Tuesday October , 2002 michigandaily.comlarts mae@michigandaily.com ARTS 5 King's latest, 'From a Buick 8,' is another twisted tale of genius By Ricky Lax For The Daily After a half-dozen. phone calls, Stephen King's publi- cist's assistant all but laughed at the idea of an inter- view. "This isn't an interview thing," she said, and it wasn't. Last Saturday, Stephen King came to Borders at Arborland to autograph 250 copies of his new book, "From a Buick 8." "Buick 8" is about a 1954 Buick adopted by the Penn- sylvania State Police after it was left at the scene of a strange person disappearance. Unlike others, this Buick has no antenna for the radio, uneven portholes and an abnormally large steering wheel. It also vomits purple bats and eats people alive. The police declare the odd Buick, "fucked to the sky," and eventually, after realizing the "Buick" is no Buick at-all, sayv"we saw it as a Buick because we had to see it as something." King's book tour drove an old midnight blue Buick, similar to the one in the book, from "Good Morning America" to the Arborland parking lot. A General Motors show vehicle worker, who asked to remain anonymous, said the car was not King's, but "a private owner's." He also swore, "The car is jinxed." "On the way to New York to do "The Today Show" the passenger door opened up on it's own in transit," he added. "The battery blew up the first day we had it." "Today we unloaded it and it started leaking anti- freeze." Jinx, but nowhere near people-eating. King describes the story as "a meditation on the essentially indecipherable quality of life's events, and how impossible it is to find a coherent meaning in them." Readers hoping for a clear explanation of the Buick's powers or reason for its existence will be disap- pointed, as King's character Ned Wilcox was. Ned's Father passed away a year before the story begins, and "Buick 8" is a collection of narratives, told to Ned by a group of his father's officer-buddies. "You have to stop waiting for the punchline," they tell him. The officers share increasingly mysterious stories about Ned's father's growing obsession with the Buick 8 and its many manifestations. To nail the dialect, which he did, King visited many real Pennsylvania State Police barracks. Many of the characters in the book are fictionalized versions of the men and women he met. Though the book is over 350 pages long, it has a short story feel to it. The plot is simple and the message is clear: A lot of stuff is weird, deal with it. Stephen King has written more than 40 books, includ- ing a four-part series of novels, a six-part serial novel and many short stories. He is the best-selling author in the world. His books and books on tape consume about 20 feet of shelf space at the Borders on State Street. The world has gone King-crazy, everyone except University Medical School Research Investigator Steven King. Others with similar sentiments can be found at www.beingstephenking.com, a website about "Who we are, and our favorite stories about being Stephen King." Unlike many on the website, the Arborland Borders was packed with King fans, many of whom had no tick- et. Janet, whose husband read 26 of King's books, but had no ticket, said she drove 96 miles so her husband could "follow him around and take some snapshots." Janet and her husband never got to meet King. Many people at Arborland claimed to have read all or almost all of King's books. Another fan, Alan from Howell, a man prompting much conversation among the Borders staff, held a photo above a stack of books to face King for over 20 minutes/ "I had a photo of his house," he said. "I fig- ured if I could draw attention to myself, he would give us an autograph." Instead, Alan got a police assisted escort out of the store. Alan was bitter. "Half the people are gonna' sell those books on eBay." When this attempt failed, King gave in to his adoring fans. Kelly, who works at the State Street Borders, said, "He's so nice. There was this list of rules, no photos, no personalization ... he's chatting people up and every- thing." Photos were taken and books were personalized. When asked, "Is there anything you would like to say to the students at the University," King shook his head no and pausing for a moment, he said, "Party on." Courtesy of Nintendo Play the game, love the game. .Crossig' ojkrs a reshing change By Daniel Yowell Daily Arts Writer Kt I J s It's highly unlikely that living in a town inhabited by super-deformed, talking animals is an idea that appeals to most video gamers: But Nintendo's "Animal Crossing" lets players do exactly that, while proving itself to be one of the most innovative and addictive games in recent memory. "Animal Crossing" blends characteristics of "Harvest Moon" and "The Sims," then adds some item-retrieving elements of the "Zelda" series for good measure. The object is, basically, just to get by. Performing odd jobs for cash, making friends, writing letters, fishing, decorating your house and donating rare specimens to the local museum are just a few of the things " that are available to do. One characteristic that makes "Animal 7C Crossing" stand out is its use of the Game- Cube's internal clock. The game runs in real AN time, meaning that whenever you play - be CRO it night or day, spring, autumn or winter - For Ga the game's environment will reflect it. Things F will change in your town, even when you're Nin not there, and the fact that some special events (like a concert by a guitar-playing Dalmatian) only occur at certain times on certain dates, you might find your- self clearing off your calendar to be sure that you can partic- ipate. Pathetic? Yes, but definitely a testament to Nintendo's ability to create a hugely addictive game. Another of the numerous innovations is the ability for players to visit their friends' towns. Since each town's geo- graphic layout and residents are randomly generated from hundreds of possibilities, no two towns are the same. Plus, visiting a friend's town is a great opportunity to get items or pull pranks. You can even find items from other towns that aren't available in yours, and some of your animal buddies might move to another town while you visit and vice versa. On the technological side, "Animal Crossing" is the first IMAL SSING meCube tendo This capability makes the replay value of "Animal Crossing" even greater. Although "Animal Crossing" showcases some interesting technical innovations, it is missing one thing: a keyboard. While it isn't a nightmare, typing with the controller can be overly time-consuming and annoying. Even if not included with the game, the availability of a separate keyboard accessory would have been nice. Still, not too much complaining can be done since Nintendo game to make liberal use of the connectivity between Nin- tendo's GameCube (GC) and Game Boy Advance (GBA) systems. Using the link cable to connect a GBA to the GC allows for the use of a special, portable version of the pat- tern design tool, which allows players to customize their clothes and more. Connecting the GBA also unlocks a trop- ical island off the coast of your town that you can travel to. Old school Nintendo classics like "Excitebike" can be found and played in "Animal Crossing," but with a GBA, you can also download games and take them on the go. Fur- thermore, Nintendo's new "e-Reader" accessory for the GBA will allow players to add upgrades like new items and characters to their town, much like a patch for a PC game. does package a free memory card with the game. It's a blessing that Nintendo had the foresight to do this since one town takes up 59 blocks of storage space (up to four players can live in one town). This is a game that becomes a part of your life like no other. There is always something new to look forward to, and time is constantly chugging along. "Animal Crossing" is all about exploration and experimentation instead of "beating the game," because it never actually ends. Although "Animal Crossing" is probably not the kind of game that players are likely to binge on for seven straight hours at axtime, it is definitely one that will get played almost daily for, conceivably, years - a claim that cannot be made for most games.