Chu Your Food & Live Life: Games for the Soul and Music for the Mind

Most people say food is for the soul, but I believe games can treat the soul too (and when I say "games", I am referring to any game you can play on a video game system, arcade, computer, mobile, and/or by the board). Just as people can eat according to their feelings and emotions, video games can provide similar relief but can additionally provide a sense of reward and satisfaction. After eating according to one's feelings and emotions, one can feel that they over-ate or feel guilty - basically just negative feelings, although during the pig-out, one can feel happy to taste such delectable foods or from satisfying their cravings. On the other hand, with games, (depending on the type of game) you can play as a single player or play with others either to compete or to just bond with friends. You can move up in levels or stages during most games, and there's usually a means for trying again. It may not be the best feeling when the game outright says "YOU LOSE", but I believe that for most people, they get a sense of wanting to try again until they see the words "YOU WIN" or just accomplish clearing the stage, level, or round to feel they've succeeded. It may be more difficult to try again when competing against others as your opponents may stop play after they've won and you've lost, but in this case, the sense of trying again could be fulfilled by playing against a variety of opponents where there is an acceptance and awareness of a "wins versus losses" concept with the goal of improving one's playing skill and with the hopes of competing against those that one had lost to so as to seek redemption.

My favorite games of all time, from my birth to this very moment when this blog post has been dated and time-stamped, are (in no order of significance):
- Words with Friends,
- Scrabble,
- Literati,
- Street Fighter,
- Tetris,
- Tekken Tag Tournament,
- Bubble Bobble,
- Time Crisis,
- StarCraft Brood War,
- Killer Instinct,
- Soul Calibur V,
- Mortal Kombat,
- Super Mario Bros.,
- Donkey Kong,
- Duck Hunt,
- Mega Man,
- Pac-Man,
- X-Men,
- The Simpsons,
- Chess,
- American Checkers,
- Freecell,
- Solitaire,
- Mahjong Solitaire

I definitely enjoy playing other games, but these are the ones that are memorable for me and are games I still play from time to time when I can afford the leisure. And thinking of it more thoroughly, the above-mentioned games may be most memorable for me and listed as my favorites because I've gained that sense of accomplishment and success from playing these games either by myself or with others (depending on the type of game, but I've provided links to each so readers of this post can find more information about these games). Do you find this to be the case for you if you have any games you can call your favorite?

For the video game system and arcade games I have played or have learned about in my lifetime thus far, I must say that these types of games are very clever in providing all-around pleasurable user experience. The premises of the games are enjoyable as there are usually stories that are told and levels / stages / rounds to clear in order to find out further how each story unfolds. The design, including graphics and layout, of these types of games are also usually very appealing. Most video and arcade games are released in a series, so there is further story or character development and upgrades are made to enhance the user's experience (such as less lag time between levels / stages / rounds, faster character movements, more character abilities, etc). But these happen to be things that I have come to expect out of video and arcade games. What I did not expect to enjoy from these types of games are their music!

Most (if not all) of the video and arcade games I have encountered have really great music that can truly ease the mind (at least in my opinion). Tetris game music has always been pleasing to me to listen to not only while playing the game, but I used to sit in my parents' car while waiting for them to complete some errands and just listen to the Tetris game music from my brother's old school Nintendo Game Boy.

Though I have not listed any role-playing games (RPGs) as my favorite types of video or arcade games, my brother contrarily LOVES playing most RPGs and gets really excited to share with me when he clears a level / stage / round to learn how the story unfolds. RPGs I'm aware of these days such as the Final Fantasy series, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, and Kingdom Hearts series have eye-catching graphics and heartfelt stories to follow, where it seems that as a game player, you are the controller and proactive participant of how an animated movie unfolds right before your eyes. However, it is quite a slow process in my opinion compared to other types of video and arcade games like Tetris and Street Fighter. So although I do not care to play RPGs personally, I surely don't mind watching others play RPGs as they are like movie shows to me (and I don't have to do the work to find out what happens next!) :) AND, some of the music (at least from the RPGs I know of) are, for lack of better words, beautiful and/or engaging. Below are some samples of RPG music that I personally love from RPG composers Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Yoko Shimomura:

To Zanarkand (Final Fantasy X), composed by Nobuo Uematsu