… it’s because I’m busy playing video games.
If, for some Godforsaken reason, you still don’t play video games, let me tell you something: Winter is gaming season. The summer blockbusters have been and gone. The warm, hazy friend-filled nights spent outdoors have dissipated with the first chills of September. Slowly but surely we retreat to our warm, cosy caves, fall to our sofas, plump our pillows and… turn on the TV! Autumn is when most big games and TV shows are released — no big surprise, considering that’s when the biggest, voluminous-backside-on-seat audience is available!
Now, historically this time of year wasn’t a problem — far from it! There used to only be 2 or 3 big games a year. I could stagger them and start one every few months. But now with the industry ballooning and game budgets growing to the size of feature films — because they are that profitable — there’s simply too many games. There used to be one big FPS a year, one or two RPGs, a sports simulator and… that would be it. There’d be other oddball games that could entertain you for a few hours, but nothing big. Some years you might not even play a single stand-out game!
That’s not the case nowadays though, and I suppose it never will be again. Just in September alone, I have the following games that I need to play through: Guitar Hero 5, Rockband: Beatles (well, I might give this one a miss…) AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! (really a game), Murumasa and Batman: Arkham Asylum. That’s just on the PC and Xbox360. If I include the DS/Wii… well… you would probably never see me again. I’ve never been able to pull myself away from the Cake Mania series of games…
October’s even worse, but I won’t bore you with the specifics. All I’m trying to say is: if you’re the kind of person that keeps track of at least five TV shows a week (or four, if you’re a True Blood fan and you’ve just watched the finale — please don’t spam me with comments on how you want to have Cullen’s babies. Wait, that’s Twilight! Ahh, I can’t keep up…) — anyway… if you watch a lot of TV, perhaps you will now understand why it will almost feel like hard work being a games player this Autumn. Think about it: an average, big-budget game takes between 20 and 60 hours to finish. That’s the same length as a standard 24-part drama season on the short end, and three seasons on the long! And I have to play three games a month if I want to keep up with all of the releases this Autumn/Winter! That’s a minimum of 60 hours a month, or as much as 180 — or 8 solid days of gaming…
But the best thing? The caveat and saving grace? It doens’t even make me a nerd any more! Video games are now part of popular culture. They are as much a consumable commodity as movie DVDs or TV box sets. In fact, I laugh derisively at those people with LoveFilm or NetFlix subscriptions! HAH!
The point of this entry was actually to warn you that you may get an awful lot of games-related blog entries over the next few weeks and months. But that’s healthy. I’ve been ignoring the gamer side of me for much too long. And there are actually a lot of gamers that read this blog: so these months are for you, gentlemen (and lady).
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Incidentally, if you’re not a gamer, but you are interested in playing them, you should read my guide: A Beginner’s Guide to Gaming. It will walk you through from the very beginning (it doesn’t tell you how to hook up a console to your TV, but everything else!) Think of gaming as ‘interactive TV’, or ‘entertainment for the intellectual’, where you give a little of yourself to make it a much more interesting (and sometimes fulfilling!) experience.
There is a reason it’s the only growing segment of the media industry.
Sebastian's mother
Sep 16, 2009
No games are as good as Farmville dear….. I have to admit that I am addicted. Only last night when I was babysitting for a friend (it’s ok, I still love you the most) all I could think of was getting home and harvesting my melons….
Tina Mammoser
Sep 16, 2009
And you haven’t even mentioned multiplayer online games. You’re doooomed.
I swear that the discovery of World of Warcraft has vastly helped my diet! (which is a diet in the loosest terms, more a longterm habit change than eating lettuce kinda diet) Because I just forget to eat/snack. Hoorah!
So I’m with you on this one. Yesterday was Tuesday. Tuesday is generally maintenance day for WoW (on the US servers anyway, which is where I play). And it’s at PST (Pacific) time which given the time difference means for someone like me in the UK we may as well just write off the whole day.
There was NO MAINTENANCE YESTERDAY! What started as a gleeful little couple hours to celebrate turned into a whole afternoon, then my brother logged on in Chicago so basically I WoWed for 12 hours. Um. Oops. Guess I’ll have to call that my day off for this week eh?
(Saying that I’m quite proud of the fact that I’ve levelled a character to 50 in 2 months plus racked up half way through the revered reputation to get exalted with the trolls. (*and* levelled an alt to 18 too)) (I really like parentheses.)
Tina Mammoser
Sep 16, 2009
Hmm… sadly, I now don’t wonder why I don’t have a girlfriend…
sebastian
Sep 16, 2009
(Nerds love parentheses, it illustrates their… eclectic… train of thought. You can just digress at any stage (and talk about games or TV or Dragoncon or that hot British goth/fantasy writer) and then come right back to where you originally were — talking about parentheses…)
A lot of people say WoW was the best thing that happened to them! It stops them drinking as much. They often eat less (though this can go both ways…) — it’s probably more social than clubbing too. And look at me! I’ve travelled around half of Europe because of my guild’s connections! Wonderbar.
(50 in two months is quite slow… but it’s OK for a first-timer I guess!)
sebastian
Sep 16, 2009
Oh, mum… you need to do what I do: form a guild of people that you trust enough to harvest those melons for you.
Tina Mammoser
Sep 16, 2009
lol! I know 50 in 2 months isn’t super speedy.
