Why do we game?

Why do we play video games?

When I say we I am of course referring to us, those on this forum. We already know why the "Timmies" do it. We know why because we were there at one time. Care free youth (trust me, for some, not so care free) is fleeting. To have no further considerations or responsibilities outside of your own personal space is awesome.

One thing we should remember is that not everybody had a carefree childhood. Some children experience life's cruel realities much sooner than they should have to. But, for the average person, when we were kids we were happy. We just didn't realize it. 

I remember when such trivial things were so very important. All of us had different experiences as kids. Some harder than others, some slightly more blessed. All of us however had to come to the unfortunate realization that life is hard. Not just hard, sometimes, very cruel.

What a lot of us once thought was horrible when we were young, pales when put up against real tragedies. I was going to give a list of examples but that would have been shallow of me. It would have been meaningles to those who have experienced better and insulting to those who have experienced worse. Suffice to say that our experiences make us what we are. which, if you think about it, really isn't much changed from when we were kids. Maybe a little more tactful, a little more socially aware, a little more hardened and resillient maybe, but not much different from when we were young.

One of the most oft asked questions in the matchmaking lobby of Halo 2 is "how old are you?" I imagine after a bit you become hesitant to answer. "HOW old did you say?" "Don't you have a life?"

What these guys don't get yet is that they aren't going to be as different as they may wish to be when they reach our ''advanced age". Their taste in music won't change much. Their taste in clothing will only change when they stop selling what they think looks good on them. Their likes and dislikes will only be tempered by a certain sense of what is socially acceptable. They won't party near as much because of the time taken up by work and family. Hobbies will take a backseat to responsibilities (we hope).

What used to be an all-consuming passion will become a part-time interest for the sake of therapeutic diversion. And for a lot of us, THAT is the answer to why we game.

It isn't that we don't have a life, primarily it's because we are experiencing maybe a little too much of it.