lost in games

The weekend is almost upon us and i am already thinking of the possibilities. In fact i am arranging a session of strategy board game along with my fellow wannabee nerd friends.

Unfortunately i am not as experienced in board games as i would have liked to be. However with a few loyal buddies this can change.

Ok, what are the options. There is always Risk. Everybody knows Risk and it is a game that is easy to pick up but still has some depth to it. There is also Diplomacy which i love but it is too hardcore for most people. Then there is Acquire which i am always trying to find people to play with. A simple game with great depth but it’s only “flaw” is that nobody knows about it and people are not willing to give it a go. Fingers crossed.

Lastly there is Settlers of Catan. Had not heard about it until the XBLA game. Magnificent. Simple, great depth, great interaction between players. I think this can be the one. On Saturday we are going to buy one and see what happens.

Do you have any other recommendations guys?

Yesterday’s post was about how Scene it?, a board game turned to videogame has stolen the hearts of many of my friends and has become a social event during this Christmas holidays.

However, if there is one thing that beats games this time of year is books. There is nothing like lying on one’s couch reading a book, sipping a glass of whiskey and listening to the rain-noise (whenever it rains…) outside or to a chillout album. Books, much like games, manage to take me away in that world where the whole story is taking place. Feeling what the characters are feeling. Seeing what they are seeing. I am being emotional again…

My appeal to you is to squeeze in one book during this period. You will not regret it. I will give you a few recommendations but you should do your own research based on your mood and the kind of books you want to read. And believe me, you will find excellent books whatever your preference.

I would like to give you a few suggestions to help you get started.

• Fever Pitch (the football fan’s choice)
• Man and Boy (middle age crisis anyone?)
• Hyperion (Sci-Fi at its best)
• We need to talk about Kevin (family and so much more. An emotionally difficult and yet extremely satisfying book)
• Life of Pi (a unique adventure)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (truly a classic)
• Kite Runner (about friendship)

Currently, i am also reading a fantastic book (read half of it so far) called Animal’s People which revolves around real events in a town in India.

Good book hunting and keep on reading!

It’s Christmas time and the social gatherings skyrocket. For some reason going to people’s flats and houses during the christmas holidays feels right. Board games are almost always part of the agenda in these gatherings and these involve both the female and male population.

Now, however you can have as much fun on your TV. I am talking about entertainment games like “Scene it?” on the 360. This is a trivia question game on movies. No killing, no racing, no football. Just questions on movies. Sounds boring it?

Far from it. I had friends over the weekend, went to two different flats and Scene it? was a hit. The best piece of entertainment for some time now. I think since last december when people came over for Wii Sports.

There isn’t much to tell about how the game is played. Just that you are given multiple answers to answer a specific question. These can range from a Billboard of a movie slowly being completed and you need to answer for which movie this is for. The speed of the answer will determine how many points you get. Another popular variation is when you are shown a short video clip of a movie and then asked questions about the specific scene and the movie in general.

The game comes with 4 good quality wireless buzzers (you can also use your existing 360 controllers) which were also a big hit with my friends. The whole package is GBP35. If you are looking for a good game which will interest both women and men i definitely recommend Scene it?. It has a database of 1800 questions so it should keep you occupied over the holiday season. Hopefully there will also be additional downloadable questions sometime next year so as to keep people using those superb buzzers.

P.S If you own a PS2, there is the game called Buzz which is trivia game but with more general knowledge questions. It too has 4 buzzers but these are wired. But it still good from what i hear.

After 2 days of seminars, i am back to work and have a ton of emails and work to do plus some personal stuff. Basically i am a bit swamped.

Just managing to write a bit after playing a bit more Anno. I am playing the story mode where you are given missions to complete in order to move to the next stage. It is basically a tutorial (the first two chapters out of a total of 5). It is good at what it does. I mean it is good for learning the ropes.

To be honest however i prefer the “free role” where you are not restricted on what you need to do. I suppose the continuous mode in the game represents this but still the story could have been handled a bit better. Don’t know how. The thing is the story mode may get a bit boring after a while. Only time will tell.

