Well, I've done it -- the Aberrant Gamer that I've hinted at is currently up and running. After my last several posts have focused pretty intently on what a psycho game nerd I am in my daily life, this week, I'm using myself as a bit of a guinea pig to see what happens when I declare a moratorium on games for an entire week. No playing anything, not so much as Minesweeper. I'm already feeling an interesting sort of fear and restlessness, coupled with an intriguing thread of relief. Check out the column to read more about the horrible experiment. WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE?I'll still be blogging, of course. Ideally, I'd have a whole bunch of folks join me on my seven-day stint, and send me your thoughts along the way on how you're handling it and what, if anything, you're learning about yourself and about games and their role in your life. I'd post selections from everyone's comments with my own responses, and it could be really interesting. That's assuming you're all as HARDCORE BALLSY as I am, though. Yeah, that was so a dare.
33 comments:
I tried not playing games at all just yesterday. I ended up spending about 3 hours after work organizing and updating my game library in Gamepedia instead. You can keep me away from my games, but you can't keep me from thinking about them.
My wife caught me staring off into space while we were sitting in front of some entertainment magazine program and she was dead on. She says: "What are you looking at? You're daydreaming about that Twilight Princess box over there aren't you?"
Can't do it. Work in the industry. =(
I've tried previously though, and managed to avoid computer games for an entire 2 week period, with only a single credit on an old pinball machine as a respite. It was strangely liberating and it did make me realise that it is an addiction, no matter how I try to argue otherwise. I feel a need to play and that's addiction right there.
I also think that having the games available to me at that time would have ended my attempt swiftly. I had to take myself out of gaming range to survive.
It's been pretty easy for me to stop for days or weeks, probably because I'm still in school and get easily wigged out by projects and papers. We'll see how my gaming habits change post grad!
OH NO YOU DI'NT!
I'd SO take you up on your backhanded dare! I cant though. I also work in the industry.
I CAN say that I have been able to go 3 whole days (an extended weekend) without a game in my hands. This with a PS3 folding, a Xbox360 resting and a DS and PSP charging, all within 5 feet of my couch.
While watching Cable TV and movies all weekend feeling the powerful "Gaming Gravitation Pull", sometimes (once every 2-3 months)I just shut down from Gaming...maybe because I work in the industry.
And Happy New Year to you!
Thanks for chiming in -- yeah, I imagine it would be a challenge if you work in the industry. It's even going to be tough for me as a game writer, although I've said before I don't consider myself "in" the industry in the same way. I feel like I'm gonna be terrified about falling behind.
I hear you ... it's definitely an addiction, and anyone who says anything different has a political agenda to rival that of the critics who say games are the ruin of civilization.
If you really want to cut back on time spent playing games (though not necessarily time spent reading about them or worse, buying them), do what I did: have a baby!
You'll look back on those carefree wasted moments of the past with new eyes, and will be forced to savor what little time you do get.
I'd just like a half an hour once in a while to play Puzzle Quest, that seems reasonable, right?
I'd like to take you up on your challenge, but:
1) I'm in the industry.
2) Dance Dance Revolution is substitute for going to a gym.
Good luck with the experiment!
-Excusio
oh god I really wish you hadn't mentioned this now, because if someone comes up with a challenge like that I cannot turn it down...so I'll give it a shot as well, although I can't guarantee it'll do my tobacco habit any good...'neeed...to...complete...portal.
challenges...neeed...a cigarette....'
But then it could be good...right?
I see what you're doing Leigh! You're trying to get people to tempt you to break your games fast with something you can't turn down! And what could that be? Oh, I don't know, a personal invitation to do a little playing of MGS4, perhaps? You can't trick Konami that easily!
I'm in. I think I'm quitting playing video games forever though, but we'll see how I can deal with a week first.
Ouch, forever?! how comes? And I've been doing it for an hour and I'm already struggling (admittedly now is my usual time for playing a few hours anyway, so I'm sure it'll get easier)
I have had times with no videogames. When I was younger and my probably bipolar mother took them away, usually for things I didn't do in the first place, and only once or twice for something I damn well deserved to have them taken away from me.
The worst was Spring 88. A math class that was so hard the teacher made the final quarter much easier on us caused me to lose a good 2-4 months of gaming. THE DAY AFTER I GOT CONTRA FOR THE NES. ( I would eventually complete it without the Contra code.)
I can do it, I just don't LIKE it. Its a pleasant passtime for me. Ive had plenty of days where I haven't really had the time or desire to play a game.
But it sucks to have them FORCIBLY removed from me. I can go a week or more without em if I am busy or just don't feel like it, but it sucks if I cannot do what I want to do.
