Day 17, "game" 17 - Wake-Up Club

Ok, let me start off by pointing out, and explaining, that I put the word "game" in quotes in the title of this blog post. The reason I did that is that, technically, Wake-Up Club for the PS Vita might not be considered an actual game in the purest sense of the term. It's listed as an App in the PS Store, not a game, so even Sony is quick to distinguish it as not being a game, but a tool for life.

Strange thing is, however, is that it has trophies. Many trophies that are easily obtained by "playing" around with it, testing it out. An App with easy trophies you get for playing it? Sounds like a game to me!

Sony is smart. This "App" is essentially just an alarm clock, but one that connects to the PSN, assigning you to clubs of other users that have their alarms set for the same time as you, and you race to turn off the alarm when it goes off. It's smart because it's free, but even so, if it weren't for the trophies, I never would have touched it, ever. And I'm sure that goes for a lot of gamers out there as well.

It's meant to actually be used as a fully functional alarm clock, but with trophies to be had, I spent more time playing it tonight than I ever will as an actual alarm clock.

For one, I don't keep my Vita in my room. Secondly, I'm annoyed enough waking up to Mike and Mike every morning, so I can't imagine how rough mornings would be trying to win a stupid game every morning. I love games, but not when they interrupt the little sleep that I do get.

I don't mind downloading free Apps or games, getting a few trophies for my efforts and quickly deleting it. I think more Apps and smaller games that are looking just for a little spotlight can go a long way by offering up trophies. It may seem stupid and pointless, but it's a simple concept that can go a long, long way to getting something a little more recognition then it may have gotten otherwise.

So did I play a game tonight, or just rack up easy trophies playing with an App? I would say both. But if you don't consider Wake-Up Club as fulfillment of my year long commitment to gaming, well, how about this: I also played the fun game of "trying to play a PS3 game that automatically connects to the PSN, but since the PSN was down for maintenance, it kept locking itself up in a continuous search for network connectivity."

Yeah, that was a super fun game. Trust me, that made me cherish my time with the Wake-Up Club. I bet you'll never hear anyone say that ever again. 

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