Lament for A Gaming Past

The other day I talked about how excited I was about Assassin's Creed games and my mediocre involvement in E3 Coverage. And it got me thinking about how much I used to be into videogames. Time wasn't an issue. I was more invested in gameplay than storyline and cinematics.

It was a lot of fun back then, when I could spend a lot more time with a controller in my hand. But these days, I don't have that kind of time. There's too much going on, too many things that adulthood requires which prevent me from dedicating more than a couple hours a week, or a few hours a month to a game. I used to get pissed when I'd get a game in the old days and I beat it in a week. Now I rejoice because I know I'll actually be able to finish it.

I had to start Fallout 3 twice because life forced me to take such a huge break from it, that I completely forgot what was going on. My friends have all recommended Mass Effect and Skyrim, but I don't have that kind of time. Mass Effect is a 3 game series and Skyrim is so massive, I hear that people have spent a weeks worth of time (150+ hours) playing it and are barely half way through. If I had that kind of time, I'm sure I'd love the game, but I really don't. Plus I'm afraid of a Fallout 3 repeat where I get so far and then don't get to play for months, at which point I have no idea where I was at and the story even falls apart on me.

Sure, I could just dive right in and make the time, but I know everything else is going to suffer. About 6 months after World of Warcraft came out in 2004, I got the game. All my college buddies were playing it. And they were playing it a lot. I figured I'd get in on the action. Three months later, I quit. Too much was going on that I was missing. I was losing out on time with other friends, actual time with friends that were playing, and time from the girl I was dating at the time. Not only that, but I knew my schooling was suffering too.

I went cold turkey on WoW and I'm doing alright, but I don't plan on getting addicted to any game like that ever again. Although sometimes, I really wish I had that luxury because Skyrim looks awesome.