Video Games Nebula

March 2, 2014 · 9:55 pm

I Love Her More Than Ever

Picture an old man, wrinkled like a dried prune, standing only because of his cane. The neighbourhood kids run to the old man’s front lawn. “Hey mister”, they say, “will you come play video games with us?” “Humph! Games are just for you kids,” replied the old man. He slammed the door, walked away and mumbled something about “more important matters.”

I’ll never be like that old man. Video games are so much fun that I will play them even with grey hair, and my love will remain constant. Yet it took me some time to fall in love with video games.

When I was kid, video games were low on my list of interests. I’m sure sugar rushes and running around were higher priorities. There were plenty of things that also grabbed my attention. I had GI Joes to collect, sports to play, knees to scrape, friends to see, bikes to ride, stories to read and school. It seems like there was not a minute left for games.

I found time to play the NES as a kid, but I did not fall in love with games at that point. In those days, you might have seen my avatar walking in circles and dying often. These deaths pulled me out of the game and made it hard to fall in love. Also, when I played NES, I didn’t find many other enthusiastic gamers. The NES was my big brother’s console, and he was not patient enough to explain how to play most of his games. I occasionally played with friends and parents, but they might only join me when they had nothing else to do.

My family didn’t have any special feelings for video games. Growing up, I didn’t always have the latest console or all the latest games. You see, in my family, a new console was a luxury reserved for a special event. In all my childish wisdom, I thought a new console was as major an investment as, say, a car. I always felt games were beyond my piggy bank budget too.

Then, in 2006, I got an Xbox 360 and fell in love with games. It stopped being all about me. My love affair with games blossomed.

I think there were a couple of reasons why I fell in love with games in my twenties. I’m mature now. At least I think so. I mean, mature enough to sit still, to manage my time and to appreciate art, music and good stories. At the same time, I feel like games have matured or at least improved. Games like Mass Effect 2 told engrossing stories that I hadn’t experienced before. Games like Journey even made me reconsider what makes multiplayer and voice chat. Most of all, games are a great way to have fun and keep a child-like joie de vivre as an adult.

So you’ll find me in the old folks home, rocking in my chair, playing games.

4 Comments

Filed under Video Game Misc.

Tagged as age, hobbies, love, video games

February 23, 2014 · 12:33 pm

Why Play Single Player Video Games?

Playing video games by yourself may sound anti-social. Maybe you think I’m a crazy cat person for even suggesting such an idea. Well, think again.

Here are five reasons why you might want to play games by yourself.

No Anonymous Teenagers

1. You prefer to go out with friends and play your games alone. When you play by yourself, you can side step those angry Xbox Live gamers. I mean, who wants to hear a nine-year old scream like a banshee into a microphone? Well, not me. I don’t know about you.

The Party (of One) Never Ends

2. You can keep playing a single player game even if PSN or Xbox Live crash. There’s no need to sit around and twiddle thumbs. You can also play if you’re friends aren’t online, of if their internet is down. And there are plenty of excellent single player games to keep you busy.

No Friendly Uproar

3. You might be able to quit a single player game without causing an upset. However, if you leave an online multiplayer match early, you’ll let down your team. I guess your team would give you another shot, but first they’d stab you in the back. You don’t always get to choose your team mates.

A Story Just for Me

4. I can get lost in the forests of a story when I play by myself. My friends, sitting on the couch, might die of boredom if they had to watch me move like a snail through a game’s nooks and crannies. My friends might want to jump into the action and skim the story.

The Allure of Shiny Things

5. Sometimes you just want to sit back, relax and unwind with a good game after a hard day. Then you can finish pointless tasks in the game that might bore friends. You can, for instance, get all the trophies or achievements by yourself. Now, I don’t mean those trophies where you have to kill one million bad guys or reach a certain rank online. Who has time for those things?

Of course, there are innumerable great reasons to play with others. There will be memorable moments to share with friends, you might love to compete against others and, most of all, you love to beat them.

But you’ve got to admit that playing games alone is sometimes fun. I know you do it. We all do it, and none of us are crazy cat people.

4 Comments

Filed under Non Gamers

Tagged as alone, play, single player, video games

February 16, 2014 · 11:11 pm

First Person Shooters Are Boring Me

My love of first person shooters has plummeted to an all time low. But that wasn’t always the case. When I was a little game fan, I would blast through Wolfenstein and freeze alien scum without a pause. I didn’t even blink. These days my eyes droop at the sight of first person shooters.

