I remember back all the way to 3rd grade when I got my gameboy. And what game was I playing? Pokemon of course. Everyone that was cool had pokemon.
Elementary school consisted of me with that small pocket sized gaming device in my hand. Whenever I would get in trouble my mom would take away my gameboy for like two or three days and lets just say I just felt like my life ended.
Middle school came around and the tv game consoles came. My friends and I would spend the night at each others houses pretty much almost every weekend and we would play till early hours of the morning. I definitely remember one time where we played Super Smash Bros. till about 4 in the morning... I'm pretty sure we started at like 4 pm the day earlier. Good times...
As time moved along more homework came, so my gaming had to be put aside... But did that stop me? Absolutely not. High school came with even more homework. But I still from time to time found myself playing until 1 or 2am on school nights. And I'm pretty sure it did not help that I had a tv in my room...
In high school I got my own computer and the introduction of online games. I'm pretty sure I spent a lot of time playing Counter Strike. Shooting game where you play against REAL live players on the internet. And you can talk to them and stuff. TOO much fun. Whenever I had homework that needed the use of a computer, you can imagine that I easily put that aside, hooked up my headset mic and started gaming for hours.
As high school went along and I gained new "interests" I gamed less and less. Although once a while on a weekend I would re play one of my old games. I guess it was also because my money went from video games to school and hanging with friends and stuff.
So what is it with these video games? Yes they are fun. But when you find yourself playing for hours and missing meals and stuff, thats not good. And it took me awhile to figure that out, but I did. And I'm glad I am not finding myself as a 30 year old dude who doesn't know what a girl is, has a non-existent social life, and finds himself in front of a screen for hours. No. That is not me. (Thank the Lord). But really, why get so crazy over them?
I think now that I look at it, I can only come down to this solution. I spent so much time on video games mostly because it was my escape. In video games, I could lose myself in the virtual reality where anything I wanted could happen. I was given a cool person who either had really cool guns or a fancy car or had cool superpowers, plus the free ability to move them however I want with the single push of a joystick or a button. In many of the games I play, I could run around and drive cars and fly planes, things that as a little boy I could never do. I would get so lost in the game that I lost track of time and some serious physical needs (aka food). Even when I wasn't playing all I could think about was when I could leave this boring world and go home and play
more games. Haha as I'm writing this I realize just how much of a gamer junkie I was! It was an addiction! And not a good one to have as a kid. Especially with the games I was playing. You've read or heard of those stories of kids who went and stole or probably seen those little boys you see jumping off the walls thinking they're a Power Ranger.
I'm not saying video games are bad. It's fun to play games! As
long as the game does not become the player's reality. It's always important to have that self control when it comes to playing video games. I finally can say that I am no longer addicted to video games. Thanks to having a social life and having other interests that does not involve me sitting in front of a screen. Sure time to time I still love playing games. There's always fun ones coming out! Sure I wait a year for the prices to go down but its still fun for me. I am always down for playing a round in Call of Duty (BOOM! Headshot!) or kickin someone's butt in Super Smash Bros. (Falcon PUNCH!)
You+Me+Super Smash Bros Melee=Ricky Bobby EPIC. Let's do it.
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