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As we approach the first anniversary of the world changed by the COVID-19 pandemicI started to think about the ways that I also changed during this time. As someone who was newly living alone when the lockdown orders arrived, the transition from my old life to my current reality was difficult. To combat these struggles that many of us have faced during this difficult time, I made a concerted effort to focus on my physical and mental health, and part of that was achieving the goals I set for myself. have been fixed for a long time.
The pandemic allowed me to learn to be cook better and a better mixologist (ultimately nailed this old-fashioned recipe), but one of my goals in going into lockdown was to relearn guitar; I was pretty much okay with it in high school, and with a little time to spare, I figured it was a good time to dust off the old ax. I have tried using apps and the internet to get mixed results so when I saw this Rocksmith 2014 was on sale for $ 4 on Xbox at the end of last year, I jumped at the chance to have a game-based way to brush up on my rusty skills. Sadly, I didn’t anticipate that cable would cost an extra $ 30 and want a ton of DLC songs, but you know what? Overall, this isn’t such a bad deal when you consider the benefits and typical cost of an interactive guitar instructor.
I’m still in the very early stages of reacquiring my skills, but I’m having fun being able to plug an electric guitar into my Xbox and play simplified versions of some of my favorite songs in minutes. I missed the boat on Rocksmith the first time around, but I’m glad I jumped on board with this sale because now, combined with my workouts and a recent habit of making digital art on my iPad, I have yet another way to be healthy. channels everything I’m mentally going through right now.
It was only part of my road to self-sufficiency. With the world almost completely closed, I attempted to replicate the experiences I most expected from the comfort of my own home. While the cafe in my kitchen corner and the two gyms in my house are used daily, I really miss being social. One of my favorite things to do during less risky times was going to a local arcade bar, earning a few bucks in chips, having a drink, and reliving some of my favorite arcade games from my youth. While I’m a big fan of supporting local businesses during these times, I’m not very inclined to go to an indoor area with other people where the main attraction is things. That’s why I decided to start looking for ways to bring the arcade experience home.
One of the main reasons arcades no longer thrive the way they did in the ’80s and’ 90s is that home consoles have far surpassed typical arcade cabinet technology. This has been demonstrated in the way I traveled and got lost in the different console gaming locations when I couldn’t do it in real life. Get hold of it Playstation 5 and Xbox Series S has further enhanced my immersion in these worlds, and I can’t overstate the importance of the Switch, with games like Animal Crossing: New horizons and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser Fury, has been during this past year. However, there is something to be said for the form factor of the arcade cabinet. That’s why I turned to Arcade1Up, which sells officially licensed arcade cabinets, to help convert part of my basement into a home arcade room.
Over the past few months, I’ve added an NBA Jam cabinet, as well as a Mortal Kombat. NBA Jam Cabinet includes NBA Jam, NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, and NBA Hangtime, while Mortal Kombat Cabinet brings together Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Not only that, but I pre-ordered the Capcom Legacy Edition cabinet, which includes a bunch of Street Fighter games as well as other Capcom classics like 1943, Strider, and Darkstalkers, to complement my home arcade with some of my all-time favorite arcade games. All I need now is the next X-Men Arcade cabinet, the perpetually exhausted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cabinet (complete with Turtles in Time), and the dream announcement I’ve been waiting for from Arcade1Up: The Simpsons Arcade Cabinet. I know I’ll never own them all, but fire up the Area 51 arcade machine and I’ll be ready for life.
Of course, video games are not a complete solution, as much as I would like them to be. I also made progress outside of the game to focus on myself and my sanity. I took the time to get away from the screens with workouts, meditation, and plenty of walks in my neighborhood (when it’s not too cold here in Minneapolis). I also started seeing a therapist virtually to help deal with the current reality we all share, the seemingly constant stream of tumultuous news we’ve been through and the whiplash-causing change in my personal and professional life over the course of this year. the last year and a half. The game has helped me and shaped my life in a way that I can barely express, but taking care of your mental and emotional health in a more formal way has become much more important.
I still can’t wait for the day when I can meet up with friends at my local arcade bar to enjoy some drinks and games, but now I will have the opportunity to host a similar experience at home. Oh, and also a rock band for good measure – I’ve been building this library of songs for a decade and a half now with the idea that I will eventually have parties with this stuff. If everything continues like this, I’m trying to come out of this pandemic with new cooking and beverage mixing skills, my personal coffee corner, gym, arcade, renewed ability to play guitar, more lively accent. about mental health and a special appreciation for the life we ​​all led before the past 12 months. While I have often lamented the time I wasted over the past year, when I said it that way I guess it could have been worse.
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