Top Five Olympic Video Game Moments: #3 What doesn't kill you...

Moment: “What doesn't kill you....”
Where/When: Nagano '98 (Nintendo 64)
Event: All of them

Ever play a game way too much just to master it's strange and mysterious controls and idiosyncrasies, even if the game itself is mediocre at best? Honestly, most videogames based on the Olympics probably fall in this category, but Nagano '98 drove me and my friend Nick to master all of the events in this game, even if it meant us combining our abilities into one “super run” through the events.

A good deal of the sports required some level of rhythm or tempo timing, and others were more focused around rote memorization. The half-pipe snowboarding was particularly ridiculous, as you had to memorize increasingly complex sequences of button presses and stick spins (like a really long Street Fighter move) and hit them in quick succession. The window to get them got narrower as you went along, and hitting them all was required to hit the podium. Just the same, flying down the ski slalom required perfect memorization of the hills and measurement of your speed, as only the lowest attainable times (in that virtual event) would get you a medal.

The things we do for a meaningless high score. Alas, another “great” Olympic moment was born.