Sometimes I wonder how much more growing up I’ll have to do before I’m considered an adult. After my first day of work, or when I move onto my own health insurance?
Or maybe just when I pick a “mature” close-cropped haircut and stick with it?
I still don’t have a car yet, mind you, at age 22 and a half. And you can bet your corked bat that I’ll enact the same unfair punishment on my kids.
But I’ll admit it; one of my hobbies has moved on and off the chopping block as my rite of passage to adulthood nears.
Where do videogames fit, if at all, in my future?
This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about it, but the query reared its head after my latest purchase: “Gears of War 3” for less than $15, and newly released “Bioshock Infinite” for full price, $60.
I couldn’t pass on the deal for “Gears.” The mint-condition game concluded the trilogy, and despite the price drop – usually an indicator of pallid playability – the user reviews were still high.
But “Bioshock Infinite,” on the other hand, well that was the gaming glutton in me slicing himself a second piece of cake.
The critics gave the game a standing ovation, and the trailers showing an early 20th century cloud city with your character’s ability to attack enemies with a murder of crows, well, sign me up.
I’ve started playing the campaigns of both games, and so far, each story is engaging, but my guilt swells from spending $75 that I’m not saving for my post-graduate life.
Before I leave Gannon scot-free, the games are two more distractions to the end of my semester.
I’ve got at least 40 Xbox 360 games lying around. I haven’t played through all of them completely, although I’ve played a few more than once – “Mass Effect 2” a total of seven times.
But despite my shelf full of entertainment, I – like a woman who stands mystified in front of her overflowing closet when deciding upon an outfit – am easily dissatisfied by what games I have.
I’m willing to bet we all have our little bouts of consumerism, but I digress.
I’ve never calculated my yearly videogame expenditures, but cutting the fat from my free time could lead to cutting my body fat, too.
Plus I’ll have money for the things I need.
As a kid, my dad and I bonded over the Super Nintendo. We graduated to the first Playstation, then I moved on solo to the Playstation 2, and finally I jumped Sony’s ship and logged on to Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
I’ve had similar dreams of playing videogames with my kids, at least until they’re better than me. Heck, there’s even those “gamer chicks” out there I could court, but I feel like that kind of woman would only enable a habit I’d like to one day kick.
Plus, consoles have evolved beyond button-mashing gameplay. I use my 360 for video streaming via Netflix, HBOGo and Amazon rentals.
Fortunately, it seems the age of “next-gen” (next generation) consoles will make my decision for me. Will I buy a $60 360 game here and there? Sure. But a brand-new $400 Xbox 720 console, just to keep me on the couch?
Not at this time in my life when it’s time to do some growing up.
