Saturday, August 17, 2013

My So-Called Gaming Life

While I have my slumps of non-gaming, I've considered myself quite capable of fitting in an hour here and there during the week to devote to video games. Of course, this means I'm often playing catch-up with the stack of games I haven't even gotten out of the shrink wrap, but I get enough in to satisfy my gaming need. This all changed when I had the opportunity to game in a week more than I have any week since the end of my pre-motherhood days.

Where it all happened.
I had to go out of town to visit my parents. I had to travel solo (no child or spouse), so to keep me occupied, I stopped at my local Hastings on the way to the airport. I had originally been looking for a puzzle magazine to fiddle with when I couldn't use my DS (I'd brought Puzzler World) on the plane.

When I couldn't find the particular magazines I wanted (either Games Magazine or their World of Puzzles magazine), I started browsing the DS games section. In my cheapskate ways (especially since I was buying retail), I only paid attention to the used titles. I nearly picked up Pokemon White, but it wasn't in the original case, and if I'm paying $30 for a used game, I'd better damn well get the original case with it. Fortunately for me, I found Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for $19.99 (they tried to charge me $22.99, but an old price sticker left on the box saved the day).

Sure, eventually I'll get past this screen . . .
I have played various Zelda games over the years, but the only other one I actually own is Windwaker. Of course, I was soon to find out that Phantom Hourglass is the sequel to Windwaker, so it works out. Plus, I happen to have the strategy guide which I picked up at Goodwill for $.99 (their paperbacks are buy one get one free, so I also got Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov).

Normally, a game like this would take me months (if not a year) to complete. Over the course of flying and just having delectable hours a day to myself, I was able to get 3/4 of the way through the game by the time I got back home. And let's not speak about how much further I've gotten through since I've been home . . . cause it's not much, if anything, really.

And hopefully you believe that I ever actually made it this far.
These events have caused me to really and truly realize how much time is 'lost' to everyday issues. When you're a kid, you can run home after school and plop down in front of the tv to pick up where you had stopped the day before on whatever game you were playing. Hey, maybe you even left the system running overnight (because who could beat Super Mario Bros. 3 in one run anyway). And you probably even had to yell (or lie) to your parents that your homework was already done. Ahh, those were the days. No job, no errands, no taxes, no dishes or laundry. Sure, sometimes I wish I could go back to those days of blissfully wasting hours on a daily basis, but that daydream lasts but a few seconds. I lived through all that, and I'm an adult now. I'd rather just stay an adult. Life is worth the fewer hours with controller in hand.

(**This article was originally written December 2012. I have since beaten Phantom Hourglass.**)

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