Seeking Camelot: Video Games

eBay & Workouts

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 13:41:33 GMT

After reading this entry on Sue's space and then this one on Bill's space, I had to post my own "compulsive eBay buy" story here.

Every once in awhile, I get a wild hair and surf eBay. I've gotten better about not buying up everything I think is cool, but I still have my days. If I get on a kick about something in particular, I know I should probably stay away from eBay....and well, anywhere I can buy whatever it is for that matter!

About 4 months ago, I ran across a pattern online for a knitted, beaded cuff and just had to try it! I bought so many beads on eBay that I'm overrun at home with them! I have enough beads to make about 20 of those cuffs....or more! I've made A two already and she likes them, but, seriously, I don't think she needs more than maybe three...but what to do I know? lol

Well, about 2 months ago, A mentioned that we never did get around to buying Dance Dance Revolution for our XBox. Hmmm...the wild hair sprouted. I immediately started poring over eBay listings for just the right price.

A and I love this game! We were first introduced to it at Jillian's in Baltimore when we were out visiting my sister and her family about 4 years ago. All of us in the family took turns playing it...over and over and over again. Well, at least all the females in the family! It would've been a blast to see my dad try it, though! lol M just videotaped all of us uncoordinatedly making fools of ourselves! lol

Then, 2 years ago when we were visiting M's sister and family in Dallas, we stumbled across it again at another gaming hotspot (the name of the place eludes me...guess it's old age hehe). A and I played on it for awhile and my niece, J, even challenged me on it while the guys played laser tag. The three of us had a blast!

Last fall about this time, we were back in Dallas again to see our new niece who was about a month old at the time and we bought passes to SpeedZone. (Check out the video on their website! Awesome! It's such a fun place!) On Tuesdays, for $12 you can play unlimited video games. What a deal! For another $12, you can race unlimited too! It's an awesome place! A and I found it there too! We played it until we were two sweaty messes. Ick.

But we had FUN!!!

So, anyway, I found a couple of listings with very reasonable prices and bought the game and two dance mats. I didn't tell A. I wanted to surprise her with them when they arrived.

She was sooooo excited when we opened the first package and she saw the game! For a week straight, we played Dance Dance Revolution every night for over an hour. Now, since we've started homeschooling again, we haven't had as many free evenings to play, but we did last night. If you want something fun to do to get your heart rate up, this is the game for you! She kicks my butt on the slower songs, but I do much better on the fast ones....don't have a clue why, but that's how it goes.

The following are some screen shots. If you haven't played, you've got to try it. It's fun, even if you're totally uncoordinated! Actually, it's probably more fun if you're uncoordinated...then you get the abs workout: laughter.

Guinevere

Legend of Zelda, cont.

Thu, 18 May 2006 19:01:00 GMT

I was re-reading my blog entry from yesterday and got to thinking. It’s not just video games that suck my time out from under me. It can be anything. I’ve worked on little projects before and the time has flown by. I guess the difference is that a video game is completely and utterly unproductive.

But what is it about these games that suck me in? The only games that I can honestly say it’s like this with are the Zelda games. Before I got married and had kids, I could blow an entire Saturday just playing Zelda on Super Nintendo. (Boy, that dates me!) How??? And, a bigger question, WHY??? Oh, it’s a strange phenomenon. Is it the music? The colors? The intrigue? Help!

Is there anyone else out there that has faced the same addiction? How do you deal with it? Do you have any valuable insights? I would love to know that I’m not alone.

Guinevere

Legend of Zelda

Wed, 17 May 2006 14:06:09 GMT

Does anyone else completely lose track of time when playing video games? I have never seen an hour pass so quickly as when I’m playing any Legend of Zelda game! My daughter, A, recently bought the newest Zelda game for Gamecube called Wind Waker. I watched her play it a couple of times and the graphics were interesting, if not a little overly cartoonish, but it looked like a fun time. Well, she finally talked me into trying it a couple of weeks ago.

Oh, holy gravy! I knew that I had an addiction to the Zelda games, and my way of dealing with it has been to “just say no”. I agreed I’d try it and, next thing I know, GADZOOKS, two hours are gone forever! How does that happen??? And, to make matters worse, I’m hooked on the dumb thing again. I go play it a little bit every night, inching slowly towards actually finishing the game. I just have to have my "fix". I’m going to have to buy a timer to set next to the Gamecube so I don’t go over my allotted gaming time. I’m pathetic.

Hi. My name is Jennifer and I’m a Zelda-holic.

Guinevere