Recently in gaming addiction Category

Firstly, my comments are indeed working because Super Husband is Super Awesome with a side of Awesome covered in Awesome sauce.

But, ya'll knew that.

Speaking of Super Husband, he is currently happily causing loud explosions in our living room.  If you haven't lived under a rock, "Mass Effect 2" came out today, and if you're any sort of a geek you would be playing it right now rather than reading this.  (Hey, we only have one 360 and someone has to write the blog.)

Now, I haven't played the first one, but have watched it and discussed it with the Husband to know quite a bit about it, and I've gleaned a few first impressions of the second ME that has me intrigued.

Firstly, it's damn pretty.  The first one was very pretty, but you can definitely see the work put into this one to push the 360.  The textures, backgrounds, lighting, everything is better.  I still find the character movements slightly choppy at times, but I'm not entirely sure that's not the fault of the 360 because the character movements in "Dragon Age: Origins" are smooth as butter on the comp.  I'll have to see what others say on that.

I've been told that it seems that EA was trying to move ME somewhat away from the RPG aspect and more towards the Action/Adventure shooter aspect.  That remains to be seen, but for the moment, it still seems like the same cross breed of the genres that "Fallout 3" is.  I'll know more once I play it or once the Husband is farther along in it.

The leveling system has definitely changed.  You get less points to spend on skills, and it takes more points to level up to higher skill levels, so you're forced to save points and be very choosy.

Since we got the preorder, we get the handy dandy option of certain extras, like some ugly but functional armor.  That's fine because since we have "Dragon Age", we also get the Blood Dragon armor translated into this world.  It's uber cool with a helmet that reminds me of old school Cylons.  My only wonder is how far the functionality of this armor will be.  With your normal game armor, you can choose to upgrade each piece, as well as change the look.  The bonus armor is all-in-one.  Unless they plan on giving some upgrades, I can't see that armor lasting long.  Sure, it starts you out with some nice stat bonuses, but other than that, I get the feeling it's for the coolness factor.

Nice list of voice actors.  Martin Sheen is pretty obvious, but dammit, it's Martin Sheen and that just ramps up the coolness factor of this game up to eleven.

The big news about the game is that you can transfer your character from the first game to this one.  From what I can tell, they managed that one nicely.  This is not a spoiler because it's in the trailer, but I'll warn you anyway: SPOILER!  By making sure your character "dies" at the beginning of the game, you're given a smooth transition bringing in a pre-played character, but Bioware also gets around the trouble of people starting this game at a level that would turn a new game into a boring cake walk.  Even with that, since the game play has changed a bit, you still have a small learning curve, but not that bad.

All this being said, I have to say I'm rather impressed by this installment and am looking forward to starting this series.  Maybe by the time my gamer ADD lets me finish it, I'll be ready to buy "Mass Effect 3".

Happily, that's not coming out for a while yet, but lookee-lookee what's in store for us frothing-at-the-mouth gamers this year!

(The following list is made up of games that I know are much in anticipation and games I've deemed relatively Not Full of Suck.  So, yeah, not a comprehensive list.  Deal with it.)

XBox 360:

February
Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams
Dante's Inferno

March
Final Fantasy XIII (Woohoo!)

May
Crackdown 2

August
Dead Rising 2 (*sniffle* It will be beautiful!)

September
Halo: Reach
Metal of Honor

December
(possibly) Fallout: New Vegas

PS3
(Several of the above are cross platforming.)

March
God of War 3

Wii

August
Metroid Other M
(Everything else looks either not a concrete release date or Full of Suck or impossibly cutesy crap.  Red Steel was not worthy of a sequel in my opininon.)

PC

February
Star Trek Online

March
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening (Oh yeeeeah, baby!)

June
Fallout: New Vegas (?) (Rumors say they are releasing to PC first, but the official announcement should be in February.)

July
Fallout MMO (The only one I might consider paying for.)

PSP

February
Lunar Silver Star Harmony (Damn, I wish I had a PSP.)

May
Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker

July
Persona 3

Nintendo DS

A fairly lackluster year for DS which makes me wonder what they're about to announce.  They did announce in October there will be a release of the DS LL in Japan (DS XL in Europe) but no announced American release.  Knowing Nintendos track record, this sounds like a lead up to a new DS in the works.  We'll see what the year brings.

