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My On-Off Relationship With Gaming

It's not you, it's me

By John BullockPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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My On-Off Relationship With Gaming
Photo by Ben Neale on Unsplash

I don't remember what started it, but my earliest memory of anything game-related was wanting—and eventually getting—a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. I spent hours a night on that thing, permanently etching the noise of the tape-loading screech into my brain.

But, as kids do, I started to lose interest. I'm not sure of exact dates, but I was probably around twelve when I started to find riding my bike and playing football in front of oncoming traffic more interesting.

Then, one Christmas, my parents got me and my brother a SEGA Mega Drive (that's a Genesis to most of the world). You might be thinking that it was the new hotness that drew me back into gaming, but, once the shine started to wear off, my inevitable lack of interest in the rest of the 16-bit era was followed by a stint in the gaming wilderness that wouldn't end until the Xbox 360 came out in 2005.

I was silly enough to purchase an Xbox One at launch, which perfectly coincided with another bout of the don't-cares. Fortunately, I had a son of my own by this point, and the Xbox One hasn't gone to waste—although Roblox probably isn't the best of use of the Xbox One's finely tuned hardware.

I would later get back into gaming—this time regular old PC gaming—with some friends of mine, playing various online multiplayer joints for hours on end on a Saturday night (by now I'm too old to be going out at the weekend), but I now find myself, yet again, losing interest in gaming.

Obsessive Behaviour

Like many people these days, I can get a little obsessive at times. Something will peek my interest in an article about Ancient Greece and, before you know it, I own twelve books on the rise and fall of the various Greek empires. It would be natural to think that maybe something else was drawing my attention, but that's not the case. The only thing that's taking more of my time lately is writing, but I was always writing.

I've also considered the possibility that the gaming itself is the obsessive behaviour, rather than the thing I'm being distracted from. That doesn't add up, though, as I exclusively game with friends lately, and on nights where they can't make it I invariably end up doing something else.

The Fallout

Depending on your own outlook, you might be seeing this state of affairs as a travesty. Perhaps you think gaming is a frivolous waste (though I doubt you'd be reading this if that were the case), and the less time I spend doing it, the better.

I certainly get more done when I don't spend ten hours a week playing video games. But I've also reached a point where gaming is as much a social activity as it is a gaming one, and I don't really see my gaming buddies outside of game nights.

For the most part, I don't find there are any significant downsides to my on-off relationship with gaming. Sure, I had a nasty habit of buying full-fat triple-A games at launch price and putting a grand total of two hours into them before losing interest, but more fool me for not learning that lesson sooner.

In fact, the biggest area of concern I have about my lack of gaming is my game development interests. I am working on a game of my own, and intend to work on more when this one is finished. But how long can you not consume a type of media before it starts to affect your ability to make that media?

I guess I'll find out, because I've missed two game nights in a row, and the urge to code is stronger than the urge to play.

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About the Creator

John Bullock

Freelance content writer with an eclectic employment history and an interest in game development.

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