A Quick Look at My GameStation

AKA Where I Save The World From Evil 

I took a quick pic the other day to post in a thread about gaming setups on a forum I frequent for gamer gals.  It didn't take long to see that each setup said a lot about the chic who gamed there.  The girls who posted a lot about nail polish or makeup often had polish and lip gloss on their desk.  Some were tidy, some were messy.  Some had neat ways to organize their games.  Some areas were tiny and smooched into whatever corner they could carve out for gaming, but others were rooms dedicated to the hobby. 

Anakin Playing Games with Me!
I had all my junk out for doing my manicure.

 I move quite often (seven times in the last thirteen years, five in the last six), so I don't always spend the time or money to spiff up my gaming area the way I'd like; I keep it useful, organized, and easy to pack.  I was lucky enough to have a nice area in my last house and a whole room in this one for my gaming. I have the main wall for my collectibles rolling shelf (pictured here with a black lace shower curtain hanging from S-hooks to keep everything from getting dusty), my main gaming desk, and a small filing cabinet that I've had since I was in elementary school- hence the stickers...look close, you might recognize some!  I've added a few over the years; it's just a quirky way to remember my childhood!

I didn't take a pic of how I have the rest of the room right now, but here is one from my last place.  It's similar now.  I moved my leopard geckos to the pet room and ended up using one entire case for just Xbox 360 games.  So now to the right of my desk is a wall of these half-size bookshelves with my games in groups by console and in alphabetical order.  I also have some notebooks, pens, and PC software on them.  On top of the bookshelves is a Yankee Candle "Man Town" and over each is a framed poster- the two-sided pre-order poster that came with Black Ops II.  I had pre-ordered a copy for myself and one for my husband, so I framed them both so I could see each side. There's also a lamp and a few fancy boxes for little loose things like game authenticators, extra cell phone cases, and USB drives. 

The wall to the left of the desk is a wall of windows looking out at the adjacent pond and hillside of cows.  I keep the outer two covered with silvery drapes and the inner two tied back with simple satiny black bows.  This pic was taken in April 2013.  I keep an ottoman under the window and Ani likes to lay there and look outside.  Sometimes he wants to be right with me and to keep him from being in the way, I'll pull the ottoman beside me and let him lay there. 

Behind me is the office space where I have an old desk, the wireless printer, a cabinet for my mags, an oscillating fan (because I tend to get too warm when I am playing intense matches!), and a closet for out of use gaming equipment and the boxes that everything came in (to make packing easier and keep everything protected, I keep most of the boxes).  Hubby usually works on his laptop and household paperwork there.

So there is a quick look at my headquarters for Saving The World from Evil!

Spring Cleaning Challenge!

I was inspired by the Raptr contest called

Raptr Spring Cleaning Challenge: Tame your 2012 pile of shame

 I'm a pretty organized person so instead of a pile, I have a shelf of shamefully yet-to-be-played/finished games.  Some of the them are still wrapped.  There are reasons.  There are always reasons. I have imaginary rules for everything and I feel uncomfortable and unsettled if I break them.

Here's my blog about The Kate-Rules of Gameplay

The Raptr contest is basically this: you get one entry for each game on the list that you complete within the time frame.  For a game to be considered complete, you have to have earned the story-ending achievement.  

Since I have several games on the list, I thought I might be able to bang a few out before the deadline.  I have completed The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Far Cry 3, The Darkness II during the challenge, and am currently finishing Lollipop Chainsaw, Halo 4, Borderlands 2, and Call of Duty Black Ops II.  Unfortunately I finished Dishonored a few days before the contest started :(
The other games from the Raptr list that I have and could complete to get an entry:

• Borderlands 2
• Black Ops II
• Final Fantasy XIII-2 (I seriously thought I had finished this one!)
• Halo 4
• Journey
• Lollipop Chainsaw
• Mass Effect 3

Most of those are tough and/or massive.  For instance, I accidentally deleted my super-complete Mass Effect 1 &2 save file when I started Mass Effect 3, and  I haven't been able to bring myself to replay them because it makes me furious at myself! And according to The Kate-Rules of Gameplay, I HAVE to replay them in order; ME is not going to happen.  I'm really glad I saw this challenge as I was inspired to play some of these great games that I have been putting off while I was working on other projects. Spring cleaning has never been so much fun!

