GamerDork 049: Thinking the unthinkable

[capone_adam]

Great discussion on the podcast. It really affected me as I'm going through a weird stage with gaming myself. Up until last night I had not played any games for about 6 weeks even though I at the time had just reached Mexico in Red Dead and had only 15 stars in Super Mario Galaxy 2. They are both amazing games yet I'm enjoying working on a personal art project and podcast stuff more. I think it comes down to this, my need to create and share is greater than my need to be entertained. Ideally I'll stick to the 2-3 games a year that actually push the envelope or really connect with me. The problem is I keep thinking games such as Red Dead and SMG2 are going to be these games.

[Marcface]

I like the new Ratso.

[hitmemr]

Good on ya Jay its Bin a blast!! great prodcast guys

I've been thinking about quitting single player stuff for a while
Im not complaining but find there is so much to do/collect/discover not to mention trophys, Im starting to feel pressure to complete titles i started out enjoying things have all gone a bit O.C.D
Mayby the problem for me is abundance


"Too much time so little to see"
wait strike that reverse it thankyou

[ratsoalbion]

I like the new Ratso.

Yeah that cockernee chancer is much better than that other wanker!

[Christoph84]

Really enjoyed this episode. My 'habit' tends to be an hour or so a night. I'll only really hammer games in winter, but that might only account for 6/7 hours in a single day, no 12 hr Red Dead sessions ; ) Jay, I'm sorry you're feeling this way but I can't help feel that given the shear number of hours that you were putting in, you were bound to burn yourself out at some point.

Pursuing other interests for a while might improve games for you more than 3D or motion control ever could.

In short, kudos to you sir for doing what is right for you.

[AndyKurosaki]

Great to hear Elmo this week

Respect to you Jay, it's obviously a descision you've put a lot of thought into. Been a pleasure hearing your honest opinions.

[GMass]

I'm intrigued as to how Jay will continue the podcast without playing games....

[AndyKurosaki]

Finished this episode, I think we can all say we've felt some extent of what Jay's decided at some point or another. I really can't say how many hours I've put into gaming this year, it'll be a high ammounts. And yet it makes me happy, after a hard day at work it relaxes me, and when you play something genuinely amazing, as I did this week with Uncharted 2, it makes you love what you do.

Loved Elmo's "Kinect" scenario, hope he gets to join in this weeks show as well. Much love to Joypod

[countstex]

OK, first a couple of disclaimers...

1. I haven't read the rest of the thread yet, need to get these thoughts down first.
2. This is going to be a very personal opinion, so take the whole thing with a pinch of your own reality.
3. I'm prone to philosophical ramblings that don;t make much sense!

That said, here we go.

Jay's position is an interesting one. My take on it was he's feeling like there is a hole in his life, a missing piece to the puzzle and he's been using his obsessive games playing to fill that hole and distract himself from it. Now he's making the harder choice, removing that distraction and provided he manages to avoid filling it up again with other distractions such as movies, books or whatever he's going to be 'staring into the void'

Now this can have several outcomes. Staring into the void can give you exactly what you need, perspective. An objective look at your own life that revelas what is missing but needed to feel complete, or what you have which you don't need. However there is also the chance of the void consuming you, and having depression set in. However I know very little about this, I'm a generally happy chappie and have only had one encounter with something I would call a depression in my life. It lasted for just a few months, and wasn;t so bad that I couldn;t continue my normal life, and it did the job depression is supposed to do, allowed me to heal mentally and come out the otherside far more sedate in my life choices. The other option of course is that you can end up staring into that void for the rest of your life, never quite moving forwards...

I guess, although Jay denied it on the show and I hate to enforce my viewpoint on him, that it may be a life stage thing. Being 36 I'm not far off Jay in age, and the thirties are when you start to make some real realisations about your life. You see as a child you believe you can be absolutly anything. Then as a teenager it's all about wanting to 'be cool'. By twenty you realise you just need to get a job to pay the bills but you still dream about one day ending up in that dream job, and achieving all your life goals. But in your thirties, that's when you start to realise that you are really not going to achieve many of those goals.. you;ve ended up in the career you are probably going to retire in. And whilst you might find the job rewarding enough it's never quite the dream. It's time to select one, two or maybe three of those goals and really concentrate on them, as they will probably be all you can actually achieve.

One advantage Jay has is he's already happy with his family life. Facing this point can often be the time a lot of people try to fill the void with a family, and whilst that for some is actually what they need, for most it's just another distraction that after 18-20+ years when the kids grow up and leave home you find yourself right back at the begining. (Bit of a tangent, but I have a real issue with everyone assuming having kids is a standard checkmark on the path of life. It's not, it's something you should do because your really REALLY want kids)

Life is always about compromise and deciding on what those compromises are is always a difficult task and I have respect for anyone who takes that step back and makes a consious choice to take that challange on.

Jay, all the power in the world to you on your journey. I just hope one you have found your new direction you still have space in your life to comeback to gaming on some level