A reader admits he’s no longer the discerning hardcore gamer he used to be, but offers no apology for his more mainstream habits today.
Did zombies eat my gaming mojo or did I just get old and boring? I’ve been gaming for nearly three decades and at a time I started to consider myself as somewhat of an elite gamer. Not in a ‘u got mad skillz bruv’ sense. No; my Daytona laps were dreadful and I couldn’t face being Alone In The Dark at such a young age.
It was the politics and ethics of gaming that I embroiled myself in. As my much loved hobby seemed to enter the mainstream during the PlayStation era I saw the industry mature and I became more passionate about defending the artistic merits of the games I was playing. I focused on learning about more obscure titles, the niche games that appealed on many deeper levels rather than the obvious cash cow games offered through yearly sports sims, identikit racing/shooter games, and awful movie tie-ins.
There was a point I would say bad things about Sony and EA as if these companies had wronged me (not in a crazy preacher in the street way of course). In some ways I guess I felt they robbed my hobby of some sort of innocence and by attacking their corporate ways this made me feel superior and like I was defending the honour of my gaming maiden.
I knew loads about games, the developers behind them and genuinely considered myself ‘hardcore’.
It was like how we still read, even here on GC’s pages; of people making a mockery of, or belittling other gamers, depending on how they choose to spend their money. I was that guy that wouldn’t consider you a proper gamer if you bought the most recent FIFA/Need For Speed update, and he that would be outraged and try and educate in a sudden frenzy the parents in the office who bought their kids the latest movie tie-in.
Completely ridiculous! I wasn’t an elite/hardcore gamer. I was a gaming Nazi! Well OK, snob.
The stupidest thing is that nowadays I don’t have the time or energy to escape the very criteria in which I previously encompassed the GAME attending masses. So what have I become?
I am now that guy who can only afford, because of money and time, the big hitters; the mainstream games I know will guarantee me joy as I juggle the demanding responsibilities of adult life and fatherhood. I play in short bursts and no longer find time for complicated or lengthy stories. I just need that quick fix for my trigger finger, the chance to chat with friends (occasionally ignoring objectives and often plied with rum – it’s not technically drinking alone!) and I’m satisfied.
Though I have somehow sunk hundreds of hours into Battlefield 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, I’m no different now to the Call Of Duty players who are mocked for buying and playing the same types of games, you know, the brown colourless ones.
Don’t get me wrong, I still play and buy a small variety of games, but what I’m really getting at is how I have had to deflate my once enlarged opinion I had of myself as a gamer. And of course, I’ve realised a long way back that it is pathetic to be so bigoted about other people’s fun anyway, even if it betrays some sort of pride I may hold over my own ways of achieving such.
Truth is, I know nothing about niche/indie games these days nor the developers that make them, I barely have time to read GC. I mainly play the same type of game over and over and worse; when I do play online my language reverts to that of an overly excited idiot, as I giggle in-between naughty words and belly laugh at my trolling of others. ”Look how far his body went!’
I’ve become the thing I used to be proud to profess I wasn’t! A sort of semi-casual ill-informed shadow of my colossal former gaming self. As my windows for gaming time have gradually boarded up, the ways I play and the games I play are forced into a narrower line of sight.
But should I be embarrassed? No way pal. I’m still having fun and the point is; that is all that matters. Next time you can’t fathom why someone buys and enjoys a game that you can’t stand or see the appeal in, find some carpet, take off your snobby shoes and just make fists with your toes, you’ll feel better.
Remember, some of us gamers used to be just as hardcore and passionate about our hobby as you; you big nerd!
Ahem. Anyway, be excellent to each other and add me for PlayStation 3/PlayStation 4 nonsense.
By reader Tincanmemory (PSN ID)
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
