance Board with your left leg in front. In order to go faster you need to apply pressure to your front leg. When I woke up the next day (after my success at the downhill) I felt like I had done a complete lower body workout. My left leg felt abused; I know I overdid it, but it was completely worth it.

Now that I have qualified to move on to the next country, I need to learn what is necessary to be successful at the tasks on this level. I'm still on the first challenge in Chile, and I’m not scoring enough points to complete the course and move on. I might be in Chile for a while.

What I've learned this week is that sometimes you need to use what you know to manipulate the game. For example, in order to meet the time challenge of the level I had to skip doing any tricks, so my score was very low. I can accept a low score, but maybe some players can't. I have also learned that personality and (in the case of Wii) physical ability have a lot to do with your aptitude as a gamer. If you don’t enjoy the challenge or have the desire or skill to complete tasks (no matter how much time it takes), you are not going to be the type of person to become obsessed with a game.

In order to do this project I am using my brother's games and game system. When I watch him play, he knows exactly what he is doing, and he is very good at it. I look like a complete mess who makes things up as I go along. My balance is off and I can't make my two different feet apply different kinds of pressures, like right toe and left heel at the same time. I honestly have to concentrate on making my body do what it needs to in order to do the tricks. I know that as I keep playing I will get better, but I don't know if I will ever be good.