How Video Games are Pushing Me Away

I love to play video games. It is probably my #1 all time form of entertainment. Yes, it has caused me a bit of frustration as well, but that sense of accomplishment you feel when you complete a hard mission or task is something that’s hard to find anywhere else. However, I have been playing video games less and less as I’ve gotten older, and that’s not just because I’ve gotten a job and a girlfriend and focused more on them. It’s because video games have pushed me away in various methods. I have gone from an avid (almost pro) gamer to a casual gamer who plays occasionally.

One of the first reasons I play video games less and less is that there are more game modes. You might wonder why that would make me play them less, but when I see a game with 20+ ways of playing (I’m talking to you, COD and Gears of War!), it makes me feel slightly overwhelmed, like what the heck am I supposed to do first? Gone are the days of simple gaming where there was the campaign or “story mode” and multiplayer only. Now there’s Co-op, arcade modes, 10 different kinds of multiplayer, and more. I’m also the type of gamer that believes if you don’t have anyone to play with you on the same console, you shouldn’t play with anyone, period. I hate playing with people I don’t know. It’s not fun.

Another reason I play video games less is because of technical issues. It seems more today than ever games are crashing, freezing, exiting out, and just downright failing to even work. Video game companies are releasing games with serious flaws, and there’s a very logical reason behind it. They are in competition with another to release the “next big game” and that’s why there is a bajillion Calls of Duty’s and 3 Gears of War’s and 5 Halo games. It’s partly our fault, though, as we get easily bored with games and demand the sequel just a few months later. However, these game developers should take that extra time to fix glitches and bugs before releasing their games.

Thirdly, when I play a new video game, I don’t feel like I’m playing a game, I feel like I’m experiencing something. For most people, that’s exactly what they want. But not for me. When I sit down to play a video game, that’s all I want to do. I just want to kill time, have fun, and not get frustrated by anything. The simpler the game mode, the better. I want to know I’m playing a video game and be able to let my anger go when something goes wrong, because I can easily tell myself, “It’s just a game.” With newer games, you get so immersed and so involved and connected to a game you can seriously get into fits of rage when something goes wrong, and I’m not going to have any part of that. Nowadays you have ranks and levels and if something bad happens you could lose rank or skills. I don’t like that. I just want to play a game for fun, not so I have a better online rank.

So you see, video games are really becoming something I don’t like. Don’t get me wrong, I will hold onto my old consoles (N64, Original Xbox) and continue to play them, even years from now. To me, it feels like gaming hit its peak 5-7 years ago and has declined since then. One thing I can say is that this post is mainly directed at Microsoft and Sony, but I feel Nintendo has done a fabulous job of putting simple games out there and not making gaming too much of an experience. I might just perhaps have to switch back to Nintendo, because Xbox has become too much of a hassle for me.