Gamer!

I'll admit it: I'm pretty geeky. Oh well, I think I've already mentioned that quite a few times and just by virtue of having a blog already puts me in that camp. Still - feels good to get that off my chest *sigh*

Now, another confession: I love games. Card games, board games, video games, party games. I recently got an iPod touch (way awesome) and I've been pretty into Spore Origins as well as the twelve-fifty million kinds of solitaire out there. I've yet to win at Demon yet. I have hosted game nights - I always like playing the dorky party games like Taboo and Scattergories. Even charades.

When I was a kid my grandmother and I used to play games together all the time. She is a gambler, so of course her favorite game is Yahtzee! She will tell the story that the first time she played she rolled EIGHT Yahtzees! My great-aunts have confirmed this rare feat and I don't believe she's since managed to match that fateful game. We also played a lot of Scrabble, even though I'm pretty terrible at it. She would sometimes let me cheat and look up words in this gigantic dictionary she had. She always taught me new words too, words that I fear might die out from lack of use when her generation is gone. Another game was called Mastermind - very strategic and I usually suck at strategy games. This one also got easier as you went along via process of elimination so as a child it wasn't too hard but it could be made more complicated for more experienced players.

Some games that provide great opportunities for escape. I remember when my brother Rick and I finally got a Nintendo set. I probably played Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt for hours on end. Tetris too - burning those little blocks into my brain. When we upgraded to a Sega system I can remember wasting hours locked into beating the next level of Sonic. Then, when my youngest brothers (twins) grew older the boys really claimed the gaming systems as their territory. I wasn't too into RPG games or anything too violent. I also didn't have a lot of friends who liked to play video games, so I fell away from it in high school.

So now, both of my current sweeties are pretty into video gaming. It seemed only a matter of time before I'd be holding the controller again. Dan recently let me borrow his XBOX 360 and he got me a copy of the new Viva Pinata. If you've never played, its what his friends call a "sandbox" game - you can just play and play and while there are goals and accomplishments, you don't have to do any of those things. You just kind of putter around and it's a great time waster. I know I'll miss it when I have to give it back to him.

I used to feel guilty about playing games for hours on end. I felt like I needed to be more productive. But with all the work I've been doing to prepare for Weave's first issue release, I decided to reward myself with at least an hour each night to game. I'm actually finding I'm almost MORE productive because I know I have this time set aside.

A quick comment on girl gamers: I'm happy to see more advertising directed at women for gaming systems. The most recent examples I've seen are the Nintendo DS where they feature female celebrities America Ferrara and Carrie Underwood playing games. I do, however, get annoyed when the handheld systems they push on girls are always pink. Why must we continue to color-code products? Plus, with the types of games they market to girls, I still wonder how many young girls actually like those kinds of games (ie: games about weddings and fashion). While I'm not so into the more violent RPGs I'm sure other girls are.

I always buy my niece and nephew games as gifts. I remember my exhusband teaching my nephew to play checkers and how he patiently sat with him, gently encouraging him to think ahead and plan his moves. My nephew tends to be somewhat introverted and this really brought him out of his shell. Gaming can be great opportunities for social interaction, not to mention problem-solving, conflict resolution, how to lose with grace and cooperate and share.

Card game recommendation - FLUXX. If you've never played you should. Good times, really silly and relatively easy to learn.

I really want to have a game night again soon but I think I might not have time this fall. Maybe just something more casual that won't involve me having to borrow card tables. It seems I've managed to clear my schedule this weekend; it is rather unlike me to have nothing planned. This is perfect opportunity to stay in, order some greasy chinese take-out and play a video game for hours on end. Wow, now I really can't wait for the weekend.