UNITED STATES—I will admit the gaming experience feels a bit more different being older than when I was a youngster. I don’t game as much as I did as a kid, but whenever I do get a free moment, if I have it, I try to game a bit because it is an escape for me. When it comes to gaming, I’m an old school gamer. I’m not a big fan of the immersive, visually stunning gaming technology that dominates the industry nowadays.
For me it has to be the Super Nintendo (SNES). I loved the video game system as it was an evolvement of the NES, the Nintendo gaming system which was an 8-bit, while the SNES was a 16-bit gaming system. You also got a control that had more buttons. It was not just the directional pad, select, start and A and B buttons. Also with the SNES it seemed like many more of the games had the opportunity for you to save your progress compared to the NES where it was you play until you win, if you lose or stop, you have to start all over again.
Yeah, that probably was the reason as a kid that I spend 8 to 9 hours gaming in a single day and hearing my mom yell, “To go outside and play.” I swear out of all the forms of entertainment the only thing that seems to force my mind to focus on nothing is GAMING. I cannot explain it, and I wish that I could. Whenever, I do actually game, nothing is the focal point for me, except the game itself.
I’m not stressed or worried about work. I’m not thinking about bills. I’m not worried about family drama, I’m not thinking about all the things that I have to do; I’m completely immersed in the game that I’m playing and it is a feeling that I wish I could describe with a single word, but I don’t have it. Something I have discovered in recent years is that things that used to take me hours to do, only takes a matter of minutes.
Yes, if I’m playing a strategy game or role-playing game, they tend to be broken up in levels, and it would take me 2-3 hours to complete one level or world, now that changes to the point of 30 minutes to one hour. My memory is quite sharp, and I love that. Things that you would expect me to forget or not remember I know them very well, especially if you’re playing a game where you have to collect items. Why is that crucial, your memory is vital to collecting those items. Can you remember where it is or certain things you have to do to collect that item. That is one of the pluses I see about gaming, it truly strengthens one’s memory.
Lately, I game late day Saturday if possible, and luckily, I’m not disturbed while doing it. I look at it as my little decompress time. Leave me alone, don’t call, don’t text, don’t bug me. If no one is dying there is absolutely no reason for you to be contacting me in any capacity. Hate to say it, but sometimes the cellphone is the worst invention in the world because it gives a naggy annoying feeling at times. I have not purchased any new gaming equipment or games, things that I have are classics, and they’re not played on a weekly basis, it is more like once a month at best, as time permits.
I like the ability to escape for the mundane chaos of everyday life sometimes and gaming is what does that best for me. I know everyone has something that lets them relax and decompress, and whatever that is, it;s ok to indulge in it a bit.
Written By Davy Jones
