What Good Have You Done With Video Games?

 Epic Gamer Girls, IRL, Midnite Faery  No Responses »
Aug 082012
 

I was inspired to share how I incorporated video games into my workplace after I got an email from Extra Life.

First, I will tell you about Extra Life in case you don’t know what it is. Once a year, gamers across the globe play games for 24 hours to raise money for their local Children’s Hospital. I’ve been fortunate enough to participate for 2 years, and can’t wait to play again this October 2012. I was playing to raise money for BC Children’s Hospital. Be sure to check the site out, and sign up or support your gamer friends! EXTRA LIFE SITE

…and now for the personal stuff! ;)

Two years ago was a turning point for me. I had been working in Infant/Toddler Education and desperately needed a change.  That’s when I started working in a transition house for battered women and children. I am the Child & Youth Support Worker for families in hiding. Women and children come to the safe house when they are fleeing violent and abusive situations. Sometimes they are with the police, victim services, or in the hospital when they call for a space. Sometimes they have time to pack a few belongings and plan an escape. Every experience is different, but they typically follow the common thread of needing a safe place to live.

What makes this position even cooler, is that I lived in this same transition house as a child. I know what it’s like for a child to live in an abusive home, flee, and try to find stability along the way. I don’t know personally what it’s like to be a woman in hiding, but I can empathize and I have a huge amount of compassion.

What does this have to do with video games?

Everything.

Video games offer “normalization” for children and youth living in crisis. I use the video games as a way to normalize a traumatic experience, calm the child’s internal stress, boost their self esteem, and give their mom time for personal wellness.

Did you know that singing calms the amygdala (a part of the brain), which reduces stress and makes you feel better? …you see, there are developmental theories that support  my gaming addiction! ;)

After a couple of days getting to know the children, and providing a safe and fun environment, they are extremely excited to play games. All I do, is turn on the Playstation3, Wii, or xbox, and start jamming to some Rock Band or Guitar Hero. The children are drawn in pretty quickly. Either because they have their own game systems at home or because its an opportunity to try something new.

A couple days ago, one of the kids told me my guitar playing is like “art”! …until I broke my streak, then it became a bit more like” abstract art”! They are so honest eh!?

The games we play are ones that children/youth feel successful playing. There’s no point in providing a game that induces rage! Although, I do have COD for them in case they have to go on a battlefield killing spree!

I believe that it is important to do something GOOD with your love for video games. If you’ve done something that you’d like to share, please use the comment section :)

My girlfriend looks adorable as a skunk eh!? I love the panda spirithood!

-Midnite Faery

The Dilemma of Alice: Buy or Rent?

 Alice: Madness Returns, IRL, Midnite Faery, XBOX 360  1 Response »
Jun 242011
 

Earlier this week I popped into Future Shop to look at games. I do that fairly often. Search for the next “sweet-deal”. Usually on games that I will never play, but its still fun to collect them.

Anyways… this time, I saw the new Alice: Madness Returns game.

It was $59.99. I hadn’t heard much about it, other than a few people on twitter announcing they were playing it. So I sent out a tweet asking if it was worth $60. The response was split. People thought it was a fun game but the bugs were overwhelming and frustrating enough to make it worth only a rental.

I left the packaging on the game. Two days later, I debated again whether I should open it. After taxes, I paid $67. I could return it and buy the RockBand keyboard for $10 more. Hmmm… I asked again on twitter and Facebook whether its worth opening. One of my girly friends @yuki_hime had just finished it. She said it was fun and if I rented it and made it past cahpter 2, I should open it. I decided to return the game.

I went back to Future Shop and returned the game. The boy, Kira, kept asking if I was sure. I told him that there’s no re-play value and its really buggy so I would just rent it and buy it again later if I wanted it.

He was so sweet and drove me to Rogers to rent the game. It was already out. I asked them to call the other Rogers (close by), and it was out there too! Dammit. Now I had no Alice game and the boy was laughing at me. He suggested we go back and buy it again. I’m super stubborn so I refused to go back to Future Shop. He suggested EB games at the mall. I had a $15 gift card because I returned LEGO Batman (it wouldn’t play…too scratched). I phoned the EB Games at the mall to ask if they had any “new” copies. I didn’t want to buy a “new” game that someone else opened. They didn’t have any sealed copies. Dammit again!

The was another stand alone EB Games/Gamestop nearby. Well, a 20 minute drive through peak rush hour. I called them and sure enough, they had sealed copies! I sat in the car with the boy trying to find a copy of the game nearby so we could go home and chill. I was in a bit of a pickle as I really did want the game, but I had already returned it! I had to convince the boy to drive me there cause he will not take the bus with me. About 15 minutes later (and after a trip to the bucks) we were going to buy my Alice: Madness Returns game!

I totally brought the day on myself, but at least it makes for an interesting experience ;)

Rock Band: Unplugged on PSP

 Midnite Faery, PSP  No Responses »
Jun 152011
 

My travels to work usually take about 1.5 hours each way so I have to find ways of being entertained. Often, I can be found mass tweeting (on twitter @themidnitefaery). However, lately I have been playing my PSP. Game of choice atm is Rock Band: Unplugged.

