I know that in my last post, I went over several recent questions that customers have asked. But during last weekend’s wonderful event for middle and high schoolers at the Marina Teen Center, one young man locked me up with a question I hadn’t been asked before:

What’s your favorite game?

Me: Just out of the game truck’s inventory, or mine personally?

Kid: Both!

This was a new one! I hemmed and hawed, and I think I just randomly picked one for the truck (Madden) just to suffice. Usually, I’m asked what game am I currently going through, but not what my favorite is.

When it comes to a lot of things (games, music, food, etc), my tastes depend on “where” I am at the moment…mood, frame of mind, what’s going on around me. If the weather’s nice and I’m being more active, I’m more likely to want to eat more healthy. If I just want to chill, then I prefer listening to jazz. If I’m stressful, then a first-person shooter helps me release that pent-up energy. Point is, my “favorite” things depend on my environment at the time.

If, however, I’m really pressed to answer this young man’s question, here’s my answer (and apologies to him for not really answering him at the time):

Rockstar’s spaghetti western version of Grand Theft Auto, released 6 (!) years ago, is still the game I go to over and over again. The gameplay is still fun, the characters (especially protagonist John Marston) are not typical two-dimensional virtual puppets, and the open-world environment is incredibly realistic from the bluish hue you’d expect in the morning/high noon to the reddish colors you would find at sunset in the Sonoran Desert. Rumors flare up now and then about a sequel, something that would make this old gamer actually go to a midnight release for.

To be honest, no one has asked to play NHL in our Mobile Game Theater. As a hockey fan, I admit to being a little disappointed (especially since the Western Conference Champion San Jose Sharks are about an hour away!). But if I’m being honest, this is my favorite game among our game truck inventory. However, this game is kicking my rear end! I’m too good for beginner mode, but the next level up (normal?) has been humbling me. I chalk it up to not having enough time to hone my skills, having to run a business and all. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it…

On the subject of sports games, we’ll be adding Madden 17 to our game menu this week, and we’ll be looking for NBA 2K17 in our mailbox in mid-September.

So there you have it, for whatever it’s worth, my favorite games both in the game truck and my personal collection. Subject to change. 🙂

We get questions now and then than aren’t answered in our FAQ section but are certainly worth mentioning.

Do your prices depend on how many kids are at the party? Is there some kind of sliding scale?

A nice mom from Hollister asked this recently. The short answer is no, our pricing structure is fixed. There are a couple of reasons why we don’t adjust according to a head count: 1) Our expenses are the same, whether there’s just one kid or one hundred. Fuel, oil, maintenance, insurance, etc don’t change with the number of guests. 2) It’d be difficult to adjust the pricing “on the fly”. Imagine a parent says there will be 10 kids attending a party, and as the party progresses, 10 more show up. Keeping track of which kids are paid for and which ones aren’t, then charging the parent retroactively is too much of a headache.

Think of us like a taxi or limo…it costs the same no matter how many passengers there are. Except we’re stationary. 🙂

Can we have extra party time, but in exchange for food? How about just 30 minutes more?

Believe us, we understand wanting to stretch your dollar and get the most value for your hard-earned bucks. But as we mentioned above, fuel, oil, wear and tear on our generator, etc are costs we have to bear. We will have employees soon, so extra time means they have to be paid too.

Additional hours are available at $99/hour (no fractions thereof), and are only available if our schedule allows and upon owner’s approval.

Can I rent your add-on games separately?

This one, from a family in Salinas, caught us off guard! No one had asked this before.

If you didn’t already know, we offer 3 “add-on” non-video games that can be ordered with your Video Game Party for an additional $25 each or all 3 for $60 (as of this writing, subject to change).

Our answer ended up being a big YES! As long as our customers are willing to take responsibility for any loss or damage to the games, why not? However, for now this will only be available to folks within 30 minutes of Marina.

Got more questions for us? Hit us up at ezpzgameparty (at) gmail.com…we’ll be happy to answer them!