2010: An Entertainment Odyssey

Feature from AJ - Thursday, 11 February 2010 @ 10:31pm

As most people who know me can attest, I don’t get out much. It’s not that I’m anti-social, it’s just that I always have 1001 things to do, and these days drinking heavily isn’t (usually) one of them. Not only do I run my own web business, but being a husband, father and home handyman takes up a lot of my time. The fact that we now live out in Melbourne’s western suburbs only makes it more difficult to get out for a beer. It’s surprising then, that I managed to get into the city on the weekend for a few drinks with Yug, George and Anna (and Mr. Shoosh). Even then my outing was shortened by the fact that I wanted to get home to see my son before he went off to bed (sighs from the audience).

But then something strange happened. I found myself with an hour or two free and no plans to fill them. I had just gotten the new expansion pack for Sins of a Solar Empire on the PC, so that would be the most logical choice of activities. I’d also been promising myself that I’d finally finish Mass Effect so that I could play the sequel. I’d also just bought Gyromancer on Xbox Live. Then my wife had been playing Critter Crunch on the PS3, which I also wanted to try. Oh, and of course, how could I forget that I have a shelf of literally dozens of other incomplete, half-finished or still shrink wrapped games.

So what did I choose? I put my feet up and watched Stargate SG-1 instead.

Hrm... Mass Effect 2 or these tools? Which would you choose?

So back to the drinks for a second. I was having a conversation with George and Yug about George’s disappearance (and subsequent return) to AG. I was saying it was all cool, because we all have our down periods. Yug chimed in to remind me that I’d personally tried to quit AG several times. It was at this point that I mentioned that I had recently considered chucking it in again. When pressed on the issue, I explained that I just don’t have the time for gaming that I used to have. I’m still here of course, so obviously I didn’t quit. But the whole thing has had me doing quite a bit of thinking.

When I got home and chose to watch SG-1 (which has just restarted from Season 1...*fist pump!*), it was a choice from among half a dozen or more shows that I currently have queued up on my Foxtel IQ. We originally got it for my wife as something for her to watch during the late night baby feeds. Recently however, it’s taken over my calendar. Foxtel is awesome for nerds. The Sci-Fi and Comedy channel alone make it worth the $60 a month we spend on it. Stargate SG-1, Atlantis and now Stargate Universe, at least four varieties of Star Trek, Battlestar Gallactica, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Chuck and the 1000th rerun of Who’s Line Is It Anyway? And all that’s just the shows I watch regularly.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the IQ box. Ordinarily if you miss a show it’s too bad. Foxtel IQ, however, keeps every single episode of every show in a queue, ready for you when come back; and you always come back. If I have a busy week at work, I can easily end up with 20 hours of TV to catch up on. Is it really any wonder that I have no time when DAILY I have 2-3 hours of TV queued up to watch? Even if I were to cut back to just the “essential” viewing of The Daily Show, SG-1 and Battlestar Gallactica, I’m still down 2.5 hours every night, which in reality is all the spare time I have.

There are 10 seasons of SG-1. 214 episodes at 45 minutes each. That’s 160 hours of TV or four working weeks. More importantly, that’s 10-15 games I could’ve played, enjoyed and finished in the time I watch just one of the many shows I watch. Add in the other hour or two of TV every night, and it’s plain to see that TV is killing my videogame hobby. Many could argue that that is time that I should be spending with my family. But they can just mind their own damned business.

Even though we’ve only had Foxtel a year now, I couldn’t imagine not having it now. I can feel myself shaking at the thought of cancelling our subscription when the 12 month contract is up this month. It means I will likely never see all of SG-1, it means I will probably never see the Daily Show again and worst of all, it means when the footy season starts again, I’ll miss ¾ of the games the Bombers play this year. How can I possibly make that kind of decision? Many folks out there would just tell me to go download all this TV, but that’s not really my thing. I’d more likely go and buy all the DVDs and then I’d be right back where I started!

A monolith that regresses us rather than advances us.

In reality, the single greatest thing about Foxtel, is the single thing which means I have to cancel it. The ability to record any show and watch it any time later on means I’m watching at least double, maybe triple the TV that I used to watch. When previously I’d watch TV, I’d switch it on, find there was nothing interesting and pick up a game controller. Now whenever I sit down there is at least 3 hours of TV queued up ready to be watched. Consequently, the controller doesn’t get picked up.

So that’s that. Foxtel needs to go....for the good of gaming!

Of course it isn't just Foxtel's fault. Movies, music and free-to-air TV all take meal sized chunks out of my life. Not to mention the little 10 month old terrorising the contents of our cupboards as I write this. If I choose to increase my gaming, realistically I need to reduce all of these other activities to make room. It does raise an interesting question though. Given that we all have a fixed amount of time to spend on entertainment, and with an aging gaming population with arguably more obligations than the traditional younger audience, is the increase in gaming resulting in a decrease in other forms of entertainment? More interestingly, if companies such as Nintendo actually succeed in trapping a larger segment of society, what is that replacing? As a whole, are we going to the cinema less, watching less TV, playing less sport? Even worse for us mature gamers, is it at the cost of spending time with family? My gut tells me probably a little of all of the above.

The one on the right is mine, and he makes Godzilla seem tidyl!

We all have a finite number of hours in the day for entertainment. For us “mature” gamers, that is down to as little as maybe 2 or 3 hours a night....and that includes “family” time. So how can the average family guy really get through the average 20-40 hour game and still have time for any other form of entertainment? As a result of this logic, I’ve spent the past 12 months living mostly on a healthy diet of Xbox Live Arcade games, most of which I play for a few hours and then discard with the dirty nappies on bin day. The trouble is that it is a fairly shallow gaming experience. My interest in gaming as whole has dropped through the floor simply because of the games I choose to play. I play games that don’t require involvement, and as a result I don’t get involved in the game. No shit, Sherlock! I miss the detailed storylines of RPGs, the micro-management of RTS and sim games and the chance to master skill based games like shooters or even the dreaded rhythm games. The fact that I can’t fit a 20 hour game into my hectic schedule, but I somehow manage to fit 20 hours of TV into my week is a little odd to be sure.

Castle Crashers: One of dozens of games I've played for less than 5 hours, even though it was awesome.

The curious thing for me is that the decision to reduce my gaming has lead to a reduced commitment to each game I play even though I am playing far more games in total. It’s something of a singles scene for gaming at the moment. There are lots of one night stands, but no long term relationships. Hell, why invest all that time in just one game when I can play a dozen different games and toss them aside when I’m bored with them. Ultimately, like relationships, you get to a point where these shallow investments no longer satisfy you. I flick through a list of dozens and dozens of games I’ve bought in the past year or so, and I don’t truly love any of them, much less want to spend any more time with them. Even the games that I ranked so highly above all others failed to keep my interest. Not because they’re not great games, but because I chose not to invest myself in them because I always had one eye looking out for the next great game.

So this is where it stops. I’ve been trying to improve my gaming enjoyment by picking up Xbox Live games, PSN games, iPhone games and DS games. But my lack of time, in reality, is just creating a series of non- fulfilling gaming experiences which inevitably push me back to TV which means I have even less time for gaming. A nasty circle indeed. The lack of time excuse is bullshit after all, as we all have 24 hours in the day, it’s just a matter of what we choose to do with it.

p.s. I'm well aware that the header image is from 2001: A Space Odyssey and not 2010...bite me!