me@matrimony: I asked You helped. Our video game wedding tables have been named -- the official list! (embargoed until June 2)
This entry was posted on 5/31/2007 10:54 AM and is filed under Wedding-Planning.
About a week ago I turned to you, the video-game-minded readers of my blog, for help. I told you I was getting married and wanted to name the tables at my wedding after video game characters. And I said I was open to suggestions... as long as those suggestions weren't too nerdy.
Readers of this blog and of Kotaku (they of "Stephen Totilo's Big Nerd Wedding" headlines) provided a pile of names.
Some people had splendid suggestions, while others suggested names from "Final Fantasy" games.
Some offered helpful tips (One Kotaku reader: "Dude.. don't do it. This will just be a card in her rolodex of guilt."). Others advised me to make Miis of every guest or include a sound chip of video game music at every table. I'm guessing those people haven't planned a wedding recently.
One man e-mailed me from London to see if I'd be interested in having my wedding filmed for a documentary. I said no, because, we're not having a video-game-themed wedding! This table thing will be just about the only video game touch.
OK. So what table names did we pick?
Some were no-brainers. Hyrule works because it's "Zelda" and I like those games. City 17 had to be in, especially when I decided it would be funny to sit several of our elderly guests there. They'll have no idea! Nor will my and my future wife's parents have a clue the significance of their sitting at Raccoon City. Oh, the comedy.
I thought Omaha Beach was a funny suggestion. (ST.com reader: "Every WW2 game has it. Why not your wedding?"). But I didn't want to give some guests flashbacks. I had floated Sim City in my initial post, but I decided it was too well known. It would give away the gimmick in a way that less famous place names like Melee Island and Outer Heaven would not.
I liked the idea of having game place names that made a mild joke at the expense of the people at the table (or at the game their table was inspired by). For instance, one Kotaku reader wrote this of a Hotel Dusk table: "it can be the table where everyone falls asleep after reading a lot of text and doing next to nothing for 15 hours." Good thinking!
Kind of along those lines, we're going to have a table called San Andreas, and, boy am I tempted to serve a certain warm beverage there. I guarantee no one there would get the joke, which, in my world, makes it funnier. "Would anyone care for some dessert? Some hot coffee?" I'm chortling already.
I actually did a full list of 21 table names without consulting my future wife (her name protected from you folks). And yes, eagle eyed readers, that's 21 tables, one more than the 20 I thought we needed. I guess some people in town invited themselves along or something. So I made this list of 21. Then I showed them to my future wife. She laughed at some, asked if there were any good names from the few games she really likes, like "SSX" and "Prince of Persia" and then -- shock! -- told me some of the names I picked were too tame. She didn't like Daventry (too British), Hyllis (not funny enough), or Hogan's Alley (too flat). I overruled her on the last one, but we did dig back to find some new names. Credit her, ladies and gentleman, for pushing me to approve such gems as Castle Wolfenstein and Oblongata Islaind.
All right then. Here are the 21:
1 - Hyrule
2 - Hotel Dusk
3 - San Andreas
4 - Raccoon City
5 - The Library ("Halo")
6 - City 17
7 - 8-4
8 - Rubacava
9 - Bullworth
10 - Green Hill Zone
11 - Hogan's Alley
12 - Vault 13
13 - Rainbow Road
14 - Melee Island
15 - Big Shell
16 - Pillar of Autumn
17 - Castle Wolfenstein
18 - Outer Heaven
19 - River City
20 - Brinstar
21 - Lake Oblongata
Thank you, one and all, for your suggestions!
