Occasionally I get in these ruts. I sit on my couch, I press the power button on my controller, sigh a little bit, and start up whatever game is currently stuck in my system. Now the only issue that I have with this rut of mine is the sigh. It's not that I don't love the games I have, it's just that I've been playing them for so long that a change of pace would be most welcome. Enter E3, aka my salvation.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 to you and me) is a yearly exhibition of the latest and greatest advances in gaming technology, computer and video and mobile. This is where the loveliest little trailers and gameplay videos pop up for upcoming releases, from popular franchises to brand new ventures. Here are couple of the things that I'm most excited about.

Of course, Bungie released a new trailer for the upcoming Destiny expansion: The Taken King. This is the game that I spend the most time playing currently, and while the latest expansion (House of Wolves) only came out a month ago, it's always good to see the new content that we have to look forward to in the future. This video got me super hyped, mainly because there's a freakin' bow and arrow coming to gameplay. How can I not get excited about that?

The newest Destiny expansion, The Taken King, drops on September 15th of this year.

Next comes multiplayer footage from the new Star Wars Battlefront game, which has already got my Destiny buddies planning on branching out to a "Wookie Wednesday" night, dedicated solely to battling a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (instead of in our own future solar system, ala Destiny). The footage in this video shows incredibly flexible gameplay options, whether you excell as a foot soldier, prefer to pilot a tie fighter, or want to stomp around in an AT-AT. All of this seems to be possible in the same battle sequence, which frankly just looks epic. And we can't ignore the presence of lightsabers near the end. Just magnificent, and I can't wait.

Star Wars Battlefront will be gifted to us on November 17th of this year.

And then there's Fallout 4. I have been waiting for this game for longer than I can remember. My Fallout 3 disc probably has a hole burned into it at this point, and 4 is probably destined for the same. From the character creation screen (which, let's be honest, will probably take me two blissful days to get it juuuuust right), to the massive undertaking of exploring the ruins of Boston... I will probably lose myself fairly quickly in this one. Plus, there's the dog. Gotta love that dog!

Fallout 4 comes around to ruin my life November 10th of this year.

But then... then this video showed up. From what I hear, there was no introduction. And also from what I hear, people are FREAKING out. For good reason, too. No release date yet.

...is to waste countless hours of my life on this little game called Destiny. Well, waste is sort of a strong word. I suppose we could go with "absentmindedly while away every extra hour of my day". And "little game" isn't quite correct either.

Destiny, a Bungie (think the Halo series, before Microsoft bought them out) creation, brings a few interesting elements into play that you wouldn't normally expect from a first person shooter. Sure, at its core, it's mostly running around and shooting bad guys. But oh, the places you'll go!

Puttering about the solar system with your strange little companion, Ghost (voiced by Peter Dinklage, because who doesn't want Tyrion Lannister as a constant comrade?), you must explore different planets and thwart the plots of the evil aliens that have somehow managed to take up residence, before they overtake the last safe city on Earth. There are different race and class combinations for you to choose from, which are fairly customizable from the beginning, and the game makes it easy to switch around weapons and abilities to best suit your unique play style. While the plot, especially in-game, may seem a bit odd and lacking, the companion app and website from Bungie provides a much more in depth interpretation of the story, which is awesome for both people who love learning more about the game world (like me), and for those who don't really care about the story (because they don't get beaten about the head with it during gameplay). 

This game, like most online games, seems to pair better with friends than without. The competitive multiplayer is fairly standard - Halo and Call of Duty-esque matches that require either straightforward slaughter or a more tactical approach, depending on the mode. The cooperative multiplayer, however, offers players much more of a challenge and is the main reason that I have continued to play this game for entirely too long. I get to tag along with a group of friends into a dark abyss deep within the center of the moon, or into a cavernous vault in the wilds of Venus, and complete a series of mazes or battle hordes of enemies to ultimately gain rare and exotic weapons and gear? Sign me up and never, ever boot me.

Just when the game starts to look like it may be getting stale, just when my friends seem to be straying away from Destiny and towards more casual adventures, they announce the next expansion. The House of Wolves.

And that is the story of how I played this dumb game for the rest of my life.

<3