If you want to join me on Raptr for this challenge or just to buddy-up,
Here's my Raptr Profile Page

Leave me a comment on this blog and let me know how your spring-cleaning pile is coming!

The Kate-Rules for Gameplay

The Kate-Rules for Gameplay: 

1.  Games suited for a certain season should be played in that season. 
   E.g. Amped 3 is a snowboarding game and so should be played in winter.  Baja Edge of Control takes place in a desert and so should be played in the summer. Anything with zombies or is scary like Alan Wake should be played near Halloween.  Except Dead Island because it's on a resort island so it's a summer-zombie game. (I didn't say that the rules make sense to anyone but me)
2. Games in a franchise should be played in order. 
   You just don't play Assassin's Creed 3 before the original! Even if the stories aren't dependent on each other, I must play them in order.  I do like to see how the franchise has progressed and improved (or not).  And to miss a chunk of story? That is a heinous crime IMO!  Story telling is one of the biggest reasons that I love games.
3. No flippy-flopping!
   I pick a game, stick with it through the end, and hopefully get all the achievements for it before I put in another game.  Here's what happens when I flippy-flop (and is the reason why I have so many unfinished games): I get a game, get really into it, get close to the end, get a new game on sale for a great price that I'm excited to play, put it in, play it a while, go back to the old game and can't remember how to play or what I was in the middle of doing, get frustrated at the thought of starting it over, shelve it.
4. Don't be an achievement whore.
   I am totally an achievement whore as my Raptr profile can attest, but I am on the road to recovery. I refuse to play a game just for the achievement points.  If I am just not into a game (I'm looking at you, Dead or Alive 4 and PGR 3), I don't mind letting it sit there and collect dust as atonement for being so sucky. 
5. Must be complete.
   Most games now have DLC, season passes, or expansions.  If I a get a just-released game (which doesn't happen often) that I know is going to RULE and I'm going to play all the time like whatever the newest CoD game is, I will get the season pass and stay up-to-date on DLC at a discount.  I completely hate playing a game that has DLC or an expansion that I don't have, so I will wait until there's a sale on DLC or the GOTY edition to play it.  E.g. I got Skyrim last Christmas with the awesome dragon statue and I played it for a couple of weeks but then DLC came out that I wasn't going to get right away so I shelved it.  Just this week it was announced that Bethesda will not be releasing anymore content for it and in June 2013 will be selling a Legendary edition with all the DLC that was available for it.  Sweet.
6. Campaign Co-Op games get played with friends.
   Lots of games nowadays have campaign co-op.  I love co-op but only with RL friends who game, and I don't have many.  Hubby has his own Xbox360 too so I will catch a good deal on a second copy and cross my fingers that we have time to play together.  We never do.  We started Borderlands almost 4 months ago and only played via LAN twice.  Left For Dead is awesome in co-op but I only have one copy, so there it sits still in shrink wrap.  I'd like playing co-op with friends-list friends but I have a hard time understanding people sometimes because of my hearing loss, so even with using my Astro A-50 headset (which is sweet!), I feel like I don't always understand people and it's just frustrating.  Most of the time the problem is folks who use bad english or don't enunciate.
7. Be thorough.
   If I don't have the time or patience to  thoroughly play a game start-to-finish with all the side quests and collectibles, etc., then I just wait until I do.
8. Unfinished games get restarted.
   Sometimes I will go years without putting in a game and it's so awkward to feel like I'm coming into the middle of the story and this half-fleshed out character, so I'll just restart.  Time consuming, sure, but I will feel satisfied that I got the whole story in one sitting.

*Please note that my rules are a result of my perfectionist and neurotic self and not the way I think "normal" people should play ;)