I know why I’m bored with them. It takes more than your average run and gun adventure to pique my interest these days. I’d like to take think my tastes have become more refined since childhood. Hold on one second while I munch on this caviar and sip some Champagne. Mmm that’s good stuff.

Now, as I was saying, I’d like new first person shooters to impress me. They have done so in recent years. One of the most impressive shooters from the 2000s was Call of Duty 4. It was an excellent game. But then we saw that same excellent game everywhere, and we saw it with a number tacked on to the end. Then we watched as other companies made the same style of game as well.

Hordes of fans flocked to these military games and still do. Would you believe I once a met a retired professor who told me he preferred shooting games where things “blow up”? I suspect he would have loved Call of Duty. I do like explosions, I thought to myself as he spoke, but I still want more from the games I play.

I would love to find a new first person shooter that redefines the genre and plays like nothing else before it. This is something of a dream for me, but I hope it can come true.

Some games have come close to answering my dreams. Portal is one of my favourite first person shooters of the last couple years. You use a “gun” of sorts, but you don’t shoot bullets or lasers. You shoot portals. You solve puzzles. That’s brilliant and simple!

I also like first person shooters that borrow flavours from other games genres. Add one cup of puzzle solving, stir in RPG stats with numbers flying across the screen, and top with a good story. Mmmm sounds delicious.

I want a bold first person shooter that tears down old conventions, and I want to play it soon. My joystick trigger is getting itchy.

3 Comments

Filed under Video Games I Want

Tagged as boring, Call of Duty, Portal, video games, Wolfenstein

February 9, 2014 · 10:31 pm

You’re Doing it Wrong

Sometimes I have no idea what how to play a video game. So I sit down like I was in school to learn all about it. But the basics don’t always seep through my rock-like brain. I’m not always a star pupil.

Sometimes you meet other people who have no idea how to play games either. Oh, don’t laugh. We’ve all got lost at some point, even if we’re an unstoppable online hurricane now. So I took that theme of self-inflicted disaster, or failure, in video games and wrote a post about it. Perhaps you can relate to some of these blunders.

Friendly… Explosions?

Tick, tock, Boom! You hear the sound of a clock winding down. Then a massive and unexpected explosion shakes the screen on your TV.

Your comrades lie scattered and charred. You set off a bomb that killed them all. They’re not happy. They hurl vulgarities at you as your headset blares. “It was just a mistake,” you say. Your team mates beg to differ as they move in for the kill.

In Love with the Floor

Your character wanders around in circles and seems obsessed with the floor. His eyes are so focused on the floor that they seem frozen in a downward gaze. Basic movement is a challenge as he bumps into walls and knocks bricks loose like they were Jenga blocks.

But it’s just a simple corridor. Come on! Well, I understand the problem. You can’t use a joy stick to both handle movement and work the “camera”. This drunken movement sometimes occurs when a person picks up a controller for the first time. Take some baby steps, and you’ll get. I promise.

Hey, I couldn’t use chop sticks at first, but I’m an expert now.

The Need for Burnt Out Speed

Jack Trasher, a seedy speed junkie, skids on a side road. Tires screech and civilians scream “run for your life!” Jack’s speeding car careens around a snow bank, flips in the air and lands with a thump. All the glass has shattered. Acrid smoke, which stings the nostrils, seeps through the front of the car.

Next time, drive on the correct side of the road!

A Strategic Surprise

Your heavily armored, shotgun laden trooper bursts through a glass window. Without a moment to spare, the trooper darts through a warehouse blasting holes in the scaly, sickly skin of aliens.

Then you wake up, rub your eyes and peer down at the square-shaped tiles on the ground. Your jaw drops faster than the apple that – supposedly – hit Sir Isaac Newton on the head. Uh oh! You’re in a turn based strategy game.

The shots you fired had a 30% hit rate and, surprise, they hit nothing but air. Now the aliens swarm around and move in for the kill. The 8 ball’s prediction: the next turn will not end well for you.

If Homer Simpson Played Hockey…

Your skates carve and mark the ice as you sail a long with the puck. Your character winds up his stick and time stops. The crowd’s cheers suddenly seem to halt. Then the stick slaps the puck and projects it through an ill-prepared goalie’s legs. You get ready to scream with joy.

There’s only one problem: the net belongs to your team. Doh!

***

What funny mistakes have you made while playing video games? What’s your gaming bête noire? Come on, don’t act shy, I’m sure there’s something.

I often bump into walls when I play racing games, and that’s probably why I don’t play them these days.

