I don’t consider myself a casual gamer. I have been asked in all seriousness by my significant other when I think I will stop playing video games. I quizzically responded that I didn’t think I would ever stop playing video games. Are they such a childish venture that grown men can’t participate? I amended my answer by saying that I would play until my body wouldn’t let me anymore, until my reflexes or eyes or hands could no longer take it (something I fear may be prematurely afflicting Colin). Surely my gaming will diminish with a full fledged career and a family, but I never intend on it ending out right.

Neither do I consider myself to be a hardcore gamer. That is a label I see tossed around often in the community and I am not sure what exactly it implies. Sometimes it seems you must be one or the other, casual or hardcore. Or that hardcore has something to do with multiplayer gaming and one’s proficiency and dedication to it. Major League Gaming, or MLG, is an example of what hardcore could possibly mean. The Microsoft consoles even have a hardcore attitude about them, whether intended or not. Is it the genres of games one plays? Casual games have become a genre all to themselves, despite the actual nature of the games whether they be action, strategy, puzzle, etc. Does predominantly playing shooter games make you a hardcore gamer? Either way, I dislike that title.

I prefer to think of myself as an avid gamer. A gamer aficionado.

I have my priorities, but besides the basics, not too much gets in they way of my game time. One of the biggest road blocks for me is other games. Multiplayer matches often take precedence over other games, much to my own disappointment. I will be rapt with excitement for a new title I have been eagerly awaiting, only to put it on the back burner as I frag people online. I can’t seem to help this. The best way for me to move on is to drop it cold turkey; sometimes I have to wait for the next multiplayer game to take over. Another problem is owning multiple consoles. I often find that any Wii game I have takes second fiddle to any 360 title, regardless of the merits each may have. Part of this I blame on my disappointment with the Wii, as a whole package including game library, and part I blame on the 360’s achievement feature. I am not a ‘cheevo’ hunter, but I do take a certain degree of satisfaction in unlocking and collecting these. I enjoy a high score, but much more so, I enjoy looking back over my path of conquest. That is to say, I like reviewing what games I have beaten and what I managed to accomplish in each. Even if gamer points and a score were not associated with achievements, and even if they were not online for all to see, they would still hold power to sway me to play games on the 360.

The opposite of this is true as well. A lack of games will draw me away. I think the community has been lucky over the past two years and we have been both blessed, and burdened with an almost continuous strong line up of titles. There have been droughts in the past though, and I would find my consoles collecting dust.

The only other thing that can really pull me away for any length of time from games is a need to read, and vice versa. Sometimes, for whatever reason, I begin to read something and I will just be captivated, and I will not be able to replace the book in my hand with a controller, no matter how much I want to. I will plow through multiple volumes without so much as powering on a system. The same can be said about reading when I am really into games. It is a shame that the two cannot seem to share the spotlight. It is always one or the other. I suppose it is my somewhat addictive personality. I have some Kurt Vonnegut titles in the mail as I write and I anxiously await their arrival. I hope to beat Devil May Cry 4, Condemned 2, Crackdown, and Super Smash Brothers Brawl before my attention is too divided.

So it goes.

Take a stand!

1. adam, you know i love you but i skipped almost all of that giant thing you wrote.

   i think you should just write out that porno script that i asked for. its long overdue…

   — Kyle · Mar 18, 11:26 PM · #

2. “That’s a huge bitch!” Maybe I will post some of my hardcore romance novel here. If it pleases the masses.

   — Adam · Mar 19, 09:16 AM · #

3. I read it all Adam…I guess that means that I love you more than Kyle.

   No biggie.

   — B · Mar 19, 04:31 PM · #

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