Nowadays, video games are all about multiplayer. Even games that have been single-player for many years now have multiplayer capabilities. This is mostly because no plot imaginable could compete with playing with real people. Interestingly, the word "multiplayer" has evolved into something completely different in the gaming world...
When I was growing up, "multiplayer" looked something like this:
One console. Multiple controllers. Split screens.
Now multiplayer looks more like this:
One player. One controller. One Headset.
Online multiplayer has completely changed gaming. Instead of gathering all of your friends together in your living room (and creating a wire jungle with your controllers), you can play with people from around the world via the Internet. Online multiplayer is undoubtedly an incredible innovation that has improved the gaming experience.
However, it has almost completely eliminated co-opt gameplay! In my opinion, there is still something irreplaceable about having friends and family in the same location playing a game (without strangers). Not only playing video games; when was the last time anyone played a board/card game?
A few familiar faces in the geek world have YouTube series featuring games like these, and they're certainly worth watching. Check out a couple of my favorite episodes below! I guarantee they will make you want to get your friends together for a game night.
There's just so much fun to be had in this pile.
The Guild's Felicia Day & her brother Ryon have a hilarious web series, called Co-optitude, on the Geek & Sundry channel. On the show, Felicia and Ryon play the old school video games their mom never let them play as children.
The frustration, Day-sibling-hilariousness, and nostalgia make each episode a side-splitting joy. It also makes me want to a get a Super Nintendo and play video games with my best friend.
On The Nerdist channel, Wil Wheaton (of just-about-everything fame: Star Trek, The Big Bang Theory, Eureka, etc.) hosts a table-top gaming show called...Table Top.
Until I came upon this show, I thought they'd stopped making table-top games. It's always fun to get a bunch of geeks together for a game. Whether it's D&D or something you've never heard of, there's nothing like basking in the boundless creativity no game design studio could muster.
These are my favorite episodes of Co-optitude & Table Top. I hope you've found them thoroughly entertaining. More so, I hope you've been inspired to gather some friends together and create some hilarity of your own!
On Pinterest, I decided to take a look at JayBird53's Crazy For Barbie board. The little girl in me kicked in, and I began daydreaming - playing with the dolls in my head! And what I thought was quite entertaining.
[Note: If you're expecting to learn anything, this isn't that kind of post. Sure, if you're not well-versed in Barbie, you'll learn a little something. But overall, this is more of an entertainment post. That being said...]
The thought I had was about a 80s-/90s-style drama, like Dynasty...
Fun Fact: I (indirectly) got my name from the bad-ass main character Alexis Carrington-Colby (far right).
...about a mother and daughter.
As we know, Barbie Millicent Roberts was "born" in the late 1950s. If you look at her then and now, you'll notice she's changed quite a bit.
I like to think of the older, more stern Barbie as actually being Barbie's mother, Margaret Millicent "Millie" Roberts. Millie's the queen-bee, wealthy socialite responsible for the family's image. She met her husband, George (the first Ken), when she was in her late teens and together they built the Roberts Family Empire.
Millie was much more agreeable in her youth. But she became an iron lady as she grew older.
By her late-20s, Millie Roberts was a fashion icon and a mother. Though she had features from both her parents, Barbra "Barbie" Roberts shined as brightly as her mother.
However, as the young heiress grew older and her relationship with her mother became strained. Barbie wasn't satisfied with her mother's fashion-oriented lifestyle; she used her weather and family name to achieve different goals...
Among several other careers before the job market crash...
Disappointed, Millie tries to talk Barbie into returning to the fashion world claiming "women don't belong in careers like law and medicine". Her efforts fail, though, and Barbie and her mother stop speaking to each other. Barbie meets Ken, and they have an on-and-off relationship.
I could go on, but where's the fun in that? Let your imagination run wild for a moment about your favorite childhood doll/action figure.
(Barbie goes all "Amanda Bynes" in the later seasons of this imaginary television series.)
LOL! Don't worry. She eventually gets her act together.
I read somewhere: "If you grew up in the 90s, you know Batman the Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures is the truest form of Batman." I'm not sure if everyone agrees with that, but I do! From the art to the dialogue, even if this isn't the truest form of Batman, there is just a certain allure to this show that has yet to be surpassed.
Though, there is one thing in particular that I love most about this childhood favorite: strong female characters!
Every time I watch something action-packed, I look for the strong female character. Whether they're heroes or villains, I admire strong women who challenge the "delicate flower" stereotype. However, the creation of strong female characters isn't always done the best way...
But the villianesses of Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures are more than men in drag. They hold their own as criminals while maintaining both their femininity and individuality. The following ladies of crime are far from stock characters...
First, prior to becoming a villain, Pamela Isley, was a botanist. (Yay! Women in science!) As one of Gotham City's Most Wanted, Poison Ivy fights to protect the environment and often experiments with natural ingredients to use as toxins. Saving the environment; one less Batman at a time.
Harleen Quinzel was another successful woman - a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum - turned bad girl. Granted, she's not a solo act, but what other woman could hold her own in The Joker's freak show? Harley is a fantastic character because her relentless infatuation/love for "Mr. J." (regardless of how he treats her) gives her character relatable and depth.
Selina Kyle is a socialite with a thirst for adventure by day. But by night, she gets her thrills stealing from vaults and museums. Personally, I like that her entire reason for being a criminal is boredom. Aside from that, what sets Catwoman apart from the other women of this series is her relationship with Batman. He's head-over-heels for her, so each encounter is an inner struggle between his fight for justice and his heart.
Is there a television show you watch solely for the characters?
If you grew up in the 1990s, you might remember this show:
It was a way of life back then.