6 Comments

Filed under Video Game Misc.

Tagged as blunders, video game bloopers, video games

February 2, 2014 · 12:24 pm

Why I Love to Download Games

I look forward to a future where everyone downloads games to their console or PC. I also hope these downloads would finish in the blink of an eye. I’d dump game discs. I wouldn’t need them anymore.

Well, that future date is up in the air and covered with fog. It’s hard to see when it will touch down on the ground. In the meantime, let me tell you six reasons why I love to download games.

1. Convenience

It’s just plain convenient to download games online. You don’t have to go to the brick and mortar stores of yore. You can keep the creases, folds and impressions that make up your comfortable couch groove.

There is a downside, though, because you can’t always sell downloaded games. Still this might be a small price to pay. I mean, you get an amazing game, and you don’t even have to move.

2. Steam

I think you’ll find it worthwhile just to get a PC for these sales. And it’s tough to resist Valve’s world class games, like Portal and Half Life. Be careful! These video game sales might tempt even a stingy person with a digital wallet.

3. Demos

Downloading and playing a demo is like test driving a car: you get a taste of the full experience. I appreciate that demos are there if I need to take one for a test drive.

I sometimes played demos sometimes during the last generation. I love it when you complete them and unlock rewards, and I had great fun do this with Mass Effect 3.

4. XBLA and PSN

It was amazing to see how XBLA improved. It went from simple but fun games like Geometry Wars to block busters like Shadow Complex. Journey won critical praise and my heart. What improvements will we see during this generation?

5. “Original” games

Journey, Fez, and Bastion are refreshing. These games, and others like them, are a welcome change from the mainstream diet of AAA sequels. In fact, they’re so good that you might find they replace your previous diet and leave you satisfied. Try these downloadable games. You’ll thank me later.

6. DLC

Don’t pelt me with tomatoes just yet. Let me explain. DLC is exciting when it extends the life of a game, and it offers you a different way to play the game. DLC also allows developers to take risks with their game. When it’s done right, DLC keeps me interested.

***

Why do you love or hate downloadable games?

8 Comments

Filed under Video Game Trends

Tagged as Journey, video games

January 26, 2014 · 7:02 pm

I Just Want to Fly in Space

All of space is a battlefield. You fly a little tin pot ship and zap enemies as you zip past exploding wreckage. Watch out! Do a barrel roll to avoid that asteroid hurtling toward you.

Do you remember the last time you did that?

In my case it’s been too long. I remember blasting bad guys’ ships, watching them burn and turn into fine space dust in Wing Commander.

Then Privateer looked even better when my older brother played it on PC. In Privateer, I think you could upgrade parts of your ship. Imagine that! I’m accustomed to thinking you can only upgrade guns or armor. But games like Privateer let you upgrade the gun’s and armor of a ship. My brain exploded.

Then when I was old enough to fly a spaceship, I tried the Star Wars games. I couldn’t avoid them. Star Wars was everywhere. All the kids I knew had the toys. The games were special because they promised less time imagining battles with toys and more time flying as a rebel or imperial trooper. It’s not often you get to fly as the bad guy. I miss those Star Wars games.

Nowadays, I still play space games, but I don’t find myself flying often. I’m talking about role-playing games like Mass Effect. Sure, you were the captain of a cool ship, but you never pilot it during dogfights. I never got a chance to fly.

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time also had fun spaceship moments. You could upgrade your ship and get into dogfights. But it was a small part of the game. And you fought the same baddies every time.

It’s time for better spaceship video games. We need to synthesize the strengths of Tie Fighter and Privateer and build something new and better. I know two new Star Wars games are coming out, but it would be nice to play something original.

Let me flesh out my ideal game a bit more. I would love a game that has nothing to do with George Lucas’ movies. Mass Effect with dogfights is a good starting point. I want a spaceship game where I’m flying the ship and fighting the battles. Please keep in me the ship most of the time. In between missions, it’s fun to upgrade everything from thrusters to things I can’t even fathom now. Surprise me!

Give me a great spaceship game to hone my fighter skills. Then I’ll save our galaxy from aliens – one dogfight at a time.

6 Comments

Filed under Video Games I Want

Tagged as spaceship, star wars, video games

January 19, 2014 · 9:00 pm

An Oasis among the Sands

Sometimes life can feel so dry and boring. It can feel like you’re lost and dragging your feet through scorching hot desert dunes. Feeling parched and weak, you long for a place to recharge, relax and refresh yourself.

