Hardcore or Casual...

So which are you? When I was younger I was more of the hardcore gamer. I would spend hours and hours leveling up and trying to get 100% in the game. Today, not so much. There are few games today that suck me in for 50+ hours anymore. Elder Scrolls III and IV are two exception. Dragon Quest 8 also had me hooked. Maybe it is a time thing now. when I was younger I had no problem spending hours on a game. Today I have other things to do. And video game designers still have not figured out as a whole that not letting players save at any point hurts the game! I don't have big chunks of time to play anymore. I have 15-30 minute blocks where I would like to play, but to often the save points are so far apart that it is impossible for me to get from one to another in such a short time period.

Which leads to making choices. Do I keep playing a game to finish or do I put it down and go to the next one? I have a LOT of games sitting here that I have started and not finished. Some because they just were not that fun to play. Some that started out great and then just dropped off. Some that had too steep of a learning curve and did not reward me enough to keep playing. Some that just pissed me off that the designer needlessly put in an insanely hard section either in the middle or more likely at the end of the game. And some that the final boss battle just was to hard. I have noticed that my skill level has deteriorated over the years. FPS's and Platformers that I used to ace are not as easy for me today. Maybe more practice on my part, but again how much time do I have? I have other games sitting here that I have not even started yet. I rarely buy new games anymore. I get them used and sometimes the deals are so good I pick up more games even though I have too many already.

What I do want to do is make more of an effort. I have some great games to play. I just have to rearrange my schedule and play them. And make an honest effort to finish. In reading I go by the mantra never finish a book that you don't like. There are too many other books out there that are better. It is the same with video games. Never finish one that you don't like. And don't feel guilty about it. What I do need to do though is play long enough to make an informed choice...