But I don’t want to shift from ‘geek’ to ‘nerd’ remember… And I’m not terribly social, but as my hobbies previously weren’t social either I don’t see it as a bad thing. PLUS I get to play with my brother at least a couple times a month, usually more, which is vastly more social with him than the one time a year we usually saw each other. Longterm quality sibling relationship, and all that malarky eh? Gotta count for something. (and we have little else in common)
Back in philosophical mode… I see nothing wrong with all your platform games either. Most people have at least a couple hours of the day they waste, usually with television, yet they somehow deem gaming unacceptable. Go with what makes you happy. You just have a different social//intellectual circle. And contrary to what people might think, just because a social community has one thing in common to start with doesn’t mean the conversation ends there. It’s just the jumping off point for friendships to grow. Many people’s core social groups revolve around work – how “cool” is that? What do those groups of people actually have in common outside an office space? This is no different. We start with one thing in common (gaming, work, school, kids on playground) and get to know each other better. And then travel Europe, apparently.
Just be aware that you might be single as long as I have (14 years), but if you’re okay with that then who’s to judge?
sebastian
Sep 16, 2009
Well, as you say, socialising and friendships are all about common ground. Work, relationships, the latest films, books, etc. Games aren’t considered ‘social’ because they’re not (yet) the common ground for communication.
Certainly under the age of 20 or so, they are. Kids will rush into the playground and discuss the latest games. I’ve had amazing conversations with 14 year olds simply because I’m a gamer, and games were our only common ground.
The good thing is… the window will only increase in size! Give it 5 years and I think games will replace TV/films as the common ground.
Goza
Sep 16, 2009
20 to 60 hours per game? What you been smoking, Sebby! Often you are lucky to get even 15h out of them. Singleplayer, of course.
PS: Can we request live piano music tonight, please? The raid could use it.
sebastian
Sep 16, 2009
I think my mum would love to play some piano! I’ll take some requests, and she can pick her favourite.
Mass Effect and the other big RPGs (BioShock, Dragon Age) should be 20+ hours? The FPSes are shorter but more intense!
Goza
Sep 16, 2009
Even Mass Effect was quite short. The main mission was only 3 or 4 planets, it got bloated by several RNG-quality side mission planets that were no fun to play at all.
Hot main thread, abysmal side quests.
sebastian
Sep 16, 2009
Yes, true! I’d forgotten that I spent about 10 hours on random planets doing useless shit.
I guess as the games become more cinematic they will eventually come down to around 3 hours in length…
Jaime
Sep 16, 2009
I feel bad for people who don’t play games.
LiLu
Sep 16, 2009
I am OBSESSED with Wii swordfighting right now. Not sure if that counts in the “gaming” world, but I love it!
Eleni
Sep 16, 2009
Yay for games! I sure hope this whole school thing doesn’t cut into my gaming time once DAO etc. start arriving.
I liked some of those useless quests on random planets in Mass Effect (though the collection quests–medallions, minerals, emblems, writings, blah, blah–were particularly unnecessary). Besides, there were at least 7 important locations for the main quest (still not too many, but more than 3 or 4). I agree with the 20 hours+ figure, but maybe it’s just because I can be a stubborn completionist.
Seems there is more than one female gamer among your readers. We will not be relegated to parentheses!
Tina Mammoser
Sep 16, 2009
aw man, your guild has piano music? I’m so in the wrong guilds.
Tina Mammoser
Sep 16, 2009
Eleni I’m sort of an old-school gamer (good ol’ dice) whose been introduced to WoW. So newbie in the modern world! I’m not actually keen on any platform games – a combination of short attention span and the basic fact that, well, I suck at them. Unless it’s an Atari.
I’m convinced people born after 1980 actually have differently designed thumbs. 
Ben
Sep 17, 2009
I own no consoles, so I’m a PC gamer more or less exclusively these days (which is annoying, because I do want the Beatles Rock Band game.. yes I’m Beatles fan).
I do sometimes find it hard to come across games that really grab my attention these days, though I am looking forward to some upcoming releases and have certainly spent far too much time playing various things online, be they racing, RPG or just good ol’ counter-strike.
One of the cool things about the PC is that I can just emulate a load of older consoles anyway and waste hours replaying old SNES games and the like.
Angie
Sep 17, 2009
I know this winter I will probably finally get The Sims 3.
Last January my consisted of working and coming home and playing The Sims 2.
JPP
Sep 17, 2009
I only say this because you know I love you with the fiery passion of my soul (weird) but in my book dear Seb… gamers are still nerds.
Cute, endearing nerds, but nerds still.
sebastian
Sep 17, 2009
Which game, Lilu? Zelda? Star Wars? Or do you mean just bouncing around with a disconnected Wii controller in your hand and pretending you’re Zorro?
(We’ve all been there…)
Eleni, I think with your TV schedule and games, and your PhD… you may begin to have a few problems
I’ve been trying to work out what TV I can fit into my schedule. I think only 3 or 4 shows a week. Last night’s Glee was great!
Tina — there was actually some hair-brained study into the ‘evolution of thumbs’ or some crap. About how the ‘mobile phone generation’ will have/already has different thumbs. Or something. Our guild often has ‘raid musics’ — guitar, piano… drunken Swedish singing…
The emulators are great, Benny! There’s even a good Wii emulator out now apparently? So you can play those games in lovely high-resolution! I think the last game I emulated was FF7 though; emulators have probably come on a long way since then. I bought the Xbox360 primarily for GTA IV and Guitar Hero…!
You know, Angie, Sims 3 is the first Sims game I’m actually tempted to play. I keep hearing die-hard Sims-haters saying it’s actually REALLY good. I guess it’s time to cave and try it…
JPP: Shoo!