Once again, it’s time for my sorta-quarterly update on all things in my gaming circle. Happily, things haven’t been too shabby. In and among all our house projects, gaming has been a pretty important outlet these past few months. Because after you’ve spent a day wading through 50-year-old insulation, the LAST you want to do is dress up to go out and be social with other real people. Or maybe that’s just me. Either way, GAMEZ! The more the better, I say, even if “more” only occurs in small bursts. Smaller is good-er, sometimes, right? Uh…yeah. Sure. Games to follow, in no particular order, as I honestly can’t remember the order. I just know that I played ’em.
Tag: playing games
From Console to PC and Back Again
During a recent review of the contents of a couple old USB drives that I had forgotten that I stashed away, I found a handful of articles that I had written for a site that went defunct. Since I hate for words to sit unread (even those in incoherent, rambly sentences), I decided I might as well share them here. Here’s one from around January 2013 in which I mused over my then-flailing relationship with PC gaming.
One of the great things about gaming is that it’s a pastime that comes with options. It wasn’t always like that, but by the time it entered my life, I was faced with an endless string of games of all sorts that vied for my attention. But because my early gaming life was regulated by my parents, it was generally filled with standard, family fare of the time. My siblings and I progressed from the Atari to the NES to the SNES within a decade. Over time however, the parental controls loosened. We eagerly conquered a variety of platform games, fighting games, racing games, and everything in between. In addition, we had a number of games for our PC. In between my time with Mario and Ryu, I remember sinking hours into old favorites such as Frogger and Q*Bert, and new titles such as Commander Keen. And just as I was sure that my path with video games would forever remain idyllic and innocent, along came DOOM.
#Listmas2016: What I’ll be playing next year…from the backlog
As the revisiting of Listmas posts on UWG continue, at the end of last year I was prompted to take a long, hard look at my backlog of games and compare it to games promised in 2017. And while this year is going to be a good one for gaming, I realized that I’ve got some pretty darn good gaming fare already at my disposal. Hence, for me, this year my gaming is going to be about clearing out some old titles to…well, make way for some new ones, surely.
For those of us who play video games, it’s sometimes customary to take a little time at the end of any given year to look into what might be on our gaming plates in the next year. To round out Listmas here, I’m giving into this same, fun habit with two posts related to my gaming hopes for 2017. In this first post, I’ll be covering the games from my backlog that I’d like to get through year. I figure that if I can make a concerted effort to play and complete games that I already have, then I’ll be able to supplement my library with new games (the subject of next week’s post). As I’ve already got a couple games in progress already, I’ll cover them first in a quick paragraph, and then I’ll get to the “new” games. So, without further ado, let’s get to the list!
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I Am Not A Novelty
The following post originally appear on United We Game, 31 July 2014.
Image by Flickr user Hen3k Hen3k
I see you. Staring. Staring at me. You think I don’t notice? You’re right across from me on this train; you’re not invisible.
All I want to do is play Pokemon on my way to work in peace. Is it the tablet? The fact that I’m using the tablet like a game controller instead of for reading, which is what women are supposed to do with tablet-like things, right? Read? Read and not play games? Because women don’t play games?
Take a look around. Nearly everyone, men and women, on this train is looking down at their electronic devices, and I can guarantee you that the majority of them are playing something. Because we play games. I am not a novelty. We all play games.
Just when I thought it might be time to turn in the Wii U…
I can’t say that I’ve done my best to formulate a decent relationship with my Wii U. In fact, It’s likely become the most ignored console in my history of ignoring consoles. But I’m hoping to change that. Though I’ve not followed through on my desire to get Super Mario Maker, there’s still time this year to see things through with other great titles. I recently hashed out these and more Wii U thoughts over on United We Game.
Image by Flickr user wiiu-spiele.com (CC)
My relationship with the Wii U has been complicated from the start. When it was first announced, I was confused. When it was first released, I was curious. When its commercials saturated my vision, I was frustrated. When its games trickled out, I was bored, except when it came to Super Mario 3D World, and then I was happy. When I finally got one, I was overjoyed. When I realized it had been sitting on the shelf unused for months, I was upset. And as I am a realist, in the recent past I seriously considered that my days with the Wii U were over.
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Mission Chrono Trigger: Moving fast, playing faster
Writing my last Mission Chrono Trigger post made me realize that was going to take me lifetime to get through the game if I didn’t get my ass in gear with it soon. But I knew life was not going to let me magically progress at a rapid yet attentive pace, for August was to be filled with all manner of time-consuming activities, from working on the house to attending to family. And yet, somehow, in and among all the chaos, the grand gaming gods saw fit to grant me a couple of mostly free days. Though my plate remained heavy with plenty of games with which I was in the midst of progression, I utilized that time to get the fuck on with Chrono Trigger. And all was, and is, good.
Not sure why I went the heavy-handed route with the opening here, but there it is. And here I am blazing through Chrono Trigger as fast as my fingers will allow. I did manage to make some very good progress since my last post, getting through several different levels in individual sittings rather than just parts. I’m now eight hours in. I know things will slow down slightly this month, but they’ll likely pick back up once the fall season really gets going. Once a chill hits the air, it’s time for less labor and more nesting, and hence, more gaming. At least that’s how I hope it will go.
In the meantime, let’s pick up here at the End of Time with everyone learning magic and messing with Spekkio.
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Video games, will you still love me when I’m 64?
Ah, the joys and trials of being an aging gamer. Shoot, just being a regular gamer is challenging enough! Add on heaps of “adult responsibilities” and “time commitments,” and well, it become damn near impossible for some of us (i.e. me) to squeeze in some precious game time. Yet someday, I shall all rest comfortably on that cloud called Retirement (maybe, if I’m lucky), and perhaps then and there those beloved days of gaming without limits will return. And maybe games will become fun again. Gaming simply to game? Now there’s the ticket. Hop the train to Geek Force Network and read on, my friends, read on.
Another year, another birthday – that’s life. There’s no avoiding it; it just happens. A certain day goes by and poof!, suddenly you’re one whole year older than the day before. My birthday is still several months away, but it’s an unsettling one with terrible thoughts of MID-LIFE CRISIS AHEAD looming in the back of my mind. But throwing personal messes aside, this year has really had me questioning my future with video games. Not questioning their perceptual existence in my life but questioning the role that they will fulfill in the future.
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