Playing video games until 2 am

2005-07-17

I've been spending WAY TOO MUCH time lately playing video games, which, by the way, is something I'm reminded by others is not necessarily what a 39-year old is supposed to be doing.

I have fallen into the category of people who will actively choose to lose sleep in order to get to the next level of whatever game I'm playing (which often happens sometime in the 2 am hour).

I've been a gamer my whole life. It all started with pinball machines. In fact, I won my very first stereo in an 8th grade Bala Cynwyd Junior High School pinball competition. We were having one of those annoying magazine sales drives (you know, the ones your kids have and you foist on your co-workers, guilting them into buying something so your kid will either finish in 1st place – mostly for your pride – or, as is often the case, to get them off your back). Each student that sold at least one magazine subscription was given a chance to play a single game of pinball (sorry, can't remember which machine) and the highest score from the entire school won the stereo. I won by a long shot and wore out many a vinyl album on that turntable.

As technology advanced in the early ’80s, I moved on to arcade video games and probably my all-time favorite one, Robotron, a two-joystick frenzy of man against robot. I would find any excuse possible to get on my bike to go to the Galactica II arcade on Montgomery Ave. (for those of you from Philly, it was right next to the WaWa convenience store in Narberth). There was a time when the refrigerator in our house had more quarts of milk than brownie night at a Cub Scout meeting. I got so good I could play for hours on a single quarter. This, of course, did not sit well with the Galactica II owner who one day decided he’d had enough of my advanced skills and unplugged the machine – while I was playing.

And now, decades, and many game consoles and discs later, I find myself just as hooked as when I was a teen. I think it’s the story telling that I find most captivating. Though I know the category is popular, I’m not really interested in sports games. For the most part, they really don’t tell a story. Games for me are like movies. They have plots, schemes, character development; they immerse us in other worlds and realities, and allow us to see a story from many angles. A great game for me is as good as any movie or TV show, and in many cases better, because I have a hand in shaping the outcome.

I just recently finished playing The Chronicles of Riddick for XBOX (my console of choice), and while the movie was utter shit, the game was actually very good. Like a great book that you know you’re only eight pages from finishing, getting to the end of a game is both rewarding and depressing – you did it! But, the adventure is over. Sure, you can replay games over and over, but the journey for me is about the discovery of what’s around the next corner. Once I’ve seen it, well…I’ve seen it.

I’ve tried explaining my fascination with video games to others who don’t play, but I usually get a “why don’t you grow up” look from them. I get a similar look from gamer friends who I tell that I like to play golf on the weekends.

I don’t see myself not playing games, but I have to do something about staying up until almost 3 am, it makes those 8 am conference calls a lot more difficult.