Step Away From The Console

Recently, I’ve taken a small step away from gaming – not because I wanted to, but because I HAD to. No, nobody made me. And yes, my consoles are still alive. So why did I have to stop gaming? It’s a rather simple reason really, and it’s all due to a word that is a taboo to students across the country.

EXAMS

Two weeks ago I had three exams. Three Chemistry exams to make the dreaded word sound worse than it already is. And my head has gone completely do-dally because of them.

Yet, in those rare moments when revision stopped and insanity commenced, it wasn’t my beloved RPGs that saved the day – it was mindless Hack and Slash. I normally swear by RPGs and don’t normally play or buy games like “Dynasty Warriors” or “Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll” but over the last month or so, I’m glad that I had them in my gaming library.

There’s something very therapeutic about mindlessly mashing every button on the controller to totally and entirelly obliterate thousands of enemies. And the best part of it is… it’s not complicated. You can give your brain a well deserved break. If you don’t fancy picking up a new game and trying to understand the new game mechanics, or if you can’t be arsed to understand the storyline, play a Hack and Slash. Whether you’re chopping enemies up as Cao Cao, or flinging enemies to Timbuktu as Zhuge Liang, nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction you get when you reach 1000 KOs.

Stress – Gone

Anger – Gone

All that remains is a very contented and stress-free gamer

Now that my exams are over, and Christmas is upon me, I can once again look forward to playing my RPGs, and put the Hack and Slash games back where they belong… in the revision box, for when I need them most.

Seeming as my exams have now finished I did let my credit card take a beating and I bought “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” which I was really looking forward to playing – but I can’t play it because I don’t have a Wii Motion Sensor Plus. I’m begrudging spending more money to buy this new fangled accessory just to “enhance the sensitivity of the remote” to play the game. Be grateful if you aren’t on my Facebook – my friends got quite a few status rants about it!

Anyway. I’m going to end it with just how crazy my exams made me: I made my flatmate a cup of tea yesterday… and I didn’t put the water in the mug. Exams make me go totally Do-Dally.

So to students everywhere – if you had exams recently, I hope you all did really well! If you have exams coming up, I wish you the best of luck!

If you do have to do my trick and step away from the console – it’ll be lonely without you, so don’t forget to step back to it!