I just thought I'd post somehting I originally wrote for my site.....kinday swamped so my original stuff is going to have to take a back seat for the next couple of days.....

Tales of an Aging Gamer

Time, it’s something none of us really ever think about until we realize there’s never enough of it. I’ve been
gaming ever since my grandparents gave me a 2600 for my 9th birthday. The obsession started instantly. At first my brother enjoyed playing against me in games such as Combat and Kaboom, but while he was using the night to catch up on things like sleep and T.V. viewing, I continued to play. It wasn’t long before he began getting beat like Inferior Being he was. Many a controller were destroyed in his fits of frustration. But it was at this time I realized I wanted to spend all my time gaming.

Time marches on. Systems come and go. I realize that I’m a sucker for RPGs. Final Fantasy becomes my drug of choice after falling in love with the simple yet addictive gameplay of the original on my NES. While not the poorest kid in school money was always tight. I never got more than 2 games a year until I was old enough to start mowing lawns and making my own money. Any new releases I played were generally from renting or more than likely, borrowing them from my friends, but it never prevented me from spending all my time gaming. It didn't matter if I had already beaten a particular game 50 times it never stopped me from playing it again and again. To some point friends and even family took a back seat to my compulsion.

Then came college, one would think that studies would prevent me from pursuing my love of gaming, but how wrong they’d be. College only reinforced my addiction. Purchasing a Nintendo 64 the summer before I departed guaranteed that many nights in the dorm were spent destroying my friends in bursts of gunfire via Goldeneye or playing Drunken Mario Kart 64 (All Rights Reserved) until the wee hours of the morning. Then came my Junior year. Living in a suite with 4 of my friends (actually 3 friends and an interloper, but that's a different story) I convinced the inteloper to buy a little game called Final Fantasy VII for his Playstation. Though he never played it I was instantly absorbed into its world. Shinra Inc became my most hated enemy only to be surpassed by Sephiroth's dispicable act. At this point games became all consuming. Classes were blown off, parties ignored, or when I came home at 2am from a party the first thing I would do is stumble over to the Playstation and do some leveling up until daylight.

Well college is a distant memory. Marriage and fatherhood has replaced gaming as the priority of my existance. Yet gaming is still an important aspect of who I am, unfortunately with all my new responsibilities and love time has not been so kind as to extend itself. there are still a measily 24 hours in a day. Balancing gaming while having a full time job, school, (which I should have completed the 1st time through) fatherhood and being a husband is quite a daunting task. While I use to be able to pull off all night gaming sessions every Friday and Saturday Night, these days it's hard to keep my eyes open past midnight. Even when I do manage to break the 2 or even 3am barrier I am surely bound to pay for my indescretion. For just as time stands still for no one, nor does a 2 year old sleep past 5am.

Well what's the point of this piece you may ask. I guess it is that no matter what your life entails don't give up on your hobbie. Enjoy your time spent playing each title, even though it may not be for as long as you used to. Get the most out of each game you play. Don't only beat each one, master it. For as much as we'd like to hurry through each of our titles to get our hands a the newest one, there's just not enough time in the world to play them all.