I could make this a discussion about the nature of time in games, and I probably will at some point; it’s a pretty interesting topic and one I’ve overlooked for far too long. No, what I want to talk about is the amount of time I have to put in to gaming right now. It’s at least a little ironic that writing about games for TSA is one of the things that keeps me from playing games, as does doing the podcast, writing over at Halftone Hero and a hundred over little things.
Until January I’d been working freelance for almost a year, and the amount of time I had for gaming was probably at it’s greatest since I was in junior school. However, now I’m back in a full time job and my evenings have quickly filled up with writing, podcasting and (on the odd occasion) having a nice dinner.
If I game it’s in a short burst, playing Angry Birds or some random Flash game for ten minutes before some commitment pulls me away. I’d love to sit down and finish off Dead Space 2 (the box sits on the coffee table, mocking me) but I know I’d need to actually have another five hours to put into it if I wanted to reach the end. Most of the time it doesn’t feel like I’ve got five minutes.
The thing is there’s nothing wrong with playing a Flash game. It often feels a little dirty to admit that’s all I really have time for right now, but what’s wrong with that? I think smaller, pick up and play titles are almost certainly one of the reasons that gaming is getting bigger and bigger. When people can sit down for five minutes with a Flash title or a smartphone app and just play through something on the bus, on their lunch break or when their boss isn’t looking (not that I do that) then gaming is going to continue to grow pretty significantly. Even having my DS, where I can just snap the lid open and pick up instantly where I left off, is pretty handy. I mean I completed the entirety of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass in breaks from developing a mobile app.
So what about you, do you have time to play games properly? Is the rest of life getting in the way, try as you might to actually play a game? Are games that can be played in those little bursts going to continue to grow and grow as gaming goes forwards?
Soild_Nat
Don’t game as much as i used to because of lots of travel with work or general busy life stuff, however weather it be down to my other half taking the advice ‘well if you cant beat em, join em’ or our 8 years of marriage has actually broken her we do quite a bit of gaming together. We are currently playing through Final Fantasy XIII, me at the controls and her reading the guide, offering advice etc. We also have a Move which we play Sports Champions, Start the Party (mainly with the kids) on. We are both looking forward to Move Hero’s and the next R&C game which has co-op, perfect for us and a fav of the misses.
Other then that if i want to play some GT5, Mass Effect 2 etc then its mainly later on an evening and probably for about 30mins to an hour, not nearly enough for such big games. That said the other half is pretty good about my PS3 time, she isn’t in to much telly at all and so long as she has a good book or laptop to use on she is ok with me spending most of the night on a game.
For travel on the move i have the PSP but that dam syncing the clock via the net so i can play the Plus stuff i have downloaded keeps catching me out, must remember to do it before i leave the house! Maybe that’s another lunchtime discussion
KeRaSh
I miss the days where I got home from school and just played for hours without any distractions. Now I come home from work and spend my precious free time with the missus and/or catch up on some TV series (by some I mean a crapload). The limited time I have to actually play something is often misused by spending time on various sites like thesixthaxis.com or enjoying flamewars on engadget. The Memebase sites are also a decent distraction…
Last week I was at home sick, so I actually had time to catch up on some playtime but I ended up doing something else the whole week because booting up a game like Dead Space 2 felt like a tiresome task… Thinking back – I did actually spend quite some time on Bulletstorm but after that I tried to force myself through Killzone 2, which ended in me turning off the PS3 out of boredom.
Now I spend my freetime watching Minecraft videos (Yogscast) instead of actually spending time playing the game which I payed for but it’s a lonely world if you have noone to play with.
So wrapping up I’d say while I love gaming I usually don’t have that much time for it because I get distracted by Teh Interweb or because I don’t feel like playing for an extended time period…
KeRaSh
I want to add a weird fact. I catch myself looking forward to playing so many great new games before they are released but by the time I actually get to play them I completely lose interest. This happened with Red Dead Redemption, Bioshock 2, Dead Space 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2 (just from the top of my head…).
XisTG
Work sure takes most of you’re life’s time. But the 23h to 1h time slot is always available, extending until 4 or 5am on weekends. Of course, not every single day.
mrfodder
I get about 45 minutes on the psp on the train a day. Thank god for the pspgo pause function. Most evenings I can creep in 2 hours after the kids have gone to bed. Weekends never work as I am limited in what I can play in front of the kids. I have a 5 month old who will happily go to sleep watching killzone as it’s all just flashing colours. Can’t let the 3 year old watch it though.
Sympozium
You really miss that feature whenever using the PSP-3000.
