Poll - How do you find time to play games?
Sunday, December 16th, 2007 at 9:48am by David
Homework … significant others … jobs … family … community orchestra … pets … There are so many things to distract us from our favorite hobby. Do you stay up after everyone goes to sleep? Is there a block of time marked “Busy/Private” in your BlackBerry? Is there a secret, sound proof room in your basement that locks from the inside? This week, we want to know:
How do you find time to play games?
Let us know what lengths you go through to get some gaming time in.
Click here for the results of last week’s poll.
December 16th, 2007 at 10:07 am
It’s actually been a lot easier. For the longest time, trying to play my Gamecube was a nightmare. I’m 27 and I live with my wife and daughter. Every time I’d go to play it I’d get a dirty look, a nasty attitude, a guilt trip, or a mix of the three. Tragically, I have a copy of Beyond Good & Evil that I played only once for about 30 minutes.* It’s easier to find the time to play DS since I get lunch breaks at work and we have what’s known as a toilet.
But then we got a Wii as a wedding gift in September. We had the perfect amount of Target gift certificates to get WiiPlay, a second nunchuck, and two games. I decided right then and there that we would each get a game of our own and we would each play, i.e. I would get time to play mine. I sort of put my foot down and demanded that I actually be allowed to play this system.
Well boy what a difference a wiimote makes. My wife liked the Gamecube a bit, playing a lot of Paper Mario 2. But once she started playing Wii Sports and Super Paper Mario, the game she chose, it was all over. She absolutely loves the system. When she realized it plays Super Mario 3 and Super Mario World she freaked out. She wants to play it all the time. (She’s actually playing the final stage of Super Paper Mario right now.)
And the result? I’ve gotten to play all the Zelda I could ask for. I can sit down on a Tuesday night, some dirty dishes still in the sink, and bust out an hour or two of Zelda and she says not a word. We allow each other roughly equal playing time. Now that she realizes how addictive and fun it is, she is more relaxed about it and we play together all the time. She can’t wait for Ghostbusters to come out.
Oh wait, did the Wii improve my relationship? =P
*I actually can’t wait for a lull in Wii releases (maybe late Spring? Summer? Never?) so that I can finally get into BG&E. I understand it’s incredible.
December 16th, 2007 at 11:58 am
With shorter quick pick-up-and-play games I’ve had more time to play, getting more involved is definitely tough unless I take a ton of time off on weekends.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
Nintendo sucks! But when i do find free time i play my 360.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
With posts like that you must have quite a bit of free time there h8er.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
I was going to say the opposite, peshue. it seems to me his schedule is too full trolling the Interent for any other pastime!
I’m guilty of shifting sleep out of the way. For the Wii, I only do so if I don’t have something important (presentation, meeting, etc).
EXCEPT when it comes to my DS, which I break out every night right before sleep. If I get wrapped up in something (currently FFXII: Revenant Wings; previously Phoenix Wright), that 20 minutes can stretch a bit longer than it should.
December 16th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Definitely a matter of free time.
December 16th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I get up early on Saturday and fire up the Wii for a long gaming session, and sometimes I’ll get an hour or two a night during the week if I’m lucky. On average if I get 6 hours a week in I’m lucky.
December 16th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Screw homework, screw everything! Video games is where it’s at. lol
December 16th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Whenever I procrastinate (happens frequently) I’m either on the internet or playing video games.
December 16th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I watch fewer TV shows and movies. Also, I only play games that will allow me to play in 30-60 minute sessions AND provide FREQUENT game save opportunities. Sometimes, when I get towards the later stage of a game like Zelda, I will play for 2-3 at a sitting, because I am trying to make it through a dungeon or boss. But, otherwise, I only get to play for 30-60 minutes.
One thing I LOVE about Super Mario Galaxy is that after EVERY stage you can save progress and the stages are short.
December 16th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Wow… neko to kuruma could be my twin. Procrastination + video games = bliss.
I wish that I had more time to enjoy my Wii, but it’s hard to find enough time between a full-time job and my Mandarin studies. Even worse - my Christmas vacation is just about to start, but the Wii has already been boxed and packed away! So no gaming for me for at least the next week.
December 16th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
I usually take time out of sleep if I don’t happen to have a little bit on any given day. I also found with the girlfriend/wife situation, giving them their own videogames frees up a ton of time I would otherwise have to be doing something unrelated to gaming.
As for my DS I have small gaps between my classes (anywhere from ten minutes to an hour or so) so I have little trouble getting on my DS. I can also adjust what game I play according to how much time before my next class…though Tetris is choice for most times.
December 16th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Due to wife, kids, work etc. I only play Wii Friday nights for about 2 hrs and DS during work lunchtimes. I’d love to be playing more but just don’t have the time.
I’m hoping when my kids grow up that I can have some gaming experience with them but that is still years away.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:38 am
I don’t bring my DS to work for fear of ridicule. I otherwise have ok luck finding time to play at home, the wife scorns me once in a while but I blow her off and play anyway
December 17th, 2007 at 10:55 am
No kids. Just broke up with g-friend. Now I live alone.
I have plenty of free time. Otherwise, would’ve voted to make time.
December 17th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
I think this alludes to the topic on the podcast about hardcore and casual gamers. Does the ‘cas-core’ label fit people that play when they have free time? I know that I can only play during free time.
December 17th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Unfortunately, if I want to have time to play games, I have to make time! Except for the DS: long commutes and toilet breaks keep my game going.
But I find that the new “hardcore” games take longer and longer to finish, with far more side quests than they used to have (Etrian Odyssey alone has been taking me about eight months to finish!)
I wish my wife would like to play video games with me! But all she wants is to have sex…
December 17th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
nintendoh8er, why do you read this blog if you hate Nintendo?
December 17th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Normally, I play when I have free time, but there really isn’t any such thing as ‘free time’ in the sense that there’s nothing else productive I could be doing. It’s all relative. I play when I don’t want to do other stuff.
Like sleep. Sometimes I’ll play video games in stead of sleep until one or two in the morning.