On this day, when we're recognizing new ways to talk about games, I'd like to share the best new term I've heard for a game since a Ubisoft guy called bad games "Triple-C."
The term I heard was "XBLA Chaser," uttered by Xbox global public relations manager Stone Chin. At a recent gaming event, he and I were discussing how we play games. He had enjoyed BioShock, but found it tense. So, to calm his nerves, he followed it with an Xbox Live Arcade "chaser."
That was his term. "XBLA Chaser." As in a "chaser" — a drink you swiftly take after imbibing the first, to wash away or change the taste of the first drink.
I told Chin that I usually play XBLA games only before I play whatever epic bigger game I'm spinning up in my 360's disc drive. I don't think I've ever played an XBLA game as a chaser or a dessert. I guess, for me, they are XBLA Salads or XBLA Appetizers.
I do like the concept of a game as a chaser. I like the idea that one game can affect a player so strongly that another game is needed to be played quickly thereafter, briefly, to switch moods.
It got me wondering how other people take their XBLA games. Appetizers? Chasers?
PIC via Flickr