AFK
Acronym for Away from Keyboard used mostly by online computer gamers (as opposed to console gamers). It literally means the person is away from the keyboard and, therefore, unable to play or respond to messages.
Gamer Glossary Term of the Week – AFK
Modern Warfare 2 Initial Sales Stats
According to this article from gamespot.com, Modern Warfare 2 is being billed the biggest entertainment launch ever selling $310 million in ONE-DAY sales in North America and the UK.
Since the release of Modern Warfare 2 XBOX Live has had a record 2 million hits.
That’s a lot of people in the world playing one video game, so feel better knowing you’re not the only girlfriend out there whose boyfriend is glued to the game. Check out the article linked below for more details.
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/modernwarfare2/news.html?sid=6240148
Love the Player and the Game! Why You Should Be Happy Your Boyfriend Plays Video Games
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been out a few days now. Since its release I haven’t had much interaction with my boyfriend unless it’s watching the game, have you? That got me thinking what better time to write a post on why you should love your gamer, even when you may want to throw his (or her) XBOX out the window! Here are my top ten reasons why you should not just love your [video game] player, but the game too:
1. Finger dexterity is never a bad thing.
2. Video games may help to improve eyesight contrast sensitivity. Some studies have “indicated that action-filled video games significantly sharpen vision, helping the brain focus on visually complex situations, keep track of multiple items at once and process fast-changing information.”[1]
3. Your boyfriend will appreciate you more if you give him his own time.
4. In those group missions he’s actually building people skills, leadership skills and teamwork skills.
5. With your partner busy playing games you now have some time to yourself. Go get that manicure, read that trashy romance novel or take that bubble bath. You can sit back and relax because he’s going to be occupied for a long time.
6. Playing video games allows your gamer to verbally take out the days aggression on a complete stranger. If someone’s an a**hole in a video game you can call them out right away. It’s very therapeutic. Now if only there was a way to do this on the freeway….
7. While he spends his evenings hanging out with his friends on XBOX Live you can have a girl’s night out. Call up your friends and go dancing. Or have a slumber party – junk food and Twilight with no boys to laugh at you!! It’s much more fun to swoon over Edward without your boyfriend gagging in the background.
8. Video games could actually be making him smarter. Some studies show that playing video games can actually thicken parts of the cortex, an area of the brain where higher functionality occurs.[2]
9. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. A little time apart may be exactly what your relationship needs to reignite some passion.
10. And possibly one of the most important reasons you should let him play video games – he may be saving your life! Yup, that’s right, if there’s ever an alien invasion or a zombie apocalypse all his weapon knowledge could be what keeps you alive. Follow the debate at The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/are_violent_video_games
[1] Greenemeir, Larry. 2009. What are video games good for? Possibly improving eyesight. Scientific American. . http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=what-are-video-games-good-for-possi-2009-03-29
[2] BioMed Central Limited. 2009. Is Tetris Good For The Brain? ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901082851.htm … continue reading this entry.
Glossary Page Update
I’ve put some terms up on the Glossary page. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to present the glossary. Any suggestions are welcome!
My Boyfriend is Going on Hiatus
Months ago my gamer informed me that I would not have a boyfriend for the month of November, which I suppose makes me a temporary gamer widow. He wasn’t mad at me or trying to meet other women. The reason for our “separation” would be the release of the newest installment in his favorite video game franchise, Call of Duty, or COD for short.
The game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, is not just highly anticipated by my boyfriend, but all first-person shooter, or FPS, fans. Although the title suggests this is the 2nd game in the series it is actually the 6th full game released. (There have also been several expansion packs.) COD: MF2, as it is sometimes abbreviated, is the sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which was the 4th game in the franchise. This game was different from previous COD games because the story does not take place during World War II; instead it is set in modern times. This was exciting for FPS fans because there was a whole arsenal of new weapons and technology available for the player.
Now that the release date is fast approaching (this Tuesday) I have been bombarded with my boyfriend’s school boy excitement. By now I’ve been forced to watch trailer several times. Each time my gamer watches it (I’ve lost count!) he gets shivers down his spine. I suppose it’s a little like Twilight fans seeing that first glimpse Edward. I must say the trailer is quite impressive, especially because all of the scenes are supposed to be actual gameplay. In this sense gameplay means that the images in the preview are not just a pre-loaded cutscene “movie” with amazing graphics, but that the entire game will have those amazing graphics because they are rendered by the game engine itself. In short, the whole game will look super cool. This is good for non-gamers who may be watching someone play the game because it means at the very least the background scenes will be visually entertaining. How well your partner plays the game is a whole other story!
It was recently leaked that this game would take place in space, which has the fan base all atwitter. I just have to quote my boyfriend here because his excitement at this little tidbit was better than watching a little kid on Christmas morning, “And guess what? It’s in space!!! How cool is that!!” This may be very good news for those of us who will be forced to watch parts of the game as it could mean some amazing CG space scenes. And who doesn’t like to look at a starry night sky?
I guess for now I’ll just enjoy the few days I have left with my boyfriend before his hands become attached to his XBOX 360 controller and hope his pre-ordered copy of Modern Warfare 2 comes the day it’s released. Otherwise it’ll be like watching a little kid get a piece of charcoal on Christmas morning.
Want to watch the trailer? Check it out.
Being a Gamer’s Girlfriend
My boyfriend is a gamer, in fact, a hardcore gamer. In normal terms that means he spends too much of his time playing games, reading about video games, and basically living and breathing video games. You could fairly say that gaming is his life. And unfortunately for me it’s not just my boyfriend who plays video games. I was born into a video game-crazed family where virtually every single family get together is spent playing video games. I know this may sound like a personal hell for a lot of girls, but I actually enjoy watching everyone get together and play games. There is a camaraderie that occurs when a room full of people excitedly decimate another team while playing the newest version of Halo on XBOX Live. (And I mean serious gaming business here including multiple consoles and projection screens.)
I am definitely not a gamer. But because of my accidental birth right, I have unintentionally learned quite a lot about video games. In fact, every time I’ve dated a boy who wasn’t a gamer, I’ve secretly thought it was a waste of my video game tolerance.
So why do you care? Maybe your partner is a hardcore gamer and you feel like you’re becoming a gamer widow. Maybe you just want to know what the hell your partner is talking about when he or she uses terms like WOW, COD, or MMORPG. Or maybe you are a gamer and you want some ideas of games you can play with your partner. That’s where I’m hoping my inadvertent knowledge can help you out.
The purpose of this blog is for gamers’ girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, coworkers, friends or relatives (basically anyone who is inflicted with/lucky enough to know a gamer) to have a place to learn about video games, but also find games they might be interested in playing alone or with their gamers. I plan on reviewing games, explaining terms and basics from a layperson’s point of view, posting interesting links & hopefully becoming a non-gamers gaming resource. Ultimately, my hope is that this will help you understand that someone’s passion for gaming, and maybe even find a few games you would like to play yourself!
