The Mormon Gamer

“Ah, fill the Cup: what boots it to repeat / How Time is slipping underneath our Feet.” Day 1

2010-01-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a disaster for my plans but was actually a pretty awesome day. I decided begin at the beginning, I began my journey of scriptural and spiritual discovery with the cover pages and introductions to the Book of Mormon. Everything preceding the words of Nephi are so inspired and are a wonderful preface to truly enter into the book and be in the mind space you need to be in.

Unfortunately about that time my wife's visiting teacher's arrived, which made the necessity of my ipod and headphones very clear. There are sweet ladies that are of course always welcome in our home and the cacophony of three women in our tiny apartment would normally necessitate Heavy Metal but Mastadon and Skeleton Witch are not conducive to reading so I had to find some classical music. In true gamer fashion the only classical I have on the ipod are the Halo and Gears of War soundtrcks, so I settled on Halo because of the choir included.

I was inspired to pray before I read the testimonies of the men who set to bringing to our generation. I can't remember the things I asked for or the things I asked about, but my tears flowed as I wept and thought about the men who labored in the dirt and overcame great obstacles to write and translate the words before my eyes.

I settled into bed starting page one, previously this page has loomed ominously before me like an Imperial Star Destroyer, as though the odds were pre-stacked against me. Today I felt as welcome a well placed in-game tutorial. I knew what I was getting into as I have read the first chapter of first Nephi innumerable times before.

Then the bishop called and asked for a meeting and me and my wife Jessica, who had spent next to no time with me during the day watched a show of our we always watch together. One thing after another stacked and I never got past page 5. Tomorrow will be better, I can promise you that.

“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”

2010-01-13T13:23:00.000-08:00

As a new year starts and time has gone by with not a bang but a whisper I feel unfulfilled again letting things get past me that was so important to me but somehow got put onto my back burner and forgotten. Things I'm ashamed to mention. How many video games have I played and beaten? I can't tell you, they meant a lot when I played them and the feeling of spending hours and conquering something is a feeling that I really enjoy but is fleeting and just pushes me toward another game to beat and I soon forget that one as well.

This year, I started out by being unemployed and my wife working so we could keep a roof over our heads and food in our bellies, the bills mostly paid. My wife is a hard worker and someone I look up to in her perseverance and light, she is intelligent, outstanding, honestly, loving, sexy woman whom I would surely be doomed without. The Cherry Hills ward of our church has also been extremely kind, understanding and helpful. We received a Christmas present that in turn let us buy some Christmas presents for each other something we weren't able to as well as we have in the past. We have our apartment, our happiness and our health to thank the Cherry hills ward for.

I have been out of work since October 26th with a very brief stint of part time seasonal work at Kohl's, a store I had never even bought anything from as they don't really have any clothes my size, that and the designs on things are a little too "Old Lady" for me. I have recently accepted a position at Verizon Wireless that will start on the 19th of this month and am greatly looking forward to it.

One of my life's goals that I read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover. I am going to be 26 on the 20th of January and have never accomplished this. In a religion that I have been in since I was born, a quarter of a century, I have never read the basis of my faith. I am vowing that from Wednesday January 13th to Monday January 18th I will read the book of Mormon from cover to cover. Each morning I will be posting my progress and anything else that struck my mind or that I found interesting the day before, journaling my progress as I go. Please stay tuned as I, like the fabled bullet, have never made it through 2nd Nephi.

The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.

2009-01-15T01:20:00.000-08:00

Today I spent way too long for my own personal well being playing Call of Duty: World at War on Multiplayer. I try to do this infrequently for my own personal peace of mind. This sounds like condemnation when it really shouldn't be. I love playing games on multiplayer, Xbox live actually carries with it a large sense of camaraderie. I have met some great people and even though I live a city away from good friends, we can meet for a pastime we love and never have to leave home to to so.