You, like Nathan Drake, are looking for an oasis in the desert.

My ideal space to play games is like an oasis too. It’s a place to get away from the trouble of the world for a bit. The weltschmerz, the heat, the dust and the cold nights. They’re gone. Taken in the right doses, my oasis is a fantastic tonic for all that ales you.

So let me tell you a bit more about my ideal gaming space. I’ll tell you about all the wonderful things in there, besides games, that make it so good. This is where I get to be a kid again.

Stairs?

You’ve got to be kidding me. The oasis is in the basement. There are no stairs. To get to the room, you have to slide down a pole from any floor in the house.

Now, you could come from outside and open a door to walk straight into the oasis. But the pole, used from another floor, is the preferred means of entrance. In fact, let’s make it mandatory. Make sure you’re wearing the right kinds of pants though; otherwise, your legs may spark as you glide down to the basement.

Once you’ve slid down the pole into the room, you’ll notice the nearly blinding light. There will be tons of windows, light fixtures and a sun roof. The light and vitamin D would keep me from looking like a pasty and ghoulish zombie.

Well, alright, you’ll notice more than the light. You’ll see paint and all the other accoutrements of a well-furnished room. Just sit back and relax in the oasis.

Getting Comfy

You’ll want to plop yourself down on the comfy couch to start playing. The couch will be long enough to hold you and five other friends for game time. Ideally, the couch will feel so comfy that you will sink into it like quicksand but, you know, without the terrible death. The room is more livable than that. I promise.

It’s really designed for two to three hour play sessions. There’s no time for all the petty human problems like obsessive gaming or midnight marathons. Instead, those brief hours will be full of joy. A trampoline in the basement will cheer everyone up, even during bad sessions. Playing at a desk, by contrast, is passé.

I can see myself jumping and waggling a motion controller at the same time. Obviously the ceiling will tower above me like a skyscraper, and I’ll love every minute of playing that way.

Machines, Energy and Speed

Yes, this room will be a relaxing oasis where humans and machines get along. The literary theme of humans vs. machines does not play out in this bastion of games. Unless, of course, you’re angry about your console breaking.

Speaking of machines, the room will have two of them. One is a top of the line PC and the other is a mystery console. The PC will also come in handy when I want to play a game and then immediately write a blog post about it. Of course, I’d want to share that work with all of you right away.

So I’d need a light speed fast internet connection to do all these things and to download games. I don’t play many multiplayer games, but I love to download the latest releases. I mean, those quirky downloadable games on Steam can sometime outclass their retail brethren. The good news is downloading means less cabinet space.

All that jumping, downloading and playing means I’ll need time to refuel. I eschew all the stereotypical gamer food in favour of chewing my cooking. There’s no place for refueling on Mountain Dew and Doritos in this space. But I would add a huge movie theatre style popcorn maker. That way, playing with friends will feel as fun as going to the movies.

And there’s a bathroom in there somewhere too.

I never want to leave!

***

What’s your ideal gaming room? Make it as silly as possible.

5 Comments

Filed under Video Game Misc.

Tagged as interior design, video games

January 12, 2014 · 3:40 pm

3 Bad Reasons not to Play Video Games

Some people snub their noses at video games. They should instead play them with a warm heart and open mind. They might find a new hobby. Or, at least, they’d understand this hobby and why others love it.

But foolish views about games are still out there. These views are like mental obstacles that block people from seeing and having great fun. If only people could smash through these obstacles, they’d get hours of joy from games.

So I thought of three reasons why people might avoid games.

1. “Games are too nerdy and only weird people play them.”

Well, of course, gaming could seem weird. Let’s say you seal yourself off from the world in a mine, and you’re wearing a tin foil hat on your head while you play. That’s weird. But I’m sure you wouldn’t do that. Would you?

But playing games and treating them like other hobbies is fine. Balance between video games and life is essential, and many people understand that. Don’t generalize about games or the people who play them.

2. “Shooting and violence turn me off. Also, I’m just not very good at shooting video games.”

Bloodbath is not synonymous with video game. Try a relaxing game like Endless Ocean. Go for a swim with a dolphin. Watch another person’s life unfold in The Sims. Check out the beautiful music and art in Journey. The many genre choices are amazing.

You don’t even have to be good at games to enjoy them. There are many “point and click” adventure games where you mostly tap a mouse. In these games, you can walk around and click to experience a story, hide from zombies and more. These aren’t “twitch” shooters where you drown in your own blood the second you start an online match.

