I can tell already that by the title of this piece alone, a majority of you are groaning and probably labeling me as a “casual” gamer. I know, I know, it’s the gaming equivalent of being a pedophile. Hopefully, after you’ve read this article, I will have changed your mind on the subject. Either that, or you’ll still hate so called “casuals” and have no one to love you but yourself.

Was that too much? I can never tell.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

I admit that my choice to play through easy mode has often ostracized me in my social group. Friends often laugh or point out that because I choose the easy route, I won’t be able to see the “good stuff” I would see if I were to play on a more difficult setting. Frankly, the harder difficult setting may be alright for them, but when I can’t get two feet without some overpowered monster or alien gunning me down, I get more frustrated than anything else. I play games to enjoy myself, not to rage so hard that I want to throw the controller through the screen. It’s true, games have made me so frustrated and downright angry, that I’ve yelled at family members who were simply trying to talk to me. A few sessions of therapy later, and I’m right as rain.
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I would like…if I may, to take you on a strange journey.

A journey to a land called Xbox Live.

I’ve had my Xbox 360 for nearly four years now, and of those four, three have been spent online through Xbox Live. Those three years were kind of like being on safari, and I know that may seem like a weird analogy, but stick with me. Actually, you know what? Don’t. That was a shitty analogy. Xbox Live is more like an insane asylum. An insane asylum where a few of the inmates are actually rather intelligent, but you can’t hear them over the sound of crazy Joe Bastard yelling like an animal and smashing his lunch tray over his head.

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