Monday, April 1, 2013

The Way to Your Heart Bloghop



I thought long and hard over which of my loves to share with you guys for this hop: knitting, my brats, or my obsession with Disney princesses (don't knock it). But as I spent last month decompressing after a particularly stressful couple of months, I thought I'd share my favorite relaxation activity with you.

And that dear readers, is gaming. (This time I do mean the video games. Sorry if you were waiting for that story about the time we werewolf howled on campus green and got campus security summoned on us. Another time perhaps.)

If I had to look at one person to blame for this love, it would be my dad. He's always been fascinated with technology and he passed that love down to his kids. My brother and I grew up with family time as racing games and Counterstrike. He used to teach us life lessons through a battle of Mortal Kombat. As long as I can remember, his room has always been stocked with consoles. Some of my best memories with my dad and brother are us sitting together in the living room trash talking one another as dad kicked our butts (he's surprisingly good...It's kind of shameful actually)

And thus, my love of gaming began. I've done most of them: Online gaming, RPGs, FPSs, and while I was in Japan, I developed a love for Otome games. I was one of the girls that sat in the gaming room at conventions trash talking with the best of them. (And my father has never been prouder of that fact)

These days, I'm not so big on the online gaming. I stopped playing WoW over a year ago (You can't call it quitting when you still have a subscription) and nowadays, I only play Star Wars consistently. I've toned down on the FPSs too apart from playing matches with family and friends. My dad still summons me for mandatory runs on Halo.

But RPGs, I love the stories. One in particular that's caught in my mind lately is a PS2 game called Odin's sphere. It was made at the very end of the life of the Playstation 2, but it has an amazing story about love and the end of the world (five stories to be exact). It's actually what inspired my latest story as one of the twists took my heart and stomped all over it.

And there's one genre on my list that even the savviest of gamers may not be familiar with and that's Otome games. Primarily, they're visual novels with different paths depending on both your choices and the guy you choose to romance. They're targeted toward women and in Japan are considered to be a niche market. Some of them have extremely rich stories with creative retelling of history. One of the best western examples I can give is Cinders, which is an extremely awesome take on the Cinderella story. I usually play it while knitting (hands free reading? Heck yes!)

And of course, there's the classic favorite, Sims. Oh Sims. No matter how bad things are in my life, your lives are always worse. It would probably help if you had a less capricious player. Oh well.

Check out the details of my giveaway below and don't forget to say Happy Birthday to LT3 and check out the other posts on the hop {here}

{The Giveaway}

 
I have a beautiful paperback copy of Shadow of a Dream to give away. This picture does not do it justice! It's shiny! It's gorgeous! And I want to give it someone. Probably you!

On the other hand, if you've decided that you are not down with that paperback nonsense (or perhaps you're an environmentalist. I respect that.) I have another proposition for you. I will buy you a copy of Cinders (It really is that good. Seriously.). We can arrange it via email. Just make sure you meet the basic system requirements (though honestly, if you have less than 512mb of ram, my heart goes out to you). It works on both Mac and Windows machines.

{To Enter}


Leave a comment on the post telling me about your favorite ways to relax when life is getting you down. And hey, if you're a gamer, tell me some of your favorite games! I'm always looking for good recommendations.

Make sure you leave your email for me to contact you!

The giveaway ends on April 14th (The last day of the blog tour!) and the winner will be chosen via Random.org. The winner will be notified and they will have 48 hours to respond. If they do not respond, I shall choose another winner and so on.

37 comments:

  1. Great post, Isabella! My favourite way to relax is to snuggle down in bed with a good book. It works every time. ^_^

    I'm not much of a gamer, but I do enjoy Final Fantasy X. It's been years since I've played it though, but I still think it's an awesome game. ^^

    Hugs!
    TT

    ttkove AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since I'm cheap on heating, the only warm place in my apartment is hiding under the covers. My real problem is that snuggling with a good book tends to lead to waking up two hours later wondering what happened.

      Final Fantasy X was one of the first RPGs I ever played. I hear they're remaking it actually at some point this year with better graphics.

      Delete
  2. I wish I gamed more, both of my brothers are hard-core into it. My elderly Mac though doesn't love most programs let alone games so I'm extremely limited (read can't game at all) unless I'm visiting the guys and we have nothing else planned.

    Oh and put my name down for the copy of A Shadow of a Dream since it's made of awesome!

    acosmistmachine AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had the same problem, my computers for the longest time couldn't handle games (Because I love notebooks and they aren't always gaming friendly unless they're like...17" 15lbs of desktop replacement heaters). I always played my dad's systems usually by sneaking in after he was asleep if it was a game I wanted to play and he didn't care for it.

      And thank you <3 I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

      Delete
  3. I am not a gamer, but I do have a love for fantasy...books, movies, tv...love them all. And I LOVED Shadow of a Dream...I would love it in PB :D

    morris.crissy@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I absolutely love fantasy as well. Though mine always has to be low fantasy. Sometimes when it gets too complicated I just sit there like "Uh..." (Robert Jordan, I'm looking at you...)

