From time to time everyone needs a do nothing weekend.
I have a love/hate relationship with video games. I think they can be fun. Lots of fun. And addicting. I'm not very good at them. I'm really competitive and hate not being very good. I don't have time to sit around playing games long enough to get good at them. Thus the love/hate relationship. I hate not being good enough to win, I don't have time to get better and therefore, I don't play. That's logical, right?
My other issue with video games comes from people in my past playing them to the exclusion of those around them. Video games, like any other form of entertainment, should only be done when everything else is done. Chores, homework, family time...those things should all come first.
That history being briefly explained, I recently had a bad deja vu experience where I judged someone rather unfairly. Instead of opening up, I resorted to old coping mechanisms. I've come to realize this was wrong and really all on me and although I apologized, I still feel badly about it. Sometimes emotional growth is painfully slow. I was wrong and I'm sorry.
Anyway, my kids have been asking for a gaming system for a long time and I've consistently put them off. I just really didn't want another one in the house. It's been a long time since we've had one and I wasn't anxious to have it back. Then I realized the system itself wasn't evil and I was being unfair in not trusting our ability (as a family) to use it responsibly.
I wrote earlier of this game my coworker's been very excited about. Since I know the history behind it through the books, I went ahead and got the game for my family. It's definitely not for my younger kids, but on this "do nothing" weekend, my son and I have been having loads of fun playing the game. I'm still not very good, but I've come to realize I don't have to be that good to have fun if I'm playing with the right people.
And...proving responsibility...it's now turned off and we're finishing up some chores to get ready for the week ahead.
Hope you're having a great weekend, if not with those you love, then at least doing something relaxing that you enjoy. Cheers!
Showing posts with label gamers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gamers. Show all posts
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Crossovers
One day my coworker tells me how excited he is for a new video game about to be released. I'm not sure what it's categorized as exactly, but it's a role playing/third person shooter game. I'm not into video games myself, so I am amused when he tells me he's going to drive to town, thirty minutes away, for the big release at midnight. Crazy, crazy man.
So the game comes out and I hear more about how awesome it is and how the storyline is changing. Ah...the storyline. He tells me he's reading a book that tells the story that proceeds the first game. Being the book buff that I am, I look it up on Amazon and read the first few pages. It's a great story. I'm sucked in in just a few pages. "So...," I ask, "how soon will you be done with the book?"
My coworker doesn't read as fast as I do, so he let's me borrow it. I devour it and return it two days later. Then I buy the next book in the series...and the next. There is one more and possibly a fifth in the future. Woot!
I know this type of game-to-book writing happens frequently. I know that things like the Star Wars Chronicles exist. Even so, when I read what I consider to be crossovers, I'm totally drawn into them and a little at awe. Why? These writers have taken an already richly defined world and made it even more robust. Characters that were loved are given more dimension. It's a fine line to walk for a writer, in my opinion. They must keep true to the original character as perceived by the gamers.
This book series was so enthralling, I even picked up the game controller and went a few rounds with my son. I suck, by the way, a lot. :) I don't think earning the "Go On Without Me" ribbon three times is something to brag about.
So the game comes out and I hear more about how awesome it is and how the storyline is changing. Ah...the storyline. He tells me he's reading a book that tells the story that proceeds the first game. Being the book buff that I am, I look it up on Amazon and read the first few pages. It's a great story. I'm sucked in in just a few pages. "So...," I ask, "how soon will you be done with the book?"
My coworker doesn't read as fast as I do, so he let's me borrow it. I devour it and return it two days later. Then I buy the next book in the series...and the next. There is one more and possibly a fifth in the future. Woot!
I know this type of game-to-book writing happens frequently. I know that things like the Star Wars Chronicles exist. Even so, when I read what I consider to be crossovers, I'm totally drawn into them and a little at awe. Why? These writers have taken an already richly defined world and made it even more robust. Characters that were loved are given more dimension. It's a fine line to walk for a writer, in my opinion. They must keep true to the original character as perceived by the gamers.
This book series was so enthralling, I even picked up the game controller and went a few rounds with my son. I suck, by the way, a lot. :) I don't think earning the "Go On Without Me" ribbon three times is something to brag about.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Say what?
Every year we get a new calendar to put up in the office so we can write vacations and such in a single easily visible place. Why does a software company not use a centralized electronic system? Mostly because my boss is comfortable and doesn’t want to upgrade his email system to Outlook or something with a calendar. So, in spite of technical advances, this calendar hangs on the wall behind my boss’s desk.
One year my boss’s wife brought in a girly calendar; Mary Engelbreit or something similarly icky. I protested such a thing in the office. It was completely out of place. If we were going to look at a picture for thirty days it was going to be something interesting. On my next trip to the store I picked up an awesome Harley-Davidson calendar. For the next twelve months we enjoyed shiny chrome and dreamed of loud pipes and the open road.
This year I picked up a swimsuit calendar. It's an unspoken "rule" that we're not allowed to look ahead and at the beginning of the new month we comment on whether or not the girl is hot. I’m pretty sure Miss December 2010 is still sitting in first.
Go into any corporation and you can usually tell where the boss sits based on the size of the office AND the size of the desk. My boss’s desk is huge. It takes up a 1/3 of the office. In addition, since we mostly work on our computers, his electronic “desk” is also huge. He has a 30” monitor with an untold number of pixels. Believe me, he could rattle it off in a moment, but I really don’t pay attention to such things. He recently got a second one and set it up right next to the first. It’s a gigantic display. He can easily have three or four programs open full scale simultaneously. It’s probably a gamer’s wet dream.
Although it is rare for men, my boss sometimes suffers from migraines that affect his vision making it difficult to focus. Little floaties and bursts of light make it nearly impossible to focus on the computer screen. I’ve experienced this myself and it’s very trippy; like seeing stars after hitting your head but more intense.
Yesterday was one of those rare times when he was experiencing a migraine. After leaving the office for a short time, he returned and told me, “I have to stand up to see my calendar now.”
My immediate thought was, “Say what? Why are you trying to scope out the calendar girls when you have a migraine?”
What he meant was, “My big ass monitors are now blocking the calendar and I can’t see it from my chair.”
We all got a good laugh out of it. Just so you know, I’m an equal opportunity ogler…next year we get Seattle Firemen!
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