I've had the same thing with the Internet, which I probably am addicted to.
I know I am addicted to food, but realizing it has let me fight it and 50 pounds left me, for good I hope. (Its over a year now since I started my change.)
Abstaining from something actually makes the cravings WORSE.
Cold Turkey isn't always the best way to go.
I'd say I would join in for giggles, but I am in the midst of Valkyrie Profile Lenneth, and I play my DS, PSP, N Gage, Palm, and Neo Geo Pocket Color during breaks at work.
Its play them or endure the PURE HELL that is Fox News or whatever sports related broadcast is inevitably on most of the lounge TVs..
Ginger, supergork -- welcome aboard! Nah, we'd never have to quit forever. The idea's just to see what happens in our lives without games. I hope you guys share your feedback!
Captain Rufus -- dude, my parents always punished me by taking away my games, too. Actually, what my Dad would do is unplug and then hide all my controllers :P
BTW Robert, you know me too well, it seems!
My initial reaction was, "all games?", even board games like Go, Chess, monopoly. Most people I know never play them anyway, but where do you draw the line? Is Brain Training really a game? Is My French Coach a game? Is it because it's electronic? Is solitare a game? Lego? Maths? etc etc...
I read an excerpt of a talk by will wright recently. He considers video games to have borrowed heavily from linear mediums, but fundamentally games are far more like architecture, maths, and phsycology. Gaming is older than the linear mediums, in that it's fundamentally 'play'. Which all animals do in order to build mental models of the world.
It's one thing to give up electronic video gaming, but another thing to give up play. I guess the real task is to see if we can still do it without video games. They are just such useful extensions of the imagination that playing without them can feel like using a blunt chisel.
Still we've learnt and fostered our playing abilities into adulthood which many seem to lose, surely we can translate that imagination into a more physical or more abstract form. Like programming, maths, lego, cooking, writing?
Anyway... I'll join you for a week.
"I can quit whenever I want, I just DON'T WANT TO."
Oh man.
Big hell no to that challenge! Once again, industry personnel. However, during my holiday break I managed to spend a few days without touching games. Those days were spent drinking and down the beach and they were sweet and savored. I didn't even blog for 12 days!
Actually, I think the not blogging and not having my laptop next to me at all times was quite detrimental. If anything, not playing games forced me to think more about them and without my laptop, so many article ideas that were caught by the wind and set sailing over seas.
Does your gaming abstinence, however, cover the reading of videogaming news? For me, I believe that would be the hardest thing. What I really want to do, to be honest, is spend a good solid month without reading any gaming news, playing through games and then start to write articles fresh. Untainted if you will by other writers.
As for the whole punishment thing regarding games, I was lucky enough to have parents that understand ZERO about technology. Mums punishment was to turn off the television when I was playing, which she thought was turning off my game. I learnt to quickly pause, complain and then go straight back to it when she left the room. But that was it for me.
Oh, and actually writing and making a living off games was the biggest achievement and "take that/told you so" moment in my life. When I was able to turn to dad and go, "see, all that time gaming in school and through uni did actually pay off." He hates videogames so much ...
I've fantasized about quitting video games, just recently. Just think of all the time I would have, just think what I could do! Looking back at time spent gaming, I ask myself if I've really learnt anything, have I really produced anything worth remembering? But I wavered. Videogames is an addiction, I -need- videogames, but I still -like- them. It's the best addiction I can think of.
You're so on. A week, now that's manageable. Let's do it.
I'll give this a go. I can't seem to remember a week in my life since the age of ten in which I haven't played a video game. This is a perfect opportunity to finish The Count of Monte Cristo...
Videogaming sessions go past in a blur of accelerated time, for me. (Save screens that show you how long you've been playing surprise me more often than not.) I wonder if weekends will seem longer.
It's a cold new morning on my first day of cold turkey, and it's been ok so far...I turned the PC off at a reasonable time last night (I didn't get to sleep but at least I tried). Obviously, work today which isn't a problem games wise, but when I get home...ARGH...looks like I'll be hitting that Collected Works of Shakespeare I got for xmas pretty hard :-s
Tim -- No, ALL forms of play are not off-limits. Only electronic gaming, which includes anything you can play on a videogame console or handheld device. You can feel free to play Chess and Monopoly. :)
I'm glad you guys are all with me! It's only a week... something tells me the weekend will be the hardest part.
I've never felt addicted to gaming in general, just to certain games in particular. When then new MGS, FF or Zelda comes out I usually take a week (or two, in FFs case) off from work, 'cause I know I won't be able to stop playing. Seeing as there aren't any games like that out right now, I'm not going to have any problem.
