Observations on gaming and engagement

The following article originally appeared on Geek Force Network, July 26, 2013. After a long stretch of dealing with summertime obligations, I recently found myself with a little extra time to get back to gaming. Along with the occasional dash of Little Big Planet, I’m slowly playing through Dragon Age II and Metroid Prime. (I’m about…

Gaming Motives (Part 2)

This article continues from Gaming Motives (Part 1). To read what initially inspired this train of thought, please head to  What Rhino Said for the post “Do you remember why you started playing video games?” Having a gaming partner didn’t fundamentally change the way I played games – I remained a die-hard solo player. But…

Gaming Motives (Part 1)

“Do you remember why you started playing video games?” It’s a simple question. Or is it? When a blog post with this title by Creative Rhino popped up in my feed, I was immediately intrigued, because I like it when folks tackle broad, open-ended questions about gaming. Posts like that tend to be intelligent, tough,…

The Completionist Strikes Back

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: I am not a completionist. It’s true that I like to play a game till I feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth, but rarely has that translated into garnering a game’s every last item/armor/achievement/trophy/quest/etc. With some games, like with Red Dead Redemption and…