And if you don’t know how to click a mouse, you’ll learn a new skill. Maybe you could go even further and learn keyboard skills from Mario Teaches Typing, if they even make that anymore. Ok, forget the Mario Teaches Typing. I’m sure remaining copies of that game are in a pit by now.

But be bold and try a video game.

3. “I’m too busy.”

Oh, you’re really busy? Then you probably need significant time to relax. I’m sure you’ve watched the same TV show and movie countless times. Why not try something different? Play a game like the Walking Dead that’s feels like a choose your own adventure book/ comic book/ TV show.

I know you will like video games. You already love the scenes and music from the movies. Guess what! Video games can have movie-like scenes and music. On top of that, you get to interact with the story and make choices.

Get out and experience games so you can understand them. And once you understand, I’m sure you’ll find they have good reason to exist. Even better, they’re a lot of fun to play.

***

What other bad reasons do people use to avoid playing video games? I might want to do another post on this topic. Thanks.

14 Comments

Filed under Non Gamers

Tagged as excuses, video games

January 5, 2014 · 7:14 pm

My Week in Games

my week in games I spend most of this post comparing a week I had to video games I’ve played. Trust me, it’s not as boring as it sounds. I left out all the boring bits and replaced them with bacon. Savour every word.

1. Plan

Fun and success don’t always happen at random. You have to have plan goals, make outlines and revise your expectations. Then things might work out.

I plan many important things during my week. I’ve got to stay on budget, buy food, and cook delicious dinners. Then I have to work and plan to take over the world. Oh, uh that last one was a joke.

You also have to plan for success in Civilization. You need a strategy to beat the game or take over the civilized world. There’s some luck involved too.

However, there are some differences between my life and Civilization. Even though I save my money, I likely won’t beat all other countries to an economic victory.

2. Learn

I love to read. Maybe I’ll turn on some music while I read. Maybe I’ll have a nice snifter of something to feel special.

The Sims’ world is not always this peaceful when a character reads. Other people could run around your house while they are on fire. Or a burglar could rob if you don’t have the latest alarm installed.

But The Sims has one awesome feature: you can speed read and learn fast. Imagine if could sit down and hit fast forward while you read. You’d flip through pages faster than an open book in a wind tunnel. This ability to learn fast could advance my career. Then a mysterious car could pick me up for work, just like The Sims. Oh wait! That last part doesn’t sound very safe or fun.

3. Cook

I love to cook. It is peaceful, creative and always leaves my stomach happy. When the food turns out right, it is definitely a weekly highlight for me. I wouldn’t say I’m a gourmet. I like to cook and hope for the best – with my fingers crossed.

Cooking Mama is a game that probably captures my love of good food done right. I say probably because I’ve never played it. Also, unlike “mama,” I don’t have a pink beret type thing in my hair.

4. Drenched

This past summer, when I wrote this post, some bad storms drenched me. I sloshed through soaked streets as my shoes made squishy sounds. The storms all started with a Heavy Rain. In one bad storm, some major roads in my city looked like an Endless Ocean.

5. Exercise

I find stress melts away when I ride my bike, run, and play frisbee. But I never played any games based on these activities. I have played a few sports games but don’t make time for them these days.

Maybe International Soccer Superstar 64, my sole sports game for N64, best describes my exercise regimen. I used to play it with a friend in elementary school. Whenever he scored against me, he would sometimes jump off the couch and run around the room and scream, “Baggio, Baggio, Baggioooo!” Strange. He’d do this even when he scored without Baggio. And, yes, he was one of the “popular” kids. On second thought, this was more a silly anecdote than a game that describes my weekly exercise regimen.

As a teenager, I used to mountain bike with friends. Maybe Downhill Domination, a mountain biking game I played on PS2, describes my exercise regimen. Of course it does. I used to land 30 foot drops on my bike with ease, pick fights and collect glowing orbs while cycling. Ok, looks like I can’t describe exercise well with games.

6. Garden

I love to grow vegetables and herbs. When I wrote this post, I was already eating the fruits of my garden. If I couldn’t grow vegetables outside, I could always plant digital greens in Animal Crossing. But I prefer the real thing to digital counterparts any day.

7. Misc.

Boring administrative tasks and other things also fill my week. I think The Sims captures these chores quite well and managed to make them fun. I can’t say chores are fun in my life.

***

How do the video games you play compare with your life? Do the two mirror each other at all?

Video Games Nebula

I Love Her More Than Ever