Video Games: Balancing Life or Succumbing to Addiction

I don’t normally get on soapboxes. I don’t normally go on rants. But after watching this video on Screwattack.com (I highly suggest watching it before reading ahead), it really stood out as something both extremely well done and something that offered a message to us as gamers:

DO NOT LET GAMES TAKE OVER OUR LIVES.

It’s a simple statement, but one not necessarily easy to follow. How many of us have grown up with games? How many hours a day, days in the week, weeks in the months are spent playing video games? Take solace in the fact that I am not condemning video games or have reached a new celestial status where I’m “above” gaming. Rather I would like to reiterate the facts made from the video. Most of our readers fit between our age group of 18-30. We’ve grown up playing Atari, Nintendo, Sega, and have moved on to bigger and better things. We’ve spent countless hours collecting all the pieces of the Triforce, getting all 120 stars, or performing fatalities on our friends. We’ve eaten, breathed, and lived video games for the last two decades. They are a part of our lives.

But they shouldn’t be our WHOLE life.

I can see where Brian Schmoyer is coming from as I just bought a condo with my soon to be wife. I couldn’t be happier as she, among other things, is a gamer. We’ll play Galaxy Wars, or countless Xbox Live titles. She’s very supportive of my gaming “habit” and I love her even more for it. It has brought us together, not apart. And I think that’s one of the biggest benefits gaming can have on a person and on a community. I grew up playing games, but now that I think about it, I played them with friends, talked about them with friends, and experienced them with friends. I would say 99% of my high school buddies I met because I overheard them talking about Duke Nukem (did you know back then that one PC could “call” another PC with this thing called a MODEM). But it didn’t stop there. The power of gaming brought me into the world of MMOs where I met a numbed of people I still keep in contact with today. One of them has even invited to my wedding. When I say in contact, I don’t mean an occasional Facebook status check, I mean I know their lives, they know mine. I know their kids names, I know that their life outside the game is more important than inside some social virtual environment. We talk, we share, we live.

I used to say that I played video games to escape from the real world. Now that I think about it, why should I need to escape? Sure, life sucks sometimes, but since there’s no permanent way to get rid of it, you might as well deal with what you have, make it better, and move on. Easier said than done for sure, but using the “escapist” attitude can’t be any better. We find ourselves trapped, alone, in the dark, looking for any sign of social significance. Until it becomes too late. All of our friends we’ve shunned away, and we’ve forgotten what the outside looks like. We forget that we were once fun to be around, how we enjoyed playing sports, being outside, gardening, swimming, camping, or any of the billion activities we could be doing.After reflecting on the video and my own experience, I now feel that I play video games because of the time spent with friends, or the incredible story someone has created, or simply because I might just want to. As Brian says, there is little to be gained from video games (or all entertainment media) besides the instant gratification you get from leveling up, killing the last zombie, or saving the princess. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a video game. All things in moderation, right? The one thing you can take away is the memories you have with friends. My most nostalgic memories of gaming deal with more than just the game. They deal with the time period, the era of my adolescence in which I would spend time playing with my brother, my friends, my family. Time is well spent talking to friends about the upcoming Wii or 360 console and how we’ll be able to play, talk, and interact with each other online. We are lucky enough to live in an age that technology allows us to be so close at the push of a button. We have the ability to interact in the flesh and with our virtual characters.

A social experiment?

If anything, gaming has gotten to a point where it’s such a social interaction, any negative stigmas should be clearly wiped. Of course, you’ll always find the random immature Xbox Live player, but think of all the good it has done. Brothers living states apart can now play a few games of Madden football. Old college roommates can keep in touch by watching The Office on Netflix together through Xbox Live. A husband and wife can even play Halo when one goes on a business trip. Sure, video games can still serve as a complete time sink, but it can also be so much more.

The Wii and iPhone has shown us that you don’t have to be a hardcore player to be considered a “gamer”. I know more people introduced to gaming in the past two years because of these outlets, due to it being much more socially acceptable to talk about games at the work place. At work, I have a desktop wallpaper of the original Sony Playstation. Countless times people have come up to me and have struck up a conversation about it. I can only imagine 5-10 years ago what their reaction would have been. Being a gamer before used to carry a stench of laziness, dorkiness, and nerdiness that people would strive to stay away from. Now, it’s become a part of our society as much as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Brian’s message has a serious undertone but mine is a bit more light hearted. I don’t have any sob stories, I’m not overweight or divorced. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to perform your magnum opus of a 180. What I think he’s trying to say is, don’t let yourself get to that point. Games don’t have an expiration date. You can play them whenever you want. Don’t cram in 10 hours sessions when you have a wife you love, or a child you cherish. Real life includes responsibilities outside of collecting gold coins or upgrading your fire sword. Like all things in life, moderate your gaming, don’t overkill or overdose yourself with it. For those slowly going down that path, it’s time to wake up! Take responsibilty for yourself. The easiest thing to do is to blame video games for your eating habits, lack of social stimulation, the fact that you’re alone, or countless other negative factors in your life. Put on a clean shirt, breathe some fresh air, and make the best of your life. Not only will you learn to appreciate gaming even more, you’ll see that outside of your Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, Ds, or PSP, life might be the biggest game yet.

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