Sleepy Gamer is thankful for.. bite-sized game experiences.

I love the occasional 50-60 hour RPG experience as much as the next guy, but sometimes it’s nice to just sit down and play a game for 5-10 minutes.  Thankfully, there are a host of games that are just perfect for that situation.  Geometry Wars 2, Pac-man C.E., and Pixel Junk Eden all possess great “pick up & play” appeal.  Smaller, casual games also provide another great benefit.  They’re great “wind you down” games for that last bit of gaming at the end of the day, or even right before bed.  Nothing like a 2-hour Peggle session when you can’t sleep at 3 in the morning.

Sleepy Gamer is thankful for.. save anywhere.

You weren’t always able to save your game at anytime in console games.  True, some games still stick to the antiquated concept of the artificially increased challenge that rigid save points bring, but the vast majority have moved past this.  Now we’re free to save our game every five steps and abuse quick save/load to our heart’s content.  Ridiculously long dungeons are finally a thing of the past.  Now you’re playing with power.. and it doesn’t involve holding the reset button while turning off the power.

Sleepy Gamer is thankful that.. consoles can be used as multimedia hubs.

Playing games is well and good, but you haven’t unlocked the true potential of your gaming system until you’ve used it to stream a HDD’s worth of DVD rips or let it be your DJ at your latest holiday party.  Nothing’s better than watching Hulu or Netflix directly on your ginormous TV in the comfort of your very own couch ass grove.  Now if you could only order pizza and beer from some in-game menu..

Sleepy Gamer is thankful for.. co-op.

Whether it’s you and a buddy on a couch, or you’re saving a friend an ocean away over Xbox Live, co-op makes every game better.  It might be that you’re tired of getting your head handed to you over and over, or you’re just looking to kick back and have a good time saving the world together.  Whatever the case, the co-op option is becoming a common mainstay among game designers these days.  And I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holidays than sharing a gaming session with a loved one.  So press start all you “Player 2″s of the world, this one’s for you!

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