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Gaming Euphoria - tips for increasing your gaming pleasure
imundercover
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I made this topic to share some of my gaming experiences, so that some of you may take your gaming enjoyment to the next level, and so that I might learn a thing or two to increase my own satisfaction.
A little background... I'm 24. My first console was an NES, and my first console game was Mario. Every once in a while, a truly great game would come around and totally blow me away. It would consume me, completely. When Mario 3 came out, I got it for Christmas, and I was ecstatic. My motivation for completing my school work was so that I could play Mario 3 sooner. I was always a bit of an artist. I'd draw Mario. The game would keep me up at night. The same thing with Super Mario World. A Link to the Past. Secret of Mana. Final Fantasy 3. Chrono Trigger. Super Mario 64. When these games first came out, they were revolutionary. Now I'm older, and the magic has worn off. These titles will remain classics, but they won't grip me the way they had in the past.
Feeling that kind of gaming magic is a rare thing for me these days. Some recent titles, such as God of War, have come close to resurfacing those old feelings, but not for any substantial amount of time. Don't get me wrong, I still love gaming as much as ever, its just that there have been very few titles that bring me to the point that I feel like I am in gaming heaven.
Fortunately, I've found a few artificial ways to elevate my gaming satisfaction to the point of euphoria...
#1: Caffeine, for its mood uplifting effects and burst of energy.
If you're not in good spirits to start with, its going to be a lot harder for the game you're playing to elevate your mood to that point of virtual ecstasy on its own. Having a cup of coffee, drinking an energy drink, taking an energy pill... any of these things can really help set you up. They should be taken in moderation, however. Caffeine is addictive, and with addiction comes withdrawl. Try to limit your caffeine intake to the times when you're about to start gaming. Be responsible.
#2: Gaming music
Take advantage of games that give you the ability to play your own music off of the hard drive. PC gamers can run their music in the background and turn off the in-game music. If you're playing a racing game, like Need For Speed or Burnout, put on some upbeat or aggressive music of your choice. Play it loud. Get some headphones if you are worried about bothering people with noise.
For me, being under the effects of caffeine, listening to Megadeth while I'm evading the police in a Corvette, is pure pleasure. Playing Burnout's road rage or riding a motorcycle in the wrong lane in Grand Theft Auto to some fast, loud music is a rush.
#3: Gaming setup
Are you comfortable where you are sitting? Are your speakers/headphones of good quality? Have you thought about how much immersion you would gain with a large display or projector? All of these things have an effect on how much you are enjoying yourself. Don't go crazy and spend all of your money, the last thing you need is to feel bad about something, but do what you can to improve your gaming environment. Even room lighting and smell have an effect.
#4: Peripherals
Ever thought of playing your racing game with a steering wheel? How about one of those flight stick/thrust combos for flying or commanding a mech in Battlefield? How about using your 360 controller in some of your PC games?
#5: Dump your girlfriend
Seriously, bitch takes up too much of your time.
I recommend that you look into everything except number 5, perhaps.
A little background... I'm 24. My first console was an NES, and my first console game was Mario. Every once in a while, a truly great game would come around and totally blow me away. It would consume me, completely. When Mario 3 came out, I got it for Christmas, and I was ecstatic. My motivation for completing my school work was so that I could play Mario 3 sooner. I was always a bit of an artist. I'd draw Mario. The game would keep me up at night. The same thing with Super Mario World. A Link to the Past. Secret of Mana. Final Fantasy 3. Chrono Trigger. Super Mario 64. When these games first came out, they were revolutionary. Now I'm older, and the magic has worn off. These titles will remain classics, but they won't grip me the way they had in the past.
Feeling that kind of gaming magic is a rare thing for me these days. Some recent titles, such as God of War, have come close to resurfacing those old feelings, but not for any substantial amount of time. Don't get me wrong, I still love gaming as much as ever, its just that there have been very few titles that bring me to the point that I feel like I am in gaming heaven.
Fortunately, I've found a few artificial ways to elevate my gaming satisfaction to the point of euphoria...
#1: Caffeine, for its mood uplifting effects and burst of energy.