I hope it returns on the NGP but with unlimited pauses something like that would be amazing.
mrfodder
I imagine the NGP will have it as I expect built in memory. I imagine they wouldn’t allow in on removeable memory as it is too easy for hacking.
acridweasel
I think it’s clearly all about circumstances.
I noticed a large drop off in my gaming activity since I moved into my own flat and lost my food shopper, meal cooker, shirt ironer, cleaner, etc. :D
More responsibilties = less gaming time for me.
Lots of unfinished games laying around: Bioshock 2, Red Faction Guerrilla, Deathspank 2, PoP Trilogy and KZ3 should be on my door mat when I get home.
Add in all the others I can’t quite bring myself to buy yet and those yet to come out this year, it all adds up.
Not a bad problem to have though I suppose…
KeRaSh
Ah the time sink that is not living at your parents house anymore… I will find myself in that place in a few weeks… :P
aerobes
I don’t receive TV so any time that would go towards doing that is usually spent gaming although most of the time I turn it on and end up doing something else (likely sleeping) with the menu screen displayed doing nothing.
My GF is a gamer too, more-so than me actually so I certainly don’t lose any time that way.
Procrastination costs me a fair bit, that’s also when my attention gets caught by something else too. Just the other week I was deciding what to play and I ended up looking at a bookshelf and read an entire book before I realised I’d originally set out to do some gaming. To be fair, it was engrossing stuff.
Jen A
I’m single and self employed so I do technically have lots of time. As I spend much of my time reviewing games though, there’s a difference in terms of whether I’m playing games for fun or work!
Having said that, last weekend I had quite a lot of time to game if I chose to. I found myself mostly playing Zuma Blitz on Facebook instead. It’s damn addictive and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Flash games that you can drop in and out of are excellent at times :)
Crazy_Del
I used to game alot after schools both Primary and High School. Of course there’s exams and I stopped gaming and focus on getting good grades. I finally got a job which I loved and it was my first job and the only one there 6 years in that college. I have bought a 360 1st as PS3 was out in Japan until I saw Metal Gear with the PS3 and had to get it. Been on PS3 ever since!
I met my other half 5 years ago and she is a gamer too (lucky me ;) ) But of course there was dating and meeting the family which pretty much took up my time and was desperate to get back to gaming lol.
We have been living together 3 years and we both have chores in the house and also our jobs aswell. I play football 2 times a week but now it’s 3 times a week!
I game Wednesday and Thursday 6pm until 11pm after work. Play football Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays but then again it depends as I usaully go out Fridays more often than Saturdays, (drunken nights)
My best gaming to focus like Killzone 3 or Uncharted would be weekends if no plans. Of course there’s holidays which kinda helps sometimes but not enough lol.
I mostly leave PS3 GT5 B-spec running while playing footy.
I really hate doing food shopping >< or my missus asking me to take her out for a meal lol. Honestly I don't mind that at all.
I use my PSP at work during the holidays. It gets quiet around there.
BrendanCalls
I always make time to play my games, I have a very genrous fiancee who lets me game quite often. A couple of hours each night at least. I also spend copious amounts of time playing games on my iPhone usually while listening to one of the many podcast’s I enjoy.
Squalje
Ah, finding the time to play. This very notion has plagued me since I became a ‘grown up’. Every now and then I catch myself in a daydream of the gaming glory days gone by and think that it can’t possibly have been all that long ago.
Lazy afternoons after lectures, spent crawling through vents as Solid Snake, all nighters on Zelda looking for the remaining elusive pieces of Hearts. Playing Counter Strike and other FPS till RSI and early arthritis set in.
Now I’m nearly thirty, married and with a little one on the way. Gaming is still very much a love for me and something I think I will always enjoy. My gaming habits these days are vastly different though and I feel it’s great how gaming has evolved and that there are options for people who love to play but just have little time.
I will always prefer the long, hardcore games and as such I have fallen into the trap of having a huge backlog of titles sitting there on my tv stand, mocking me, as well as the legions of demos I have download from PSN. All obtained in the last 6 months and each one I promised myself I would make time for.
I guess short, fun, pick up and play games are brilliant for getting my fix and something that I can see becoming even stronger as time goes by. I like my PSP but these days I don’t even play that as any gaming time I have at home will be on the PS3 and the iPhone has done such a good job of monopolising my mobile gaming when I’m out and about.
All in all though I don’t think I’ll ever truely get the time I need to play all my games properly but I’m perfectly happy with that. It sure as hell is nice to have so many to choose from though.