On Friday, I was reminded gaming is supposed to be about having fun. I spent the evening playing Switch games projected crystal-clear at enormous size and got to try many new games. Many new multiplayer games, even. Fast RMX, a whole heap of 1-2-switch minigames and also a few matches of Splatoon 2. All as fun as I was bad at them. For Fast RMX, I even felt as though I got worse as the evening progressed. Sure, there was beer, but I still imagine I would learn more than I would lose over the first evening. I did not even make it all the way home before I started wanting to play more games, and to play things I felt like, rather than feeling I should bring myself to finishe the games I have already started before having a go at new ones.
There are many silly habits in the world, but I would say making games a chore ranks pretty high.
Today I broke that silly habit pretty well, at least for now. After a wonderful forest walk in the warm sun, I started off with a round of FTL - a sort of spaceship commander game from a few years ago. Turn-based in mindset, easy to pick up and with a rather hypnotic soundtrack, I had fun blowing ships up before inevitably getting blown up myself, and I felt the joy of trying a new game with new mechanics.
A few hours later, I fired up my Playstation hungry for something more. I gave my games list a tired look and browsed the current recommendations and promotions without anything really catching my eye. But then I recalled that evening of trying VR a few months back, and one game above all leapt into my mind without hesitation: Rez inifinte! Somehow, Gravity rush remastered also snuck into the shopping cart (and I had fun playing the first few minutes of it as a sort of wind-down), but the retro-style virtual worlds of Rez became the main focus of the next few hours. The first playthrough was one wonderful big bite of an experience, filling my eyes, ears and mind, captivating me and making me move along to the music.
Actually, I kind of want to go back and have more of it already. I also want to get hold of a VR helmet for a while so I can see just how that special new level looks and feels in the most appropriate way.
I read that a new Wipeout is coming this year too. That sounds like a fun thing too, Fast RMX seems to have awakened the racing side of my mind. Mario karts and futuristic feasts for the eye are my things, realistic car racing not so much.
Games, games, games?
Do not be mistaken, there has been plenty of time for reflection, for doing mindful little chores and for just leaning back and enjoying some coffee. On the mindful side, I also started listening to The power of now, a book on spirituality and mindfulness a friend highly recommended (and especially in audio book form) a while back and which I started seing many more mentions of once I had become aware of it. I have to say it does its job, even though it is my first listen I feel myself calmed and drawn into the present in just such a way one might hope. It does not hurt that I had been very prepared on what to expect beforehand, if not I would probably have had to spend a bit of energy getting over some initial hesitation about the whole subject and tone. Still, that calm voice discussing being in the present would probably have got me to listen eventually, if nothing else then simply by being calm and pleasant to hear. In a first for me, I am intending to listen to it multiple times. I am unsure where that idea came from, but it makes me very nicely relaxed in listening now. I can go with the flow of the voice, relax and let things be absorbed at my own pace. Feels very appropriate for the subject, and very appropriate for a sunny Sunday where we have just been robbed of an hour of sleep.