For the last nine months, I have considered myself a non-gamer. Not a reformed gamer, mind you, but someone who just hasn’t had the time to dedicate to playing games or keeping up with the industry. Once again I felt forced to contemplate my new lifestyle and how I could somehow re-insert my beloved hobby into a busy schedule. A good friend and I started talking about how this was possible now that we were parents. Eventually the topic of World of Warcraft came up. When I quit last year, I thought it was for good. I stopped writing because of that game, as I was too preoccupied with spending Talent points and obsessively trying to keep up with guild mates. It wasn’t healthy. And yet there was still something strangely appealing about the thought of playing again, in the context of a social activity for two new dads struggling to find ways to grasp hold of a hobby that would have otherwise slipped away. What better way to get back into gaming than playing something we already knew? My latest article at the Cultural Gutter describes the reactivation of my World of Warcraft account with a friend and fellow gamer, and how at this point in our lives, this really is the game for us.

Essentially resigned to the fact that I have no time to play games after hours, I’ve resorted to thinking about gaming at work. Sure, I tried to install Diablo II on my work laptop, but when my office has no walls it’s a little tough to be discreet. I got a used Treo 650 a few months ago, and decided to see how it stacks up as a gaming platform. The best part about covert gaming with the Treo is that it easily carries over into day to day activities. A middle-aged man riding the subway that pulls out a PSP or a DS would certainly be labeled a man-child. But what if he unholstered his Palm Pilot? He’s now a busy guy checking his stocks or furiously typing an email to close some inconsequential business deal. Or blowing shit up in Hellfire: Apache vs. Hind. You never can tell. In this month’s Cultural Gutter article, I explain how getting a gaming fix during business hours isn’t as hard as it used to be.

The extent of my gaming lately has been on my brand new, 5.5th generation 80 GB iPod. Despite its initial appearance as an unnecessary gimmick (as if Apple needs any help selling iPods), there are some surprisingly playable games available that aren’t named Pac-Man. In this month’s Cultural Gutter article, I take a look at a few.

Having been out of the gaming loop since say, October, I was fascinated by a conversation I had with my Aunt and Uncle at a recent holiday gathering, where they recounted their experiences with Nintendo’s Wii. I just had to write about it. My latest article at The Cultural Gutter explains how Nintendo is changing the face of gaming.

Another extended absence, another post somewhere else. I’ve done next to no gaming in the last two months, but I made time for Introversion’s DEFCON: Everybody Dies for nostalgia’s sake. See, WarGames is probably the only movie that got computers right in making them incredibly cumbersome and boring. There are no 3D interfaces or flashy animations when you check your email. Well, unless you’re using a Mac and have no attention span. I was suprised by DEFCON, but not because the game was actually good compared to Darwinia. It’s a game that asks some important questions of the player, and does a chillingly effective job of simulating modern warfare compared with any low-level first person shooter. My article at The Cultural Gutter explains.