Don’t get me wrong though. This is a superb game and i still can’t believe i am playing it on the DS of all consoles! It has also up to 4 multiplayer mode. Fortunately i have a few people inteterested in these management games so we may have a go.

Anyway, have to go. Tomorrow!

I am reading reports that Wii consoles in the US and Europe are going to be extremely hard to locate. Despite having launched the console a year ago Nintendo still seems to be under-supplying the market. I remember we had the same problems in Cyprus in the first months the console was launched. People could not find one (nor a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for that matter).

As i want to give a Wii as a Christmas present to a non gaming couple (i am a missionary of games converting non believers) this year i think i am going to buy it tomorrow. Just to be on the safe side…

What about you? Are you going to risk it until the last minute a.k.a the Cyprus way?

Rock Band is now out in the US (early next year in Europe) and as i expected home made videos are starting to find their way to youtube. This is a video of a guy playing the drums on expert and getting 98% of the notes right. This game is going to be huge and together with Guitar Hero III it’s going to boost music sales too. Click the Link for more on that story but don’t forget to play the video (with sound on!).

I came across this vocabulary game called Free Rice, which requires you to find the correct meaning of a word giving you 4 possible options (multiple choice). For each word you answer correctly they will donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations Food program.

So if you want to waste your time at the office why don’t you help someone in need in the process. Forget Zuma and Bejeweled.

Free Rice is the name of the game.

Just play one at a time.

I know this sounds ridiculously obvious but let’s be honest, how many of you out there just play one game until they finish it and then once that is finished go to the next one? Don’t lie to me!

Ok, I know a few who actually do this either because they are disciplined or because they can’t keep buying and buying games. But these “freaks” are clearly in the minority. Most of us “normal” people with no self control just keep on buying games even when we haven’t finished the one we are that time playing.

Once we have more than game in progress events take their own course. You get stuck in one? No problem, where is the other one? You get bored of the second one? No problem, let’s play some multiplayer on the third one.

Unfortunately unless you have loads of free time some, if not all, of these games will be left behind. And what a shame that is. A good game can become great if you give it the love and devotion it requires. Take Jeanne D’Arc on the PSP for example. I have spent 35 hours on the game and I am still going and most importantly still loving it. Why? Not because it’s the best game I have played. Far from it. But because I have given it the time the developers had in mind when they were making it.

So, I have a word of advice which goes against my own actions up until now and probably in the future too.

Buy fewer games if you want to enjoy them more.

For the last three days now I have not switched on any of my major consoles. This is despite the fact that last week I was pretty hooked on FFXII, FIFA and Halo 3 multiplayer.

Since Saturday I have been feeling rather tired and have a bit of the blues. My only gaming was on the PSP with Jeanne D’Arc but on the whole my gaming hours plummeted.

This is not something new. Whenever I am not feeling really well, for whatever reason, my gaming is the first to suffer. I just do not want to play games.

On the other hand I still read books and watch films, which is strange because although I really like these other forms of entertainment it is gaming that I love. It is surprising that this hobby which has entertained me throughout since childhood fails to lift me up when I am down. Maybe it is because I have always associated doing it while having fun and enjoying myself.

Maybe, but I am just guessing. I really do not know why.

I was wondering how your mood affects gaming?

Last night I was playing Final Fantasy XII (which btw is brilliant) and I got a call from my main man Mardas.

“How about some FIFA games?” he asked.

“Sure, why not. Give me 10 mins to find a save point and then I will turn on my 360”

45 mins later I finally found a save point…..We just managed to play a game and then i had to rush a shower to get to my sister’s flat for dinner.

It reminded me of an email sent from one of Edge magazine’s readers in this month’s issue where he describes how he was scolded by his wife for not joining her for dinner on time because he didn’t know how long he had left until the next save.

Compare games to a movie or a music cd where u can just pause it or at least know how much time you have left. Books also have this high tech accessory, called bookmark, and you can also check how many pages left until the end of the chapter.

I understand that developers have to balance the difficulty issue with save points but they need to understand that games need to be flexible enough to allow us to include them in our ever busy schedules. As gamers grow up they need to devote more time to family, work, the army (LOL).

Developers need to acknowledge that time management is a serious issue for gamers and especially for the increasing number of more mature gamers.