Dragonball Z - the sequel to Dragonball where our hero Goku continues to save the world as an adult, husband, and father - was certainly more than a simple cartoon. DBZ taught us about true strength, pride, perseverance, and the power of friendship.
Unlike American television shows that can last a lifetime, many anime shows are finite stories. As such, the Dragonball franchise ended after Dragonball GT, leaving today's youth with only Dragonball Z Kai (an edited version which is a post for another day itself).
Not a fan, but it'll do if it's all you've got...
Feeling nostalgic? Cheer up! Episodes of the show are on Hulu, but there's something even better on YouTube...
A group calling themselves Team Four Star has put together a very well done parody of the popular epic called Dragonball Z Abridged. It hilariously brings to light a lot of subtle things we might have missed watching the show as children, and it makes the experience more adult. There are also pop culture references that further the hilarity.
Any fan of the original Dragonball Z mustwatch the Dragonball Z Abridged parodies! They're thoroughly entertaining and make you fall in love with the original series all over again.
If you ever need an escape from reality, video games are always an excellent get-away! They transport you into a virtual world where (a) you can escape whatever problems are going on in your real life & (b) do things you'll probably never do in the aforementioned real life.
I wouldn't quite call myself a gamer, but I've certainly done my fair share of playing. So, I'm familiar with the gratification of achieving a challenging goal and thought-provoking plot twists. But what about everyday game play? Is any of that memorable?
My boyfriend recently brought to mind a hilarious moment that happened while playing a game together, and it compelled me to come up with a list of my Top 5 Favorite Video Game Memories!
#5 Resident Evil 5: She's A Keeper
I sometimes refer to Resident Evil 5 as "Our Trip to Africa". It was one of the first games my boyfriend and I played together, and we spent several days advancing through the story.
Of course, there were plenty of memorable moments in that game. But one stands out...
Toward the beginning, we were shooting sick, zombified Africans - you know, the usual - when we came across a pretty Caucasian woman calling for help. My boyfriend, the gentleman, walked up to help her when BAM! She grabbed him.
He called me for help. I ran over, pressed circle, and did this cool roundhouse kick before pumping her full of lead.
It wasn't the most difficult of actions, but I've never felt so cool.
Of course, it was no big win to him, especially since we were still being surrounded by other zombies. But I felt like Xena, Warrior Princess with a gun, and nothing beats that.
#4 Dead Nation: The Hail Mary
If there is ever a zombie apocalypse, my boyfriend will likely survive. He's incredible with video games in general, but for some reason he's a beast when it comes to zombies! According to him, I'm a decent partner, but I still feel like I'm slowing him down sometimes.
In Dead Nation, if you're partner dies, you can still play on and - if you get far enough in the level - revive them. Sometimes we were an unstoppable force that blew through the hoards of zombies together; sometimes he was suddenly solo because his partner was dead.
At one point, though, I noticed I die a lot with flares, grenades, land mines, etc. still on me unused! So, I decided to try something...
The next time I was swarmed with zombies - and I knew death was imminent - I unloaded all my grenades, flares, mines, and dynamite. It was Chernobyl. If I was going down, all those zombies were coming with me!
(Except I somehow lived, and found myself without any of those valuable weapons...)
My boyfriend laughed at me.
#3 The Ship: Collegiate Darwinism
I had actually bought this game years ago, but couldn't get it working on my family's crappy computer. So, I'd nearly forgotten it, when my Video Games class (yes, I took a Video Games class my senior year of college) took a trip to video game center. There, they had this cool video game cube thing that myself and 7 of my classmates could all play together.
In The Ship, you are a passenger on a large cruise ship where everyone is given the name of another passenger to kill.
Cool: You have the name of the person you need to kill, their last known location, and there are weapons everywhere. Problem: You have no idea who is trying to kill you, and it is incredibly difficult to watch your back.
Side Note: I once beat someone to death with a manikin arm in this game.
While you gain points for killing your target, you lose points for killing random people in cold blood (and you go to the ship's jail for a bit, while you're target moves around freely). You'd think University of Michigan students would think logically about how to kill only your target while avoiding assassination.
But nope. Total chaos.
Everybody killed everybody regardless of consequence. It was a fight to stay alive. No one was safe.
#2 Splashdown : The Tentacle
They say "curiosity killed the cat". I learned that firsthand playing Splashdown, a water craft racing game for PlayStation 2.
In the game, you raced with several other competitors on many different tracks around the world. Some where closed off, while others had openings. And in the Free Play mode, you could leave the track and explore the world a little.
However, game designers aren't going to create an entire world outside the game path. In most games where you can venture into uncharted territory, there's eventually an invisible wall the player cannot pass. Not Splashdown...
Instead, a giant squid tentacle comes up from the water, pulls you under, and the squid spits you across the ocean. I had to pause the game because I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
#1 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City : "Hi!"
If you've never played a Grand Theft Auto game, here's a brief synopsis: You are a bad guy in an open world with an objective that you are not required to follow. So, if you'd like, you could just spend a day on the beach running people down in a stolen car.
It was one of those days.
I stole a parked car from the street and headed to the beach - running over anyone in (or out) of my way. For a while, I didn't even have a Wanted Level because there were very few cops on the beach. So, I just ran people over without remorse until...
I was headed full speed toward some fat guy when he turned, smiled, waved, and said: "Hi!"
As you might know, the citizens of these games aren't the most polite people. They'll insult you for bumping into them; I've even had my stolen car stolen in this game! This simple gesture of civility touched my heart.
Right before impact, I slammed on the brakes, but inertia is not so compassionate. I ran him over. I felt so bad, I got out the car and watched his dead body disappear as a way of paying respect.
These are some of my favorite video game memories.
