Gaming for Dummies

I was a kid who never really grew up around video games. When I was younger, we had Nintendo's Family Computer and summers were spent bargaining (try begging) with siblings to have a shot in playing video games. I was the kid who died first in battles and the one who always ended up last in races. I was the kid who barely managed to make the cut of Top Scores and the kid who always pulled the cord of the controller out of sheer excitement. Even if I play a game the whole day, I will never get the hang of it, get all the coins in Super Mario, save the princess, or even reach the final level to kill King Koopa. A more updated version hoho!

Then Family Computer became a thing of the past then along came PCs and PC games. I was able to play Starcraft for a while but then my camp always got defeated and the Zergs scared the sh*t out of me. Then I found my niche in the virtual games world - Text Twist and Hangman (the ultimate geekiness oh heaven!).

So for a change, I decided to ditch my geeky games and tried a PlayStation 3 game and a PC game. By spending a weekend at the bf's house, I was surrounded by gaming geek overlords - his sister, guy friend, and gal friend.

I first tried Left for Dead. Killing zombies was fun, if only I was able to find my way out of the damned hotel. So for dummies like me, it was a new experience to find new function in the keyboards. Keyboards are my keys to heaven of words but then with PC games, W became forward movement while S was for moving back, A and D for moving left and right, respectively. Left-click was for shooting/hacking (depends on the weapon) the goddamn zombies with left-click will temporarily shoo the annoying bastard away. Other functions I wasn't able to explore because my eyes grew tired of the screen (it was soooooo wide!) and the headphones kept on slipping down my ears. If you're up for one helluva shootin spree, I'd highly recommend Left for Dead. Are you Left for Dead?

And the night didn't end with killing zombies. By nighttime, I was re-introduced to this lovely PS3 game called Little Big Planet. You see, playing a PS3 game is a lot more complicated than playing a PC game. For one, you use a controller with various buttons and joysticks (I told you I am noob!) and my five fingers in one hand is not enough to grope around the thingamajigs! But on an up note, there are no cords so look Ma, I can pull all I want! The basic controls on the controller is pretty simple - move the left joystick so your character can move accordingly on the screen. The X button on the right panel is for jumping while the square button is for opening choice and circle button for selecting a choice. The R1 button can be used to hold on to things or push them - depending on the movement of the left joystick. Instead of coins, the character is out to break the glass bubbles which contain new items that can be used throughout the game (stickers, decorations, masks, etc.). The aim of the game? Burst as many bubbles as you can while swinging over deadly gaps, killer (cute and pillow-y) stones and finishing the game alive. It's a lot more fun to play the game in 2's or even more. Word to the wise: be patient enough in behalf of your lame-o playmates (i.e. someone like me) since the point of the game is to have fun and not bash each other because someone dies repeatedly. Thankfully, there was no bashing incident when I accidentally ruined a certain game play (thank heavens!). See Little Big Planet here.

So to you all ye nerds like me who are scared of video games, fear not. Tutorial and constant game play shall make us the Overloard Geeky Nerds!

Just kidding. Have fun playing with your joysticks! (And I mean that in a wholesome way XD)