After my good friend Jason from Sports Gaming Nation pointed out that Amazon was having a deal on a one-year Xbox Live subscription, I decided to re-up and make the purchase at a savings of $15.  Since Xbox Live was first introduced (2002, I think), I’d been a member, up until October.  Technically, I was still a member from then until now, but just of the Silver variety.  I got my card in the mail this week, and after I enter my code (probably tomorrow), I’ll be Golden again…

The main reasons I decided to rejoin the Gold ranks are that my family really enjoyed playing some “old school” video games at Disney Quest (e.g. Frogger, Missile Command, BurgerTime, Centipede, etc.), and my son is of the age now where a lot of his friends are playing online, so he wants to join in.  I do believe I could’ve downloaded and purchased the “old school” video games from the Xbox Live Arcade with a Silver membership, but with the 30% discount, I figured “what the heck.”  I may even try to get back into the swing of playing online myself.  I’ve even considered the idea of playing a random gamer each week and logging it here at the MAG.  I’m sure it would be entertaining, frustrating, and sometimes flabbergasting all at the same time!  We’ll see…

Regardless, I’m looking forward to browsing the Arcade listings and downloading a bunch of demos.  Probably with my next paycheck, I’ll buy some Xbox Live “points” and make some purchases.  Today’s games are so complex that sometimes it’s nice to relax and play some simpler, repetitive, level-based, gimmicky, old-school video games.  I’m often nostalgic for the entertainment of my youth, and this certainly fits the bill.  Most times, though, things aren’t as great as I remembered them.  That’s okay, though, because for a little while, it gives me that same feeling I had inside as a child when spending time on my hobbies, and that alone is worth the price of admission.  See you online!