      And I'm really glad you liked Shadow!

      Delete
    2. LOL! I think I love fantasy all around...although I don't read a lot of heavy fantasy...I have to be in the right mood...but I will watch the heck out of Game of Thrones...I'm trying to talk myself into reading the series...

      Delete
  4. I said it before and I'll say it again. Shadow of a Dream was amazing! I would absolutely adore having it in paperback.

    I'm not a gamer. I think the most advanced I get is playing the Bloons TD 5 Advanced Track. When I need to relax I pick up an old book, one where every time I read it I discover something new and exciting. Sunshine by Robin McKinley needs to be rebound or I'll start losing pages because I've read it so many times.

    mell88@nycap.rr.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're so sweet. Thank you! And while I have you here, I have to tell you that I adore Dragon's hoard. It's my feel good series <3

      Robin McKinley is a name I keep hearing and I really need to get around to reading her stories.

      Delete
    2. Robin McKinley has never written a book I haven't liked. She is an absolutely amazing author. She won awards for her Damar series, but Sunshine is her crowning achievement.

      Thank you so much for telling me you like my story!!! I love to hear things like that.

      Delete
  5. Lately I've even been finding reading to be anxiety-inducing so my current favorite way to relax is to simply do nothing. I fall back into bed and stare at the ceiling, listen to the sounds of the house, the traffic on the road, the dogs and the cats and the chickens, don't think, don't daydream, for a little while simply exist. Sometimes a fall asleep...

    I tried getting into gaming for years but I couldn't really stand having to be idle for such long periods of time in order to accomplish any given game's end goal. Games like Final Fantasy promised such great stories but there was all this actual game play getting in the way, haha. In the end the only video games I ever really enjoyed were the Katamari Damacy series--bright, colorful, quirky and quick! I think the longest a level lasts in the first game is an hour. I did go through a phase where I was making visual novel style games though! But the programming side kind of drove me away and I went back to making comics and board/card games, haha. I'm a bit low tech. <3

    thealisonbailey@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I was in school, they tried to get us to do meditation and it sounds a lot like what you're doing. It sounds so relaxing. (I'm utterly terrible at it unfortunately)

      You make board games?! That sounds like so much fun. I have like fifty million questions for you about that.

      Delete
  6. Man, I miss playing WoW. Haven't had a chance to in almost two years. I completely missed the Cataclysm ExPac (though everyone assures me I didn't actually MISS anything) and I probably won't get to do much with Pandaria, either.

    The SIMs I get into. I'll play it obsessively for a month or so, then put it away and go do something else for a while, then remember it and get obsessed all over again. Though, like WoW, LT3 keeps me way too busy for that kind of obsession.

    These days, the closest I get to gaming is watching casts of SC2 matches. I can't play an RTS for shit, but I like to watch people who do know what they're doing play. ^_^

    Probably doesn't need to be said, but I'm not entering the giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel like WOW has reached that point where it hit it's pinnacle of awesome and now it's just kind of -shrug-. I played through cataclysm, and I just kind of...stopped. I think it doesn't help that was around the time I was looking for a job? So it kind of took what little time I had for it.

      And I'm the same way with the Sims. I'll play it for a month then abandon it. 6-18months later I'll suddenly get the urge to play it again. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

      Delete
  7. Oooh. Sims is definitely a fave. Had a boyfriend give me The Sims Medieval for a birthday present (with a strong warning that when he realizes that I have stopped coming up for air, he will get it away from me. I can be slightly obsessive #shrug).

    But for me, my best method of relaxation has to be music. Once I sink into that zone with my headphones on,all my troubles just fade away.

    Cinders sounds amazing, so do put me down for that. And even if I don't win this giveaway, we'll still chat via Twitter, I need to get me that game :D.

    siteno.ebulu@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Sims. I feel like it has that affect on everyone. I sat down to play for an hour. I glanced at the clock and five hours had passed....I don't even know where that time went...

      Delete
  8. I'm not much of a gamer because my patience, on a scale of one to ten, is minus one. Although I have to admit that what I've heard and seen about Fatal Frame looks kind of cool.

    My method of relaxation is loud music and what I refer to as dancing and everyone else would refer to as ... OMG are you having a fit?

    AF Henley :)

    a.freedom.henley@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not much of a dancer either. My dad taught me how to slow dance and then kind of gave up hope on me D;

      It's gotten so bad that even my pets judge me when I dance at home =(

      Delete
  9. My favorite way to relax is listening to music, going on long drives down country roads, or cuddling up in bed with a snack while watching House :)

    The only video game I play is Pacman for PS2. I know it's childish, but I can't help it. I <3 Pacman!

    kaylabainvrba@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pacman!

      I used to go to school two hours away from home and the long drive home with my music blasting was almost the best part about going home. That's the one part I miss about long commutes.