I bought my PSP about a year ago, or possibly even longer … but stopped playing it as I couldn’t find the charger. Moving sucks for misplacing stuff is random boxes! Kira actually found it in my suitcase of … well, girly stuff! So with my charger and fancy little black case I can take my PSP on the bus and zone out while rocking to some wicked tunes!

And now that the PSN is up and running, I should be able to grab some new songs!

For those who don’t have a PSP or haven’t played Rock Band: Unplugged I will tell you why I think it’s a perfect game for traveling on the bus.

1. You get to listen to music
2. It doesn’t require much thought (perfect for early mornings)
3. It makes travel time appear faster
4. It’s Rock Band… duh ;)

Plus you can play all the instruments. You have to use the triggers to alternate between bass, drums, vocals, and guitar. Each instrument having their own combos and note patterns. It is really quite fun! I enjoy playing the drums on the PSP because it’s fast and uses many different notes!

I alternate between twitter, comics, and video games while traveling. Thankfully, I never get car sickness and I can focus on other activities while traveling.

Rock Band: Unplugged PSP

Gaming & Giving Back Challenge {part 2}: Day 7

 Gaming & Giving Back PART TWO, Midnite Faery  1 Response »
Mar 222011
 

This challenge is virtually impossible for me. I don’t want to sound bad, but I have no idea what to do with “old people”. I looked up senior homes in Vancouver. They require a commitment of short or long term for volunteers. They take “one time” volunteers for special events. I will have to keep a watch out for those. I don’t have the time to commit to one place in particular. If I were, it would be with youth. My specialization is with children and youth, not with seniors :/

I guess this challenge is on hold. It was a fantastic suggestion from a friend, but I am unable to complete it at the moment.

Gaming & Giving Back Challenge: Part 2

Gaming & Giving Back Challenge {part 2}: Day 5

 Gaming & Giving Back PART TWO, Midnite Faery  No Responses »
Mar 202011
 

“Give a Gift to a Friend”

I don’t know if you’ve worked with children or youth, but in order to gain their trust you have to spend time with them, and genuinely show interest. I play cars and make the “brrrmm brrrmmm” sound with the occasional “Beep! Beep!”. I build castles out of LEGO and drink pretend coffee from little pink cups. I’ve made a total mess of the kitchen while making non-cook playdough and edible cookies, yum!

Working as child and youth support is different than working in a childcare facility because it requires so much more. I assist with school, extra-curricular activities, counselling, and referrals to more long-term counselling for grief, trauma, and abuse. I think the hardest part is giving parenting advice. Telling women who are older than me how to work with their children through their crisis. Each child is going to do and say things that you would never expect. I mean, can you imagine living with your family…going through life and then suddenly you are living with a bunch of strangers. Sharing a room with your family (minus one). Typically women bring their passports and bare basics with them. They are fleeing abuse. The children don’t have much either.

So… it is in my job description to help make the children feel at ease. It is important, actually vital, that children have a good and “fun” childhood. It is the foundation for the rest of their lives.

One of the activities that I did with the youth was to make friendship bracelets. While I was making a green one for myself (cause Green is my favourite colour), one of the younger children wanted to make one. I pulled out a pipe cleaner and some beads. That was more age appropriate and would provide the youngster with a feeling of success.

After I made my bracelet, I had enough string left over to make another small one. I gave it to my new little friend.

Gaming & Giving Back Challenge Part 2

Gaming & Giving Back Challenge {part 2}: Day 4

 Gaming & Giving Back PART TWO, Midnite Faery, XBOX 360  No Responses »
Mar 192011
 

“Create a poll for the BEST game and get 40 people to vote”

This was a challenge for me because I didn’t know if 40 people would actually respond. I started off the challenge by sending out a tweet asking:

Poll: What game should I buy? Homefront, Crysis 2, COD: Blops, DA: Awakening, or Band Hero

Thus being the BEST game out of the ones listed.

Name Dragon Age: Awakening Band Hero Crysis 2 COD: Blops Homefront
lll Kira lll X
Jonny Ray X
Th3_Jynxxx X
PurelySatanic X
CodyCrouch X
LadyAether X
sirsim X
jennmance X
gamerguyjames X
Karmakrazy13 X
RobertWillard X
H2ONatloe X
JohnnyXeo X
Chaos_Geek X
turnsy1985 X
zombiegil X
RetroCrumpet X
UnrealCh13f X
omega6six6 X
kearnel X
Tribalbob X
RealAaronGrant X
_Venom666 X
omega6six6 X
The_Juda X
DJofSparta X
IVIATHYEW X
toymachinesh X
Digitalurn X
GregoryZero X
CapnMikeM X
TriviumKills X
VanishedNine X
DutchZooRebel X
Paul_McGovern X
therealpfleck X
Tsavo X
KingKoracin X
gameandpc X
BrandiLynn_Ref X

 

The results were not important to me, but just getting 40 people to vote. There was one vote that squeezed in, even after I said it was over! ;)

DisabledgamerJ2 wanted to vote for Homefront.

It felt weird to harass people to participate in something. It felt very similar to trying to get sponsors for the Extra Life Fundraiser I participated in last October. I ended up raising about $350 for BC Children’s Hospital through my amazing sponsors! I know it’s for a good cause, but it still feels weird to bug people to help you.

A GIANT Thank You to everyone who voted <3 You made this challenge possible!

Gaming & Giving Back Challenge Part 2