My favorite game right now is a dead tie. Despite having roughly 200 games to play, I am completely, utterly hypnotized and addicted to two.
Madden 08, and Catan.
Madden you might be familiar with, just a bit. Catan is an online version of Settlers of Catan, the German phenom board game designed by Klaus Teuber. The Xbox 360 is the best home for both of these, and is where I play them for days on end.
Why? I can't say, exactly. Well, I can.
I've always been obsessed with football. My father (and now myself) are season-ticket holders to the New York Jets. My dad's had the tickets for 42 years, since they were the Titans. It's a thankless job, being a fan for our team. Seeing events like the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl can make a grown man cry. So I take it out on fantasy. I make the Jets win (come hell or high water) virtually. I build their franchise. I am on the 2012 season. The Jets have Haloti Ngata, Randy Moss, and Terrell Suggs now. I traded Chad Pennington to the Dolphins for a second-round pick, and picked up free agent QB Earl Harper, who doesn't exist right now in real life. Neither does my up-and-coming WR, Tayshaun Shroeder.
Anyway, as I said, it's a sick type of addiction.
Catan I play, at high speed, against the hard A.I. Online players are too slow for me now. I need a quick fix, a sudden burst of progress. I play a game in fifteen minutes or so. Usually games take an hour. I've gotten maximum feel for the strategy, and now the randomness lets it play out like backgammon. I think I like the mindless drift of it. Will chance let me win? Can I overcome randomness?
I hope to play other games soon. Devil May Cry 4, a little more Rock Band, and at long last, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. But they generally take a back seat to Madden and Catan.
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