a LOT of nothing. that's a half lie, but turntable.fm ate up way too much time on that initial discovery. here's something to watch:

one of the things i like about writing for Gaming-Age is that it forces me to play games. not that i need to be forced-- i like games. they're the thing i'm married to, i do need to be forced not to give up on one before i finish it, though. seeing things through to completion is a weak spot for me, because once i have my fill, i'm usually leaving something behind right as things take a turn for the best. right before story falls apart in the third act, that is

reviewing material means i have to see it through, which i have about a 30% average of doing with games on my own. it's a great tool for reminding me that the best things about a game are the time you spend with it, letting its philosophies sink in until you 'understand' what it wants to show you. this doesn't apply to all titles, and a lot of the time extended play with a title can make you sick of it with mechanics that just plateau after a strong opening. this is the other side to a slow blossoming of philosophies; it's the unraveling of ideas on execution

funny enough, a lot of these lessons apply to real life and whether or not we get sick of something

i'm especially bad with multiplayer titles, unless there's a group of people or someone who a game really clicks with and keeps me invested. because of this i stick to single-player games, and have found them to be my bread and butter. the other half of having trouble sticking with a given game is that there is so much to see; it's hard not to let a new shiny thing drag me away from the last one.

i'm just kicking my feet around in the dirt here, but when a game is really fucking fantastic, it holds my attention and i kind of bond with it. i have a really special place in my heart for Persona 3, for instance, and that has made penetrating Persona 4 difficult. after i clear out some backlog and tackle more review product, i may finally get around to that... it has been a year after all

this wasn't a problem with The Witcher 2, or Bayonetta. these were games that i needed to play, because they appealed to me on a personal level. for everything else, the diamonds in the rough that aren't apparent in their payoff for investing myself into the whole product, well i get to pretend it's just part of the job. faking a responsibility to have perspective on a title really gets me through to the end on games i otherwise would have given up on

i have to wonder what it takes for people who need a little push to be enveloped in a game, when they might never come back after a few sessions

here's a bonus video (as if there aren't enough Frozen Synapse gameplay captures on youtube) of one of my favorite rounds of the game so far. mostly because of the bloodshed. team green is yours truly:

also Steam sales are the best and this is one of the best that was on sale. all the good things you heard were true, and if you have anyone to play it with, or like strategy games in the slightest, it's a must-buy

back to work