{"id":1430,"date":"2011-05-05T13:17:57","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T20:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayivey.com\/wordpress\/?p=1430"},"modified":"2011-05-05T13:17:58","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T20:17:58","slug":"spring-forward-day-47","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/spring-forward-day-47\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

Brussels
\nApril 28, 2011\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Game Freak!<\/h3>\n
\""Remember<\/a>
"Remember all those wild Bible stories I always told you were true? Well, actually, to be honest, it's not very likely that they are true. And I pretended to be sure they were true when I'm really not sure. You see, believing something is true isn't the same as it being true. So that was kind of dishonest of me. Sorry about that."<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People think I\u2019m a game freak.\u00a0 This is mostly because I always tell them that I\u2019m a game freak.\u00a0 And it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t from the truth.\u00a0 I\u2019m proud of being a gamer. I\u2019ve met great people through computer, video and board gaming.<\/p>\n

I am convinced I would have gotten involved in gaming much earlier than I did if I had been born five years earlier.\u00a0 Many of the guys who invented the gaming industry are exactly five years younger than me.\u00a0 Men like Richard Garriott, from Houston and Austin, who came up right after I did.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\""Hang<\/a>
"Hang on . . . I think I've finally figured out what we can call our new energy drink!!"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why is that five years significant?\u00a0 Because when I was still living at home as a kid, the home video game console industry was still quite primitive.\u00a0 We\u2019re talking Atari.\u00a0 Colecovision.\u00a0 Intellivision.\u00a0 It was easy to ignore.<\/p>\n

\"triumph\"<\/a>Then when I moved away from home, I ended up in New York.\u00a0 And in the early 1980s, Times Square had these fantastic video game arcades.\u00a0\u00a0 I spent thousands of hours in them, playing Q*Bert, Qix, Arkanoid, Crystal Castles, Dragon\u2019s Quest, Space Ace, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom <\/em><\/strong>(\u201cSoon Kali will rule da world\u201d), <\/em><\/strong>and others.\u00a0 At this point, the home video gaming systems were getting better.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>
View from my office window in Brussels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But I didn\u2019t realize it.\u00a0 When I saw the early Nintendo system, and saw friends playing Super Mario Brothers<\/em><\/strong> on it, I thought, \u201cThat\u2019s a stripped-down version of what I play in the arcades.\u00a0 I\u2019m having the higher quality experience.\u201d\u00a0 And I turned my back on the consoles.<\/p>\n

Mistake.\u00a0 The thing is, I was right at the time<\/em>.\u00a0 But the situation soon changed.\u00a0 Games like the Ultima, Wizardry, Zelda, <\/em><\/strong>and Metroid<\/em><\/strong> series began to change everything.<\/p>\n

But I missed it.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t get back into gaming seriously until the end of 1998, when I finally got a nice home computer.\u00a0 One hour with Riven: The Sequel to Myst<\/em><\/strong> and I was hooked forever.<\/p>\n

At first, all I played were adventure games, like Riven<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Soon I began expanding to other genres, most notably role-playing games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The thing is, adventures were the shortest games.\u00a0 That, combined with the feverish pace I played \u2013 I literally counted the hours at work until I could run home and fire up Sanitarium<\/em><\/strong> or Broken Sword<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 meant that for the first few years I completed far more games per year than in later years when I was playing a higher percentage of non-adventures.\u00a0 Check out how the numbers dwindle:<\/p>\n

Games finished by year<\/h4>\n
    \n
  • 1999 78<\/li>\n
  • 2000 69<\/li>\n
  • 2001 36<\/li>\n
  • 2002 25<\/li>\n
  • 2003 25<\/li>\n
  • 2004 31<\/li>\n
  • 2005 9<\/li>\n
  • 2006 15<\/li>\n
  • 2007 12<\/li>\n
  • 2008 18<\/li>\n
  • 2009 33<\/li>\n
  • 2010 11<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    I can\u2019t believe I completed<\/em> seventy-eight<\/strong> games in 1999.\u00a0 Amazing.\u00a0 Now, because of World of Warcraft<\/em><\/strong>, I finish very few games per year.\u00a0 But I still spend a huge percentage of my leisure time gaming in one form or another.<\/p>\n

    I understand that not everyone can be a game freak like me.\u00a0 But I feel bad for people who refuse to even try them.\u00a0 They\u2019re really missing out.\u00a0 Games now are an extremely sophisticated, interactive, frequently beautiful form of entertainment (and even social interaction).\u00a0 To ignore games completely is like being an American in the 20s or 30s and refusing to go the movies:\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019re missing the best popular culture and technology have to offer.\u00a0 So there.<\/p>\n

    The ONE EXCUSE I will accept is the one my friend Amy gives:\u00a0 \u201cI know if I started playing them I would love them too much and play all the time and my life would be ruined.\u201d<\/p>\n

    But for all of you Phillistines out there who turn your noses up at a hobby you do not understand \u2013 a thrilling, beautiful world of fantasy, science fiction, war, strategy, adventure, and storytelling \u2013 it\u2019s your loss, pal.\u00a0 We\u2019re having way more fun than you.<\/p>\n

    Average Rating: 4.6<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 179<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>

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