That said, one of my new year's resolutions was to spend less time playing games that aren't artistically worthwhile. In my life, I've spent way too much time playing well-made, but superficial games. With all the other media that still have so many masterpieces of storytelling or aesthetics to offer, I'd rather spend all my free time on theatre, books, films, games, TV, music or any other art that enriches my life, instead of frittering it away on extremely clever but ultimately shallow experiences like Puzzle Quest or most online games.
Still, that raises the following problem: the main story of a game might qualify following the above criteria, but what about subquests? If I try to complete a game 100%, am I breaking my resolution? Where does the pursuit of a higher truth end and the obsessive quest for completion begin? Is it suddenly "allowed" if it gets me a better ending?
Now, if you'd dare me to not touch any artistic medium for an entire week, that'd be a much taller order...
I think I'm quitting forever because gaming has simply been taking up too much time lately.
After college I moved to start a career. It seems that instead of adjusting to or exploring where I live now, I've been just playing games.
I feel like if I quit video games, the worst thing that can happen is that I practice piano a lot, and the best would be that I actually start to feel like this place is a home - make more friends, find cool things to do, etc.
So, I guess that's why I think I'm quitting forever.
So far (three days) I've really wanted to play some Civ. That's about it though.
Okay, I'm game. Beginning Friday, January 4th 2008, and ending Friday, January 11th 2008, no video games for me, this despite just having picked up a PSP and War of the Lions. My next batch of review copies shouldn't arrive until next week anyway. (Hi! I do reviews for Vice Magazine. I started reading this blog when I first picked up that gig, because a good critic is familiar with the body of criticism on any given work before offering his/her own input.)
Immediate response seems to be "Spend time browsing forums instead." That's, uh, not a great sign.
farren79 says: I'd rather spend all my free time on theatre, books, films, games, TV, music or any other art that enriches my life, instead of frittering it away on extremely clever but ultimately shallow experiences like Puzzle Quest or most online games.
What does this elitist-sounding statement mean? In my opinion, Puzzle Quest is just as enriching as any music from Bach -- simple, repeated themes, layered onto one another until the resulting richness and complexity equals more than the sum of its parts. If that's not "art," I don't know what is.
Personally, my motto is "a moment enjoyed is not wasted."
If you get more out of Metal Gear Solid (which makes me retch, personally), or Final Fantasy (which is a ginormous, repetitive time sink to me), that's cool. Other people get off on Madden, or Halo, or other drugs of choice. I like the feeling of completion with something big Knights of the Old Republic, but without the time to accomplish such a task, the everyday microhits from Puzzle Quest will have to do. It's not like either one is making me stronger/smarter/faster or otherwise "enriched." It's a fun little hobby, and isn't that enough?
Okay, Leigh, I'm in. I just finished Uncharted yesterday, and I'm at a good stopping point in Wild ARMs (playing the PSN version on my PSP). My to-play pile - Zack & Wiki, Disgaea PSP, Brave Story, more Persona 3 - will just have to wait.
I'm taking this time to do some reading I've been putting off. I've read 150 pages of The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, since last night. My fantasy reading begins with LotR and ends 250 pages into LotR, but this book is fantastic - one of the most exciting first novels I've read in years. After that I'm finishing off my Transmetropolitan and Ex Machina trades, and then...well, then it's back to the games.
Oh, and Jindo, I love the hell out of Puzzle Quest, but comparing it to Bach? Step slowly away from the keyboard, get some rest, and see how that one sounds in the morning.
I'm an idiot. I spent all of last night wondering how I was going to spend my time without computer games, but this morning I found myself unthinkingly loading up Soul Calibur. My girlfriend walked in the room and, knowing about my week's supposed abstinence, exclaimed "you're playing computer games!". I shot a guilty look at the controller in my hand and said "so I am", and felt like a right idiot. Tsk. I don't know whether to start another week up starting now, or to admit defeat thanks to my own forgetfulness.
@jindofox:
Sorry, I didn't mean to insult anyone - of course it's fine if anyone else enjoys spending their time on sports games, puzzle games or any other genre.
You make two points: "A moment enjoyed is not wasted", and "One man's art is another man's repetitive timesink" (paraphrased). Your second point I can only agree with - my opinion about art is that it should challenge one's worldview, and that's the reason I called Puzzle Quest "ultimately superficial". However, if you do have the feeling that it enriches you, I can't argue with that.
However, I can't help but disagree with your first statement. It's like going to McDonald's, or having a relationship with a beautiful but exceedingly dumb woman. You'll enjoy yourself at first, but at some point you'll get sick of it and all the time you spent will seem wasted in retrospect.
