Old-School Cool
I was 6 years old when I got my first video game. It was 2008, and my mom bought a Wii with some used games for my sister and I. I remember the games that mom got for us vividly; they were The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, this really buggy game called Anubis 2, and Mario Kart: Double Dash. I have fond memories of all three of these games, but the games that really shaped my interest in gaming were “Virtual Console” titles on the WiiWare Shop. They were $5-$10 retro games that went back to the NES days and ended at the Nintendo 64, and some of Nintendo’s best titles were put on the WiiWare service.
Of course, I still enjoyed playing new games coming out. Super Mario Galaxy, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Wii Play, and Mario Kart Wii were some of my favorites, but the majority of my time gaming when I was a kid was spent playing old games. I didn’t care for graphics or online gameplay or anything fancy. I just wanted to have fun playing! Even titles that came out long before I was born felt the same as new games to me.
Game Over
Things are a little different now. As an adult, playing games has felt like more of a chore for me. I want to write about this stuff for a living. As a result, there’s this pressure to think deeply about the way that I (and others) interact with the medium. I felt like I needed to finish games as soon as possible so I could write about the games I just finished.
This culminated to a huge burnout last month. I started grinding through The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild so I could write a blog post (which I ended up finishing, go ahead and search it up after you finish reading this post). Anyways, it was a lot of pressure that ended up detracting from my enjoyment of the game. I went from start to end in two weeks, and playing felt constant, like a 9-5 job.
All of the stress I had let myself build up led me in the exact opposite direction of where I was trying to go. It became harder to think about my experience with the game because I was rushing myself to finish it, and I was sick of playing. So I stopped.
Switching Batteries
Something had to change. I thought long and hard about what makes a game enjoyable and what I specifically enjoy about gaming. There are a few things, like the friends I’ve made gaming, and the stories and worlds that I get to explore from my sofa, but the main thing that I enjoy is the intrinsic value I get from gaming. Intrinsic motivation, or the motivation to do something for the simple enjoyment of it, as apposed to an external reward, defines hobbies and interests. I like playing games. Often, I’ll find myself enjoying the challenge of getting a combo just right in a fighting game, or hopping from one platform to another. I love sinking my teeth into an RPG like it’s a good book, or laughing my ass off with friends after “accidentally” killing their player character.
Moments like these remind me that playing video-games should really only be done for the simple enjoyment of it. The joy that we, the players, get from taking the time to have fun.
After I burnt out on Zelda, I put my Nintendo Switch away and pulled my 3DS out of its drawer. The 3DS has some fantastic games. As a small handheld, it fit in my pocket, and casually picking games up when I actually wanted to play them was a wonderful hiatus from the external pressure of creating content. My motivation to write about my experiences grew, and I found myself smiling again when I picked up a controller. I started brainstorming fun projects I could spend my time doing, and the simple act of popping a cartridge in was enough to inspire me to write down a thought or a new idea.
New Game +
After my gaming hiatus, I played through Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 with my boyfriend. We’re working on the DLC together. I also started The Outer Worlds for fun, and I’m playing through the legacy console version of Minecraft for another blog post. Playing all of my games for fun has helped me fall in love with video-games all over again. Gaming isn’t an obligation to fill out a battle pass or to keep up with friends. it’s something you do on your free time while you have time to do so.
A lot of other people my age are very negative about the gaming industry in its current state. I’m always hearing “Games just aren’t what they used to be…” or the relentless onslaught of “Gaming is dying, guys! it’s all micro-transactions.”
Try some new stuff! Go to a game store, browse the shelves. Go back and try out a game you never got the chance to before, even if it’s old. Hell, there are like a million indie games that are awesome and a lot of fun to play. Honestly, falling out of gaming is easy, but giving yourself healthy breaks, trying out new games and experiences, or going back and trying games you haven’t played yet could help you get back into it! Never feel an obligation to engage in a hobby, reader. You deserve to have fun when you dedicate the time to it, so do what makes you happy. Thanks for reading, folks!
End Note
Also, sorry for the long hiatus on posting. I’ve been brainstorming different ideas, and I’m super excited to announce a YouTube channel for the blog! I know that you’ll dig it, readers!
Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/@NintenDrake
Taking the time to have a breather from all of this was important so I can keep delivering quality posts. From now on, new posts will be uploaded to the website every Monday, and biweekly posts will appear on my YouTube channel starting in July. Stay tuned!
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