Gaming on the sick

I was recently given the opportunity to represent Scotland at a conference in Tajikistan by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. After a gruelling 18 hours of travelling between three flights to a country that, quite frankly, I still don’t know the geographical location of, I was understandably exhausted. Navigating unfamiliar territory and presenting to dozens of attendees is bad enough when you’re tired, but it gets significantly worse once you add another element to the mix: food poisoning.

Here we are more than a week later and I’m still showing symptoms, despite my stay in Tajikistan lasting for only three days. Everyone else affected I’ve spoken to has instead recovered, which makes any ongoing issues a concern for every doctor I’ve seen since returning home. I am scheduled for series of blood tests, which should reveal the root cause of my problems, hopefully before my University workload gets further disrupted.

For all the pain, however, you won’t hear me complaining. My ailment honestly couldn’t have come at a better time. My best friend is visiting from the USA for the next month and at my request she has brought me a number of items, including a 60GB PS3 (the original release unit, for compatibility with all my NTSC PS2 games) as well as Metal Gear Solid 4. I have had the pleasure of working through the game already, but I’d love to see her reaction to the experience and I’m always up for replaying it. Now that I have a couple of days off of University, I’ll get to sink my time into gaming.

Just because I’m not feeling well doesn’t mean I can’t save the world!

The whole situation makes me think about the amount of time we can spend playing games while sick. There’s really not a lot of physical activity involved, especially on a console, So instead of watching the telly, you can grind your way through dungeons and blast opponents online, making progress on games that would normally have to wait until you have free time. On top of that, the time spent gaming is mostly guilt free, as you have a legitimate excuse for not being at work or school.

I don’t need rest; I’m gaming!

Now the only thing I have left to decide is which games to play!


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6 responses to “Gaming on the sick”

  1. Skill avatar
    Skill

    Get well soon!

    But not before the world is safe again, obviously. 😉

  2. Michael avatar

    Actually, I hardly ever play games when I’m sick, comparatively. You see, when I get really ill (and I think the worst thing I’ve ever had is a stupidly bad dose of the flu. Hmm, I’ll have to think about that…), I tend to get really hyper/creative and end up talking so much more rubbish than I normally do. Oh, and I get more sarcastic than usual too! Fortunately, perhaps, I haven’t been ill in ages…

    Tajikistan is in Asia, if you’re really bothered. What’s the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE (weird acronym, that; almost like someone with an accent saying Oscar or Tosca with a silent T), do then?

    Get well soon and be wary of food from (maybe) public stalls in strange countries! Or even ones from here.

  3.  avatar
    Anonymous

    OSCE?

    He’s a spy. Obviously. 😉 Don’t tell anyone tho.

  4. Skill avatar
    Skill

    Oh! Fi*8)09$4cks!

    That was me. ^^^

    Forgot to logout. >:(

    Tho I suppose the Anonymous thing had a nice Deepthroat/conspiracy feel to it.

  5. City avatar

    My mummy used to let me play Alex the Kidd when I was off school ill because it stopped me from annoying her nearly all day.. unless it froze and did the evil Sega flatline.. because obviously in my weakened state that was terrible and i had to have a complete strop!

    Now when I’m ill.. or at least the last 2 times I have been ill I didnt game alot. I had gastroenteristis a while back and it was pretty bad (hospital trip etc) and I dont think I even picked up my psp.

    Spose now when I am ill, I really am ill so gaming doesnt get a look in.

    AS for making time for games.. well I was up till 4am playing games and now im up again, ready to do it all again.. does making yourself ill from games count?

  6.  avatar
    Anonymous

    The last time I was ill, I managed to do about 5 levels on COD 2. Good times.

    Van-Fu

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