How do you play?

So, the big question most people ask is: what game systems do you have etc.

In short:

PC games are currently played on an older Prescott (3.0 ghz no hyperthreading), 1 Gig of RAM, 256MB valilla PCIe nVidia GeForce 6800 and an Audigy 2 on XP Pro. Monitor is a 20 inch CRT.

Console games are played on a 13+ year old Mitsubishi 46" rear screen projector TV 5 in 1 surround sound with an older Sony receiver, speakers are built into the ceiling of the house.

Consoles include: PS2 and a Wii.

I've been known to collect pinball machines and full size arcade games; currently the only one I have is a Williams High Speed pinball machine.

We do have a GBA, but it gets very little play.

Style of games I play: Casual, Sports, RPG, Puzzle, Action.

Am I good? Who knows. I've never been a big First Person Shooter fan, but took up playing Battlefield 2 about 2 years ago. While I certainly can't hold my own against the Southern Oregon Quake 3 champion from a few years ago, in BF2 I can usually get at least 50% of his point totals in any given round. On Pogo.com I may very well be the best there is at Word Whomp. For Wii tennis, I've been over 2200 as a player rating, but am currently down to about 2141.

Why do I play?

I'm not in this for the trash talking ego rush. I play games to relax and have fun. If I'm not having fun, I won't play. Does this mean "fun" means being good at a game or winning? Not at all. The only time I've ever trash talked on a game was to razz a guy in BF2 who had killed me 5 times in a row in various spots on the map, but someone else got me a 6th time.

What atrtracts me to a game?

Mostly the fun factor, but for RPG's story is very important, and player control is even more so (I'll rant about Oblivion the game developer at a later date.) I don't even care if the player control is an illusion, as long as I can suspend my disbelief enough to think I'm having a say in the game, I'm good.