10 reasons why I don't bother playing video games anymore

  1. DRM and related crap. When software required me to keep the disc in the drive, that didn’t bother me. But when I started hearing about scary pieces of software that couldn’t be un-installed and would cause problems with your machine, I started realizing that purchasing games was just as dangerous as pirating them.
  2. Once Quake II came out, newer better graphics have diminishing returns whereas the “fun” factor hasn’t improved. I’m not sure if there’s just nothing left to do or if nobody has bothered to figure out how to make a new way to game.
  3. I spent too much time forcing myself to play video games so I’d be able to talk intelligently about them while job hunting in the biz.
  4. Most video games, with the notable exception of some modern wii games, are no fun while socializing. You go over to somebody’s house, it comes up that they’ve got a PlayStation 3, two people play and everybody else gets bored.
  5. I knew some people who were obsessed with some really really stupid game. It consumed their lives and they’d always be talking about it. At first, I was bummed because I couldn’t see what was so fun about it. Later on, I was actively annoyed because they used to be interesting.
  6. I can’t bring myself to actually buy (or, for that matter, receive as a gift) a gaming console. Too many better things to spend money on and I’ve already got a perfectly good machine.
  7. I used to be really good at Quake and Quake II. I liked being good at it. On the other hand, this came at the expense of other things and I really can’t be bothered to spend that kind of time.
  8. In the days of BBSes, multiplayer online dialup games were structured such that you weren’t rewarded for spending hours and hours playing because each BBS only had one line and other people also wanted to dial up. On the other hand, MMORPGs are designed to consume your life and reward those who spend hours playing them.
  9. I had to give up Quake II in college because it hurt my hands. I was playing a NES emulator on my pocket PC and I wore out the buttons. Clearly this is a bad trend.
  10. Riding my bike interesting places is both more effective than any wii game at exercise, less expensive, more fun, and infinitely variable. Even though it is true that if you die in Canada, you die in real life.

Posted:

Updated: