Sunday Thoughts: Time
Or more precisely, a lack of.
Published: 15:00, 25/09/2011 by Greg [Watchful].
13Time is pretty peculiar if you think too much about it. For most of human history it was simply an abstract way to measure a rate of change. That change may have been related to when you needed to get out into the fields to plant or harvest your crops, when a particular deity needed honouring or frequently both.
Then about a century ago along comes Einstein who takes our abstract concept of time and weaves it into the very fabric of the universe, intrinsically linking space and time and showing us just how mutable time can be. For example, relativity has a significant effect on the GPS system.
Your GPS position would drift by about 10km a day if the system did not correct for relativity.
Time is something we never seem to have enough of either. For me that has been especially true of gaming time recently. For much of this year I have found it difficult to find more than a couple of hours a week to dedicate to gaming. It’s hard to work out where that time has gone too.
I know that about half a working day’s worth of time is now dedicated to the two weekly TSA features that I write, Tweak It and What We Played, but the rest of the time I used for gaming seems to have just evaporated. As a result my pile of played-but-unfinished games continues to grow as more titles like Deus Ex get added to the collection.
To ensure I am getting some gaming in every week I have turned to Gran Turismo 5. I have managed to organise a group of real-life friends who are also PS3 and GT5 owners so that we meet up every Wednesday evening for a couple of hours of races and arguments over who was on the racing line at the point of impact.
It is GT5’s B-Spec mode that allows me to feel like I am getting more gaming done than I actually am. Being able to set my B-Speccers (the current roster including such luminaries as B.May, H.Eisenberg and D.Eisenhower) racing for a few hours, largely unattended, with just the odd bit of encouragement is great. It is almost like being able to game while doing the housework.
My B-Speccers put in many more miles than I have time to.
At the moment then to make sure I get some gaming time in each week I have booked a slot in my calendar with friends to make sure I get a couple of active hours of gaming in. While in addition I enjoy some pseudo-gaming with GT5’s B-Spec mode when I am busy with other things around the house.
How do you manage your gaming time? Do you have fairly rigid and well-defined times when you can game or is your gaming a much more ad-hoc arrangement?
Most Comments This Week
- Gaikai’s Streaming – Does This Mean No PS4? [65]
- PSN Store Update: 23/05/12 [55]
- First Party Vita Games Drop To £12 On PSN [52]
- PSN Store Hit With 80023163 Errors [51]
- Is Something Big Coming To PlayStation Plus Soon? [50]
- “Leap” Motion Controller Could Revolutionise Gaming [43]
- Ghost Recon: Future Soldier PS3 Install Is Huge [42]
- Australian & New Zealand D3 Players Suffer High Ping Rates [41]
- Sony Files Patent For Game-Interrupting Soda Adverts [40]
- Ghost Recon Future Soldier Review (PS3, Xbox 360) [39]
Latest Reader Comments
-
Sunday Thoughts: Leaking E3 And Ethical Debates
- 18:28 hazelam: i’d agree with the least fanboyish, but respectable? can any community that has Tuffcub in it ever be...
- 18:12 TSBonyman: Integrity, yep that’s another reason i stick around here! I’m feeling the E3 anticipation...
- 18:06 skibadee: roll on E3 love it. great read CB :)
- 18:05 gazzagb: This article highlights just how good the writers here are, they actually care + take pride in what they...
- 17:49 seedaripper1973: And this ^ (great article) is why i’ve been a member forever.
- New Hardware, New Plus: All Eyes On Sony This E3
- E3 2012: New “Tomb Raider” Teaser Shows Off Some Lovely Visuals
- Meet the Reader: KAMIKAZE-UK
TSAtv: Original Video Content
Batman book review
Kris Dancing, again
Joe Danger interview
Sonic Generations
25/09/2011 at 15:24
Member since: Feb 2011
Mine normally depends on what time my missus goes to bed, luckily she has a lot of time for her bed so I can normally get in a least an hour or two a night
25/09/2011 at 15:28
Member since: May 2010
I also find that time is really a matter of our own perception. Time fly’s when your having fun but really drags when your not. I don’t have as much time as I have had in the past to game. It’s fairly restricted to a single hour on weekdays and a few hours on weekends.
25/09/2011 at 15:30
Member since: Nov 2008
My time all depends on the hours i work and how tired i am once it is finished. For some reason i think during the day of what game to play when i get back but then end up watching TV or housework when i get back because i cant be bothered to play it anymore.
Its never anything to do with time but more my mindset…..oh, and couple that with me being unable to play games for anything less than an hour at a time. Short bursts just doesnt feel like gaming.
25/09/2011 at 15:31
Member since: Nov 2008
and nice topic mate. Something i often think about :)
25/09/2011 at 15:36
Member since: Oct 2008
“Then about a century ago along comes Einstein who takes our abstract concept of time and weaves it into the very fabric of the universe, intrinsically linking space and time and showing us just how mutable time can be. For example, relativity has a significant effect on the GPS system.”
That’s so September 20th….back when light was No.1 ;). I think the term is now “Faster than the speed of neutrinos” :D
25/09/2011 at 15:47
Member since: Jul 2009
Unless of course the neutrinos traveled through a wormhole, which is entirely possible with current understanding of physics!
25/09/2011 at 16:41
Member since: Oct 2008
True I suppose, but then that does confirm faster than light travel :D
25/09/2011 at 16:51
Member since: Jul 2009
Ah but then it’s not ‘technically’ faster than light since it didn’t go above it! Just took a shortcut!
25/09/2011 at 18:28
Member since: Oct 2008
Tortoise, Hare ? :D
26/09/2011 at 06:59
Member since: Nov 2008
I hadn’t realised that was the current alternate explanation. Still, I imagine if true then it’d help us learn more about wormholes
25/09/2011 at 15:38
Member since: Apr 2010
I have very little time to game now. I vary between a 45 and 60 hour working week depending on my shifts, and I find weekends and any major time off is taken up with my girlfriend or friends. I try and get a chunk of a few hours every other week (this week has been good as I’m working in the evening, so can happily game most the morning uninterrupted). Like Roy above, I just don’t find it satisfying unless I can game for at least an hour to really get into something, so my playtime is considerably less than it used to be.
25/09/2011 at 16:09
Member since: Mar 2011
Just starting uni, so I’ll probably be getting a lot of work, and I had to leave my PS3 at home, and some weekends I’ll be going to visit my girlfriend. I only have Portal, Portal 2 and TF2 on my mac, so minimal gaming will be gotten. TF2 has server problems for me too, I dread to think what my ping will be..
So, much less gaming than before. :(
25/09/2011 at 16:16
Member since: Dec 2008
I’m quite fortunate in that as I’m only part time and work from 5-11am, I get the majority of the afternoon to play games. Because of this I don’t have trouble with unfinished games, but also don’t earn enough to buy many new ones either.
25/09/2011 at 16:22
Member since: Jun 2010
Never get enough gaming in these days. Got f1 2011 and have not turned a wheel yet as other half has a strop on and getting near xbox is a real no no !!!
25/09/2011 at 18:36
Member since: Aug 2011
Ah time. Time is so weird. It drags when you’re aware of it and flies when you’re not. I’m well aware that I don’t game as much as I used to and that’s both down to increased homework and general lack of drive to play games because my PS3 keeps freezing discs (should really get that fixed)
I wish I could go back in time. Back to the days where I didn’t have anything to worry about; when i could platly games when I wanted for however long I wanted. Those were the days.
25/09/2011 at 19:25
Member since: May 2010
I have too much time due to being unable to get a bleeding job due to the fecking twots in government destroying the job market for us young adults. >:( Excellent article Watchful :)