New Dad, Seeks Space

Outer space, not space away from my child
by 12/08/2016

This week has been really up and down both gaming and baby wise. We start as we finished last week, with a slew of games to play yet no opportunities due to a very upset, unsettled E. We progressed into receiving more games, see below, and snatching short periods to play as medication, prescribed of course, set in. We end the week with chunks, good solid two-hour chunks, of a sleeping E and me getting a decent start in No Man’s Sky.

I must thank E when she’s older in her diligence at hearing my cries of ‘No Man’s Sky is here! Please feel better’.

I received a copy a full 5 days before its release. This was before the touted patch, reported to change the game, dropped and on a promise to the developers twitter account that I wouldn’t play. E had been sickly for a few days and diagnosed with severe reflux. The medication for the first few days had yet to do anything. So when Kim took her out for the afternoon and I had some free time I spent it doing house work and cracking on with a university paper. All whilst constantly thinking of what I could be achieving in game. Sorry I mean constantly thinking of my poorly, sweet little E. Suffice to say the lie down never happened.

Even when there’s time there is no time. As you can see I really was thinking about it all that day. My Mum had also come up for the weekend to help out, thanks Mum, but it meant I also had to socialise and couldn’t squeeze in just a short 5 minutes to cut my teeth. Its fine I thought, just relax. It’s not officially released until next week, you are not missing out, weeping in my mind whilst presenting a brave face.

Volume is a cracking game. A timed puzzler with levels which can, on average, be completed in about one minute. It can be paused and has a quick reset button to start the level over. It sounds to good to be true for someone who needs to be able to put a control pad down at a moments notice. As soon as E is sleeping and in the right position for me to hold the control pad I can bang out a few levels and easily jump in and out of the game if she needs to be re-positioned. It helps that it has an enjoyable, well written story lightly running through the levels. You don’t have to be fully invested in whats going on and just play for the speed running challenge it presents if like me you need a short, sharp gaming fix.

Mr Bithell, or at least the community manager at Bithell Games, agrees. With an aging gamer population many of us must be parents. How does everyone else cope?

All Labelled wrong, wahh!

All Labelled wrong, wahh!

OK I cracked and jumped into No Man’s Sky early. It was late in the evening. E had settled down beautifully and I reached for the control pad. It didn’t help that I’d been watching Cosmos and Star Trek TNG, goading myself perhaps. The game still hadn’t released but I want to have that first experience exploring a planet and flying through space. My subsequent playthroughs have all been late at night when my mind has been halfway between sleep and reality. Whilst that makes for an interesting game experience I don’t think I took much in. So far I’m enjoying the leisurely pace I’ve set myself and will continue enjoying the sense of exploration.

I did however fuck the naming convention up in my first system on the games official release after the server restarts. My only excuse is that I was tired and did not think that once named it could not be changed. I’ve fucked this system over now so I’ll start again on the first warp jump.

The planet on which it all began

The planet on which it all began

Look at how tired I am, breathing moments, what the fuck was that. Must review tweet before sending. What I meant to say was breathtaking moments. That first cresting of a huge hill, the revealing of an underground network full of life and that first trip out of the atmosphere. All breathtaking moments. This games slightly cartoony aesthetic doesn’t detract from the impact these sights have. Let’s hope the sense of wonder continue.

I think my standard game time will now be late at night in the sweet spot where E sleeps. Not great for my sleep pattern nor my tired gaming experiences but I’ll take what I can get right now. If I can’t play games we’ve always got Star Trek.

It’s interesting to think that a large portion of gamers will be either already be parents or of an age where kids come up in conversations more than games. What do all these people play? How do they have the time? It’s beyond me, I’m just going to bob in space for a while.

 

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GamingHighlightsLifestyleOpinion

by Guest Author - Aug 12, 2016

by Cameron McCulloch-keeble - Aug 14, 2016

Ben is like a fine wine, he spends far to much time in cellars. He deliberately developed a stutter and a slur and walks with a limp to conceal his raging alcohol problem. Once beat up a fish for looking at him funny. Ben hosts the Tanked up podcast, but we are pretty sure he isn't aware of that.
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