Blog No. 378
I’ve been picking away at small things while waiting for people to get back to me with the beta reads for Broadcast Wasteland. I did a layout for Christian’s re-release of The Space Between Houses (it only took me half-a-dozen tries), I wrote a chapter of a new potential project (nothing I’d be willing to talk about any time soon), and I sorted through all the ongoing and on-hold projects that have been kicking around. I even reorganized the file where I keep all my writing stuff on the computer. Basically, mostly busy work. I also have had busy weekends at the day job, but I think I’m going to steer clear of that subject for now. What I want to talk about is playing video games with my brother.
I live at my brother’s house. It’s a pretty good arrangement. He gets someone he can trust helping him keep an eye on the place and I get a much nicer place to live than some crappy bachelor’s apartment for way too much money, or a room in a house with a bunch of roommates. For the most part, we get along. We’ve found a routine over the last few years that has smoothed over some of the rough edges. (Though, I’m sure we both have things about the other that drive us bonkers). It’s a pretty sweet gig where we have a general autonomy, but also have someone there to rely on when needed. Since we are legitimately friends, we have a person to chill with, too.
One of our favorite things to do is to play co-op video games together. We’ve been doing it since I had my already obsolete N64 and a used copy of Gauntlet Legends. We still have inside jokes from the first afternoon filled play session. There were other times and other games (like NHL 94 on Genesis, but that came later, actually) but that is the first distinct memory I have of our co-op roots. There was a gap when he first went into university, the I followed (the way most things have a gap during that time). We were both at home for a while after, though, and things picked back up. Then, he bought a house and eventually, I moved in.
From there, the game sessions became a bit of a routine. There’s an ebb and flow that happens when we’re busy or when a new game comes out, but we both look forward to sitting in the same dark room, staring at the screen, cracking jokes, and playing games together. We’ve since joined a D&D group that sometimes plays board-games too, but we keep going back to those co-op games time and time again. We have our favourites that we’ve replayed several times over (giving just enough time in-between to forget some stuff) and we are constantly on the lookout for new games. Co-op games are rare, though, especially what’s called couch co-op where two or more people can play on the same system. Still, we soldier on. Whether it’s a rare free evening after a long day at work, or a scheduled session on the weekend, I look forward to those times as much as any other. I hope we keep playing long into our old age.
Ben Van Dongen 