Issue 13

I play games. My obsession started out with boards games as a child. It moved to the Atari and Commodore 64 in adolescence, with a little traditional D&D thrown in. And I still played board games along the way - Stratego and Scotland Yard being two favorites. I continued my affair with the Nintendo game consoles - the NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, and Wii. I picked up an Xbox along the way. I play PC games. I am what some refer to as a gamer.

I'm not hardcore. I give my wife and family the time they deserve. I usually game after everyone goes to bed. Sometimes I game during the day. And when Will is home I play games with him... Star Wars: Battlefront (1 and 2), Halo 2 & 3, Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, Nazi Zombies, and this little game called City of Heroes/City of Villains.

This game is an MMO. That means that the content is meant to be played with any number of actual, live people teaming with you. It is *possible* to play the game solo but it is designed for team play. In it you create a hero or villain, complete with super-powers, and run around completing missions. Sounds kind of bland on paper but it really is a lot of fun.

So anyway, Issue 13 - which is just their lingo for the thirteenth content update - is being installed onto the live servers as I write this. And I'm pretty stoked. This issue has a bunch of new features including new powers. But the thing I'm really excited about is the leveling pact. This feature ensures that when I play with Will, we create a "link" between two characters (referred to as "toons" in game) that keeps them in sync. It's like our two toons will always be teamed together. And that sounds pretty cool with me.

I see gaming, when it involves others, as a wonderful bonding experience. Can it be obsessive? Sure. But all things in moderation, right?