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“Casual Games,” Just What I Needed

crafted by: Alex

I haven't had much time for playing games lately.  I have barely had  time to keep up with the blog for that matter.  My weekends have been busy visiting friends I don't see often including Pokemon Trainer Kev and Paul (which includes being out in NYC till 5am both weekend nights and recovering all week.)  I have started jogging again (with some of my pokemon like Mr. Sizzle).  Most importantly I have been prepping for a large project that will hopefully affect my career in the future.

However this isn't an excuse for why i havn't been writing, i really do need to keep on top of it, but rather how "casual games" are keeping me gaming when otherwise i wouldn't even bother.  I think i have played Plants vs. Zombies on iPad almost every day since i bought it 2 weeks ago but I'm only on level  3-5.  If you have ever paid close attention to how fast i play games, i could clock 40 hours in a game in a week an a half.  Now I seem to find myself gaming for 10-40 minutes at a time rather than 3-5 hours.  I love the range of games that exist today.  Zombie Smash on the iPhone I play AT LEAST once a day while in the bathroom.  A single level is just  the perfect length.  When i'm climbing into bed I might grab the iPad and a single level of Plants vs Zombies.  Last night I purchased Shatter on the PSN, and wow is that game good.  I've been stressed lately and these games are pure fun and great stress relief.

I actually work at the same place as my father, and know that our place of employment can be high stress sometimes.  He recieved a PS3 with Modern Warfare, Uncharted, Uncharted 2, and while he likes those, he recently requested for his birthday, more "mindless" games like Little Big Planet.  So I decided to get him some PSN points and send a list of PSN games that i have heard or read good things about:

• WipeOut HD
• Critter Crunch
• Flower
• Braid
• Peggle
• Shatter
• Super Stardust HD
• Everyday Shooter
• Trine

I'll update you on what he gets and how he likes it when he lets me know.

For the first time I think i really understand the appeal of these games.  I have always liked the full spectrum of games but these past couple weeks I have really been appreciating how downloadable games created a market, and an experience, that has never existed before.  I wish I had enough time to go back and beat the 4 games I've started recently, but right now, I'm just excited to crawl into bed later and play some Shatter.