I remember when I was younger it was such a big deal to play games. I would try to be on for as much as I could before my parents told me to get off and my eyes would end up being super blood shot all the time. I was like that for awhile, but then I got Live and my own computer so it became more important to play online with friends from school and that I met on the internet, so from about '05 to '10 most of my gaming time went on during the evening for 2-4 hours (probably more than that, I honestly did not really keep track of time back then).
Around the middle of high school (2011) things started to change, I was with a crowd where we did a lot of non gaming things most of the time and just sort of enjoyed each others company more rather than sharing gaming experiences with each other. I still bought the newest releases and even got a better computer, It was weird though... I would just fly through the single player in a weekend, try the online portion a bit and shelf it. I tried getting into MMOs and dumped a good amount of time into GW2 and swtor, but that was mostly off and on, I just can't play one game with mechanics like that for months and months. Was just never really the same as playing PS2 or gamecube as soon as I got home from elementary school.
So fast forward to now and I would say gaming has changed a lot. It's still kind of "dude bro" but the games are different now. Instead of Call of Duty and Halo its LoL, DOTA 2, or CSGO. I can't say I really enjoy these games because I think the super serious attitude and competitiveness in them is a reaaaal turn off. Sometimes I just want to slouch and barely look at the screen while I blast dudes away, but I feel like every match of League or CSGO is such a nail biting, eye bursting, rage inducing, high heart rate experience. Seriously, fuck these new games. I feel like I'm more likely to get gray hair from these games than my college classes sometimes. So I find myself browsing the internet more, binge watching tv shows, watching movies, and hanging out with people now.
I have to admit though, The Witcher 3 has really surprised me. It's been awhile since a game has gripped me like the way this game has into it's story and gameplay. It's dense enough that I think this game is going to last me for a couple months (hopefully) and it's intelligently well thought out in it's writing and story that I'm very interested in what's happening in the world.
I think overall, as children, things are a lot more impressionable. I wasn't just dumped a whole library of games either. My parents never allowed me to play M rated games for instance and getting them to buy a new game for myself was a big deal, so all those games were blocked off for me until I managed to convince them I was old enough. Playing Wind Waker for the first time or seeing the neon lights of Vice city while sitting quietly with my brother and then running out as soon as my mom came home from work are probably some of my best video game memories because it was just so awesome to see that. It was a privilege almost. Now it's kind of whatever. I can go turn on a console and play all night if I wanted to, or better yet, just sit here and play something. The magic is pretty much dead as you get older.
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