[img width=350 align=right]http://www.adpulp.com/gamesgrow_4_small.jpg[/img]Hello all.
Gaming has been a test of diligence this past week. I have been working through another go around of
The Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind GOY edition on my
XB 360. I had spent roughly 20 minutes traveling all around the great world of
Vvarendall to finally retrieve the awesome
Skull Crusher war hammer. Right when I begin to enter the archaic structured home of some half-breed I am to suppose to deliver this relic to, all of my efforts are wasted due to the game freezing. Talk about frustrating! I am tired of this crap happening and I find that my patience is lacking when trying to re-indulge in the adventure/mission that I had previously thought I had accomplished.
This situation mirrors my real life realization that I am not the gamer that I was back in my heyday. Hence, this is a solid preface to the next part in the series -
Erosion of the Gaming Skills: Reality Bites!I guess this hit me first when my younger brother (he is 8 years my junior) eventually started to beat on me like a farm animal in
Halo. When we first started playing this game, I routinely sniped his sorry ass from the hidden glacial recesses. I relied upon guile and stealth to defeat my opponent. And then self-reality punched me square in the nose - I had turned into one of those hated 'campers' in the
Call of Duty (and like) online series. As my brother improved (by playing), I stagnated and only had time to play every now and again. Now I was the one being abused like a rent-a-car at his will. Anyone who has a younger brother can attest to this - beating on them is pure satisfaction. Now that the tables had turned, one of my sincere joys in life had been extinguished.
As I grow wiser (older), I find myself gravitating to slower paced games where I can utilize my best asset - the brain. No, I have not crossed over to the dark side and become a fan of edutainment titles. However,
RPGs are right up my alley (as they have always been) and golf games (thank goodness for the return of the three-button method employed in
Tigers Woods 2008 - old school!). I was a HUGE
Tekken fan at one point in my gaming career, but being beat on like a red-headed step child is just not appealing to me anymore. I will admit, to the probable disgust of most gamers (and deservedly so), that I do employ cheat codes liberally. I do not do this to beat on my chest to say I conquered X game, but simply to be able to enjoy the great games that are being released in today's age. At this point in life, my time, patience and thumb-motor ability are resources that I do not have in abundance.
[img width=350 align=left]http://www.gso-media.com/upload/old-gamer-2.jpg[/img]This realization is not something new to me. As I entered into the working world and my career began to escalate, priorities obviously had to change. No more could I devote the necessary hours to master the key button combination required to decapitate a foe in
Mortal Kombat or the timing of a certain jump to avoid a villain in
Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Sometimes I just don't have the time to master, or even become remotely proficient, in a game; other times I find that I simply lack the patience to perform the necessary trial-and-error functions to get better. Either way, this is a sad reality that gamers of all ages will eventually face - the gaming skills do erode.
One word of the advice to the young pups out there that enjoy looking to take down 'oldman111' in your latest online game of
BioShock - be respectful. That will be you one day. Give 'creds' to us old-timers that are still out there on the playing field trying to enjoy the passion we both share - video games.
Next week's edition:
Buying Decision Do's & Don'ts. Until then, be careful in your next
CoD online game - you might just get your ass sniped
