One of the main problems with having a dreary, damp summer (apart from flooding, mosquitos and real issues, obviously) is that I have become acutely aware that I tend to go to come home at night and think about, build and tinker with social/web things, despite the fact that I have usually spent the working day doing precisely that on the other side of London, for my employers.
So, some web tinkering and thinkering is for work, and some is for pleasure. In fact, the trouble with doing what I love for a living is that it’s increasingly difficult to tell where one starts and the other stops. As a result, it feels like my brain is very rarely in “off” mode.
I am determined, therefore, to find some way of switching off of an evening that doesn’t involve sitting in front of a computer monitor with a web connection. It would probably be better for my general wellbeing if it didn’t involve narcotics, larceny or extreme sports. I also find it quite difficult to do absolutely nothing - need to be busy, in some form, or I tend to drop off stupidly early - unless I’m on a plane or train or something, in which case I like nothing better than to get lost in the pages of a book, or listen to music and stare out of the window.
With all that in mind, I’ve been thinking about getting a games console.
Yes, I know - substituting staring at one screen for staring at another is hardly a revolution - but it strikes me that a bit of mindless gaming action might be just the thing to help switch brain off while keeping hands occupied. Incidentally, I’ve already tried knitting - I’m rubbish at it, but that didn’t stop me from making a blanket.
I’m not much of a gamer, to be honest. I have a Nintendo DS, and I’ve previously had (and in fact, still have, in a box on top of the wardrobe) a SNES, and a gameboy about a million years ago. I love the DS for its portability, but I want something I can play at full screen size.
With all that in mind, I’m thinking about getting a console. Any suggestions? I know everyone says “get a Wii!” but I just don’t think I’d play it so much once the novelty has worn off - and besides, I’m going to be playing mostly on my own, and I really get the impression that Wiis are more social tools.
My current leaning is towards picking up an old PS2. Any reason why not?
And then there’s the games, of course. I realise that the console choice can be largely influenced by the availability of decent games. On my DS I’ve enjoyed playing Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World, MiniMario vs Donkey Kong and 42 Classic Games (though I only like a handful of those - I think they’ve made up at least a dozen of them, anyway) and on the SNES I played the hell out of Super Mario Land, Prince of Persia, Super Mario Kart and so on.
Can you see a theme, here? No, it’s not just the fat plumber in the red hat.
See, I’m not ashamed to divulge that I’m not particularly into complicated games. My tastes are pretty simple.
I like running around, jumping over and onto things, occasionally picking things up, or solving things, or obliterating things through some innocuous means. I like pointless quests and platforms and things with lots of levels and worlds to conquer. I don’t care about being a footballer, a spy or a hired killer. I’m not interested in hunting down and/or slaughtering mobsters or monsters. I’m not a big fan of violence or screams or the realistic soound of shells detonating in the trench a few feet away. Dammit, I want to play games to relax, and that means rather childish, puzzling, low-skill games which I can get good at and do on autopilot.
I’m also looking for recommendations for some games which fit the criteria above. If it’s called MoronDeathBlast 9: Los Angeles, I’m probably not interested. If it involves faffing about a bit with a controller in a half-awake state, then bring it on.
Actually, I’m still going to vote for a wii.
I have one and I do play alone most of the time, but I tend to spend the vast majority of my time playing the virtual console games (downloaded retro games from the NES, SNES, Genisis, Turbographix 16), rather than the new, fancy (and expensive) games.
You’d not got wrong with a PS2, and the price certainly is right, but there is more the the wii than just moving around like a bafoon and breaking lamps.
oh and the N64. how could I forget?
Disclaimer 1: I have an irrational hatred of the playstation, in all its guises
Disclaimer 2: I have only played on a Wii once.
But I’d still recommend a Wii and this game http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/746/746378p1.html
it was fab. i’m unlikely to ever buy a games console, but if i did, the hilarity caused by this game would be the motive.
You could get a Playstation 2 and, for all things ‘flapping your arms around’ get an EyeToy for it…
But don’t discount the Wii. My nephew has a couple of platform games for it, and with the ‘other’ controller you basically have a fairly standard games console, with fairly standard games that occasionally break out into “OK, now flail your arms around a bit” mode.
But then I have a Playstation 2 and play one game and one game only… and I’m not a huge fan of platform games (although Jak & Daxter is worth a punt if you head into PS2 land).
Suggestion: Get both? PS2 is pretty cheap these days, loads of second hand games and eBay is full of cheap peripherals…
Hey, Meg. Try the off button. Do something else - like creative writing maybe. The best times in your blog over the years are when you have been off doing something else - preferably involving other people - and then write about it or post the images.
No, no, no… you’re seriously considering this in the same week as this?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6962085.stm
Apparently reading before bed makes you sleep better, partly because it gets you away from the screen. Also, the stuff you do before you sleep is generally easier to remember (c.f. exam revision, no idea why though) so surely far better to do something you want to remember than “mindless, gaming action”.
If you really want to buy something, how about one of *these*?
http://www.wifiradioreview.com/
Alex - thank you. Switching off is also a good option and is, I must confess, much more tempting than any of the gaming options and platforms out there…
William T - Reading, eh? Contraversial! OK then - book recommendations?…
Just finished ‘Penguins Stopped Play’ (Harry Thompson) - about a round-the-world cricket tour, but reckon most would enjoy it even without interest in cricket.
Just started ‘Falling Man’ by Don DeLillo. Novel about September 11th. Seems promising so far.