There are two reasons that games online are hard to weather, though the first of which easily explained by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik of the online comic Penny Arcade which explains that "Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total !@#$wad." It is a figurative sea of 12 year olds, racists, homophobes, gang bangers, and small minded people who are shocked by a female voice.

Now this is a broad generalization but it is not that broad. For every 20 people that are rude and offensive there may be one golden gem of a gamer who asks a genuine question and actually wants a genuine response creating a genuine conversation, indeed someone who actually makes the game a better experience.

I had actually tried to have an adult conversation with a 13 year old about how he should not be on a game that is rated as Mature, and asked him if his mother knew what game he was playing. After his "colorful" response, I asked if his mother knew he talked like that and mentioned that a game rated for adults and teens over 17 may be what is contributing to his early delinquency. The whole thing actually ended pretty funny, aside from the sad bits where he told me through words and actions that he was a latchkey kid whose parents had no idea what he was doing or what he said to complete strangers.

Secondly, Call of Duty: World at War's multiplayer online level up/progression system is almost unchanged from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Wherein that you get experience for fulfilling certain tasks found in the "Barracks" area between matches, such as destroying a task with a bazooka or killing enough enemies with the different gun types. This is some of the most addictive gaming I have ever seen. I love the achievement system of the Xbox 360, and have spent entirely too much time building up the achievements to nearly 50,000 gamerscore. The online progression has no achievements, so in my case, I feel like I'm wasting time but I can't help it. The RPG lover inside me has to get my level higher there are perks to each level, new guns, new explosives, new ways to kill and new challenges unlocked in the "Barracks" menu.

I have to say that I do have many more likes that dislikes (minor quibbles really) about Call of Duty: World at War. All the Call of Duty's that have been released for the 360 have been nigh impossible on the highest difficulty, where most of the achievement points are to be had and it is fantastic. In the menus when you highlight "Veteran," which is the most difficult setting, to play the game on it states in writing to the right, "You will not survive." For any gamer looking for a frustratingly excruciating challenge this is the only way to play the game. I do recommend trying the levels on a lower difficulty so that you know what to do and where to go as even though you have an onscreen map with objectives the sheer amount of onscreen baddies make getting your bearings a task in and of itself. Being as this blog is not a rating blog as much as a review and discussion site, so no numbers, no stars, only this should be said, "If you love shooters or RPG style leveling, please, do yourself a favor. Play this game, if you're 17 or older, otherwise go do your homework and ask your mom for TV time so you can play Viva Pinata."

Salutations is My Fancy Way of Saying Hello

2009-01-13T00:08:00.000-08:00

In a world where everyone seems to have their own niche to fill, their own section that they want to see themselves fitting into, I have always seen myself as a gamer.

I started on the Atari, no idea which number and actually remember owning a copy of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial game which supposedly was so bad that they had to bury the remaining copies in a landfill somewhere in New Mexico. My parents kept me up with the latest systems by selling the old ones and buying them pre-owned with our earnings and pooled allowances. We even had a Sega Saturn and Dreamcast. We didn't miss a thing, except for the Atari Jaguar and Neo Geo systems, so all in all I never felt I missed out on much. I have now been blessed to have the three systems that are considered "next-gen," the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and the Playstation 3.

I was also born and raised with faith and love in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I served a mission in Maracaibo, Venezuela. I was married to the love of my life and my High School sweetheart in the Salt Lake City temple five years ago this February 28th. The wife and I teach Sunday School to kids whose ages range from 12 to 14.

My wife hates video games except for the music games.

This blog is for gamers and Mormons alike, so that I and others can talk about the things that matter most to us. Those things being faith, gaming and family. That being said, this is a place of no judgment. I for starters love mature rated games. Gears of War 1 and 2, all of the Call of Duty series (except for Call of Duty 3) Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, Fallout 3, the Halo series and the Resident Evil series being chief among them. I do play others, and actually found kiddie fair such as Viva Pinata to be quite entertaining. I like to give most games a try and will try to give my opinion on these that I do play. In the future I may open the blog to other contributors, especially for sports and racing games as I don't really play them.