Several others that have "expected" release dates this year are:

Castlevania: Lord of Shadows
Starcraft 2
DC Universe Online
Elder Scrolls V
Final Fantasy XIV
Lego Universe
Star Wars: Force Unleashed 2

Now, wipe the drool off your keyboard before you electrocute yourself.




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You know, looking at that release list, I have to say it's going to be a decent year for gaming.  It would be a fantastic-fabulous-unbelievable-awesome-I-think-I'm-gonna-faint year if we had confirmation for Starcraft 2 and a possibility of Diablo 3 (which has an iffy 2011 release).  You gotta love a company that will only release a game when it's Ready with a capital R, but damn if it doesn't make the dry summer season seem all the longer.

You know, there are a lot of people who make fun of gaming addictions, and hell, I'm one of them.  Of course, that's like the pot calling the kettle black all things considered, but you know, I still get out of the house.  I still cook actual food.  I have married an actual live human man.  I dress in funny clothes on weekends and pretend to be in the Middle Ages while said husband dresses in armor and beats people with sticks.  As much as I game and would probably chew the foot off of whomever told me I could never game again, I still feel rather proud of Super Husband and me for managing to balance gaming and life, even if at times, gaming wins over things like art projects.

Thing is, though, we know someone who is as bad as all the anti-gaming groups want you to believe.  He's a great guy, but he does nothing else but World of Warcraft.  That's it.  Oh, I shouldn't say nothing else because he has finished school.  He's got credentials out the ass for computer programming, but it's a little hard for him to find a job since he has no car since he spent every extra cent from student loans on his gaming rig.  It also doesn't help he has no teeth from all the junk food and Coke he lives on.  He hides it well under that unkempt beard, but you know, most potential employers are put off when you reek because you haven't bathed in days. 

Now, granted, he is a worst-case scenario for the single gaming addict.  And, you know, I truly hate when people hold those like him up as examples of why "gaming is evil".  Look, some people for some reason - maybe it's their predisposition for being anti-social or have an addictive personality, I don't know - get sucked into that fantasy world.  It's easier to meet people that way and easier to talk.  Real life is damn hard and damn scary, so yeah, I can see why some people might hide away.  (Gods know there are times I've wanted to do that.)  Is it healthy?  Nope.  Is it advisable?  Nope.  But, is it what all gamers are like?  Fuck no, and screw those who say otherwise.  Those are the very people who have never gamed in their lives.  Just like assholes who want to ban movies or books they've never seen or read.  Knee-jerk conservatism.

However, I will say, if he was just by himself, I might care even less.  I still don't think it's healthy, and as a friend of my husband's, I do wish he'd try to better his situation, but if he were alone, there's not much I can do.  He's a big boy.  He makes his own decisions, and he's got to figure this shit out for himself.  We can point it out, but until he sees it himself, it's all just words.  Problem is, he's not alone.  He lives with his parents, and they don't like it very much.  And, that's where it becomes a problem.  If you're only hurting yourself, then, well, that's your choice, even if we think it sucks.  If you're hurting yourself and others, well, it's kind of selfish and cruel, but unfortunately, it's not something a gaming addict sees.  They see their gaming as their only outlet and get very offended if you suggest it's a bad thing.  They're not hurting anyone, right?

Yesterday, a lady who'd been helping us at the spa was telling me about her husband.  She says to me, "He's playing World of Warcraft which is this huge online game..." 

I grinned at her unconsciously.  She got slightly offended, but then I explained that, sweetie, you have no idea how aware I am of such things.

Anyway, apparently, she is a WOW widow, to the point it almost caused a divorce.  Yes, it's like Oprah, but not as insipid.

Thing is, she doesn't mind that he plays, but she does mind that they have to schedule their family life around his raiding schedule.  I can see that.  She's not a gamer.  She's not even really a geek.  She likes the occasional console stuff that the kids share, but nothing beyond Guitar Hero or something.  Normally, I am wary of a non-gamer marrying a gamer because typically, it doesn't bloody work, but it sometimes does if the spouse is at least accepting of the hobby, which she is.  She never once said to me that she wanted him to completely stop.  She just wanted him to find some self-control.

