Fussbett wrote:

James Mielke wrote:

1UP: If you're planning online play, I know that you're trying to keep it true to the spirit of Street Fighter -- you're focusing so much on what made Street Fighter II so popular -- but will there be any sort of customization like in Virtua Fighter 4 and 5 that lets you unlock things, specifically for online play, so that you know you're up against someone who's super good just because he has a really great hat? Shane [executive editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly] loves that kind of thing. Shane loves hats.

It's important to note that the 1up guy asking that question is wearing a tight pink shirt and gold rimmed glasses, so he's taken his own customization into bold areas already. He probably thinks his outfit also means he's "super good". I see in him an example of the demographic that enjoys all the VF5 character customization options I skip over, like "gold dangling earrings".

James Mielke wrote:

And so, when our dinner plates were rounded up, I waited until there was the right pause in the conversation. The only other patrons at this hour (and on this day in general) at the place was this lovely quartet of older, English folks (two couples) who hailed from Sussex, but more on that in my next blog. Sensing the time was right, I told Joy I had another surprise for her -- I had kept telling her I didn't have any more surprises this trip -- and asked her to close her eyes. With her eyes closed, I reached into my Porter bag and pulled out the Amano drawing. Then I got down on one knee. I told her she could open her eyes now and handed her the brown paper, which combined with me being on my knee slightly confused her (it's not the expected combination, I know), but when I said to her "You're my best friend, and I think we're really great together, will you marry me?" the tears started flowing, and not entirely from her either -- I got choked up too. Between sniffles and a crinkly face, she asked "Is this the real thing?" perhaps hoping I wasn't playing a joke, and then said "Yes!" as she opened Amano's drawing. She asked me "Who's signature is this? It's not yours is it?" knowing that I also have an art background. I said "No, it's Amano-san's" (Amano, who Joy just recently met at TGS) and her jaw dropped open. "Amano drew this?" she exclaimed, because while she's hardly what I'd call a hardcore gamer, she definitely understood the significance of this. I said "Yes, and it's being made into an actual ring as we speak, but I don't have it to give to you, but there's something else" and with that I reached into my bag and pulled out the music box.

She took the music box from me and opened it up, and Uematsu's song began to play. "Where did you get this music box?" she asked. "I had it made," I said, "and Uematsu-san composed the melody." At this point it was almost too much for Joy to digest. But when she saw the ring sitting on the blue velvet, the waterworks flowed even stronger as she slipped the ring on her finger. "That's the actual ruby that will be in the final ring," I told her. As I filled in the blanks for her, the waitress came over with our desserts, smiled at me (still on my damn knee, mind you) and left them on the table. As I returned to my chair, I spent the next half hour telling her the stories of how all this came together, even telling the chef how I found out about the hotel, and taking pictures to commemorate the moment, including a picture of the table we had to ourselves, in the corner, by the fireplace. When we finally took our last sips of tea, we retired to our room at the top of the establishment and prepared for a good night's sleep. While I brushed my teeth, I asked her if she could put on some music, from the collection of classic French songs from the 50s and 60s ("La Vie En Rose" being one of them) I had bought earlier, knowing it would send her towards her Mac. That's when she saw the DVD and CD wrapped in gold paper.

One of the things I wouldn't tell her during dinner were the key words I gave to Amano to design the ring from. But those words were now clearly laid out on the DVD cover: Joy, harmony, forever. She yelled at me "I thought you said no more surprises!" I said to put in the DVD. As you can see by simply watching the video I've embedded here, she saw the same thing you're seeing, except on an obviously much more personal level. She knows how long I've been planning for this, she knows how calculated and precise every move I've made for the last half a year has been, and now you know just how worth it that it has all been. How many times do you get to practice a moment like this? How many chances do you have to get it right the first time? I wanted to make sure I left no stone unturned in my quest to make this the most special moment possible for my best friend, who I'll be with until the last breath leaves my body.