      Delete
  10. I love to relax with a good game. I'm currently saving Hyrule for the...umpteenth time...and I've got a whole roster of go-to games to unwind and just de-stress with. My favorites are platform games like Portal and Legend of Zelda and Kingdom Hearts, and RPGs like the Final Fantasy series.

    Talya (bounddreamer at gmail.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a friend that loves Zelda so much that she swears by them. I think she frothed at the mouth when they came out with the one for the (3?)ds.

      Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy = <3. They're coming out with the remake of FFX and I'm so excited about it.

      Delete
  11. If I really want to relax I go to a coffee & tea shop near the ocean, order my favorite (african sunrise latte, which tastes of orange & honey & vanilla & milk) and stare at the water.

    freifallen at yahoo dot com :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh that sounds so good. I wish I lived closer to the water. They'd never drag me away for work.

      Delete
  12. Oops, not a gamer. Definitely, my favorite way to relax is reading. I have a morning ritual I almost never break - I make my coffee, turn on my laptop (I have no e-reader yet)and read while I sip my drink. It's the perfect way to relax. If I begin my day without doing this, I feel like something is seriously missing :P
    Oh, while we're on the topic, I want to congratulate you for the wonderful book. I read it though the subscription, but I missed the last chapter. I have no idea how that happened - I suspect it's because I'm an airhead. You have the most amazing imagination and I'll keep an eye on all your books XD
    I think it would cost you a fortune to mail me you book if I won, so count me in for the Cinder copy. Hugs!
    shayla.mist@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's so sweet of you to say! And I don't know if you missed the Download as well, but if you missed the ebook and were subscribed, you can email LT3 and they'll send it to you I believe.

      And morning coffee with reading is love. I usually curl up at the kitchen counter and get a few minutes in each morning before the cat starts harassing me.

      Delete
  13. First of all, Happy Birthday, LT3! Gaming is about a generation too late for me, but I played Mario Brothers once with my nephew when he was 3. He's now 14, an obsessed with RPGs! Is that what they're called? He and his cohort write them themselves, I have no idea! I like to take long walks and take snapshots with my camera phone. I also enjoy outdoor cafes, a cup of coffee, and a good book.
    Urb
    brendurbanist@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Reading and knitting help me relax. I just played Bioshock (finally!) though it is the very opposite of a relaxing game O___O

    minizilla1989@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Reading is always good and LOTR onlin is my newest mindless hobby.

    lexi.sack11@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Muppets are always my emergency go-to when things are really bad. Watching the Muppets get turned into chickens as they battle an outbreak of cluckitis really puts life in perspective!

    vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  17. I wish I had more time for games. My brother is playing the new Bioshock and it really looks great.
    But my favorite way to relax is to read. :)
    goingtoreadnow (at) gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm not much of a gamer, preferring instead to observe while the game is being played. However, reading about otome games made me remember my obsession with finding out as much as I could about Angelique and Harukanaru Toki no Naka de when I first knew of them so many years ago. Never played them though, I guess I've never allocated patience for gaming. ^^;

    The thing that relaxes me is re-reading my favourite manga or stories. The familiarity of a good story lulls me into a sense of peace, and takes me away from whatever current troubles I may be facing. :)

    hyakuiro[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  19. I like relaxing by listening to music and reading. I usually try to find a quiet place away from others so that I won't be disturbed but it doesn't often work out that way.

    I've given up games a few years back with all the the classes I had to take in college I just didn't have the time. The last game I played was Tales of Phantasia (on the gb SD). But lately I've seen my siblings playing The Walking Dead and BioShock.

    humhumbum at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  20. My favorite ways are taking a yoga class, reading and watching TV.

    strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  21. I definitely snuggle down in my bed away from everyone and fall into a book when I need to do some major relaxing. If I was out of the city, a walk in nature would also be on the list. Although I don't game online (unless endless games of Spider Solitaire count), I can see it as a great way to de-stress.

    Happy Birthday, LT3, and thanks for the giveaway, Isabella!

    Carolyn
    caroaz [at] ymail [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  22. I think it's kind of typical, but I snuggle with a good book and some hot chocolate in bed. If I'm not currently reading anything and I really just need to de-stress, I have a few go-to books/authors. Megan Derr and Warchild by Karin Lowachee are usually my Pick-Me-Ups. And lots of whipped cream on that hot chocolate. ;D

    As for video games, I'm much like you. I've played them all. Currently, I've been drawn in to play League of Legends online by my man and his best friend, though I tend to play MMOs online more than games like LoL. My favorite game is probably Fable II or the Mass Effect series. I'd definitely rec' both of them!

    (I wouldn't knock a paperback! I love to have shinies in my hand. As much as I love my kindle, I miss filling my shelves with books!)

    Raelynn
    Raelynnmarie at live dot com

    ReplyDelete
  23. I read to relax, that or play with my dog. I do like video games, though I'm a terrible gamer--I have to take Dramamine to play FPS games--yet I really loved Dante's Inferno. There's just something about a straightforward "follow the path" game that I enjoy. It's why I was such a big Mario fan as a kid.
    HarperKingsley0.0@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete