Giving Up Gaming 2 – Half Baked

Hello again internet residents! I’ve conquered my first two weeks of this experiment. As I write this I am struck with the same thought that plagued me when I started. “You’re not completely giving up gaming, since you can play once a week. This seems like cheating. This doesn’t seem hard enough.” Well shut up negative me because this is in fact harder than you thought.

Addiction. That’s how I would describe my relationship with gaming. I didn’t neglect my family or spend the rent money on games but I was hooked on their positive reinforcement. Games are designed so that you win; even things like Dark Souls bend to you after enough time. So when I was suddenly cut off from the constant reminder that “I am great and the best at everything I do” I suffered a type of withdrawal. Gaming reduction has given me some time to think about if my natural positive attitude was due to games, or just because of who I am. I don’t have an answer yet.

Veering away from identity crisis, this shrinkage in game time has expanded time with my son and I . It’s been a bit too cold to play outside so we’ve been doing projects inside, his favorite being Christmas decorating. He, like his mother and father, loves the Christmas season and all the festivities that surround it. I introduced him to paper snowflake crafting and now dozens of snowflakes encircle my living room. This is a good feeling.

Not to devolve into child stories but I (Midwestern mom voice) “just have to tell you about the funniest thing my boy did!” He loves the story of Humpty Dumpty, more specifically he loves reenacting the “having a great fall” portion with a real egg. Normally we would go outside, recite the poem, and smash an egg on the ground. Great fun, really. Well since it has been so cold we have not been able to take him outside and so he took his Humpty Dumpty play time in his own hands. Specifically his own room. Specifically 5 eggs. Specifically 5 eggs smashed into the carpet and all over his room. It’s funny now, not so funny then. Still, I can’t fault his level of motivation.

Also he started his fighting classes. He’s the youngest in his class but one of the tallest. Go figure. I have yet to enroll because I need an extra 50 bones a month that I simply do not have. So that goal will have to wait.

Speaking of goals I’ve progressed a hair length on some of mine. In order to ease myself into Spanish I picked up an app called Duolingo. It’s free and teaches you pretty much any language. I’ve gotten well into the basics and can now tell you that I eat apples. It is a slow process as I’ve never been very good with other languages. Some would argue that I’m not well adept with English either. I wouldn’t argue. Regardless, I’ve liked Duolingo so far and it’s a great way to learn in bite-sized chunks. Each lesson take about 5 minutes and becomes more complex as you become more comfortable with the language.

I’ve also been slogging through The Intelligent Investor which is… riveting. It’s something I need to read but it is certainly not an action packed thrill ride. If you’re looking into investing it’s not what I would start with. I would start with this, “A Beginner’s Guide to Investing: How to Grow Your Money the Smart and Easy Way.”

And lastly I played Pokemon Omega Ruby. In two days (one each week) I clocked in just under 15 hours. A friend of mine asked me if I really played over 7 hours in one day to which I responded “If I can only play one day a week, you’re damn right I did.” It was nice to get back into a game on those days but I had a strange feeling of dread the day before them. I’ve yet to feel out where this dread stems from but I’m sure it will hit me eventually.

And that in itself is something I feel required more elaboration. In all writing I have done before, I have known how I felt or thought about something because I would take the time necessary to cook the thought. For example, the Batman Arkham City is a Terrible Game article took me nearly a year to write because it stewed in the back of my mind for that long. In comparison these posts may seem a little half cooked and that’s because they are. These are mostly raw with just enough thought to explain the feeling but not its direction or purpose. I hope you enjoy this because it’s a part of me that is rarely shown in the digital space.

Anyway, Pokemon Omega Ruby is fantastic but I do hate the lack of character customization and the loss of the roller skates. I have a shiny Beedrill that I bred myself and named him Excalibee.

As always you can reach me at [email protected] or hit me up on Twitter, @Snickelsox, or just leave a comment on this post. If you want to talk, so do I.

Hasta Luego!