| I grew up playing a lot of computer games (PC). A lot of them. It mostly stopped once I went to university - for the following decade I played only newer versions of games I was familiar with (e.g. newer Civilization, newer Command and Conquer, etc). And even that was the once-a-year binge - not continual. Then I stopped altogether. There were multiple reasons I slowed down. I was interested in my academics. I looked back at all the time I had played pre-university and (rationally) lamented the time lost. The genre I liked had died (adventure games), and I really didn't like 1st person shooters. And I didn't want to deal with the headache of upgrading my PC every 2 years just to play a game. Also, I switched to Linux, which didn't help. I bought a PS3 in 2010, but it was only for Blu-Ray and streaming. Then in around 2016, on a whim, I decided to check out a game from the library. I picked The Walking Dead (Telltale version). I loved it. I started checking out other games. Someone bought me an Xbox One as a gift. But this all lasted a few months before I stopped playing again. Finally, around 18 months ago, I felt guilty that I had spent $100 on games back in 2016 when I got the Xbox (some big sale, so quite a few games), but never played them. So I told myself I'll try a few. The first one I played was Life is Strange. Loved it. Then Oxenfree. Loved it. It's been 18 months and I haven't stopped playing. Before, I'd spend 30-60 minutes per day watching some TV show. I've merely substituted that time with gaming. And it is so, so much more rewarding than watching a TV show - even a great show. It's counterintuitive, but I find it both relaxes me and invigorates me at the same time in a way a good show on TV wouldn't (and I love good stories). With TV, you're just staring. With games, you're actively thinking. It's more dynamic. You make decisions. You're in control. And games can have great storytelling. I remember times in my life where my work was really stressful. Looking back, I wish I had played games back then. The funny thing is, while I had earlier lamented all the time in my youth spent playing games, when I look back now I have only positive feelings. I still have good memories of certain games - heck even certain achievements in games, from 30 years ago. That time wasn't wasted. I always find it amusing when someone belittles gamers as losers, but then they go watch TV. |