I am hoping that with this thread, we can share our memories and moments throughout our "SSX-career"... With the next-gen SSX coming up, we are getting loads of new members, so it'd be nice to reminisce a bit. Not just because it's all just for fun and for interesting purposes, but it's also nice to look into the history of SSX and its community, so the newcomers can check out how things started and how they've evolved since the start. And since it's just over 10 years ago since the first SSX, I reckon it's nice to look back and share our stories/moments...

So yeah, with this I am hoping that as many of you, both old and new schoolers, care to share your SSX moments/memories/stories. Whether it's a game- or community-related moment/moment/story, it doesn't matter. As long as it's something!

I'll start off with some introduction on Master Runs for SSX Tricky. How they evolved, who did what, the build-ups etc. Just a list of good, old and new school videos.

http://elgen.net/ssx/elgen_garibaldi.wmv - This LIVE run @ Garibaldi done by me back in 2002 was basically the build-up for todays Garibaldi route. My very first MR for any SSX. Although I did the run, I got some valuable pointers from old schoolers such as PD and naya. Before merqurycity.com was established, all of us used to hang on GameFAQs message boards where we worked on this FAQ for Garibaldi: http://elgen.net/ssx/garibaldifaq.txt (holy for some CRAPPY grammar there!) This FAQ was the start of the whole million-score project on Garibaldi, hence where my and loads of others MR-mania started. So yeah, this route was one of the first proper MR for Garibaldi, although Naya came up with a run way better than mine not so long after my run. Ah, these good memories...

http://elgen.net/ssx/fbx_snowdream.wmv - This LIVE run @ SD was done by the super veteran FBX in the summer of 2002. One of the rarest MRs out there as this video wasn't posted to the highscore board, if I remember correct. This video was basically a proof that 2m was definitely possible on SD, but we didn't have the proper route for it until happymachines came up with his SD-attempt: http://elgen.net/ssx/happymachines_snowdream.wmv with Naya coming up with a follow-up LIVE attempt on 1.64m: http://elgen.net/ssx/naya82_snowdream_1.64mil_live.avi - A score that brought them closer to the magical 2m-mark. From here on, other high ranked showoffers entered the "competition"; PD, MrC and Yoshi. They all did some great efforts until PD managed to hit the impressive 2m-mark.

http://elgen.net/ssx/happymachines_aloha.wmv - This REPLAY run @ AIJ was done by another veteran in SSX-land; happymachines, who's not really a dude into showoff, but did some amazing runs back in 2003. This MR was probably one of THE most impressive MR back in the days, as this destroyed the belief in those who didn't see that 1m was possible on AIJ. There were claims, yes, but no one came up with any proof, until happymachines came up with this MR. This also made other veterans such as Yoshi and Naya to attempt the 1m-mark. They both scored almost 1.1m with their attempts. From here on, the discussions about 1.5-2m-marks being a possibility started...

http://elgen.net/ssx/sico_mesablanca.wmv - This LIVE run @ Mesablanca (or Meaablncna as some call it) was done by sico in 2002. When he did this video, it was like a big "WOW"-shout from several members of the SSX-community. Why? Well, considering this goes back to 2002 where we didn't have MRs that matched the quality of sico's run, it was a really nice surprise to everyone to see this be a reality. Not only that, but sico managed to get 2m on a track that was immense difficult and where most of the showoffers didn't even see the potential to get such a score there. So yeah, back in 2002, this was probably the best SSX Tricky showoff MR.

http://elgen.net/ssx/gondee_merqcity.wmv - This LIVE run @ MCM was done by everyone's favorite ass-kisser extraordinaire, gondee, back in 2003. This was probably the start of the whole MCM-deal. Back then, getting 2m was a kick-ass for MCM, but then gondee and the others came up with routes that pushed the score up to 2.5m, hence why gondee documented it with this video. From there on, it was clear that a 3m-score would definitely be a possibility on MCM, so then the usual showoffers got onto it. And correct me if I am wrong, but I believe it was MrC (or was it Naya again?) who came up with a route that brought the score OVER 3m pts. When that was done, possibilities for a 3.5m-score came up, and MrChaos certainly did it nicely with his score of 3.6m.

