With Rock Band, for example, I usually would get tired of drumming after, first, about a half hour, and then, as I got better, I could go about two hours with only short pauses. But then I’d get tired–I’d start messing up, I’d have to dial down from expert, etc. Then, after another hour or so of guitar or singing, I’d be also drunk, and that would be that.

I still “hate” solo video gaming, but Rock Band was the first game I took to for solo play in a big way. I viewed it, unlike with other games, as a sort of legitimate “practice.” Since the game is communal, you don’t compete against your fellow mates (unless you want to), so you practice not to look terrible in front of them. With something like MarioKart, practicing on your own seems perverse–a way to show up friends when they visit. Then you become like my brother, who got *so good* at the EA NHL games that none of us would play with him anymore (he’d clean us out as flippin Kazakhstan) or like Pete’s old roommate, who did the same with World Tour Soccer, leading a semi-pro college team to the Champions League over the course of some seven years worth of promotions, thereby becoming intolerably good at the video game.

So what I’m saying is that the communal aspect of “Rock Band” was a revelation, and it made me enjoy video games more than ever before, even when playing alone. And that’s something I might not have appreciated as much as a kid (when basically I played 95% of the time with my brothers, where nought is cooperative).

i also reject the idea of grown up entertainment. what, gambling? fancy wines? screw that.