Welcome to the Social (Gaming, that is)

Anyone that knows me, knows my passions. I do wear them on my sleeve. Just take a look at my sidebar. In no particular order: libraries, video games, music, reading and Disney Theme Parks.

I have been a video game player since my parents brought home a pong console in the mid to late 70's. It also played jai lai and hockey. We didn't care. We were mesmerized by the glowing white bars and the bouncing square.

We didn't get an Atari 2600 until summer of 1983. My parents were always late adopters. Hours and hours of playing Combat with my brother. We could never agree, though, on whether the three bi-planes were better or the large jet.

Then came Mario. The NES. The Nintendo Entertainment System. (Wow. I can't wait to get my hands on a Wii.) Well, since then, there has always been a Nintendo console wherever I lived. I loved the Zelda series. Anything with an action/RPG gameplay. Yes, there is a Gamecube in the play room.

Even though Nintendo revolutionized the gaming industry, I wasn't a semi-hardcore gamer until I played Halo. You may have heard of it. It was the killer app for the Xbox. It was the first game I ever beat. The first game I ever played all the way through with my son. And my introduction to social gaming. We called them Halo Nights. Or LAN parties. We would get 3 or 4 Xbox's, a couple of projectors, a router and at least 12 friends. Drinking, cursing, yelling, lasagna and plenty of male bonding ensued. Hang 'Em High, Blood Gulch...you name it...we played it.

Halo is a first person shooter (fps), which means that you see the guns on the screen and you have an aiming reticule. You basically run and gun. Shoot. Try to take out the enemy first. With the Halo Nights, we would play Team Slayer (two teams try to get as many kills as possible), Team Deathmatch (similar concept) and Capture the Flag. Great fun.

Halo 2 took the Halo Night online. You could go online and play against friends and strangers. You had a headset and mic, so you could talk to your fellow players. It was great. But it wasn't the same. It was difficult to create a party and go online with your friends. I could have up to three friends come over and we could all go online, but you were dumped into an unranked match (meaning you were either playing against noobs or pros).

That all changed on Emergence Day.

I have an Xbox 360. It is incredible. So far, there has not been a Halo for the Xbox 360. No real killer app. Until Gears of War. There has been incredible hype about this game.

I played it. Thought it was ok. Harder than Halo. this title is a third person shooter. You actually see your character on the screen. In Halo, you run and gun. Just go. Like a tank. occasionally, you would have to stop, so your shield would regenerate...but mostly you would run. In Gears, you actually stop and pop. You have to hide. You need cover. You won't survive otherwise.

Well, back on target...

With Gears, two people can play co-op on the same Xbox 360. Just like Halo. What is different is that you can play Gears in co-op mode through Xbox Live (internet). I was introduced to this by a friend. it is hard to explain how amazing this is. I can be in the middle of a game, notice that my friend comes online and invite him to play with me. Sounds simple, but it is revolutionary.

He lives about 30 miles away. I have another friend that is about two hours away. We use the headsets, we plan strategy...we play the game. Just like we were in the same room.

Is it social gaming? Sure. We talk about the game, what is going on in life...just like a phone conversation. We just happen to be saving the planet at the same time. Or at least we think so.

That is always what has made gaming fun. playing with friends. Saving the world with friends...