of mice and xbox live

It's funny how bored I get sometimes. I came home today with nothing planned to do; mostly just sit and play some video games to pass the time until work. Well, I booted up my 360 and spent the next 4 hours playing Geometry Wars, trying to beat my roommate's score ... it even moved beyond obsession at some point. I only took a quick break to shower and get ready for work; I didn't even bother to eat (I didn't have food at home anyway!)

Luckily, on the last game I could play before coming to work, I triumphed; I topped his score as he said "Well, at least I'll have something to do while you're in St. Louis." Oh, did I mention I'm heading home for a few days?

Anyway, I went to work with a band-aid (yes, the trademark brand) on my thumb, something I can't remember happening since the first years I owned a NES. Microsoft has finally done something right; it's given gamers from that era the games they want; something fun and simple that is based on score, and a competition base to keep them playing over and over again via Live Arcade. They're even rereleasing the games our parents and older siblings always claimed to dominate. Now, you can actually find out if your brother or sister or mother or father were really that good in Galaga, and soon Pac-Man.

It's an exciting time to be a gamer, but not because of the games you find on store shelves. I'm more excited about Live Arcade and Nintendo's virtual console than almost any major-market release. In fact, with MS releasing the XBLA games on discs, that may be worth a double dip. Maybe this will be a wake-up call to Sony and Microsoft that bigger isn't always better; that graphics truly don't make a game, and in fact can be a detriment to it.

We can always hope, eh?
(paul)