Summer Gaming

Most of my posts recently have been about serious topics: procedural ethics, video game company analyses, and research methodology. Since it’s summer, I thought it would be fun to mix it up a bit for a fun post about my summer gaming style. My summer gaming habits are fairly different than my winter ones. First, I game with less consistency because of nice weather and vacations. While I did spend a whole summer inside gaming when I first started playing WoW many years ago, I haven’t met a game I played that feverishly since. So, most of the time, I end up playing games like the new Animal Crossing, but mostly I only play when the sun is down or it is stormy. It seems that things are always coming up in the summer that interrupt my favored gaming style (which is usually marathon and cheetos). Playing flash games, 3ds games, and such are usually more effective for me in the summer.

Second, since school is out, it’s easier to plan community gaming events and other collaborative gaming. Recently, I’ve been WoWing with some friends from back in Minnesota, and some folks from school are doing an all-day gaming marathon this week. Summer is the perfect time to get together with folks virtually or f2f. This works especially well with board games. I just got the game Hex which I am excited to try out. I have already packed my new RV with all sorts of board and card games: cribbage, risk, muchkin, farkle, and assorted zombie games. Nothing says summer like a campfire, lack of wireless connection, a cold beer, and a round robin tournament of card games with family.

Finally, and this is perhaps not for everyone, but I think summer is a great time to do destination gaming. In other words, the CASINO! I have a great casino trip planned for next week that I’m really excited about. I also plan to try an actual riverboat casino this year. I have been on casino boats that are basically floating buildings. But during a trip to Tennessee this summer, I’m going to find an actual riverboat casino, preferably an old school paddle boat. Arcades are also a great way to not stay trapped in your house but still get your gaming on. If you’re near Vegas, of course you can stop by the pin ball hall of fame. In Lafayette here, there is Main Street Amusements. They have a lot of great new and retro arcade games. Get together with a group of friends, drink a few mojitos, and hit up your local arcade for some fun summer night gaming.

This summer, there are also some games that I’m really looking forward to. I’m really excited for The Last of Us, which was released last week, but that I haven’t had a chance to pick up yet. The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic shooter. One reason I am really excited to play this is for the male/female hero/heroine duo. Dual protagonists are one thing, but there is also a built in age and experience difference that I can’t wait to see. A new Sims 3 expansion also comes out soon. It’s called Island Paradise, and it seems to promise lots of new items and new vacation options. There is also Citadels, which is a little-known real-time strategy coming out in a couple weeks. Strategy games are absolutely my favorite, though I tend to lean more toward turn-based than real-time. Regardless, it looks pretty awesome and I imagine I will be spending many sunny afternoons inside playing this one.

That’s about it for my summer plans. I’m really looking forward to a relaxing couple months filled with gaming and sun, working and play. What are your summer plans? What are you all looking forward to?

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