Today was Wilson’s (my bratty brother) 14th birthday. Tim and I got him Final Fantasy XII, after I asked Wilson a few days ago if that’s what he wanted (he’s a huge Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts fan). I’ve always wanted to play tricks on people for their birthdays but I’ve always either been too lazy, or just thought better of it at the last minute.

In a drug-induced haze (read: a cup of coffee) this afternoon, I decided once and for all to give it a go. I whipped out a piece of paper and made my own crappy version of the Final Fantasy XII cover. Compare below (click on the pictures for a better view!):

(Excuse the spottiness on the scanned actual cover; my scanner is pretty crappy) And yes… I had no idea what FF12 was actually about, except that it was “political”. :P I also don’t know what that black creature is, but he looks kinda unhappy. Another caption could’ve been “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

I got out my supplies of scissors, tape, a buttload of old newspaper, wrapping paper and cardboard. I basically cut out two pieces of game-box-sized cardbox sheets, put a folded piece of newspaper between them to bulk it up, and wrapped my “alternative” FF12 cover around it. I then proceeded to wrap it with sheet after sheet of newspapers, while throwing in random balls of scrunched up newspaper to make the shape more ambiguous. Last of all, I wrapped it with Christmas wrapping with the non-Christmassy side up (I was going to buy wrapping, but a non-discounted 2 metre roll costs $7!! What the hell). The before and after are below.

So after dinner when it was present opening time, I handed the “present” to Wilson with the real one hidden inside a bag. Anyway, he was so excited about opening the present! It took him ages to get through each layer, and he got more and more excited as he made his way into it. He was obviously expecting FF12. When he finally saw my version of FF12, his face literally fell and confusion erupted as he slowly exclaimed “what… the hell?”

He then tore the cardboard apart under the desperate hope that the inside bit of newspaper actually hid the CD, but when he opened up the newspaper there was nothing there. My reaction was:

xD !!

His was:

-_-; -> :(

I felt so bad that I whipped out the real game and said to him, “looking for THIS??? :D” and his face just lit up like a Christmas tree on fire.

We then had his birthday cake and tried out the game.

The graphics are AMAZING. And wow it *is* very political. The game starts off with a wedding and a war. Lots of pretty Caucasian people and CHOCOBOS OF RAAAAAGE in the war scenes. Hooray for no more random battles with enemies you can’t see in real time. I might play it after my brother finishes with it. He’s not allowed to play it until his holidays start though (in a week’s time).

All in all, well worth spending the hour or so not doing my Corporations readings. :P