Published December 19, 2007
At A Glance
- Hardcore digs into his bag of tricks for a few seasonal tips to keep you gaming through all the holiday distractions.
The holiday season is almost here and that means spending time with family and friends, gathered in perfectly good gaming living rooms, chewing the fat and enjoying each other's company rather than hunting down rare minerals in Mass Effect™ or dominating the new Halo® 3 maps.
Don't abandon Master Chief this holiday.
Now, a frosty glass of Grandma's eggnog and a bit of juicy family gossip may make for a welcome (hopefully short) diversion, and even offer unprecedented opportunity for relating your latest exploits on Xbox LIVE®, but with every minute you spend in holiday cheer, your Xbox 360® sits forlorn and abandoned.
The hardcore gamer must nurture their Xbox 360 and cater tenderly to its every need, and this means giving it its due attention even during the holiday rush. With that in mind, yours truly has devised a series of foolproof tips for spending quality time gaming, even when surrounded by distant relations and casual acquaintances not in tune with the gaming culture (fools!).
When the rest of your brood stumbles
off to bed, it's your time to embrace
the peak hours of gaming.
The Setup
When you're headed to the family's house for that extended holiday weekend, the last thing you should have to concern yourself with is what gaming environment will greet you when you get there. You've got to think these things through ahead of time and a lay a bit of groundwork for a seamless Xbox 360 transition. Consider the following:
- In One Piece: Your first priority should be guaranteeing the safe arrival of your console and peripherals, and this means proper packing. If you've got a carrying case, you're well set. If not, I hope you at least had the foresight to keep your original Xbox 360 box, as your console, cords, and at least one controller will fit snugly inside. Find a nice spot in your car where the beast won't slide around and bump into things.
If you're traveling, don't forget to bring along important
gaming gear like the wireless networking adapter.
- Monitor Solution: Okay, so you're not going to pack your 50-inch HDTV for the long haul to Mom and Dad's house, but there are other options for glorious high-definition gaming should your destination not include a proper TV. Check your computer monitor or your destination's monitor for component (rare), VGA (common), or HDMI (rare) inputs. If they sport any of the three connections, you're golden. Just make certain you have the proper cable to go along with the connection.
- Wireless Ready: If your holiday destination is anything like mine, the broadband Internet router's location is less than ideal, and worse yet, not wireless. Make sure to pack up your own wireless router, as well as your Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter. If you're concerned about signal strength, consider investing in a wireless repeater for a signal boost. Unless you live in a studio apartment, they'll make a great addition to your home setup as well.
Will you respect yourself if you don't save the galaxy before New Year's Day?
Sleep is for After New Year's
Unless you're Major Nelson who will no doubt be gaming well into his tenure at the Interactive Entertainment Home for Geriatrics in a few short years, chances are you're young and bursting with energy courtesy of Mountain Dew's Halo® 3 inspired Game Fuel. Therefore, when the rest of your brood stumbles off to bed, it's your time to embrace the peak hours of gaming unfettered by petty exhaustion. The small hours are your hours. Don't waste them.
Show Them the Fuss
Hardcore though I may be, I can't reduce my Mom to tears by constantly abandoning the family and slinking off to a side room to get in some game time. The solution? Pique the family's interest in all things Xbox 360. Then, you've got them just where you want them.
You've got to be strategic though, so broach the subject with games they've likely heard about in the mainstream media. Titles like Halo 3 or Rock Band™ are particularly well suited for this. It's one thing to boot up Halo 3 and dominate a Slayer match, but quite another to do so with your Mom cheering on your every headshot and beatdown. Now that's hardcore. In short, show them what the fuss is all about.
Astonishing Content
Now that you've got them interested, it's time to sink your hooks in and unleash the full might of your Xbox 360. Bring along games like Scene It?® Lights, Camera, Action, download a high-def movie or two from Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace, showcase video chat with the Xbox LIVE Vision Camera or fire up a few Xbox LIVE Arcade games like Carcassonne, Lumines™ Live!, and UNO®. With a full and varied complement of entertainment, you will have properly laid the seed of gaming temptation. Your work on behalf of gaming is done.
Late night CoD4 sessions are the perfect tonic for the holiday blues.
Predetermined Online
While a well executed demonstration of the console's casual appeal is an outstanding solution for getting the whole family involved, there's only so many hours a hardcore gamer can go without a dedicated stretch of Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™ or Halo 3 online. Luckily, a bit of preparation can go a long way toward scratching this particular gamer itch.
Coordinate with the folks on your Friends List and arrange a set time during the day to group together online for a bit of strategic mayhem. If they're not going anywhere for the holidays, it should be even easier to set up, and if they are, you'll be doing them just as much of a favor as they're doing you.
I've heard friends all too often despair that their holiday trip will keep them from gaming altogether, but there's no earthly reason why the holiday season can't involve a healthy dose of gaming from start to finish. Approach this problem with the same craftiness and skill that you would when dealing with a pesky sniper in Halo 3, with preparation and spot-on execution, and have a happy, game-filled holidays!
Article by Hardcore
