There’s been times when I get really glued into a fantastic game and God only knows how long I’d find myself playing before I realise:
”Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted’ ~ John Lennon
In my personal experience I can recall being a victim to Final Fantasy VII and Eternal Sonata. RPG’s tend to be the classic example for really keeping me down in my seat. It’s pretty understandable though as they’re are in-depth games. I swear the ending cutscene to Final Fantasy IX was pretty much an hour.
However it’s not just the RPG’s that keep me at bay; you’ll be surprised at the amount of time I can spend on simpler games. Puzzle and arcade hi-scoring games have me going for endless hours, maybe reeling me in to the equivilent of the hour marathon playing of Burnout Paradise.
I’d like to call the two genres as my ‘simple pleasures’. I like the fact that in contrast the designs to these as to RPG’s, ‘less is more’ and certainly these games are more than enough to keep me content.
Once a friend asked me how I could play these games over and over. What more was I enjoying in the reptition of the game which didn’t carry much of a plot. Putting my hands together I thought long and hard but in the end I couldn’t come up with an impressive worded answer. Instead I simply clapped my hands to say, ‘I don’t know, it’s just fun!’
He then questioned the story of Left 4 Dead, albeit he enjoyed the game but at the same time he was persistent to ask, ‘What started the zombie outbreak? Why are they there? who are these people?’ Which then I turned around to reply,’It’s just meant to be a mock of a generic zombie setting, why does there need to be an explanation or a background to who these people are?’ I couldn’t provide answers without having to make up my own fictional background to Left 4 Dead. So once more I put my hands together and said,’I don’t know, it’s just a great game!’
Lately I was introduced to Lumines and upon first try it had already become my gaming addiction. It has no story but it’s own magic entails the progressive music and the easy-going colour co-ordination puzzle gaming. Those two elements alone are more than enough to keep me happy.
Geometry Wars doesn’t have a story but it’s fast, exciting and blowing things up just gets addictive. The game makes me more rowdy as more of those neon shapes invade the play area while I steer my ship around and yell in excitement. Geometry Wars in particular has been the common cause for my late attendance at meetings or work. You wouldn’t think that but you don’t realise how many times you keep hitting restart and saying ‘well it’s only three minute rounds so it’ll be quick’.
So it’s not always the high end next gen graphics or the overloading plot that have to mark the criteria for a good game. Even I find more longevitiy and satisfaction from Lumines over Lost Odyssey. I wonder if you can say you have a virtual obsessive compulsive disorder from puzzle gaming though?
Yosumin is like that as well. There’s no story to it – although there is new DLC with more Yosumin matching and a feeble storyline about a broken stained glass window. They really suck you in though. And don’t even get me started on how long I have lost to Droplitz…
you need magical drop 3, Money puzzle exchange idol and pucchi carrot in your life.
More so in years gone by, my dad would have asked me to record something on tv and I’d miss it due to playings games. I think the only reason I don’t forget anymore, is because he record stuff anymore.
And I do have a complusion to end my Burnout sessions by driving my car to the same junkyard and saving before I stop play. I can save anywhere, I’ll spawn at a junkyard when I play again, but I always HAVE to drive to one in particular before turning it off. Maybe I’m just weird. 🙂
I don’t tend to get addicted to pick up and play games anymore.
I do, however, get addicted to everything else.
The day I first met eyes with FFVII, I manage to play it all in one go, I could feel the ps2 heating up and making weird noises. The addiction was so much that I missed the next day of school (O_0).
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