InsaneBear

Feature: Time Crisis: The plight of a growing gamer

There was a time when I could clock in a dozen hours of game time in a day and think nothing of it. Today, I’m lucky to sit down for two hours of uninterrupted gaming. It took me two weeks to trudge through the ten unsatisfying hours of Alan Wake, which may or may not have effected my review score. I’m hoping it didn’t, but there’s no arguing that how you pace yourself while playing affects your perception of a game. But before I dive any deeper into this, why don’t I explain why I’ve been fantasizing of a Dr. Horrible style freeze ray lately. Well, I mean I always fantasize about stuff like that, but more so lately.

As with any good story, this one starts with a girl. Actually, there are plenty of good stories without any girls at all, but that doesn’t change how cool the previous sentence makes this sound. See, about a month and a half ago I started dating this sweet little thing by the name of Jessica and my time has slowly been slipping away ever since. I usually work five or six days a week, and she probably occupies three or four nights a week. The really terrible thing is that I don’t even mind. My remaining nights tend to be spread between more groups of friends than can reasonably be accommodated. I feel like Niko in Grand Theft Auto IV for crying out loud! But, you know, without the ex-cons and bullshark testosterone junkies as friends. My point is that I have so many relationships to maintain right now, in addition to the very unforgiving relationship known as “work,” that I can’t even find the time to cut my toe nails. How am I supposed to enjoy a video game in this state?

And this is where I’m really struggling–it’s not like I’ve “grown up” and left games behind. To the contrary, actually. The past year and a half I’ve spent writing about games has just pulled me further into my passion. I’m so dedicated to my writing responsibilities that I often have to sacrifice a night out with friends, or worse yet, actual game time. That’s something that’s really screwing with my head these days. I feel like I spend more time writing about games than I do playing them. Makes me wonder if professional game journalists, or any professionals in the game industry for that matter, share my problem. Regardless, my love for video games has only grown, which makes my time conundrum all the more difficult. I haven’t found more interesting ways than video games to spend my time–I’ve just found equally interesting hobbies that are in direct competition with my favorite pastime.

So nature has begun to take its course. I’m being forced to prioritize what’s important in my life whether I want to or not. As much as I want to quit my job, I haven’t found a way to exploit my dashing good looks and witty charm for money yet, so the wonderful world of Wal-Mart is still priority number one. I do plan on leaving that God-forsaken place when I transfer to a four-year university this fall, but I get the feeling it won’t be too long before I’m fishing for greenbacks again. If only work were as relaxing as fishing…anyways, I don’t even know how returning to school and leaving work will affect my gaming habits. I’ll obviously have more time without the job, but I’m not sure how keen my roommates will be on me digging in for a five hour game session on a shared TV. They’ll probably even want to join in…*shudder*. My solitary gaming future is very much in doubt at this point in time.

But back to those priorities! Work comes first. After that, my girl seems to take center stage. It’s nice when I’m with her because all the other responsibilities and obligations seem to melt away, but then when she’s gone I just realize how much more time has been taken from my waking hours. She is interested in video games, but not quite to the certifiably insane degree that I am. Perhaps if I could finagle some sort of arrangement where she watches me play in solitude, then all of my problems would be solved. But the contradiction in that statement speaks to the difficulty of such a maneuver. I just don’t know if it’s possible to properly enjoy a game (alone, in a dark room, for hours at a time) with a beautiful girl watching over you.

The only time that I do seem to get any real gaming done anymore is when I’m doing it with the friends who get the scraps remaining days of my week. My non-gaming friends are already beginning to drift away from the loop. I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t played any music or skateboarded or played any sports in weeks. And I hate that, but I just don’t have the time to consistently hang out with those groups of friends. The friends that I do hang out with are the ones who are maintaining my life-line to the world of video games. And I love me some split-screen, but this sort of situation isn’t going to help me beat Red Dead Redemption before the end of the summer. So you see my dilemma.

Between work, my girlfriend, my closest friends, and my desire to continue writing about games (man, I am dreading E3) I am having a heck of a time stopping the clock long enough to sit down and truly enjoy a video game. Like I said earlier, I need a freeze ray that will allow me to manipulate time. But that technology seems like it might be difficult to acquire. So I am forced to prioritize. I am in a bit of a time crisis and I only wish the answer was as easy as popping another quarter in. I can’t even imagine what life is like for gamers with real problems like newborns and wedding planning and all that other grown up stuff. What about you guys? What’s your experience with life taking control and dictating your play time? Any suggestions other than Red Bull or speed?

And I’m throwing this last paragraph in as a bit of a side note, considering it’s a topic worth discussing but didn’t really flow with how I wrote the rest of the article. At what point do time constraints change the kinds of games we play? Do we adapt to more pick-up-and-play games when there’s not enough time or do we stick by our guns and end up reminiscing about how great video games were when we used to play them? Does the onus fall on developers to adapt to an aging generation of gamers who have less time to play? Is it possible to pace a great RPG in such a way that it could be considered pick-up-and-play? Will all of my competing pressures mount until I have a nervous breakdown and descend into game world of my own construction?

Author: Cody

Tags: casual gaming vs. hardcore gaming, feature, growing up, insanebear, pick-up-and-play, solitary gaming vs. social gaming, time crisis, time management