Topic: Video Games

Topic: Video Games

When my brother Chris informed our writing group that the topic for the week was video games, I thought to myself, “Well, that’s great.  Of course, he’s got something to say about that!” My husband who by his own admission owns more video games than he can ever play in his lifetime, thought the topic was a great one too.  He and Chris completed their entries in record time.  It goaded me all week.  I don’t even like video games, not really. 

Chris must have anticipated my reaction to the topic, because he privately messaged me shortly after posting it that before I tried to insist that I didn’t play video games, that I should bear in mind that “Words with Friends” is a video game.  Words with Friends (WWF) is an online version of Scrabble, a timeless and popular word game.  I contend that it is not really a video game, but a word game.  The online iteration of the game allows me to have 25 games going at once, some with people I’ve never met.   I am just a little bit obsessive about WWF.  I play every day and check to see if I need to make moves in any of my games throughout the day.  There is a limit to how many games you can have going on at once and I always push the limit.  I frequently get the message “you have reached the maximum number of games” when I try to start a new game.  If for some reason I am without internet service and unable to have my daily dose of WWF I feel a little lost, kind of like I am roughing it.  I mean if I am going to have to have a day without WWF I might as well just go camping.  If I can’t have my game I should just go sleep outside on the hard ground in a tent.  Both are equally unpleasant options for me to consider.

So, I get how my video game loving/obsessed family and friends feels about their games.  I can relate, but I can’t think of a single video game that I’d want to play every day.  In fact, with the exception of WWF, which I still say is a word game and not a video game, I’d be able to deal if for some cosmic reason I was told “no more video games for you, ever for the rest of your life.”   It wouldn’t be that hard. 

The only true video game that I’ve mastered or played with any regularity was Ms. Pacman, a popular arcade video game that I started playing in the eighties.  Back when I was in high school, class of 1983 to be exact, people went to arcades with fists full of quarters and played games for hours.  The lure for me wasn’t the games.  I went to the arcades because I wanted to go where the boys were.  And I got so good at this mindless game which developed my hand eye coordination and very little else that I’d invariably get the high score, and the game would play a little song and dance congratulating me after I got through so many successful screens.  But I wasn’t playing the game for any of that.  When I got the high score, it would draw the boys, the nerdy video gamers, to my side, which in turn opened up a nice window of conversation.  Now that I’m married to one of those cute nerdy guys with glasses I don’t need the game.  We stayed at a cabin in Tennessee this year for my birthday that had an authentic arcade style Ms. Pacman machine.  I played a few games, but then I was bored with it. 

I could think of at least a dozen other activities more compelling than playing video games.  Decorum prohibits an extensive and all-inclusive list of activities I prefer, but here’s a start:

1.        Cooking a meal

2.       Reading a book

3.       Talking on the phone to a friend

4.       Soaking in a hot tub

5.       Playing a word game-Boggle, Scrabble etc.  online or board version

6.       Working out-yes, I’d rather lift weights than play video games

7.       Sing

8.       Shopping for clothes or even for groceries

9.       Going for a walk or a bike ride  

10.   Rehearsing for a play

11.   Watching a movie or tv show

And the final activity I’d rather do than play video games. . .

12.    Write an essay about video games