*sigh* I can't help but sound elitist, apparently. I'd like to refer back to the first paragraph - if you enjoy games I find superficial, more power to you. I just can't do it anymore.
David -- I unthinkingly held out my hand for a turn at Umbrella Chronicles last night, too. Fortunately, my roommate was unyielding. And yeah, go right back to your efforts! I really think that if it were very easy for all of us to just take 7 days off, it wouldn't be worth trying/writing about. The idea is to do a truthful experiment, not to do it perfectly.
I feel like if I didn't have you guys doing this too, I might have quit already!
Wow well done to your housemate there, Leigh..It's tough so far, being a weekend, but not too tough. This is the first time I'm grateful my girlfriend isn't really into video games, if she was...I don't think I could last 7 days watching her playing :-s
Jeff declared:
Oh, and Jindo, I love the hell out of Puzzle Quest, but comparing it to Bach? Step slowly away from the keyboard, get some rest, and see how that one sounds in the morning.
LOL, I think you're overrating JSB a bit -- it's been hundreds of years, and his stuff isn't that fresh to modern ears. PQ is the same sort of thing: predictable, derivative, but still very satisfying as a "well-made game."
Farrell sighed: "*sigh* I can't help but sound elitist, apparently. I'd like to refer back to the first paragraph - if you enjoy games I find superficial, more power to you. I just can't do it anymore.
Different strokes, that's all. I want to lose myself in an epic "art" game, but I just don't have the time for things like Okami or Shadow of the Collossus. Portal, sure. Puzzle Quest, definitely. That doesn't make me stupid or shallow, just busy. A game doesn't have to move the earth to interest me; more and more frequently I'm finding that zero-budget indies hook me more than the top ten of anyone's list.
Anyway, to go back on topic, quitting playing is easy -- there's a whole world out there. For me the hardest part is disconnecting from the readily-available culture of the internet, gamer colleagues, a lifetime of habits.
Getting a stack of good books, staying off the computer, and getting lots of fresh air is probably the best way to lick this addiction. If you really, really wanted to, that is.
Personally, I want to find MORE time for gaming, not less.
I'm "in" AND i did QUIT game, I'm no more playing game more than 1 to 6mn or 6hours for analysis purpose. Most time i backseat play. WHY? because i have stop once, and when i was back to game... well, i find them all very badly design for some reason, i could not get into anymore. So i shift to read blog, internet, books about video games, but insatisfied... Despite having a sucky life right now, well, even books, movie or TV could not entertain me any more. Now i ran as much as i can for things that are NOT supposed to be my taste to see if i can find new things, it worsen everything. Maybe it's the shifting of the context of having a rich life in any scale in a small west indies island, to a flat line belgium life of a stranger in a strange land that pulse me down because of a big lost of mark and stimulation?
I have to explain: I don't read books, movie, listening to music, watching tv, because they do not offer enough engagement, video games have train me to be engage in an activity and my social surrounding use to. THEN i felt something is missing in "linear media", but they get what video games DO NOT have enough, diversity and immerse you not in a world but in a message. Message in game are mostly backstory checkpoint rather than being engulf in the flow of the gameplay. But game are also too demanding for nothing, too much repetition, too much shallowness, bad rythm management compare to other media, if some game score in some point they do not score in the other one. Game need game literacy to be understanble but in bad geeky way, the kind of litteracy of stupid details noises of stupid nonsensical convention taht get in the way of the enjoyment. I'm litterate, i can spot very subtle details in game, but it doesn"t help, i have drop mario galaxy as soon as i have the controller in hand, and even 60 stars later nothing has change.
For me Mario Galaxy is the epitome of my uneasiness, specially because it's a game, but just a retelling of 20 years of video game, nothing more, nothing less. Of course if all video games was as polished and good as mario galaxy, the world would be a better place. But it's really felt like we are at the stage just before melies in cinema, where movie where suppose to be fun (or artsy), Game are fun, it's how it's suppose to be because, HELL WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO SOMETHING ELSE! We are still at the stage where einsenstein did not theorize montage and film editing and we are still shooting game like movie were shooting like theater. We looks at other media how to do what they do but with their superficial technics rather than the principle that guide the rise of these technics. Understand, i'm BORED to DEATH!
I investingating out of the edge limit of my taste to figure out what drive people to a taste, to a colision, to the moment of the first meeting, to the awe, to the wonder, we all experience these feelings with different mean, as gamer we focus on a mean 'game', and saying that these feeling are specific to the mean, but the confuse message with messenger, i'm seeking the message...
WELL i'm preparing my next addiction while you are investigating yours :), doing games, alone, as much as i can, no matter the result, just to find the secret equation that tied them all out the geeky darkness.
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