They just don't make em' like they used too...

Welcome back to the show. Tonight's topic? Is there more to my lack of game play then I thought.

To begin, as many of you know I've been playing games most of my life. I fell in love with Super Mario Bros. for the NES and haven't looked back. I've been through several console cycles and owned most of them. I had a SNES, Genesis, Turbo Graphics 16, N64, Playstation, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Turbo Duo, Playstation 2, Xbox and Gamecube. Now I currently own all "current gen" consoles. Looking back on it now...wow. I had allot. Did I mention I own a 3DO? Now out of all those consoles sadly I do not have my Original SNES and my NES. Unfortunately being a kid you don't even have a grasp on "nostalgia". You just want new and now and give away old and yesterday to have it. Of course looking back on it now I wish I never sold My SNES, d'oh!

So games have been with me through all my major life changes. I can't honestly say I've had a good gaming appetite. Getting my first job was a blessing as I could keep up with everything without having to wait for Christmas and birthdays. Which is one of the reasons why I enjoy adulthood. (Trust me, I have an entire post dedicated to my love for being an adult) Even now after moving out of my parents house and being on my own for the past six years or so, my games are right there. I've recently gotten married and had my first child. (Which if you click on my wife's blog, she'll be happy to show you pictures) I still game, but less.

Now I know your first thought, life has just gotten busier. Well, that is true. My kid is a handful at times, but still a good kid and now I have a marriage that needs attention. That's not it though. My wife is very supportive of my gaming habit and likes to watch me play. She knows it;s important to me. My kid? Well, I must say I've not a pro yet, but I have him under control. We spend a good amount of time together and for now as long as his basic needs are met he's great. I enjoy TV, but for the most part it sucks. I pay for 200 channels or so, and 190 of them are sheer crap. I live my life in re-runs.

That leaves me time, so why am I not playing?

To be honest, I don't know. Like I could be playing as I write this. My son is sleep for the night. My wife is sleep for the night and TV bites. I love writing this but I could have made an entry sooner, or tomorrow. I keep up with the current hits. I just bought FEAR files, Manhunt 2 and the Orange Box to name a few but out of those games, two of them remain in store bags SEALED.

It could be the industries fault for not producing more original content. After all, I just bought three new first person shooters. (FPS) I love them and all, but isn't the theme the same? Kill the bad guys, find ammo and health and complete the level. Repeat. Obviously everyone tries to put their own twist on it but it boils down to the same idea in each.

Now I'm not trashing the genre. Like I said I love it. I'm just saying, however.

So maybe it's that reason games don't hold my attention. It's all the same so to speak. Or is it because I'm growing up? This by far is my worst nightmare come true. Maybe it doesn't hold my interest because I'm not interested in them much. Now this can't be. Why would I continue to throw away my money, $60 at a time? I definitely wouldn't have all three current consoles. One or two perhaps but not three. I still read the magazines and check a few websites for headlines and insight into the industry. I even joined a forum! Yikes! Since when do I care about other people's opinions. (especially gamers these days) This can't be.

So we've eliminated time constraints, growing up and originality. Whats left? Hmmmm.....

LAZINESS

These game companies made sure to put a feature on this round of consoles that I believe console players have been after since the very beginning. The ability to turn the console on and off with the controller. And with wireless controllers becoming standard, that's even less reason to get off the couch. Next time around they might put a DVD changer in it so you could load like 3 to 5 games in it and rarely have to change it out. So am I just too lazy to play? Could be. A good example of this would be when I put my son down for a nap I have some time to myself. Great time to put some miles on the PS3, right? Wrong, I take the chance to sleep. It's true. My son took about three short naps today. I slept during each one. I've never been a heavy sleeper before and I like getting up early to go to work. As long as I get those five or six hours I need, I'm good to go. Not lately. I just need more. I guess it's because of my kid but he's doing really well sleeping through the night, so I don't know.

All these sound like good theories. Maybe I'll never know. Perhaps I should just keep rolling with it. I should just play at the pace I like to play at. I don't consider myself any less of an avid game fan because I don't pull all nighters to play and while everyone else finished Bioshock in a weekend, I've still got to finish. It's still my passion and I still love to do it just as much as did ten years ago.

That's all I got for tonight. The next entry I'll dabble a bit on why I like being an adult and how it ties in to games.

Later days...