In these unhappy economic times, we hear a lot about people learning to cope with less time and money to take much needed rest or travel. Books are a common classic, and movies of course always do well, both being able to whisk away the imagination. Alcohol is always a nice addition to any such simple plan. And so-called “staycations” have come into fashion. But here I push for one commonly over-looked medium of happiness: video games.

Yes video games! What medium can effectively grasp you and pull you immersively into an interactive and imaginative world as quickly and soundly as video games? And although they might be more expensive than a book or movie, they really pull their own weight (depending on the game of course). To boot – many of the video game cream of the crops are available at prices that rival that of a new book or DVD.

If you’ve been saving up for that trip to the other side of the world or some exotic location, why don’t you try expansively beautiful worlds like Shadow of Colossus, Final Fantasy XII, or Okami? Do you need a good laugh to brighten your long days? You could give Psychonauts or Boom Blox a try. If you and a friend want to take a journey together, there are hundred of great new and old two player co-operative games ready to be played.

I know video games won’t ever take away from the imagination inspired by books and novels or the freefall of the big screen. It certainly won’t ever be a substitute for real travel and exploration – the joy of discovery and amazing feel of finding home away from home, if only for a moment. But if you’re the type who has an insane travel itch (like me) and a decided lack of time or money to travel (like me), video games are a fine morsel of adventure, joy, laughter, and excitement to tide me over until this all blows over.

Tags: Mel, Mike, Shivi, travel, video games

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 12:57 am and is filed under Comics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.