I read this article from Succeed Socially about the author, stating how he gradually became less obsessive about playing videogames. It made me think about my personal take on this. Videogames consumed my time in middle school and high school. I watched TV and was down with MTV, but most of my spare time was spent playing videogames.
I was adamant about perfectly accomplishing everything there was to a game. Be it getting 100% completion rating on Crash Bandicoot, unlocking all characters in Tekken 3, or defeating Omega Weapon and collecting all Guardian Forces/Ultimate Weapons in Final Fantasy 8... I was quite obsessive. These were personal little victories to be proud of without the use of Gameshark... just like when I decided to beat Contra without the Konami code and without continues as a kid. A notch on my metaphorical belt, if you will. Then college happened. Followed by graduation, getting a job, etc.
Unlike the author, I still have those obsessive tendencies encompassing other aspects besides videogames. I'm aware of them, but I accept them as part of me. If I wasn't so obsessive, I wouldn't have passed college. I guess you could call it moderately obsessive. The author made some bullet points on the article and explained his take on how he became less obsessive. I'm using the same bullet points to explain my take on how I moderately started playing videogames.
I graduated from high school and went away to college
Not much difference here from the author. You didn't have much to worry about in high school besides keeping your grades up, school club activities and socializing with friends. Besides that, you have videogames to attend to, unless you have a girlfriend or boyfriend, which I think is a weak excuse for anything if you're in high school.
I didn't have a ton of money in college
This is true. I did get allowance while in college and am thankful for it. My parents paid for gas back. Then again, gas was less than $2 ($0.97-$1+). I didn't go anywhere besides home and school. For the most part, I saved up my money so I can buy new games, or waited till Christmas or my birthday so I can get money to buy new games. Then, I met new friends. Met my ex. Started hanging out with them more. Gas got expensive. My parents cut-off my free-gas waiver. Every bit of my allowance counted. I wasn't gonna borrow money from my parents and I wasn't gonna withdraw from my savings. Funds were so low at one point, I stooped to selling my anime DVDs of the mature kind to this douchebag. With my hard classes, I could only find part-time work towards the end of the school year and make money during the summer months. The money I earned fueled my gaming to a degree. However, most of my paycheck went in the bank. I saved some for food and gas expenses, which includes hanging out with my ex and girlfriend. I only bought a game that I really wanted on the holiday/birthday months when I might have enough to buy them.
My tastes matured and I starting seeing a lot of video game elements as cheesy
I guess my tastes matured just as much as this author. He didn't elaborate on it as much, though. By mature, I mean I stopped buying knockoff games that were so obviously ripping off other games. Then again, I could always tell the knockoffs from the ripped-offs. I guess I was mature, then.
I outgrew my youthful obsessiveness somewhat
My obsession still exists, albeit moderately. I still grinded my way to completing Final Fantasy X, X-2, XII, Shadow Hearts II, Shadow Hearts: Into the New World, and a bunch of other games. I play mostly on my free time when there are no exams, mid-terms, or finals on the horizon.
I started being satisfied just playing a game through once
I always wanted to play a game just once. But I wanted to complete everything in the game. So I try to complete my games as perfect as possible. I still do them now, depending on how easy it is to get (Tekken 6 was fairly easy). For role-playing games. If there are just too many of them, I'll just complete the game for the storyline.
I started renting games more often
Renting games is counterproductive. I don't do it. Even though I have the resources, I'd rather not have a rented game laying around and pay for it monthly. I don't borrow or lend my games to people, either. The less games I have to mind, the more focused I have to do other things. I do have a bunch of games still in progress of completion... or start to end. I'm slowly chipping away at them. I recently finished God of War III. My next game to complete should be Brutal Legend, but I'm slowly chipping away at Heavy Rain and Final Fantasy III DS.
I had other things to do
Well yeah... there was college. Now it's work. I have my hobbies and pretty much other things to do besides gaming. I still play dance/rhythm games with my friends of 5-6 years now. I encorporate shuffling into my routines now.
I started doing things that were just as fun as gaming, or better
This is pretty much a repeat of the last bullet point. I'll always be a gamer. It's no different from the music and movie/tv fans.
I got to a point where I had played enough games of a genre that they all started seeming the same
This is only true of sports games. All of them are the same to me. I have a lot of RPGs in my catalog of games from Playstation, Playstation 3 and my DS. I haven't grown tired of them. Then again, I probably didn't play enough games as obsessively as this guy. I guess I'm just obsessive when I need to be.
I started getting more picky about what I'd play. I'd rather play one great, original game on occasion than play new mediocre stuff every day
I'm definitely picky with my games. There are certain games that I regret, but they are far and between... mistakes I make once in a blue moon. If a game description is usually preceded by "it's like...," "A cross between..." or anything like that by gamers, that's just a bad description for a game that's most likely mediocre, at best. The gamer wasn't engaged enough to actually describe the contents of the game.
I realized that I have obsessive tendencies and tried to hold off on playing until I had lots of free time
Gamers will always find time on games no matter what. The key is to not be obsessive. Just be moderate.
I stopped playing when other people were around
Gaming for me is a single-player experience. There are exceptions to these. Sports games being one of them. I don't play sports games so I don't bother. The Wii is marketed as a casual gamer's console with social games. These are good for parties. I play at the arcades with my friends so that's already a gaming setting right there. Also, most consoles now have online connectivity. So I play games by myself and meet people online. The author probably meant playing a game at parties. If there's an event going on, I'm not even going to bother with gaming. An exception is if gaming is involved. Other than that, I'm talking to people.
I started preferring shorter games
I wouldn't say I'd purposely pick shorter games. There's a formula to this that I'm going to make up right now. I pick my games based on the price, hype, expected/actual yield, and time spent.
E = [Abs(He - Ua) + t] / P .... Enjoyment is the absolute value of the difference between expected hype and actual understatement + time, over the price of the game.
If I just want to see something neat in the game, I'll watch a video
This is partly the author's fault. All he cares about is the graphics and anything that's cool to look at in the game. It's not the same as it was back then. Final Fantasy games pushed the envelope in creating visual eye-candy for their cutscenes. With today's graphics, almost all games have some sort of visual eye-candy. The market is saturated with it, it's nothing new anymore. Just like 3D movies. For games to separate themselves from the pack, they have to deliver on other gaming aspects: gameplay, story, etc. The same thing with what differentiates Pixar films and other 3D films.
I play my games for the engaging story I expect them to bring.
I purposely keep myself from having the latest consoles
I don't have a 360 nor do I have the 3DS. It took us a year to finally get PS3. Having the latest and greatest doesn't mean you'll get yourself back into your obsessive self. We currently have the PS3, the Wii and I have a DS. I also bought my youngest sister a PSP cause she's been wanting to play Kingdom Hearts on that system. It's a deterrent if you're withholding yourself these consoles. It doesn't really address the issue if you somehow wind up with these consoles and go back to being obsessive.
So this is pretty much why I'm a returning gamer. I was "off my game," so to speak, for a year in early 2009-2010. I started playing games again in moderation. My former co-worker had more time in his hands and was able to complete these games I told him to play before me. And you know what? I'm fine with that.
I'm done.
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