Srs Bsns.

So I’ve got to finish packing for the trip, dye my hair, and be ready to go by 4pm. I’m crazy excited to be almost on the road, and I can barely seem to relax enough to sleep. Husband wants to cuddle, but I’m not really in the mood, so I thought I would go ahead and type up a little something for you guys out in the cyberspace of the real world.

I’m a little anxious because I’m not going to be able to play my fb games for a while, but the problem with that is that I know as soon as I can’t access them anymore, I’m not going to care. I’ve already warned my Scrabble buddies that I’m going to be out of commission. I just have to ignore my restaurant.

The trip should be a lot of fun, though. Dragon*Con has never not been a good time, and for the road trip, we actually are going to be carrying a power converter for the car so that we can use the computer while we travel. I might actually be saving some slash onto the laptop, just so I can read it in the car. Maybe not, I’ve had some problems with motion sickness before.

Cat has been situated with the right people. Once we pack, and Husband is home for work, we will be on our way.

Busy Day Is Busy.

I started today a bit earlier than I would normally. I managed to get out of bed and shower with enough time to actually get some gas in the car before I had to meet up with anyone. Granted, I was still a little late, but that was totally traffic and construction.

Since today was my day off, Husband and I went and picked up Fritter and Dumas from their respective areas, then got some lunch. As always, Five Guys was very delicious and we brought home too many fries. Dumas went home for a while, and Husband, Fritter, and I ran into Husband’s work for a bit so he could get some minor stuff taken care of. After that, we went to our local comic shop and picked up some gaming supplies.

Fritter has been insisting that we all learn to play Munchkin, so she picked up a set for it. After d&ding, we did a quick round of Munchkin, and it was so much fun, even if half of us were about to pass out from lack of sleep.

I really love learning to play new games, especially games like Munchkin, where the point is just to have a good time and interact with everyone. My friends always love to get together for Apples to Apples, and most of us love to play Scrabble with one another. Fritter, especially, gets my love for Scrabble, and I’m glad to have a partner in gaming in her.

I think something that people miss out on today is the real life gaming social experience. We can play all kinds of games online, technically socially, but it is just mostly demanding things from others. Click this! Accept that! I’ll be the first to admit that I love my facebook games, but I don’t think they increase my socializing with my friends or family at any speed. If anything, they make me less inclined to have actual conversations with people.

Sitting around with roomies, or family, or friends of any kind, and just hanging out and playing together is really more fun than anything else for me.

Word Scores Galore.

I play Scrabble on facebook, and have been playing against a specific random person for the last almost year. It has been exciting, as I love to play Scrabble, and the person has been willing to play multiple games, often two and three at a time with me.

I’ve begun to wonder, though, should we be friending each other at this point? It isn’t like we talk very often, I just think that we find each other to be reliable playing buddies. I would like to be friends so that if something happens, and our games lapse for a while, we can still play with one another. I should probably ask her, but again, we don’t talk very often, and I don’t want her thinking that I’m some creeper.

All that being said, I’ve been having problems with one aspect of her play. On the Scrabble app on facebook, if you don’t have any words to play, you have to forfeit or skip your turn. Twice, Scrabble Buddy (SB) and I have gotten to the end of a game and neither of us has been able to play the final tile in our hands. I don’t mind forfeiting if I’m losing the game. But if I’m winning, I have a problem taking the forfeit, as it messes with your overall scores. SB will be just as stubborn about taking the forfeit, but she was losing by a large margin. It was quite annoying at the time.

I’ve been impressed by our games over the course of these months. She and I both play fairly strategically, so our games can be a volley of complex words and attempts at stunting the board for the other person. It’s fun, but sometimes a bit boring if we haven’t been particularly innovative in a while.

I’m trying to get my actual friends to play with me, though, as I really would like to have some new games available.

Not Just For The Boys (well, sort of…).

I love to play games. Video games, computer games, board games. About the only games I don’t like to play are games that could be interpreted as sports, and even those I can get excited about watching if given enough opportunity (except for soccer. Fuck soccer.*).
Recently,  the Play Station Network (psn) went down because it was hacked. (If you don’t know, the psn is what allows Play Station 3 users access to the internet and playing games together remotely.) When it came back up, they allowed most everyone the opportunity to download two games as an apology. The games were hopelessly out of date, but whatever free games.

We chose Infamous and Little Big Planet. The guys had played Infamous and enjoyed it, but didn’t own a copy, and Little Big Planet was the only other game really of any note. No one in our place had played Little Big Planet, but we were aware of it, and several people we knew recommended it, so it seemed like a better choice than the rest of the games available.

Soon, though, the guys tired of the game. And by soon, I mean one round. The complaint all around seemed to be something along the lines of ‘so boring’ or ‘wtf?’. So, ignoring them, as I’m in the habit of, I decided I would at least try the game.

Let me back up for a moment and explain. I love games; they don’t love me. Most specifically, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES or just plain Nintendo), is by far my favorite system because it makes the most sense to me. If I have to play a modern system, I will almost always go for Nintendo’s Wii, and even then, only for very few games.  I like puzzle games and some strategy games, kind of hate the concept of playing socially, and think that Tetris is still the best. game. ever.

God, someone please give me this on the Wii.

So I eventually pick up the controller, and start playing. Only to realize, well, really to realize that I still suck hella much on the Play Station 3, but also to realize that Little Big Planet is like a child of Super Mario Bros. and Katamari Damacy. It is a platform based, obstacle/challenge incorporating game about collecting random points with seemingly little tangible reward except that really awkward feeling of accomplishment at nothing. It is also addicting as shit.

Seriously, I work on this game. I want to succeed. I want to win. I have no idea what I’m winning (even in Mario, you were working toward getting with the totally hot Princess Peach), but whatever it may be, it is made of win and awesome because it can’t not be.

Simply told, Little Big Planet is a really fun, captivating game to play for those who like the original Super Mario Bros. (or even Super Mario World), Diner Dash, and other puzzle-ish strategy games.

*

My Definition of Soccer:

A game that is meant to fuck with my management of my anger. Sure, you can kick someone, but only like this. No, you can’t touch the ball with your hands, except when you can. Yes, that person ending up the ground has been fouled, except for when it was fair play. Screw that, I’m sticking to rugby.