Video Games

Over the last week or two, we've managed to gather a pretty significant number of new video games or to start playing games that we've had but never got around to playing.

Over the weekend, I started playing Bioshock, which I plucked out of the bargain bin at Gamestop a month ago. Pat happened to see me playing and was addicted before he even picked up the controller. Which he did that very night afternoon. And proceeded to not put it down for pretty much the whole weekend. Watching Pat rampage through Rapture all weekend got me thinking about how differently all the people in this household play video games. So allow me to enlighten you.

PAT: Pat has a shoot-first-ask-questions-later style of play that helps him survive in situations you'd never expect him to survive (playing easy mode also helps). Unfortunately, that doesn't mesh well with his rushed or nonexistent room searches. He has a tendency to run out of ammo and then change weapons wildly looking for something with ammo. These periods are intensely comical, as it usually results in a series of partial reloads, shots of eve, security alerts, and accidental research photos. He achieves nearly complete unpredictability.

LAUREN: Lauren's style is somewhat like Pat's, but with more finesse. She's impatient and so runs in with guns blazing, but usually in a slightly more organized fashion than Pat. While this takes away the element of chaos on which Pat thrives, it creates a James Bond-type atmosphere that makes her look quite badass when it works properly. When it doesn't work properly, it makes her look quite silly.

NORA: Nora plays video games the same way she reads books: in marathon sessions. Nora may not possess raw video game beating powers, but will play at all hours of the day and night until the game submits. Nora plays a Rocky Balboa style game of sheer endurance.

SHARON: Sharon doesn't play enough video games with us, so I can't comment on her style. I do know that she is quite good at Space Channel 5 and Soul Calibur.

ME: I don't think it's fair to judge myself. I leave it to everyone else.