Pro Military Gaming & Entertainment

Times, they are a changing. Less than three years ago I can remember taking a week of Leave to begin and finish a new game title. An 80 hour RPG was my cup of tea, 20 hour action adventures barley satisfied my addiction, and an 8 hour FPS did little to wet my appetite.  Those times literally feel like a lifetime ago. Now a 20 hour game takes 2 or 3 weeks to complete. The last three RPG’s I attempted, two of which being Fallout titles, have all ended in defeat.

The change in routine was caused by numerous factors. I finally started going to school full time after a very long hiatus. My son was born and my daughter was getting older and needed more interaction. Last but not least, I wanted to spend more time with my wife after she completed her degree. To accommodate all of this something had to give. That something would have to be a reduction in game playing time from 24 or more hours a week to much more meager 4 hours.

At first, this change in lifestyle was met with rejection. I attempted to work games into my children’s naps and stay up until the crack of dawn to make up for lost time. Most times I woke up on the couch with little to no game progress and kink in my neck. Needless to say this strategy wasn’t working to my advantage and frustration was starting to get the better of me. After a quick brainstorming session I finally conceded that I would have to reduce how many titles I played in a given year and scope of those games.

Gone was the endless amount of RPG’s that consumed the bulk of my time. Now if I wanted to play an 80 hour game it would have to be the only game I played for the next 6 or so months. The amount of experimental games would have to change as well. Indie games and brand new IPs would have to wait for validation that they were any good. I would have to rely on the word of mouth of my coworkers and countless game reviews. Established franchises and big budget titles would have to be my bread and butter from here on out. I officially became the mainstream and retired from the core gamer demographic. Woe is me, right? Not quite.

By reducing my time in front of the tv, gaming became a hobby again and not a lifestyle. I realized that playing games had become a chore of sorts. 24 hours a week was the equivalent of a part time job and I treated it as such. After being freed from this routine, so to speak, gaming has become fun again. Just recently I finished Portal 2 and have plans to download Bastion. Since it has been close to 100 degree’s everyday here in Virginia I play Super Mario Galaxy 2 with the kids, regularly. Not being bound to a time table and playing games in smaller chunks has changed everything. Today, I am no longer a marathon gamer. If I had to label myself I would say that I am just a gaming enthusiast and proud of it.

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