On Break: What we’re playing

While the soccer season has gone into an international break, the gaming world is just getting warmed up. Next week marks the start of E3, arguably the biggest gaming conference in the world. There's already a slew of amazing games announced for the show and there will no doubt be surprises from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

The term "Gamer" has picked up quite a reputation over the last few years so I'm hesitant to use that to describe anybody but there's no denying that in this day and age, it's hard to find anybody who doesn't play video games in some form. No matter how or where you're playing, gaming is more social than ever and communities often spring up or can be strengthened over games so here's the who, what where and why on Soapbox Gaming.

Benjamin Smith

I'm currently back on Zelda: Breath of the Wild after giving it a rest for a few weeks. It's a gorgeous game that's almost without flaw and has me engrossed in the world of Hyrule rather than just a simple story. Everything matters to me in this world and I always consider that to be a selling point for a game. Beyond that I'm just downloaded Democracy 3 on Steam so I'm ready for the General Election here in the UK, either to celebrate a Labour win or live in a fantasy world where we have a Prime Minister who won't tear up my human rights or hunt foxes.

I'm excited for a lot of Switch games too. Arms, Splatoon 2, Street Fighter and Lost Sphear all have me super excited, although I have many strong feelings on Pokken DX being the first Switch Pokemon game and not an RPG.

You can find me:

Xbox One: NoHopeForSome
Steam: NoHopeForSome
Nintendo Switch: SW-6331-6331-3249

Kreg Asay

My kids do far more gaming than I do, my daughter is really into Oblivion; but about the only games I play these days are older titles such as Civilization III and IV, Diablo II, and Sims 1-3.

Other than that I’ll waste spend time at work on break with Tetris, Hill Climb Racing, Candy Crush and a few others.

Matt Montgomery

Just like Mr. Benjamin Smith here, I’m also playing Breath of the Wild, and I’ve probably put way too much time into collecting Hearty Beets and Hearty Truffles and just generally messing around in the all-consuming world.

I refuse to play any other game until I’m done. It could prove problematic. I think I miss Football Manager.

Miles Dunn

Being in school and having a one year old makes it tough to get a lot of gaming in. That being said, when some down time presents itself my go-to right now is Ghost Recon Wildlands. You control a team of 4 special forces agents as you take down the Santa Blanca drug cartel in Bolivia. It is an open world map that is gigantic in size and allows for a lot of fun exploration. Plus, there is something satisfying about hunting down narcos.

If I only have a few minutes to play, I will pop in FIFA 17 and get a quick match or two in. I’m currently coaching Fulham in the Premier League and I have Albert Rusnak playing LW for me in the 4-3-3.

Ryan Kelly

I get what gaming I can in after 12 hour days at work, and in the time I have on weekends that isn’t taken up by the three RSL teams or FC Bayern. At the moment my time is largely taken up with Destiny, FIFA 16, and Minecraft on XBOX, or Kerbal Space Program on PC.

I hope to get around to LEGO Jurassic World and Lego Marvel Avengers soon, but my son usually gets most of the time with those. I’ll also get out my Halo and Assassin’s Creed games from time to time when I want something entertaining but familiar.

XBOX: Sirveaux
Steam: sirveaux24