My position on Video Games

It has come to my attention that there are some mixed reactions (surprise, surprise) to something my wife recently said about me. Having waited and listened to the secondary sources I feel the time is right for me to speak up on this matter.

My wife has said one reason she loves me is that I don’t play video games as often as I used too. This, much to the dismay of two indescribably valuable friends, and myself, is true. I used to play video games all the time, but lately I’m lucky if I can sneak in an hour or two per week.

One reason is because I don’t have any new games. In the abundance of time that unemployment has provided me I’ve played and even beaten my games several times. I’ve accomplished all that there is, or all that I desire, to accomplish in them. When I have found time to play I get bored rather quickly because of this and will pop in two or three games for maybe 5 minutes each before deciding I don’t want to play anymore. What new games I have acquired in the last year are actually old games I remember fondly from years ago, and so they are not a new experience for me.

I don’t have time to play video games anymore. Going back to school, which I love, occupies the majority of my time with classes and especially homework. I also have lessons to prepare for Elder’s Quorum, and unlike some teachers I like to put thought and effort into my teaching. What little time I have in between these is used for job searching and on occasion, eating and sleeping. I also get distracted with little projects I want to complete, such as correcting misconceptions about my faith and writing stories for publication, friends, and family.

I have other things I want to do with the little bits of free time I have. I have three kids, only one of whom is old enough to be playing video games and there are only two I want her to play at this point. They like it when I chase, wrestle, sing, dance, and tickle them. They smile at me when they want to play with me, how am I supposed to resist that?! I used to hate reading, but somehow Shirley has got me interested in it. I’ve read more books this last year than I have in all 28 before. I was already familiar with some of the authors I’ve been reading, but I discovered two authors whom I love and sadly they’ve only written three books each. I highly recommend Sandra McDonald’s Sci-Fi trilogy (a bit more profanity than preferred but I got over it) and Michael Curtis Ford’s historical fiction.

Now, having said all this, let me be clear: I still love and want to play video games. I have not been “cured” of this so called video game disease or addiction. I’m keeping a list of video games I intend to play as soon as I have the money to afford them. If any of you care to make a donation to prevent this poor soul (me) of falling away from the purer faith (that video games are awesome) your contributions would be most welcome and appreciated.

The List (not a complete list or in any particular order):

Mass Effect 2 (360)

Halo: Reach (360)

Fable 3 (360)

Fallout 3 (360)

Fallout New Vegas (360)

The New Super Mario Brothers (Wii)

Overlord 2 (360)

Having finished this post I have a few hours before bed time… I think I’ll go and do what comes naturally to anyone of German ancestry: Conquer France! (Empire: Total War for PC)