Sometimes, LusiSlaves, I just have nothing to say about video games.
I play them whenever I can, I talk about them often, a large bulk of my small income is invested in the purchase of games and systems and anything else related to my favourite pasttime.
Yet on some days – such as today – I have nothing to say about them.
Picture of Ethos before writing this article
This is different than Gamer Fatigue when I just do not feel like playing games at all for some periods of time. In fact, I was playing my 3DS at work today and stayed up until 05:00 getting a head start on our upcoming Final Fantasy XII playthrough.
If anything, my desire to play games is stronger than it has been in a long time. I am replaying old favourites, catching up on my backlog, and looking forward to starting new releases (I am looking at Darksiders 2 specifically).
But in the midst of all that excitment, my hermit side starts to emerge and I feel the compulsion to just enjoy my hobby and not talk about it to death.
I do not want to discuss once again how “derivative” should not be used as a negative without justification in reviews about Darksiders 2, I do not want to talk about how grindy the Dragon Quest games are and how I am likely going to soon drop Dragon Quest VI without completing it with no regrets after playing it with vigor for thirty hours. I do not want to gush about Flower or Final Fantasy IX, I do not want to explain my complicated relationship with the ever-present calling of MMORPGs. I do not want to go into further detail about how the more I play Final Fantasy XII the more I realize how strong of a game it is and how undersold it was by the mainstream press.
I do not want to discuss industry news and the future of the big three. I do not want to get excited for games that have not been released and I do not want to theorize about sequels that will never happen. I have no interest right now in the state of independent gaming or my favourite developers. I do not want to discuss which Final Fantasy is the “best” and for which totally-objective-and-not-subjective-at-all reasons.
I do not want to analyse music or compare composers. There is no inclination to talk about which era produced the greatest tunes and for which reasons. Comparisons between games and movies also summon a giant Meh Bomb from me right now.
Please do not misunderstand, these are actually things that I usually love discussing. Part of the joy of being a gamer is being able to engage with fellow gamers in passionate discussion or disagreement. The feeling of community so important to my life as a gamer and it is why I will always be a part of sites like Lusipurr.com.
Sometimes it’s just hard to balance everything, y’know?
Yet, sometimes I just want to actually play games instead of be caught up in everything around them. One of the reasons gaming resonates with me so much is because of my large introverted side. I like disappearing into worlds that I connect with and letting my experiences be personal.
I understand the irony that I am essentially writing an article about gaming right now, but I suppose that this is the one aspect of gaming that I do want to talk about. About how games – like all art – are so tied to the context in which we experience them.
While I love talking about games, there is a part of me that misses when I knew nothing about a title before playing it. I did not know the general consensus, I had not built up or torn down expectations based on my conversations with others, my reactions had not already been dragged through the wringer before even beginning a new game.
That is only one side of the story, obviously. If I only played games in a vacuum, I would certainly miss the voices even more than I miss the silence right now. But right now I do miss the silence a little.
What about you, fellow gamers? Do you ever tire of talking about games more than you play them? Or am I just bad at balance?
