And I Thought Board Game Setups Took Forever...

NOOOOOO!

Sometimes I avoid playing heavier games because of the long setup and takedown time, especially if the games have complicated rules that will require a refresher. (I'm looking at you, Mage Knight.) But I've been in the mood to play video games again lately, and when I put Dying Light into my PS4 to give it a try, I was in for a nasty surprise: The installation and updates were going to take hours before I could even start to play my game! And that was after another lengthy system update. 

The experience provided me a serious reminder of why I don't play video games as much as I used to. If you're in the mood to play one, but haven't been indulging regularly, you will probably get slammed with a long waiting time before you can actually scratch that itch. Sometimes, if the updates are egregiously long or require me to go in and delete other stuff from my PS4 hard drive, I will just forget about it and go get out a board game or try something on my 3DS. (Nintendo, for all its flaws, is very good about making it possible to pick up and play video games.) 

It can take a little while to set up a board game, especially if it's heavy or unfamiliar. But I'd rather be engaged with the setup process than helplessly watching the load bar and wishing I had the money for a better internet connection. I feel bad for all of the kids who will get a Playstation for Christmas this year, but their parents didn't know to set it up the night before! 

As for my video game craving, I guess I'll always have my handheld consoles... and we teachers are almost halfway to summer.

---