QUEUE UP

“Go West, young man!” - Quite literally this has been my life. I grew up in New Jersey, moved to Texas for a while 🚚, and have now settled in the Pacific Northwest 🛬. With all of those moves taking me further and further away from my original home (NJ is still the best), it’s tough to stay in touch without seeing people all the time.

Thankfully, gaming has helped us to stay in touch - whether that’s planned multiplayer sessions or impromptu weekend evenings. Jumping into a game together allows us to have a shared experience but also provide a vehicle to share what’s going on in our lives - even from afar. Time zones can be tricky though, thankfully we’re okay staying up late sometimes ☕.

Here’s all the intro-to-gaming entertainment you’ll find scrolling:

1. Missing your athletic past? Tired of the same old TV shows? Here’s why gaming may be your new hobby.

2. ICYMI

3. SCREEN STUDIES

4. COACH'S CORNER

5. LEARN THE LINGO

6. LOAD OUT

Missing your athletic past? Tired of the same old TV shows? Here’s why gaming may be your new hobby.

Real life brings a whole host of responsibilities from career pursuits 👔 to family commitments 👪️ , leaving many people struggling to find time for activities, hobbies, or even down-time. Thankfully gaming today doesn’t need a bunch of time, planning or space to play. Whether you used to play video games as a kid and stopped or never have played before - there’s no better time than now. It’s not just for kids anymore 🤓, and here’s why I think video games may be worth giving a shot:

1 - Accessibility

You don’t need a $4000 gaming PC or a new Playstation 5 to be able to game. There are a ton of great options of all types on your phone, you can stream games via Netflix or Amazon Luna to your TV, and you can even revisit the classics from your childhood. Plus, now you can pretty much play anytime, anywhere, and even pause your progress immediately if something comes up 🐕 👶. Honestly, without being able to immediately pause a game to help my kids or whatever might come up, I probably wouldn’t get to play as much as I do. But I can steal 15-30 minutes here or there, when most people would just be scrolling their feed.

2 - Scratch that competitive itch

Maybe you want to compete again, but the weather is bad for pickleball or your knees and back just can’t take being a weekend warrior anymore 🩼. Multiplayer and online video games offer people the chance to compete and win, while doing so in matches that rank players of equal skill levels - so you don’t have to be nervous you’re going up against gaming prodigies. I’m a highly competitive person when it comes to games, I hate losing and love the thrill of competing. But trying to get a bunch of friends together to play basketball can be a Herculean effort. However, there are millions of gamers waiting to battle it out online and so it’s an easy way to get my fill. Teamwork, communication, and strategy all play a part in winning and the virtual playing field may be the new spot for you to feel like a champ again 🏆️ .

3 - Social Connections

Like I previously mentioned, staying connected with friends and family is tough, but being able to connect via video games and not only catch up but share experiences together is a great way to not just be glued to a phone 📱. With nearly every game providing voice chat, you can talk in the game and even keep up the conversation or ribbing through your regular channels. Being able to interact with your fam & friends across the globe is an incredible experience. Sure, maybe I think of my friend Kenny as the giant, axe-wielding orc he plays as in the game, but maybe he was always that underneath and I just didn’t see it before.

4 - Health

Gaming keeps you healthy, you say? Well, it keeps your brain sharp, that’s for sure. 🧠 With puzzles, strategies, and creative thinking, gaming stretches your brain to think in new ways. Puzzle games are awesome - they are easily accessible, can be worked on together, and don’t require fast reflexes. And for those of you who want to exercise and game 🏃, there are options for you too, and from what I’ve heard it’s a doozy 🥵 

5 - Escapism

Lots of people love a good book or a movie or TV series to take them away from their real life stress or just to experience something new. To me, nothing is more interactive or immersive than actually playing through and impacting a story . Games are some of the greatest forms of storytelling 📖 - instead of imagining yourself in a sci-fi movie, you can actually just straight up experience one. So, while my wife and I kick back together with some bingeworthy shows, I prefer to game while she watches HGTV or Real Housewives.

Bottom Line - Video games are fun and for that reason alone they are worth trying as a hobby and the above just feel like added benefits 💪 . If you don’t know where to start, let me know ([email protected]) and we can cover how to in the future.

We may receive a commission if you buy products we link to. This comes at no cost to you and does not affect our recommendations.

ICYMI

We’ve rounded up some of the biggest headlines that live on the cross-section of pop culture and gaming! 

Here are a few quick hits you should know this week:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Reveal Trailer

   • Set during the 90’s Gulf War, this is the latest iteration of one of the most popular and best selling games of all time. Featuring a pseudo-fictional history and over-the-top action, it’s set to be the biggest video game release this year.

2. Assassin’s Creed Shadows World Premiere Trailer

   • Shadows takes gamers to the time of samurai and ninjas in ancient Japan for the next iteration of the historical fiction adventure series of assassins vs the Knights Templar in one of the most hyped game releases this year. It’s also the most polarizing as some people are upset the protagonists are based on a woman ninja and an African samurai.

3. Chinese Valorant Team sells over $600K of in-game items to fans in four hours

   • This is esports’s digital equivalent of Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever jerseys flying off the shelves after the WNBA Draft.

SCREEN STUDIES

Rocket League

In this segment, we’ll explain what the heck you’re looking at so that you can confidently pick up the controller or know how to watch. I’ll pause and break down the X’s and O’s like John Madden. I’ll start with one of the more straightforward, FREE gaming titles that combines the fun of smacking a soccer ball ⚽, but instead of a foot, you use a car 🚗, oh and it currently ranks 7th in active global members: This is Screen Studies: Rocket League…

• Rocket League = Soccer with cars that have rockets strapped to the back of them ⚽ 🏎️ — allowing you to jump, sprint, fly, and spin in the air. Teams must battle physics and their opponents to score more goals within 5 minutes to win 🏆. It’s harder than it looks, but it's addicting.

• Rocket League is available on PC, Nintendo, Playstation, and Xbox - and it’s FREE to play.

• You can compete in 1v1 up to 4v4 matches, but the standard is 3v3. You also have the option to choose between casual or ranked formats, depending on how intense or “sweaty” as the kids would say, you want to get. Stick with Casual and 3v3 to start.

• Boost = rocket fuel ⛽. Drive over the yellow orbs or pads/spots on the floor to fuel up. Orbs will give you a max boost of 100, but take some time to respawn after pickup and are located at the corners and middle edges of the arena. Try not to hoard all the fuel; you’re part of a team, not OPEC

• Pro-Tip: When you double-jump, you can steer in a direction, and your car will roll in that direction with a boost of speed. Doing this can create barrel rolls, backflips, and front flips to put some heat behind your ball strikes.

• The tutorials in this game are very well done and will help get you up to speed faster, start there 🧑‍🏫!

COACH’S CORNER

The Entertainment Software Association’s Essential Facts about the Video Game Industry 2024 gave us some interesting facts around motivations for gaming. Amazingly enough, I found this after I put together my list. I swear 🤞 !

LEARN THE LINGO

LOAD OUT

We talked about gaming as a new or rekindled hobby here and some may think it’s like trying to teach an old dog a new trick 🐶.  It’s definitely not out of the realm of possibilities. Your phone is a great way to get back into gaming - you just may need to take time away from something else to give it a shot. You never know what joy you may find in something new or trying something you haven’t done in years. I never thought I’d be writing a newsletter but sometimes you have to push yourself to keep learning and keep trying. Hope you are enjoying the ride so far. I’d love to hear any feedback - you can reach me at [email protected]

GLHF,

Chris

What I’m playing this week:

Okami HD on PC