If you're not in good spirits to start with, its going to be a lot harder for the game you're playing to elevate your mood to that point of virtual ecstasy on its own. Having a cup of coffee, drinking an energy drink, taking an energy pill... any of these things can really help set you up. They should be taken in moderation, however. Caffeine is addictive, and with addiction comes withdrawl. Try to limit your caffeine intake to the times when you're about to start gaming. Be responsible.
#2: Gaming music
Take advantage of games that give you the ability to play your own music off of the hard drive. PC gamers can run their music in the background and turn off the in-game music. If you're playing a racing game, like Need For Speed or Burnout, put on some upbeat or aggressive music of your choice. Play it loud. Get some headphones if you are worried about bothering people with noise.
For me, being under the effects of caffeine, listening to Megadeth while I'm evading the police in a Corvette, is pure pleasure. Playing Burnout's road rage or riding a motorcycle in the wrong lane in Grand Theft Auto to some fast, loud music is a rush.
#3: Gaming setup
Are you comfortable where you are sitting? Are your speakers/headphones of good quality? Have you thought about how much immersion you would gain with a large display or projector? All of these things have an effect on how much you are enjoying yourself. Don't go crazy and spend all of your money, the last thing you need is to feel bad about something, but do what you can to improve your gaming environment. Even room lighting and smell have an effect.
#4: Peripherals
Ever thought of playing your racing game with a steering wheel? How about one of those flight stick/thrust combos for flying or commanding a mech in Battlefield? How about using your 360 controller in some of your PC games?
#5: Dump your girlfriend
Seriously, bitch takes up too much of your time.
I recommend that you look into everything except number 5, perhaps.
imundercover on
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hawt
I'm thinking of building my own game chair to increase my gaming pleasure. Something with controller storage, cupholders, and a wheel mount, as well as a comfortable seat. I don't want to spend a lot on a pre-made one, but then again, I dont know where I'm going to find a seat that is light enough and comfortable enough to suit my needs, and be relatively movable.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
Mmm
I think sometimes gaming comes down to Set and Setting, as in many things in life.
The mindset you have when you sit down to play *eg if you have that feeling like you really want to escape and immerse yourself in an RPG, or if your in need of an instant FPS rush, or if you dont even feel like gaming at all* can have a huge impact on your enjoyment.
You raise some good points about Setting, or the environment you are in having an effect as well. Obviously an impressive HDTV/surround sound setup and comfy leather lounge will beat out the old milk crate and 32cm TV in your bedroom.
Ambient lighting as well is a must for me... * i cant stand when my room mate plays 360 with the fucking lights all on in the lounge ARGHGHHGHGHGGHGHGH* /vent.
Re: #4, Just this past weekend I broke down and got a Logitech wheel, and I can't BELIEVE I didn't do this earlier. I just turned 30, and I've been playing racing games of all types for a very long time. I'm not necessarily a sim-freak, but I do appreciate those style of games, providing they give you enough options to tweak the realism to your liking. The wheel turns many of these mechanics into way more of a reflex action than you could ever achieve with a gamepad, especially if you've been driving in real life for any amount of time. All the things that racing games have been trying to teach us for years suddenly make sense and click perfectly, such as the proper way to take corners, maneuvering through chicanes or hairpins with a minimal loss of speed, etc. It is so satisfying to win a race because of your actual driving skill as opposed to just turning the AI/Realism down to make the game playable with whatever gamepad you've been using.
Sorry for the novel - tl;dr : I agree with points #2 and #4 whole-heartedly. ;-)
XBL/PSN-Polaris314/Twitter/DJ P0LARI5
no joke. enhances halo, battlefield 2, and many others by 11ty billion percent.
Smash Brothers + F-zero too.
:rotate:
oh god yes. smash brothers the other night was godly. and it made 150+ hours of oblivion go by like nothing.
geometry wars just becomes that much more beautiful. it pretty much makes every game better. and halo, oh god, talk about having a trigger finger.
I'm told quite the opposite... Oh well.
I'll second the setting suggestion. I needs me some mood lighting for certain games. A friend of mine'll play survival horror games and the like with the fucking curtains open in broad daylight.
Try playing Sonic CD on mushrooms.
I beat Sonic CD while tripping on shrooms, and holy fuck it was the coolest thing EVER.
The game looked fucking bizarre, even on top of the already surreal graphics.
XBL/PSN-Polaris314/Twitter/DJ P0LARI5
Nice.
In my experience, pot makes it a lot harder to game.
That makes them not scary at all
I'm willing to bet Mickey Mouse in World of Illusion would be a great game for that. It's pretty trippy even without using special substances.
Late edit: also, re: that pic, who uses matches to smoke pot anyway? Youd go through like half a matchbox each time.
Just curious here - but why? I'm not really sure what winamp doesn't do here. Winamp is my music player of choice when I'm playing a game, but I just put all my songs on random and hit the next global hotkeys when I don't want a song. I don't have a problem with you not using it, I'm just wondering.
It's really just a personal preference. I used to be a Winamp user all the way (I still have it installed, just don't use it as my primary player anymore). But since I own an iPod, and the organization features are (to me anyway) quite a bit better than Winamp's, it has taken over as the dominant music player on my system. I still use Winamp quite a bit, for videos and for when I need me some Milkdrop to entertain my eyes, but I'd rather not have to manage two separate libraries, and the Smart Playlists in iTunes are almost their own scripting language if you take the time to set them up creatively.
XBL/PSN-Polaris314/Twitter/DJ P0LARI5
When I was a kid, I totally wanted the F-18 replica flight stick, throttle, and rudder pedals. Wanted to immerse myself in a virtual cockpit. These days, meh. I just want a comfortable and intuitive control interface. If it's done right, I shouldn't have to think about it. The Ace Combat games play so well on a Dual Shock that I've never longed for the flight stick peripheral.
Plus, I just don't like getting a bunch of shit out when the desire to play a game takes hold.
Man, that certainly didn't take long. May as well link the NSFW article http://www.gamegirladvance.com/archives/2002/10/26/sex_in_games_rezvibrator.html
it's too bad everybody knows this site now ... 'cause there's pretty much nothing else worth reading there.
Yes.
YES.
Also, it's great to set up stupid "goals"
Like, punch every lettuce! Or spell out your initials on every door!
And, of course, screaming and shouting and dumb comments.
Yes, comfort is a must -- one of the main reasons I still prefer consoles over PCs. As for substances, alcohol is good for certain games, as long as you don't overdo it. I also recommend nicotine, in the form of pipes and cigars.
You don't often feel posh when gaming, but if you've got a glass of older-than-you single-malt Scotch and a cigar whilst playing Oblivion, it's possible.
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
BRAWL CODE: 3866-7685-8500
Haha
Altered adventures in Oblivion usually end with me wandering around for hours either picking mushrooms or just finding the most breathtaking views i can find and saving to keep a screenshot.... *on 360 so no screenshot function..doh*
Geometry Wars is possibly the most Zen like of games i've played in an altered state...Although even Caffeine helps with this game unless you become tooooo jittery! :P
Buut this has diverged from the original topic...and could probably be one of its own soooo...
Fun times.
Pizza and Ice Cream anyone?
Also: I do agree that the "M" word increases Halo 2 matchmaking by about 5million% both in fun and winning factors.
that's how the real rockers do it, baby.
Correction...everyone on the cool internet. You have those people on the lame internet, like those anti-drug sites that have not-a-whole-lot to do with drugs.
Speakers? Pumped.
Face? Close to the TV.
Also, pot and/or alcohol for certain games, yes.
Also, those of you eliciting drugs, because everything is better high: Smooooooooth.
No, just everything involving video/computer games.
The point: Advertising generally illegal activities is a brilliant move.
Edit: I NARC'd the thread, sorry hipsters.
May I ask who exactly you narcd to? Hope a good thread doesn't get deleted because someone felt like being rude
Well, before this gets blasted, any other notable things that enhance gaming? I always enjoyed voice-chat; being able to scream obscenities at others is always fun.