Taking a vacation from gaming

Gaming in 2024 is just the pits. It seems like every day we’re bombarded with more negative news. Whether it’s layoffs, yet another broken release, low review scores, dead multiplayer titles, woke developers and journalists abusing gamers, predatory monetization, even more price hikes, mergers, frivolous lawsuits, the complete lack of customer service. The list just goes on and on. There’s very little to be excited or even optimistic about right now. Which is why I’ve decided to take a vacation from gaming.

The truth is I’ve been feeling this way for a while now. It kind of started with my trip to Alaska last year. I didn’t have any internet for most of the week. While I did bring my Steam Deck with me, it spent most of its time locked up in my cabin safe. Frankly, not having either was kind of a blessing. Being surrounded by all that awe inspiring nature forced me to reflect on a lot of things.

Back when I started this blog, when I was writing it in the campus café between classes, I had a genuine passion for video games. The PSP was still new, and had reinvigorated that childhood wonder at a time when PC was at its low point. Even now the 2000s are still seen as this golden age of the medium. But I’m 38 now. I have a career, other interests, and all the usual adult stuff to take care of. Which means I have less time than I did, gosh, nearly 17 years ago. Nowadays, when I do sit down to game with what free time I have, I’ve found myself enjoying it less and less.

Maybe that’s a part of getting older. Honestly though, all the non-stop drama that’s come to surround this hobby in the last decade, it’s just exhausting. It’s gotten to the point where gaming feels like another job, and a very tedious one at that. Or at best filler and background noise. Occasionally I’ll still find a gem that sucks me in. Xenoblade 3 was my most recent one. But I feel like the industry as a whole have turned games into a low value way to spend time. The sense of wonder they once provided is now gone. Replaced with bland, boring, unoriginal, politically correct rubbish. I don’t think there’s anyone left who really cares about making good games anymore. On top of that, they now constantly antagonize their customers while treating them like pay pigs. With how scummy these companies have become, it feels weird to be giving them my hard earned money. For the amount I’ve been spending on games and hardware annually, I could be doing much more valuable things, like travelling or growing my workshop.

So what I’ve decided to do is take a 30-day break from video games to focus on my other interests. Basically no gaming at all for the next month. When that’s done, I’ll see how I feel. Maybe I’ll come back, albeit on a reduced basis. Maybe I’ll find it’s just not an important part of my life anymore, and I’ll move on to my next chapter. I’ve started making 3D printed props and models. Though I’m still very much a novice at it, I might start up a new Twitter/X account to document my progress. Then once summer rolls around, I’ll be spending more time outdoors.

So what will happen to this blog if I do decide to quit gaming permanently, or scale back? Well, I haven’t decided. I really lost my passion for keeping it up even before I got burnt out on gaming. Hosting comes up for renewal in June. I might resub for another year, or I might transfer it over to a free WordPress site if I don’t. Either way I’m going to try and preserve the 16+ years of history on here, good and bad.