Man, I am in a funk. I’m not sure if it’s Writers Block? Post-holiday blues? A minor case of early onset post-partum depression. Whatever it is, something is making it incredibly hard to take pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and actually eke out some sort of cogent thought.

After years of searching, have we reached the very end of The Ed Zone?

I guess like all exercise, repetition is really the best way to reap positive results. So I apologize up front if these next posts read like the equivalent of Bran Flakes. But I gotta’ hammer away at these walls holding me prisoner if my thoughts are gonna’ bust out into the great wide open all Andy Dufresne-like.

I will say that the post-Christmas pall did inspire me to take pause. I know it’s the same every year. We spend so much time in the lead-up to the big day that when it finally comes, it’s out in a flash but this year seemed especially abbreviated. That might have something to do with the fact that we had 4 holiday events in 4 days (which gave me the grand privilege of the 180 mile round trip excursion on 3 of those 4 days). All that merriment (and all that driving) made the big day come and go in a flash. Plus, Tuesdays and Wednesdays have to be the very worst days to host holidays on. At least Monday holidays grant one an extended 3-day weekend and of course, Thursday or Friday holidays are the sweet spot. But Tuesday holidays? So blah. You almost have a full week ahead of you when you return. This past year we got served a double whammy of that and even though I had some vacation days (upon which, my clients who have my home and cell numbers chose to call) it just felt off. At least ’08 is a Leap Year – meaning we get to leap frog the inevitable Wednesday holiday this year.

Leading me to some big news that should make me happier but really just sort of came and went without much fanfare. Usually I tend to avoid discussions of work in this forum but this was a pretty big deal for me professionally. That said, I will not mention my employer by name as I don’t want to mix the business with the personal and I’d hate to chase a promotion with a firing.

Anyway, just a few days before Christmas, I got a call from my boss announcing I had been promoted to Vice President. Now, for those not in the office space, that might seem like more responsibility than this average chucklehead should handle but you need to know that most mid-to-large sized companies have multiple VPs per department. It’s still a big deal but it doesn’t make me Cheney. The good news is, I had already been doing the job before so really this was just the title catching up. There was a minor bump applied with my annual merit. Nothing Earth shattering but anything’s better than nothing right.

But that’s just it. With no change in responsibilities. No major change in pay grade. It all sort of came and went like any other day. Where’s my ticker tape parade?

Man, I really am beginning to resemble a Cathy comic strip. At least I’m not residing in Bloom County. ‘F You Berke Breathed, if that really is your name?

To add to the malaise (and this is going to sound foolish to almost everyone), I can’t decide what game I want to play. As you all know, when the house is turned down and the kids are tucked in and Andi has wandered off to Siestaville, I prefer to settle down for an hour or two with a video game challenge versus mindlessly channel surfing. With this writers’ strike apparently settling narrative TV down for a long winter’s nap, the need for alternative entertainment is even greater.

With the various games at my disposal (I own both a 360 and a Wii with numerous titles for each), I find myself listlessly playing the titles I own. On the 360, I have been laboring through Lego Star Wars Complete but with two former Lego Star Wars games mashed into one (both of which I have already played) and the need to replay levels over and over to get Achievement Points, I find it is almost too much – too time consuming – and feel I need to take a little break from it. The same goes for the massive role playing game – Mass Effect – which I played through once, started a second run through and paused in mid-stream. The bottom line, it felt like work. I wasn’t having any fun. So back to the shelf it went. Halo, of course, was fun especially the multiplaying with my blogging homies, OB1 (a.k.a. Sean) and Poe Ghostal (my cousin Jason).

The last truly great game I played was Super Mario Galaxy. Yes, I’m a Nintendo Nerd but there is something intrinsic to their game design that just gooses my nostalgia nodes. I think I have an affinity for 3rd person perspective platformer games and I love a good, healthy challenge. SMG offered that in spades. More importantly, it was genuinely FUN to play. And that’s something I find missing in so many games these days. They seem more like work and less like an escape. It’s almost making me question my perspective on Achievement Points. While questing for the high score or the next Achievement Point can be addictive it’s also starting to feel less like fun and more like work. Still, there is something compelling about ‘getting the high score’. That’s the reason we’ve got a King of Kong to look up to (or down upon) depending upon your perspective on such matters.

What I have found myself doing on a more frequent basis is replaying some games that I genuinely have loved playing in the past. For example, The Legend of Zelda series is the end all, be all for me. It’s in my marrow having infiltrated it all those years ago when that first Legend of Zelda – on that shiny gold cartridge – first hit the scene in the waning years of the Eighties. The expert mix of exploration, puzzle solving and battles just comes together in a way – in that series – that has not been replicated in any other series outside of Nintendo. (Mario and Metroid share similar game play ideals).

So, I often look to new titles hoping to find the next Zelda, Mario or Metroid and rarely do. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of games have come out that are worthy of attention (the Metal Gears, Halos, Resident Evils are all appointment viewing) but even those top-tier AAA releases see new installments many years apart. All of the rest begins to grow indistinguishable from the last.

So over the last few days I’ve found myself replaying The Legend of Zelda – The Ocarina of Time on the Wii. Originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998 (10 years ago!!!) it was the first 3D Zelda game and is considered by many to be the best (I give The Wind Waker a slight edge as I really dug that cel shaded look but really, this is like choosing children.) Anyway, I’m torn. When I originally played through Ocarina, I completed the quest but only paid slight attention to the myriad of side quests. So now I decided to go back and try to catch ‘em all – adopt the completionist mentality.

As I’m playing I’m having a great time. But as I’m playing, I get a nagging notion. There’s a pile of more contemporary titles that should be grabbing my play time. Why am I wasting my leisure time replaying something I already experienced. I guess it’s akin to re-watching a favorite movie instead of choosing a new title. In addition, the games industry is one that really doesn’t age well. What may have looked great in 1998 or 1987 can bleed your eyes 10 to 20 years later. So I struggle with the question. I want to replay this. I want to reacquaint myself with an old friend. I want to above all… have fun… which inarguably DOES hold up over the years… but should I?

My question is lobbed out to other gamers out there. Is it wrong to replay the past? What are your thoughts?