A Bit of Balance: Adult Gaming

HOW MANY BITS, MERCER? 0/8 BITS!

Ugh, adulthood. Goodbye to the days of "Which game am I going to play first?" and a resounding hello to "Do I really have time for that right now?" Every day I find myself questioning how best to schedule out my plethora of hobbies: Alright, I'll read for an hour, hula hoop and watch Doctor Who for an hour, then I'll play Pokemon while Jerry showers and maybe get a chance to schedule in an ARAM with Walt. 

No one wants to live like that, but it is how many of us overstimulated adult gamers choose to do it. It's tiring and, for me at least, the provider of a just the right amount of guilt to reconsider if my lifestyle really is worth the effort. It's a far cry from when I spent hours in my basement playing World of Warcraft with whatever boyfriend I had at the time but, ostensibly, it is better.



The fact of the matter (and what really frustrates me) is: no one warned us. No one said "Your generation is going to be the bearer of a whole shit ton of burdens, but at the same time we (the older, more "knowledgeable" generation) are going to give you all of these sweet things to distract yourselves from them. Have fun with THAT barrel of monkeys!" I guess, realistically, I never should have expected the warning. The world has shifted and what was once thought endearing and fun is now considered a waste of time. Maybe not by me, but by the "powers that be." And, ultimately, they are the ones dictating whether I am a successful adult or otherwise.

Still, in the same vein, popular culture is telling us it's okay. Shows like The Guild and any movie that has Zooey Deschanel in it tell us mid-twenties-to-early-whatevers that it is okay to be stuck in transition, and it's okay to be twee and embrace our inner teen. It's fine to stay out late and decorate our houses with stupid long-eyelashed-cartoony-deer, and it's cool to love graffiti and wear bright colors, we have to embrace our individuality, man.

But fuck that.

I am tired.

I am tired of having not enough time in the day, and I am tired of not being able to get the eighth Pokemon badge, and I too tired to pull out all of the weeds in my Animal Crossing town, and I am too tired to watch that next episode of Dr. Who.

I am an adult gamer, and I guess that, at this point, that just means being tired.