Wow. It's been a while. I haven't posted anything since last year, mostly because of my busy schedule, juggling between work and postgrad studies. 

And I'm getting married. 

That's right, and this led to many of my friends who knew me as a longtime gamer, to let me know of their opinion that they think I should stop playing these silly video games because I'm going to be a husband and father soon. This 'childish' hobby of mine will have no place in my future despite being my most favorite thing ever. The latest of these 'remarks' came from my own mother, as I brought up the news of announcement of the PS4 to my father (who ironically, is a gamer too, albeit a casual one who only plays football games these days). It went like this:

"So, dad they announced the PS4..."

"Really?"

"Yea-" 

My mom interrupted.

"That's enough, you're getting married this year, no more of this silly PS4 thing"

"But mom, that's not fair, dad plays too..."

My mom just repeated what she said previously, and knowing that I will never win this argument (trust me, Asian moms and dads are not to be messed with) I kept quiet, put my bowl of soup in the sink and just went upstairs to my room. I'm sure my dad wanted to say something, but he knows that my mother's defensiveness on the matter will not make my situation better.

Oh by the way, my dad got me into gaming in the first place. He was the one who encouraged me to play video games to improve my English, and he loved watching me play cinematic games like Uncharted. Yeah, he's awesome. 

You should know that I live in a country of conservative values and practices. To most of us, gaming is a hobby meant for kids and men who are unfairly judged as an immature lot. It's a damn stereotype and an ugly, untrue one. I've had a number of fellow gamers within my circle of friends who play games and still have fun with their wives and make beautiful babies. These people make me feel happy that I can still hold on to my controllers after my wedding this year. It's so unfair that they don't get noticed and be made shining examples. That stigma is still around and it's just frustrating for me. 

At the moment I can only wish and blog things like this. But I hope I will be able to change everyone's minds in this country, on their skewed angle on video games, one day. Especially my mother, who I adore so much, it's just that she has different opinions. 

I want be that example, of a great family man while logging into my Steam account, pwning noobs online. 

Wish me luck.  :)