I'm just not a hardcore gamer anymore. I've been in denial for quite some time, but now I can admit that fact to myself. Being a husband, father, full-time employee, administrator of a local youth soccer league, coach, and home owner just doesn't leave me enough time to commit to gaming as my passion and my hobby. Certainly, I still enjoy gaming very much, but I have other interests. I can't dedicate myself to 40 hours of gameplay in Morrowind, or manually playing 162 games in a baseball season, or anything else that I might've been able to do in years gone by. Due to my limited free time, I'd have to devote every second of it to gaming, to keep up with the single gamers, childless gamers, jobless gamers, or gamers with no social life (just kidding - a bit, anyway - on that one). I like to read books. I like to watch sports and movies. I like to surf the 'net. I like to play sports. I like to work on models. I like computers and technology. I can't do all of the above, and be a hardcore gamer.
Now, I think it's time I stopped spending money like a hardcore gamer, ironic as it may sound, after telling you what's on my "gaming radar" in a recent post. As tempting as it may be, I'm going to try to refrain from running out and buying all of the hot new titles, and letting them collect dust as I try to play them with my limited gaming time. I'm going to be much more selective, and only purchase games that I know I'll commit to playing regularly, like my recent fascination with Worldwide Soccer Manager 2005. It's time to pare down the collection a bit, to only my favorites, the ones my kids like, and the new ones I am playing regularly now. It's time to let go, and time to move on.
I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Is that going to change anything with the blog?" Absolutely not! If you haven't noticed, maybe only a third or so of my posts are about gaming anyway. When a game gets my attention, or gets me excited, I'm going to post about it. I'm just not going to seek out games that I know others are excited about, or games that are the "hot new title," just so I can post an opinion on a popular subject.
I still love video games, but life has its priorities. I like being a well-rounded person (figuratively speaking, of course).
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4 comments:
LOL, Jason... Now THAT'S a comment!!!
It's funny how alike you and I seem to be! I'd bet we have more in common with other "adult" gamers than we think.
By the way, your website is really comming along nicely. Adding Brent to the fold keeps the content lively (although you were also doing a nice job by yourself - I know what a chore that is). I visit multiple times a day. It's a nice alternative to some of the "personalities" that can tend to dominate DSP. Not that they're "bad" guys, or anything, but they can be tiresome after a while. I'll be hanging around in the forums at SGN regularly, trying to make a positive contribution, at least occasionally... ;-)
Kevin
Kevin, welcome to my world. That is why blogs are so great! You can do the game thing, do sports copy, or just write about stuffs. :)
BTW - several months ago I started putting games on eBay that I was no longer playing. My rule right now is that 50% of a game purchase has to come from games in my library. So with WE8 and GT4 on the way, WE7 and NBA Live 2005 are on eBay.
BTW - keep up the great work. I really love reading what you have to write!
Jonathan,
I really do like this blogging thing! Almost every day something comes to mind for me to vent about, and this is the perfect outlet.
Great idea about financing your game purhcases. The games are so deep and good now, it almost seems like a chore to get my money's worth out of them. They just don't hold my attention like they used to. Maybe I have adult ADD, LOL...
Jason - back at ya! I actually have some experience in helping a website grow, :-), so I hope to be a small fish in an increasingly larger pond at SGN...
Hey Brent,
Thanks for visiting, and thanks for the kind words! Good point about the sports games, except I *want* to get so involved with each, that I get overwhelmed with all of the franchise stuff in each title. I almost make it work, as I want to learn every player rating, every play option, every stat, every tendency, etc. Maybe I need to just play a season...
Hey - when are you going to post another picture?! I'm waiting! :)
Kevin
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