I can see this.  When I met Super Husband, he was huge into EverCrack.  Being a gamer, I was just fucking thrilled he gamed.  Being a girlfriend, I was thrilled he knew when to put it down.  Wednesdays were his raid nights, so I never even tried to schedule anything on those days.  Sometimes there were other raids, but it was understood that Friday was our time, whatever that might be.  It worked, and he still gamed.  But, apparently, this poor woman doesn't have that kind of compromise, and when I told her how we worked it out, she was flabbergasted and jealous.  I found that very sad. 

Granted, yes, I missed classes for an entire week once to play Final Fantasy VII, but you know, I did eventually venture out into the shocking rays of the evil daystar.  Maybe I just don't "get it," but I, personally, don't see why a gamer, even a hardcore gamer, can't make time for other social activities.

And, maybe that's the answer.  Maybe those who get addicted like that aren't always hardcore gamers.  Gamers who have been gamers all their lives seem to be the ones who manage to strike a balance of some sort.  Yes, I know that some of those addicts are lifelong gamers, but it seems like I keep running into those who weren't always gamers but got sucked into the MMO world and never really found their way out.  It's like their psyche has suddenly discovered a new playground, an imagination it never knew it had, and refuses to come out again.  I got the impression that her husband has only ever played MMOs, so it makes me wonder. 

As I said in the previous post, for a long time, I avoided MMOs simply because I know I have the ability to disappear into a game for days at a time.  And, maybe, if I had started them in college that's what would've happened, but being an adult, even an immature one, still requires certain damn boring obligations, like maintaining a job so you have a roof under which to game.  It's a trade off.  Either way, in a weird way, I can kind of understand how one would get to that point.  I definitely have the kind of personality that could spend all my waking time doing things like gaming or chatting.  I've done it.  Lots of times.  The difference is I've recognized my weakness and had to set limitations.  It sucks balls, but that's the way it is if I want to do things like party with friends or go to cons or be inspired to make art or do sexy things with my husband.  As much as I love the gaming, I'm not willing to give all that up.

I'm hoping that her husband isn't either.  Since the divorce didn't happen, I figure he must not be, so there's that at least.

Now, on a complete flip side of that, the devious part of me told her what to do to at least make herself feel better.

See, he plays on a PVP server.  I told her she needs to log in, make a character, level it up, and then beat the crap out of him whenever his gaming annoys her.  Yes, I know that it's potentially turning her into a gamer, but I don't see that.  She's not a gamer.  She is, however, a determined woman.  I can totally see her doing such a thing, and you know, nothing would get his attention like being bitch-slapped online and then finding out it was his wife.  Might open up some communication, who knows?

That, or I'm just as wicked and devious as I've been told I am.

Here I thought I was just, you know, helpful.

So, the point of this post?  Well, I seem to have been confronted with this kind of problem a few times in recent years, and while a little scary, I have yet to see how it's an insurmountable horror that should warrant the banning of all games some feel is necessary to prevent the destruction of our youth or whatever their going rant is.  Yes, for some, the only option might be to give up gaming, but for most, I think it's possible to just sort of retrain one's self into achieving a little more balance.  It's hard as hell, but it's possible. 

I almost think it's the universe's way of point out to me that yes, I will be confronted with shit like this from stupid anti-gamers for the rest of my life, and it's important I have a counter-argument, for instance: "Gee, my brother played Mortal Kombat as a kid and is not only married and has two kids, but when his first kid was a newborn, he was playing Doom 3 with her lying in his lap, and yet she has still decided Jesus needs some of her toys because the three gifts he got from the wisemen were lame."**  (We won't mention that same child once, in some surreal kind of innocence, tied up all of my stuffed animals to the legs of my coffee table like some weird bondage barnyard.  She is a girl after my own heart.)

Besides, I've played games from the time Atari first hit the market (screw you, I'm not old!) until now, and while, yes, I definitely have a twist of mind, I'm pretty sure it's inherited.  My mother is twisted as hell, but she's never gamed.  Take that and put it in your conservative "video games are the evil" ass.




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**True story.  I am a screaming heathen, but you have to admit that's adorably cute, even though I'm pretty sure when she becomes a teenager she'll wonder why Jesus never figured out that he could have totally used that walk-on-water trick to win a few free drinks.  She is my niece, after all.