Wherever shall I go; whatever shall I do: Gaming on a budget

Due to the money-sucking leeches I call my wife and kids, the slight distractions a single man takes for granted become gluttonous self-involvements. When Blockbuster Canada introduced a monthly flat fee that allowed 2 rentals out at a time, I immediately became a “try everything” kind of guy. Games would be sampled and returned the next day and for $39.95 a month, I was trying dozens of games. I was also able to hang onto deeper games longer with no penalty of late fees.

I wept openly when the bad business practices of Blockbuster US destroyed the very profitable Blockbuster Canada. In my part of the world, there is literally no alternative.

I will let you in on a secret: $60 to purchase a game is INSANE.

The Importance of discovery: Why my kid ruins games for me

Infamous 2 looks like a great game. It looks like an improved version of Infamous, with beautiful graphics, a spectacular particle and smoke engine (borrowed from Killzone 3, I suspect) and better, more subtle voice acting. I experience these things in snippets and glances as I move through the living room. I know when the game is being played because it has impressive and responsive bass rumbling through my sub-woofer.

I have no interest in playing Infamous 2 but that is no fault of the game. It is because of my step-son.

A 15 year old with no interest in anything but yapping on Skype, online gaming in steam, and gaming on the PS3/360, he dives deep into new games. Genetically unable to not find the most efficient path to maximize return in an upgrade path he grinds games relentlessly. RELENTLESSLY.

He will ignore critical path and story missions until he has leveled up enough to breeze through. He returns to Oblivion constantly in search of exploits to allow his character to grow and change but has never beaten the game.

Like the first game, Infamous 2 has both a morality system and upgrades that are discovered during missions. I know this from watching him play.

I feel like I have come to know everything from the short moments I have watched him play. I have wandered in during pivotal story-moments, I have seen morality choices play out, and I have stumbled across both endings.

I do not begrudge my stepson doing what he digs but I have started enforcing rules about when he gets to play. As a teen with virtually unlimited time, he can tear through a game in a couple of days, and as an adult, I can’t, which is not a bad thing.

It seems petty, but I forbade him from playing Arkham City until I had beaten the story. I will do the same with Uncharted 3.

Infamous has taught me that a game experienced second hand is a game often not worth playing.

Return to Darkness: Arkham City (360)

Arkham City feels like a greatest hits collection of not only everything great about Batman, but everything great ever. The Catwoman free opening (more on that later) reveals itself like Dead Space 2; an unexpected dash through enemy territory that serves not only as a tutorial but as exposition and exploration of character.

Comfortable yet fresh, the melee combat and grappling gun traversal mechanics return from Arkham Asylum. Subtly refined, they serve as the foundation for ever more gadgets to unlock through the story and side mission progression.

It's not the years it's the mileage: Dragon Age Origins (PC)

DA:Origins is an awesome sandwich where the bread is the awesome and a zeppelin of hot air is the meat. Of the 80 hours played the first 10 and the last 10 were the best parts, with tedious and endless side quests filling out the middle 60.

My Soul to Keep:Demon's Souls (PS3)

I lasted less than an hour in Demon's Souls.

Given recent games have taken more than 60 hours of my life to beat (and weren't great) I didn't expect Demon Souls to crush my will to play so quickly. It's not that the game seems bad or broken. It's not that there isn't a kernel of something compelling within it. It's that it is not made for someone like me.