So as I was learning some things about jQuery the other week I ran across this Tetris example. In the available JavaScript source code the author had a link to watch out for the Tetris Effect. I thought maybe the Wikipedia link would discuss the number of lawsuits that that occurred from people using Tetris game play over the years. Instead it said that “the Tetris effect occurs when people devote sufficient time and attention to an activity that it begins to overshadow their thoughts, mental images, and dreams. … People who play Tetris for prolonged amount of time may then find themselves thinking about ways different shapes in the real world can fit together, such as the boxes on a supermarket shelf or the buildings on a street.”

This immediately made me think of Red Dead Redemption.

I put some hours into that game on my Xbox 360 and every time I saw a bird in the air I wanted to shoot it out of the sky. I typically don’t consider myself a violent person, but yet this game made me want to shoot at fowl so I could see them spiral to the ground.

I have experienced the Tetris Effect before when playing Crackdown and thinking about the orbs that would look great on that skyscraper downtown. Or when playing Assassins Creed thinking about all the places the flags could be placed.

That last game I have spent any significant amount of time on was Red Dead Redemption. Now there are two additional expansion packs available. I was looking forward to the multiplayer dice and card games but I haven’t fired it up in a while. There are a lot of good games coming out in November, not even considering the whole Kinect sensor and it’s launch titles. Recently, everyone has been talking about Halo Reach and Sid Meier’s Civilization V.

I hadn’t picked up Borderlands before, but yet for the PC it was less than eight bucks last week!  Still, I have refrained from any of these games because I’m holding out for Assassins Creed Brotherhood. I really enjoyed the first two games and am looking forward to the multiplayer addition to Brotherhood.

I would enjoy spending more time playing games, but that is playing and not working. I’m not good enough to compete in game tournaments so it remains a recreation. I’d prefer to play a good game than to go see a movie or watch a TV series. So gaming is definitely a much better entertainment experience for me than just about anything else I can think of. However, the bills need to be paid and so a limit has to be put on entertainment. But when I am not refraining from playing a game, I end up with the “Tetris Effect” of whatever game I’m putting hours into.

If you happen to be looking for that next Xbox 360 game, you can save 30% every week on a featured Xbox game at the Microsoft Store.

Happy Gaming!