Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 with 2008 Murphy-Goode Pinot Grigio

Many months ago, I met a man who makes wine for Murphy-Goode Winery. When I met him, his arm was in a cast. He enthusiastically explained that his injury occurred in the course of escorting his children to the local playground a few nights prior to our meeting. Just like parents do in Chicago, this Californian vintner was escorting his children to the playground while riding a skateboard, with a glass of Pinot Grigio in his hand. Unfortunately, at some point he bit it, and while he was able to preserve most of his glass of wine, his arm was not so lucky.

A while after meeting this man, I happened upon a bottle of 2008 Murphy-Goode Pinot Grigio. I knew that I had to pair it with some sort of skateboarding game. Old school games like Skate or Die! were tempting, but in the end, I went with my gut instinct. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 provided me with endless hours of entertainment when I was in high school. While Pinot Grigio might not be the first drink that comes to mind when conceptualizing pairings for this game, it was my god-given duty to try it out.

After literally dusting off my Gamecube controller and plugging it into my Wii, I booted up Tony Hawk 3 and, as always, was greeted with Motörhead's Ace of Spades. Oh hell yes. I was immediately swept away into wonderful memories. Memories of dominance. See, the thing is, I used to be, for lack of more polite verbiage, fucking ill at Tony Hawk 3. While I worked through the game's menus, I started to worry that perhaps I was no longer quite so ill at Tony Hawk 3. These worries proved to be unfounded. I'm still so ill at Tony Hawk 3 that the Beastie Boys are rolling over in their graves, concerned that their favorite adjective can't possibly do justice to the degree to which I wreck shit in this game.
It took me about 30 seconds to get my feel back for the game. The kickass soundtrack featuring The Ramones, Motörhead, KRS-One, Reverend Horton Heat, Del the Funky Homosapien kept me continuously pumped as I navigated old but familiar landscapes on my skateboard. At one point, it occurred to me that the music in the game was almost too good. I then stopped to think about how old the game is (it was released in 2001), and this made me feel so very old that I stopped worrying about it.
But y'all didn't navigate yourselves to videogamesandbooze.blogspot.com to hear the sentimental drippings of a nostalgic 27 year old. You came for my unbelievably sound advice on what to drink when you play video games. The Murphy-Goode Pinot Grigio was tasty. A hearty body was accompanied by a pleasantly floral nose, flavors of green apple, lemon zest, and pineapple, with a somewhat spicy, minerally finish. I enjoyed this wine with this game, although I can't really explain why. White wine doesn't do as much damage to my gaming skills as certain other boozes do. I also could have been drinking straight ethanol and I probably still would have torn Tony Hawk 3 apart. In any case, I recommend this pairing, 'cause why the hell not?

2 comments:

  1. I remember playing so much Tony Hawk Pro Skater one weekend that my girlfriend was out of town in the early 2000s that my thumbs and index fingers were calloused and throbbing.

    She was worried when I told her over the phone that I had hurt my fingers, but her concern turned to disgust when I admitted my friend and I played THPS for ten hours straight.

    My favorite boards in the series are the ones modeled after real skate parks and locations (Burnside, FDR, Venice Beach), THPS 3's levels were fun but weird.

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  2. I remember playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game until my right thumb had a nasty blister. The soft, curvy Gamecube controller that I've always used for THPS3 has always been pretty easy on my fingers. In any case, I loved THPS and THPS3, and it was great to play it again.

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