Ever since my brother got into his car accident, there have been a lot of things that he used to love doing that have become incredibly difficult. While I’ve always been more of the type that loves to stay inside and play video games, he was the “Hunt, Fish, Camp” type of fellow. Over the years, he’s struggled with the realization that trying to do things he used to love is nowhere near as easy as it once was.
We’ve gone fishing in real life a few times together, and I’ll tell you. Nothing hurts more than watching someone try to maneuver over soggy grass in a wheelchair while their pride won’t let them carry anything for themselves. But, after getting a Meta Quest 3S, we’ve discovered something quite magical. He’s able to rekindle a number of his favorite passions, right from his home again. This may be the future of “Cozy Gaming”, in my eyes.
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Between ‘Real VR Fishing’ and ‘Ace Virtual Shooting’, My Brother Has Been Able To Rekindle His Love of the Outdoors, Indoors
While my brother, Patrick, and I played a lot of games in our youth, he grew out of his “gaming” phase. He spent countless years of his life dedicated to the art of motocross racing. That, hunting, and basically anything that was outdoors. He was always the more “rugged” of the two of us, enjoying what the land had to offer him. But after he was involved in a car crash that left him paralyzed from the waist down, he slowly grew to learn that a lot of the things he once enjoyed doing didn’t suit him as much anymore. I still helped however I could. If he wanted to go hunting, I would push him into the woods and into his blind. He wants to fish? We’d head to the millpond and see what we could catch.
But, living in the Midwest, it’s not always kind. Sometimes, the weather could be unsuitable for someone in a wheelchair, let alone someone more “able-bodied”, like me. After spending some time in both ACE Virtual Shooting, to help reignite his love for shooting, and Real VR Fishing, I’ve seen something… change within Patrick. I’ve seen joy in his eyes. Even if they’re masked behind the guise of a virtual avatar with disembodied hands sitting across from me at the lake. I hear the happiness in his voice as we talk about the past, the present, and the future. It’s… nice. It’s incredibly nice to see that joy come back into his life.
Hearing Happiness in His Voice After So Long Has Been Such a Refreshing Feeling
Last year, I saved up my pennies and bought Patrick an Xbox Series S so we could jump into some games. He’s not the most technologically savvy person on the planet. So, trying to teach him how to access multiplayer has been a little bit of a journey in itself. It’s been no different with the Meta Quest at this point, to be fair. Typically, before we jump into a game together, we have to jump into a phone call. I explain what we’ll need to do to get into a game. He’ll join me in there. Then, he’ll take off his headset to do something quickly. Once he’s put it back on? It’s gone into Standby mode. So we do it all over again. But once we’re in, we’re in and ready to get some stuff done.
Real VR Fishing has been our go-to game over the past week or so, swapping stories from our childhoods and reeling in a plethora of different fish. More than anything, though? It’s just been great to hear from him more often, as sometimes in our adult lives, we forget to check in and see how things have been. It’s a chance for us both to slow down, to forget everything that’s going on in life, and just breathe. Well, when he’s not screaming about the fish that he just caught, while trying to grab it like in real life.
Maybe Cozy Games Have a New Definition in My Eyes
So, in my eyes? Cozy games may not always take the same shape and form. For some of us, they’re games about farming. They’re fun little diversions from real life, letting us raise animals, marry random NPCs, and whatever else. But for me, I think Cozy Gaming may have taken on a new meaning after this week. I think VR could be at the cusp of making things a lot better for a lot of folks out there.
