Gaming Partner(s)

Everyone is their own type of gamer. Some people like to sit in a living room with friends and family, alone in a bed room or office… or really I guess the combinations are limitless. I’ve had many a gaming partner, but I wouldn’t consider myself a gaming whore. The partners I find are not always someone I’m involved with, but I just find it the best word to use.

I’m a situational kind of person. I enjoy gaming on my own, largely because I don’t get stressed out by expectations, and it’s also my time to unwind and forget about everything that came my way that day. I’m coming out of my shell again to play with others, but I had someone almost ruin gaming completely for me, I know right? Drop something so awesome over one stupid person. It was the shared interest which caught his attention, but then he found out I was kinda good at games, and now I was intruding on ‘his’ interests, so it became a competition to out do me. Not fun. But lucky for my better judgment I didn’t leave my beloved games, I left him.

But after that it took me a bit to find where I fit into this world again, I was a bit behind on the times and didn’t know if I was ready to dive right back in. But slowly but surely I started reading up a bit, and thanks to some help of ‘oh my god you have to see this game’ from friends here I am again, and much more devoted and knowledgeable for it! So just coming back into it I liked to play on my own. Games are kind of like riding a bike, you never really forget how it feels it’s just a matter of getting your fingers to be as quick as
they used to be.

I had a hard time playing with other people until I moved in with my roommates this year, before this I would pass on games, or when it was my turn I’d make a half-assed attempt and pass the controller back, still not comfortable in my gaming skin. So they finally just shoved a controller at me and said play. So I said fine! And really I had been watching them play and really wanting to join in. Now our gaming has created a whole other dynamic to living together, it was always me and the two boys playing but then my other roommate would always see us playing Phantasy Star: Online in Co-op, and watch and leave. She isn’t big on games, but when the three people you are living with spend long nights well into the morning pouring into this game, and then when they’re not playing, talking about tactics and what weapons they can trade… You want to play too!

And that was how my apartment turned into a regular gaming home. I never thought my roomies to be ‘gamers’ they still give me confused looks if I talk about a game coming out or even a game that has passed. But their solid love for the games they own (well except for the state in which their systems are kept, my stuff does not live in the living room), and the awesome company makes them a-ok in my books!

I think everyone should have someone to game with when they’re not zoning out on their own, so long as it stays fun and doesn’t turn into a hard core competition. Although I’ve been known to get pretty riled up over Devil’s Crush when someone beats my high score…