Finally getting to settle the score

9 December 2009 7 Comments

The lack of the arcade culture is something I’ve written about many times before. It’s something I long to see come back since I’m too young to have been there during its prime. The world on-line gaming scene makes it hard to be a local champ, so that leaves the only fun competition between you and your friends. But what if your friends play different games?

I need more arcade friends

And too bad for me I don’t have many Xbox Live friends. I think my list stands at about eight people. I’m not really complaining because I don’t just want to be friends with anyone…this isn’t Twitter. I’m interested only in friends I care about and want to play games with. But then unfortunately our taste in games seems to differ quite a bit.

Not only do I not play as many games as my XBL friends, I just enjoy different games. I’m an arcade gamer, always have been. I like the pickup-and-play games, just check out my game list. Games that require repeated play for high scores are fun. They require more skill. But that type of gaming friend is kind of hard to come by it seems.

My new arcade addiction

Fortunately with the help of my new TV, I’m now able to play and enjoy games I couldn’t before, one of them being Geometry Wars 2. It’s an early XBLA title that I had played before, but playing it on my old tiny TV was just about painful. Geometry Wars 2 is hard enough to sort out on a big TV with all the shit flying around the screen…on a tiny screen it was just about futile.

Now with all the HD goodness I can sufficiently dive into GW2 and get lost amongst the neon glow. I can also focus on something that brings me great joy, trying to take down friends’ high scores. You see, GW2 is a game that several of my friends have played and have posted scores. It’s a fun game that is easy to pick up and hard to put down. It’s fast and furious and cheap. The $10 price tag makes it easy on the wallet too.

I challenge you

Those of you reading this that have already posted scores, look out, because I’m gunning for you. Those of you that don’t have GW2 yet, why not treat yourself this holiday season? Come join me in the danger that is arcade gaming. Put down that Zelda and that Layton, hang up your plastic guitar and holster your machine gun just for a weekend. Try a game that requires some real skill.

Tags: arcade, games, Gaming, geometry wars, hdtv, high score, retro, scores, xbla, xbox, xbox live

7 Comments »

Shawn said:

I’m sure you’ve already surpassed my scores on GW2. I enjoy arcade games as well but frankly never seem to be online when I’m in a mood to play them.

Also many of my arcade choices tend to favor the single-player mentality like Mega-Man 9, Bionic Commando, 1942, TMNT:Arcade and Castlevania:SotN.

# 9 December 2009 at 11:02 am

Jared Cherup said:

I challenge you to beat all of my scores. Go for it. I will reclaim King soon enough.

# 9 December 2009 at 11:17 am

Brian (author) said:

Oh I’m taking that challenge, so you best watch out!

It’s impossible to be best in the world, or even Top 10, but at least I can beat up my friends :)

Games need to add regional leaderboards. I bet they can figure out our general location through IPs or even our profile information…at least down to a state level, if not city level. It would be cool to have that level of champions again.

# 9 December 2009 at 12:13 pm

Octa said:

I you need someone to play Spec. Ops in MW2 add me: Argu cc

# 9 December 2009 at 1:29 pm

Will said:

I played the original Geometry Wars on the PC a little. It was a lot of fun.

# 9 December 2009 at 2:52 pm

Brian (author) said:

@Octa, Spec Ops is awesome…by far the funnest part of MW2. Anyone feel free to shoot a friend invite to AngryEdison and I’ll play with you.

@Will, well then get GW2 and get back into the groove! Y’all can only keep pounding away at RPGs before you get burned out ;) Arcade games make for a great smoke break.

# 9 December 2009 at 3:02 pm

Bigbaddog said:

I was never much for GW2 but if you fancy a thinking man’s arcade game, go for Hexic HD. It took a while for me to get a decent strategy going but I eventually got some good scores

# 10 December 2009 at 3:50 am