This year for Christmas/birthday season, I received two new technological gifts. One is a Kindle Fire and the other is a Roku 2. The Kindle, while desired, was unexpected and therefor delightful. The Roku was a planned gift but I'm still quite happy I have it.
The Kindle gives me freedom to read and whatnot when I'm away from my computer. Yes, I know I can do that with those things called books, but my mental condition makes books a bit difficult at times. Having ways to distract myself while my mind is bouncing too much to read is very helpful.
The Roku will allow us to stream Netflix onto the TV. This is going to be very helpful on those nights when nothing is on. We can just plan for other things to watch or play Angry Birds. The Roku's controller is a bit difficult to get used to when you first start killing the piggies, but we're adjusting.
In fact, I had a blast tonight. Due to poorness and a certain disgust with what we felt was a gouging industry, my roommate and I haven't bought a gaming console since the Gamecube. This has saved us a lot of money and frustration, but it also cut out a part of our lives that I used to really love.
When Nintendo first came out, my brother and I got one. We played the games together, solving them piece by piece. We came up with our names for the monsters and other things, worked for hours to get through quests. My brother and I are several years apart, and this was really a bonding experience for us, a nice place of common ground.
My current roommate (who was not my roommate at the time) came into my life on a more day to day basis during the Nintendo 64 years. We played through Mario, Quest 64, the fighting games, and lots of other stuff. Like with my brother, we made up names for things, found our own strengths to help each other, and really enjoyed the commendatory of playing video games together.
As I said, circumstances took that away from us. I've still played games. I have a pretty intense Sims addiction and play other online games. But those are solitary affairs for the most part.
But tonight, I found that joy I used to have while playing video games with someone else. We cheered each other on. We insulted the pigs. We screamed when we would mess up and did happy dances when we finished the levels. We were loud. VERY loud. Things are already starting to get mocked and labeled.
It was awesome.
Even now, hours later, I'm in such a damned good mood because of it. I'm really happy I'm getting to have this experience again. I needed it.
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