Kotaku
I've been riding the Light Rail from my house in suburbia to downtown Denver since January. And while I play games on either my PSP or DS Lite every day, twice a day, I have yet to run into another person doing the same... until today.
I was minding my own business listening to some music and playing Club House on my DS Lite when a guy sits down across from me on the train. After a few seconds I notice he's staring at me. Then he's staring at me and leaning forward. The seats are so close our knees are almost touching. Finally, apparently oblivious to the fact that I'm doing my best to ignore him and stay cocooned in my music and gaming induced isolation, he starts talking to me.
I can only tell he's talking to me because he's leaned forward so much his mouth is actually in my surprisngly wide peripheral vision. Finally I give up and yank the plugs from my ears.
"Is that a DS Lite?"
"Yes"
"What are you playing?"
"Club House"
"Cool"
I get back to the game.
"Do you have any other games?"
"Yes."
At this point I realize that a bit of stranger gmaeplay is inevitable, so I ask what he has and we decide on Tetris.
He wallops me in the first three games, but then I make a strong come back taking three of the next four games. I hear him mumbling "That's cheating" in the middle of several games.
We end with a friendly, but awkward hand-shake (broken hand and all) and he ambles from the train.
The whole thing felt a little unsavory, forced. It was like a bath house hook-up but instead of man sex there was Tetris. A podmate at work blurted out Tetris Gloryhole after hearing my story, and then laughed so hard his face turned a deep red.
I think I need a shower.
When was it that gaming became something that doesn't just support multiplayer modes, but encourages it? Local WiFi play is great among friends, but I don't want to feel obligated to stop what I'm doing to share some playtime with a total stranger. Don't get me wrong, I love online multiplayer gaming, but we need some etiquette I think. Some rules about how to go about playing a game of pick-up that doesn't involve lots of staring.
