Getting Excited about Video Games!

Well, I said last week that I'm a geek, and I guess having two geeky posts in a row confirms that! This week's excitement comes from one of my favorite pastimes- video games!

The iconic Super Mario Bros Lvl. 1-1

I love video games. I've been a gamer since I was a little kid, thanks again to my older brother. When I was about 4 or 5 years old, I played my first video game, the original Super Mario Bros for the NES. I should point out that I'm not particularly good at games, I just love to play them.

Unfortunately, video games tend to be rather expensive, so I've had to mostly rely on the kindness of my relatives through birthday and Christmas presents to increase my collection. However, with my husband being a gamer as well, you can bet that at least a small part of our income goes towards games once in a while. This month has been a rather unusual bumper crop of new games for me, so I have a lot to be excited about!

The Sims 3 game box

The first new game that I've gotten my hands on is The Sims 3. I got into the Sim series again from my brother, who loved Sim City 2000 and SimCopter (both games I thoroughly enjoyed myself!), and when I played the original Sims, I really loved it. Well, at my workplace, I'm a research assistant for an independent living video game we're creating. My boss offered to buy me The Sims 3 so we could use it as a reference material for our game! Needless to say, I immediately took him up on his offer. (The next week, he also offered to buy me the Ambitions expansion pack, which will hopefully be delivered on Monday. Yay, more new stuff to play with!)

Example of The Sims 3 gameplay

I've been playing The Sims 3 for about a week now, and I'm totally blown away by the level of detail in it! I love the "Wishes" system, which gives me a better feeling of working towards a goal. Basically, "Wishes" are the random whims that your Sim has, be it getting a new car, learning a new skills, or going somewhere. If you fulfill their Wish, it adds extra points that you can use elsewhere in the game, and it's fun to be more goal-oriented in an otherwise open-ended game. I tried playing my first game "straight" in it, meaning that I didn't cheat, but man, it was really tough! (Did I mention I'm not the greatest at games?) I'm really enjoying it and can't wait to play more!



The King of All Cosmos and his wife
next to a giant katamari (and some cows).

The other two games I got recently are two that I've wanted for a loooooong time. I'll give you a hint: here's the theme song. That's right, it's Katamari Damacy! I only played this game for the first time about 2 years ago, and I fell in love with it. It's wacky and crazy and so very addictive. I ended up getting the first and second games, so between those and The Sims, I'll have plenty to do for a while!

The Prince rolling a katamari.

I only started Katamari Damacy last night, so I didn't get very far, but I am loving it so far. The King of All Cosmos is hilarious, the dialogue is funny, and the music is catchy as can be. My favorite part, however, has to be the Japanese objects you can pick up with your katamari. Japanese food, coins, little knick-knacks... it all reminds me of my time in Japan. (Again, a blog post in the future will address that.) It's a silly game that doesn't pretend to be anything less. It is was it is, and I love it for that. Besides, The Prince is adorable!

Between The Sims 3 and Katamari Damacy, I'm going to be busy for quite a while! I'm so excited to be playing some new games! Naa-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Katamari Damashiiiiii~