[2022-12-18] Video game day
I got an early Christmas present today in the form of video game day at my son's. It was one of the items I had put on my Christmas wish list a month ago.
Our day began at 11:00 AM, when Chris, Mel and I met Shane at a supermarket in his neighbourhood to pick out all sorts of foods that we wanted to try. We used the PC points that we had accumulated all year and treated ourselves to free snacks that required little or no work to prepare and serve. We bought a fruit tray of pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew melon and strawberries, and added grapes and clementines on the side. We assembled a veggie tray of cucumber, mushrooms, red pepper, cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas. We pulled these together in the amount of time it took Chris to bake the party-like appetizers we had purchased. Truth be told, we enjoyed the fruits and vegetables more than the prepared foods. But we saw today as an experiment—one we are sure to repeat, though the food choices may change.
After our light lunch, we settled in for an afternoon of video games. We played Diablo III, which Chris, Mel and Shane had all previously played individually. I was new to the game, but enjoyed the collaboration, as this was the only cooperative offering among the three we had today. The game was smooth to play, easy to get the hang of and paradoxically relaxing.
Next up was Crash Team Racing, a nostalgic game that we had all previously played. As I shared in my Video games post, I played a lot of Crash Team Racing with the kids, especially during the Christmas holiday when we first got the game. When Chris left to spend a few days with his family that year, Shane, Mel and I pulled the couch in front of the TV, ate snacks and played to our hearts' content. I think that's what gave me the idea for this year's video game day.
Our final game today was Mario Party Superstars. Like Crash Team Racing, we competed against each other. The game felt a bit like the electronic equivalent of the board game Trouble, interspersed with minigames that were really fun. For instance, in the minigame Roll Call, we counted the number of mushroom characters that were milling about. In Snowball Summit, we made big snowballs and rolled them at each other to knock opponents off a snowy platform. In Cheep Cheep Chase, we swam away from a giant fish while diving at the right moment to avoid bombs in the water. Sometimes, one player was pitted against the other three, such as when I was on one side of a cliff and my opponents were on the other side in a game of Tug o' War. Mario Party Superstars was cute and moved along quickly. Playing as Donkey Kong, Chris emerged victorious. There will be a rematch.
My son was very good at teaching us new games (or new versions of old games we had previously played) and at explaining the mechanics of the games and the various buttons on the controllers. He introduced features of the games gradually so that we had time to understand each element before learning something new. Fortunately, we all had some experience with video games, so this proved to be a good choice for quality time together as a family.
I'm so pleased that my family indulged this wish of mine. Time with the people I love is the greatest gift.