http://elgen.net/ssx/gondee_alps.wmv - This LIVE run @ EA was another run done by gondee in 2003. Cannot say much about this track as I don't know the full story of it, but I know that both Naya and MrC came up with runs that went on to be world records for several years. MrChaos' MR for EA: http://elgen.net/ssx/mrchaos_elysiumalps_3.75mil.mov

http://elgen.net/ssx/gondee_megaplex.wmv - This LIVE run @ TMPX (clean) was another run done by gondee in 2003. Cannot say much about this track as I don't know the full story of it. This stage has always been the stage with potential to get several millions, but to find the correct route for achieving most points sure took its time... And obviously, this MR was done before the well-known warp-glitch came into the picture.

http://www.elgen.net/ssx/cryogen_alaska2.67m.wmv - This LIVE run @ Alaska was done by my good friend "Cryogen" back in summer of 2003 (see pic below). This run was basically the base and build-up of todays Alaska-route. Most of the things in this route are still used on todays Alaska WR-runs. This was also the run that proved that 3m was definitely possible on this much annoying and tricky track. After this run, which gave other highly ranked showoffers massive room for improvement, it didn't go long until we started to see runs way over the much talked 3m-mark. And again we saw the high ranked showoffers such as MrC, PD and Naya come up with the highest numbers. Even the race-master happymachines came up with his attempt: http://elgen.net/ssx/happymachines_alaska.wmv

http://elgen.net/ssx/vegeta_pipedream.wmv - This SSX Tricky LIVE run @ Pipedream was done by another SSX-veteran; Vegeta (vegeta420 on the scoreboard), back in 2003. This was, obviously, the base and build-up for todays PD-route. His record was basically untouchable for years, actually. One amazing run this was back in the days, yes.

http://elgen.net/ssx/alaskaglitches.wmv - This neat video shows some fun and interesting glitches @ Alaska (SSX Tricky). I got this vid from gondee some LONG time ago. According to my dates, this video is from the very early Tricky-days; year 2002!

http://elgen.net/ssx/Masters_of_SSX_Tricky.mpeg - This nice piece of video created by gondee shows some of the most influental showoffers for SSX Tricky. It covers about every trickyster who are truly old schoolers. Ah, these lovely moments...

So yeah, that's my showoff-rememberance for SSX Tricky...

That's pretty good. Someone should do the same for SSX3...

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Are you a patriot? Then spend 1 hour reading this site.

Yes, you should. ;>

I'd like to see a list of some of the best SSX MV's.

For SSX Tricky, I personally think gondee's MV "Kaori - Walking In The Sky" captures the soul and atmosphere of the game perfectly. Watching this MV always makes me nostalgic and feel like I'm a little kid again.

For SSX 3, Titan's MV "Mac and Kaori - Not Gonna Get Us" is such a beautiful and touching story which also brings back good memories. The way Mac is riding upwards against the mountain is epic.

There's many more, but I can't think of them right now..

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Also known as the guy that always pisses gondee off with his huge avatars.

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Some of my Architectural renders

Nice topic Elgen. Nice old school view of some classic vids.


My run at Merqury City was really the start of all the Master Runs, to be honest with you. Happymachines had sent me some videos on CD to put on Merqurycity.com, those were actually the first Master Runs, but we started hosting them in earnest with this video. I was unemployed at the time and had to kill time by doing Showoff instead of racing.


MrChaos got some of the snowflakes on his run from me, as I was trying for a high score but didn't have the upper-elite inventiveness that you guys display now. I still consider this my best overall run. There's a part where I do 3 ubers in one jump through an orange on the halfpipe near the end, and I still remember the instant my fingers started pushing the buttons to do the Uber but my brain was like "WHAT? You're gonna crash!" Turns out my fingers were right.


TMPX was a bitch to crack. No one really understood how to run it until I did the video. My run is anything but perfect, but the whole "hit the fans to get the reds, even if you have to go backwards" became pretty commonplace after that. I don't consider this my best run but I remember working hardest at it since 3/4 of a high score on Tokyo is sheer inventiveness. Your run was the epitome of that elgen - you got snowflakes in your 5 mil run I never would have thought up in a thousand years.

Also, I didn't do the "Masters of SSX Tricky" video. That was co-produced by MrChaos and Gamingnerd. I think it's on GN's youtube page.

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Ah, thanks a bunch for those inputs, gondee. Nice to get the stories behind the other tracks into place as well. Ah, I simply enjoy reading about these ye olde nice days! Hehe.

And yosh, I do remember that your fan-jumping on TMPX was something that got heavily used after your video, and now we can see the...well...absolute result of that.

Oh shoot... forgot about GN. How's his story? Who's he? Haven't seen him too much in here... or have I just been too inactive?

Also, do you remember which old schoolers used to hang out on GF message boards, before merqurycity.com got launched?