Most of my posts recently have been about serious topics: procedural ethics, video game company analyses, and research methodology. Since it’s summer, I thought it would be fun to mix it up a bit for a fun post about my summer gaming style. My summer gaming habits are fairly different than my winter ones. First, I game with less consistency because of nice weather and vacations. While I did spend a whole summer inside gaming when I first started playing WoW many years ago, I haven’t met a game I played that feverishly since. So, most of the time, I end up playing games like the new Animal Crossing, but mostly I only play when the sun is down or it is stormy. It seems that things are always coming up in the summer that interrupt my favored gaming style (which is usually marathon and cheetos). Playing flash games, 3ds games, and such are usually more effective for me in the summer.
Second, since school is out, it’s easier to plan community gaming events and other collaborative gaming. Recently, I’ve been WoWing with some friends from back in Minnesota, and some folks from school are doing an all-day gaming marathon this week. Summer is the perfect time to get together with folks virtually or f2f. This works especially well with board games. I just got the game Hex which I am excited to try out. I have already packed my new RV with all sorts of board and card games: cribbage, risk, muchkin, farkle, and assorted zombie games. Nothing says summer like a campfire, lack of wireless connection, a cold beer, and a round robin tournament of card games with family.
Finally, and this is perhaps not for everyone, but I think summer is a great time to do destination gaming. In other words, the CASINO! I have a great casino trip planned for next week that I’m really excited about. I also plan to try an actual riverboat casino this year. I have been on casino boats that are basically floating buildings. But during a trip to Tennessee this summer, I’m going to find an actual riverboat casino, preferably an old school paddle boat. Arcades are also a great way to not stay trapped in your house but still get your gaming on. If you’re near Vegas, of course you can stop by the pin ball hall of fame. In Lafayette here, there is Main Street Amusements. They have a lot of great new and retro arcade games. Get together with a group of friends, drink a few mojitos, and hit up your local arcade for some fun summer night gaming.
This summer, there are also some games that I’m really looking forward to. I’m really excited for The Last of Us, which was released last week, but that I haven’t had a chance to pick up yet. The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic shooter. One reason I am really excited to play this is for the male/female hero/heroine duo. Dual protagonists are one thing, but there is also a built in age and experience difference that I can’t wait to see. A new Sims 3 expansion also comes out soon. It’s called Island Paradise, and it seems to promise lots of new items and new vacation options. There is also Citadels, which is a little-known real-time strategy coming out in a couple weeks. Strategy games are absolutely my favorite, though I tend to lean more toward turn-based than real-time. Regardless, it looks pretty awesome and I imagine I will be spending many sunny afternoons inside playing this one.
That’s about it for my summer plans. I’m really looking forward to a relaxing couple months filled with gaming and sun, working and play. What are your summer plans? What are you all looking forward to?
10 thoughts on “Summer Gaming”
After coming back from 2 weeks on the conference circuit where I was only doing handheld and some light PC gaming, I am really looking forward buckling down and doing some damage with Remember Me and The Last of Us. That just means that at some point I am going to have to put down the 3DS XL (that I bought just to play animal crossing) and Animal Crossing! This game is crazy fun and I even got Pea her own copy for her upcoming 5th birthday this weekend so that she can walk around and catch bugs on her newly passed down 3DS (with the 3d turned off of course). I am just hoping for a slowdown before the new consoles are released this fall. I have only pre-ordered one, but I’m not telling which one it is!
I am loving the new animal crossing as well. I only played the last one and I didn’t love it, so I didn’t play much. But I’m digging this one. I know what you mean about relying on handhelds in the summer. I have a 15 hour drive in the new RV coming up, and I know I’ll be rocking the held held.
Hoping to pick up the Wii U as soon as I can cash my paycheck. So that will be allot of my summer. Been playing through a bunch of the rpgs on the XBIG. Some of them are pretty good.
Usually we have allot of camping trips and fishing trips during the summer but my moms moving (again -,- ) and my step moms mother passed away last Friday, along with business being poor at the family computer shop I don’t think there is going to be too many this year.
I need to pick up Animal Crossing, haven’t played one since the Game Cube. I’ve given in to the knowledge that I will be buying both consoles this fall. lol
Sorry about your step grandma 🙁 I am also trying to hold back on spending this summer. I borrowed tomb raider and will be borrowing many more this summer. I am still buying some indie games, but those are usually way cheaper.
Summer has always been my time for replaying favorites. I recently came across many of the PS1 and PS2 games that I had lost and so I plan to pick up a cheap PS2 and go through Final Fantasy VI, VII,I & IX as well as some of the Digimon games for the PS1 (Incredibly underrated). Also a big Pokemon fan so I’ll likely boot up a generation 1 or 3 title this summer to fill that void til X and Y come out (Filled the national dex in Black 2, so not much left to do in the current game). After losing my consoles, I just haven’t really felt the urge to replace them. I picked up a cheap Wii because I saved Xenoblade Chronicles (and Kirby’s Epic Yarn is a blast), but otherwise have been perfectly satisfied with DS and PC (WoW – Moon Guard – Alliance – Gnome).
Anywho, any suggestions for games I should be playing?
I forgot all about the PS1 Digimon games, they were fantastic! 🙂 I especially loved 2.
Can’t go wrong with Pokemon, I’m trying to get a Spirtomb through the pokewalker atm.
I don’t know if you ever tried the Suikoden series before but they are pretty darn good JRPG’s, Suikoden II is my favorite game of all time so I might be a little biased. lol
I love love love Kirby’s epic yarn as well. I’ve been playing on argent dawn– my new favorite toon is a horde shammy named totums. If you run into me, we should pet battle!
I picked up my pre-order of Remember Me almost two weeks ago but I have yet to play it due to long-day camp hours. When I game I typically like to devote most of the day/multiple hours to it rather than just a few each day so it makes it hard to want to start sometimes. I’ve heard the reviews were mixed for Remember Me so I’m going to go in “clean.”
I’m also bracing my bank account for all the gaming-related expenses in the fall… a PS4, Beyond: Two Souls, Watchdogs, Lightning Returns… etc, etc.
Let me know when you’re done with remember me if you want someone to take it off your hands. I def want to play it, but I’m not sure if I want to buy it. Maybe we can donate plasma or something to help pad our accounts for the upcoming releases!
Haha you can borrow it Alex if you don’t mind waiting until August and that it’s a PS3 copy.
I’ve always thought donating plasma sounded like a good deal. I had a friend who’s primary source of income was plasma donation. But I’m not too wonderful with needles so I’m not sure how well that would work.