Yeah, I'm currently playing Fable 3 instead of Skyrim. I'm old. Normally for Christmas I get practical things like socks, fuzzy slippers, or a pizza cutter. Last year I actually had a totally awesome Christmas and my husband bought me an iPod Touch... which came as a complete surprise because I already have an iPad and use it all the time, so wasn't expecting to get a mini-version. It has actually become my constant companion and I'll admit I'm a bit addicted to it... but it's rare that I get one of those "Wow" Christmas gifts anymore at my age.



This year I want to re-live that excitement of something totally awesome being unwrapped on Christmas day, so I've asked Santa for a copy of Skyrim. It's a game I'm really looking forward to and I know that being able to put the game in my PS3 on Christmas Day will bring back that wondrous sense of excitement that used to permeate Christmas as a child when I got that Barbie camper I really, really, really wanted (and my brother got G.I. Joe who promptly got stolen and used as Barbie's date while she cruised in her camper... hmmm.... that sounds a bit Ted Bundy doesn't it?) Anyway, I've been avoiding reading many of the Skyrim blogs this week to maintain that sense of "new" when I get my copy of the game, though I guess in reality, it won't make a lot of difference as the thing with Skyrim is that everybody's adventures will be so unique.

So instead of Skyrim, I've been playing Fable 3. I really enjoyed Fable 2. It was "RPG for dummies" but it was still a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Fable 3 is "RPG for morons" and has removed a lot of the fun factor, but it's still fairly addicting. I'll admit that when I initially heard that Fable 4 would be an on-rails Kinect adventure I was a tad upset... but now, I really don't care. It seems that this is the direction the series has taken and I wouldn't be surprised if Fable 5 turns into a game where you simply press X to do everything. There is no challenge whatsoever in Fable 3 and it's barely a game... it's more of an "experience".



In Fable 3, I spend my time adopting kids and fixing up various houses for them. That adorable hugging animation is cute the first few times you see it... but after awhile the long animations for interactions made me pretty much ignore my kids. I'm a bad Mommy! The quests are simple and expected, and the interactions with the NPC's have become boring. I talk to everyone I meet simply to get the stupid guild seal. My options generally consist of belching or dancing... and I'm getting damn tired of dancing with guys only to dip them then kiss their hand. It makes the men in the game seem like pansies and is obviously a male character animation that they never bothered adapting for a female hero. Hence my decision not to marry... but instead to adopt, yes, I'm the Angelina Jolie of Albion! I miss the ability to choose our interaction with NPC's. I also miss having an inventory. Yes, it's easier not to have one, but games can become too easy... as Fable 3 has shown me. Still... easy can sometimes still be fun. I tend to run the game during the day while I'm doing housework. I'll do a quest or decorate a house and all my little properties make me money while my character is idle. I do like money! I already own everything and just became Queen and I have 9 million in the public coffers and another 7 million of my own.

When I feel like a challenge I've been playing some Modern Warfare 3. I get my ass kicked but frankly I find this game has no soul. There is no need for teamwork, no need to talk to anybody, and the few joyous moments are simple things like finding a sniper and knifing him in the back... it doesn't matter the game - that kind of fun never gets old. It's odd, but a game like MAG that is rated T for Teen seems to mostly have adults that play, whereas a game like Modern Warfare rated M for Mature seems to have an overabundance of juvenile kids who want to know what my nipples look like. Yeah, that's what I got asked on Tuesday night. My response was simply "I'm probably old enough to be your granny... so just imagine your granny naked... and there ya go". This was greeted with dead silence and then one guy pops up with "man, that was harsh... now I got this image of my naked granny in my head... ewww!" My work there was done. I took a break and moved on to another game where I promptly ended up in a game with a bunch of other kids who were fascinated by the fact that I was an older female (I tend to use my age as a weapon as it usually shuts kids up). Instead these kids kept calling out "Elllsssaaa... where are you?" through the whole game. They kept following me around and trying to "protect" me. They were adorably cute and also annoying as hell. I think I'll do what most other people do in the game and simply not bother with a mic and I'll mute everybody. This is unusual for me because the social contact is one of the reasons I play online games. I like talking about the game, feeling part of a team - but this just isn't that type of game.

I think that Starhawk may well be that type of game.... team based gameplay with people talking about what to build, enemy movements and asking for cover when they take a base or the flag. I tend to like the more strategic shooter games. It's ironic, but my husband got the beta invite and I didn't. What's sort of funny about that is that he was never really a gamer until I got in the Warhawk beta and asked if he could help me out with testing the split screen play. Soon enough I would find him using "my" PS3 to play Warhawk on his own, which meant that we eventually went out and bought him his own PS3. Even now, he's not nearly as avid a gamer as myself... and he does still love Warhawk and is looking forward to Starhawk... but it still burns my butt that he got the private beta before I did! LOL!


STARHAWK!!!!

I have a bit of gamer ennui... not really sure what to play though I find myself gaming a lot lately. I currently have a bit of dissatisfaction with the games I'm playing, but I guess that will make Skyrim all the more exciting when I unbox it on Christmas morning!... and maybe there will be a pre-order for Starhawk in amongst those presents too!