There’s no need for the latest and greatest in consoles unless there’s a latest and greatest game that you absolutely have to have. (Says the guy who still plays his Dreamcast)
The PS2 is undoubtedly the best value due to the availability of a mountain of used games for it at a very cheap price. If you’re just going to buy a console and buy a few games, that is.
On the flip side, if you don’t mind tinkering with it, an Xbox (the original) isn’t a bad purchase. It can be tricked out to boot Linux and from there you can run MAME (the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator), which will allow you to play pretty much any arcade game from 1978 up to 2000 or so.
I actually do that with my Dreamcast as well, but it’s not as well supported and doesn’t have the “oomph” that the Xbox does to drive most of the newer stuff.
Or read a book. I just finished reading World War Z, which was silly but enjoyable. :)
253 by Geoff Ryman. Bit odd but worth a read.
Out of the Tunnel by Rachel North - an account of her experiences of, and around, the bombs of 7/7. Surprisingly uplifting.
Or, for a quirky retro-adventure, The Tenderness of Wolves, by Stef Penney.
Alternative to reading (but more expensive): go to the pub with your mates: much nicer since the smoking ban.
Get some exercise, whatever form that takes, a gym, a swim, a bike, a walk. You’ll sleep deeply, lose weight, be less stressed and be able to switch off the brain. If I sat tinkering on the web all day at work and then all night at home I’d go crazy.
Two things:
1 - You can have my PS2 if you want. The games tend to football/skateboarding/golf sims, but there you go. But I’d recommend a Wii, as my brief experience of it was awesome. My gaming days have disappeared under nappies.
2 - Learn a musical instrument. Can’t remember whether you ever learnt piano, but you know how much of an evangelist I am for this. Also, it taxes totally different parts of the brain, and mindless scales practice is soothing in a Zen way. And eventually, after a couple of years, the pleasure of pleasing yourself by waltzing up to the piano and knocking out your favourite Tom Waits songs after work is immense. J Reid Pianos are great - they’ll rent you a lovely upright for six months, and if you don’t want it after that they’ll take it back, but if you decide to buy they’ll deducted most of the six months rental off the price of the piano. And Paul will enjoy it as well. (And no, his keyboards are not the same - the tactility of a piano is unique).
I do not know about the consoles, but I recommend Fable as a game. It is an RPG and so you immediately go up ten geek points, but it is funny and entertaining and not too complicated. You can get your tattoos and stuff. In the game. Although in real life too, I hear.
And of instruments, the ukelele is the only way forward. Small and silly and quite easy.
As someone who games for “leisure” it can feel a bit like work as you trudge through an unimaginative level, or have to repeat the same task over and over where the designer has misjudged the difficulty curve (or the player’s level of tiredness). It’s not a guaranteed switch-off when the game makes you jump a difficult hurdle.
But often the right game all-in-all is a sublime experience, and that’s what keeps me playing and enjoying new titles. So this is quite an easy list to edit my last 10 years gaming down for your criteria :) Don’t think “what console”, think “what games”. When it comes to the last-generation, all of the titles below are worth picking up the relevant console for.
Ico (PS2) is a ravishing, amazing and emotional adventure, one of the best ever. It’s moderately taxing on reflexes and puzzles, but the constant emotional draw will keep you playing through a couple of minor frustrations. No big franchise selling it, no scores being racked up, no complications, just a boy and girl trying to escape from an eerie castle and its inky-black creatures. A-mazing.
Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is probably the best jumping, collecting, exploring cartoon-style game since Super Mario 64 - thoroughly well produced and fun. It’s as difficult as you want it; you don’t have to collect every last collectable (but sometimes it’s fun).
No no I take that back - Psychonauts (PS2/Xbox/PC) is a million times more imaginative and exciting as a platform game. It was far too batty to sell though, a summer camp for psychic kids?? Tim Schafer is the Tim Burton of video games; Psychonauts is the work of an amazing imagination. Look up “the milkman level” on Youtube.
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (Xbox/PS2/Gamecube/PC) is also a beautiful and well-paced adventure, superficially violent but with a stylised, Disney tinge taking the edge off it. The combat is pretty mechanical and always a spectacle, not very taxing. Being able to “rewind” when you make a mistake is fab.
Katamari Damacy / We Love Katamari (PS2) - why hadn’t this been thought of before? Start small, roll around picking up stuff in a sticky ball until you’re much bigger. Pointless, great fun.
So given the above list, the PS2 is the obvious choice. Mainly for Ico. Did I mention Ico?
I recommend sport or, my current fave, a martial art. It combines exercise with learning things, so is stimulating and relaxing. Also, ’cause I go to a weekly class, I have a commitment to it that I couldn’t sustain with the gym etc. In three years you can be black belt in something!
If you must go the video game route, Wipeout might be to your taste. Flying at speed around a spacey track requires skill, I tell you.
And I’m reading a fascinating book at the moment. “guns, germs and steel: a short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years”. I also just enjoyed The Dispossed by Ursula K. LeGuin.
ANYTHING by Geoff Ryman. Seriously.
Also, since you weren’t so very impressed with HP, try the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy by Philip Pullman - much darker and about a billion times better. (film of ‘The Golden Compass’ starring Nicole Kidman coming out this winter). I don’t guarantee you’ll get much sleep though, since you’ll likely be awake reading into the early hours…
Another excellent read is ‘I, Lucifer’ by Glen Duncan. Also soon to be in a cinema near you - I believe Ewan McGregor & Daniel Craig star.