The Boone Marriage is Saving the World

Jane McGonigal presented her research at TED on how gaming can save the world.  She challenged the world to play video games "21 billon hours a week." What basically equates to us all playing one hour a day.  It seems that my husband and I are well on our way to saving the world!

I quoted Jane in my Masters thesis because she is the best kind of gaming researcher: a scholar that writes and plays.  I am a public speaking teacher who was so impressed by this presentation that I think everyone should watch it.  If you read my blog you should watch this video, twenty minutes may seem like a long time but her research is amazing. 

Hero Hiatus

John and I decided together that finals week should take precedence over our daily play.  So we are a few days behind.  With God of War, Final Fantasy and Heavy Rain all sitting and awaiting completion we will now add a few Urgent Evoke games to our queue.  I actually had to take Final Fantasy to bed with me last night to curb John’s temptation.

Jane is Sexy

On a shallower note: I love Jane McGonigal’s boots and dress in her TED presentation.  Kudos to Jane for her brilliant research and proving that geeky gamers can be sexy. 

My PS3 is glitch-free but Heavy Rain is Random

Last night I accidentally killed a religious schizophrenic.  In real life I have never shot a gun but during the game Heavy Rain multiple option pop on the screen and you have to act quickly or you might be killed, maimed or loose the chance to catch the killer.  I quickly pushed a button not realizing it was the “shoot him” option.  I was horrified which was only lessened by the fact my character was horrified as well.

I also changed a diaper and fed a baby in the game last night.  This is the only game you can shoot someone in the face and then rock a baby to sleep ten minutes later.  I controlled the game for almost 2 hours last night before John nicely asked if he was going to get a turn?  You do not realize how much time has passed when you pulled in so many different directions.

I have mentioned before that it helps to play with partner who can prompt you on which button to press.  My skills of shouting commands can use some refinement.  Luckily john presses buttons before I talk out loud or our characters would all be dead already.

My only complaint so far is that loading times are taking longer.  I would whine about this more but I am just grateful to have a slim PS3 and not face the “glitch” or rather the online connection of death that other Sony customers faced this week.

When we finally went to bed we had unraveled so many plot twists that we were not as sleepy as usual.  We dozed right off but we were not zombies as we stumbled up the stairs: the random plot twists had our minds reeling.   

Heavy Rain is Tricky: SPOILER ALERT!

Heavy Rain is on the agenda again.  For our daily martial gameplay I came prepared with my yoga strap to stretch while John completed mundane tasks and I waited for my turn with the controller.  Instead the game picked up.  I would play for a few minutes and as soon as I felt the slightest tinge of annoyance a new cinema scene would begin. 

The cinema scenes were short but riveting.  Just long enough to keep me addicted to the game and want to complete a few more monotonous real-life activities to gain another piece of the puzzle. 

Saying I like to read is like saying most people like to breathe.  I usually read about one work of fiction a week and really like mysteries (especially if they have vampires in them).  John and I like to read books together to try and foresee the plot twists.  This game has so many clues and so much happening that so far nothing seems remotely clear.

SPOILER ALERT:

When one of the main characters sons goes missing (with a serial killer of young boys on the loose) obviously the dad goes to the police.  The police question the dad (which you control) and you have to try and remember what your kid was wearing.  It never occurred to me to pay close attention to his attire while I was trying to figure out how to push a swing by holding multiple buttons in sequence. 

It is a little amusing that I am so eager to get back to a game and get more details when really I have only uncovered as much as I would already know from watching a trailer.  The game is tricky because you think you know what the next task will be but it not predictable at all. 

The music really helps make the game feel like a movie.  A slow and sometimes frustrating movie but as someone who has read 500 pages of a book before it got good I do have some patience.  It is exciting playing a game that might become a new genre.  In a few years if games like Heavy Rain continue perhaps it will be easier to predict what comes next.  For today, this game is tricky because its amazing developers have managed to really think outside the box. 

Heavy Rain makes me Sleepy

We played heavy rain for almost two hours last night.  The first few scenes of the game are very slow and monotonous.  It does give you a chance to adjust to the controls.  But since we have been playing Gears switching to a game that is more task oriented is a little annoying.  The awesome music, cool concept and story still have me hooked.  

It helps to have two sets of eyes when playing Heavy Rain.  The game is a murder mystery and so while one person is moving around a partner can direct and keep their eyes open for details that could be important later. 

Two sets of eyes in a lifelike setting can also be confusing.  While John played I instructed him as an in game task to “check the fridge.”  Then I switched to real life mode and suggested he “turn on the dishwasher before he goes to bed.”  John in the game walked over to the dishwasher and remarked that he could not figure it out?  I chuckled and realized that getting John to take out the garbage would be much easier if I could just link it to a video game.

Our original approach to this game was to divvy up the four main characters.  We thought we would switch turns when our player became an option.  We quickly reverted to changing when each person got bored after about 20 minutes.  The opening scene requires you to dress, shave, shower, look around the house and yard and unlike Gears there is not running or speed increase.  In fact some actions, like shaving or setting a table with fine China, must be done uber slowly in order to be completed.

I had hoped after two hours to be further along in this game.  Since the game is so story driven and there are no take-backs John and I are committed to experiencing each aspect together.  After two hours of in game rain and lifelike activities that bore me in real life I went straight to bed and conked out.  I felt a little bad for being so sleepy but John feel asleep on the couch ten minutes later.  I thought John was up again watching ice-skating (yup my man loves him some ice dancing) but this morning he confessed he feel asleep too. 

I knew rain made me sleepy but a game with rain in the background?  Who needs nightquil or ambient sound machines when you can just play a game for a few hours and fall asleep almost instantly?  

12 Years without Stealth but Still Gaming

Today we played the demo for Heavy Rain.  It is not a co-op game so we switched off the controller between each different characters point of view.  The game looks and feels more like an interactive movie than any game I have ever experienced.  Heavy Rain showcases how far games have come in such as short period of time. 

The controls are strange but in a good way.  After discarding a handful of games we finally looking forward to a new release.

When East Bakersfield still had a mall there was a toy store called K-B-Toy Store.  The year was 1998 and John and I went to said toystore to buy the first PlayStation version of Metal Gear Solid.   I remember it was like forty dollars in change that we counted out in piles on the counter.  Lori (Johns Mom) went to a department store while we counted the change.  I am not sure if she was embarrassed at our coins or annoyed that we were spending all of our monies on a game. 

After the adventure of buying this much anticipated game we got back to Johns and took turns playing.  I died moments after emerging from the water. Then it was John’s turn.  We learned quickly that this revolutionary new stealth game was not my strength.  It was still fun and exciting to read about a game, talk about a game and then get to sit the day it came out and figure it out together.

Heavy Rain has clunky controls but no stealth required. 

Things are different than they were 12 years ago.  There is no East Hills mall. Instead of gaming buddies, John and I are married with kids.  Instead of tirelessly counting pennies we will just pay Amazon.com to deliver the game to our doorstep. It makes me take pause and wonder how different our world will be in 12 more years?