I can honestly say that I have wasted substantial portions of my life staring at a Tv or computer screen rapidly manipulating a controller, keyboard, or joystick in order to force a few pixels to obey my commands. I have spent countless hours doing what I love: playing video games. But are those countless hours really wasted? Have I actually discarded vast portions of my actual existence in favor of a virtual one? In short, did I really fuck up my life, spending as long as I have playing video games?
Many skeptics would answer, "Yes, Ted, you have. Your life is completely meaningless due to the number of hours (almost certainly at this point adding up to at least several months of my life) you have spent playing video games. You have lost all touch with reality and are now simply living life vicariously through a sequence of zeroes and ones in a Central Processing Unit."
I have never written a novel, nor composed a concerto, nor even made any painting worth a damn. Many people would say that my life was wasted on video games. They are correct. Well, at least partially. I have indeed spent many hours playing video games until my thumbs ached and my eyes burned. Was this time wasted, however? In my opinion, no, I have not wasted a second of my life playing video games.
The question I pose to those who claim my life is wasted is this: have you ever saved the world from your living room? Have you ever defeated a monster, climbed an endlessly tall tower, and rescued a princess all before lunch? Have you ever been killed just to respawn exactly where you left off to give life a second try? Your answer would most likely be "no." Mine would also be "no." However, I have come a hell of a lot closer through video games than any of you have.
I do more sitting on my ass than most people do in their entire lives; and, to me, that is worth a thing or two. Anyone who reads books excessively is known as a "scholar" or "bibliophile", one who watches and criticizes films is a "movie buff" but I claim a different title, a title not altogether very positive. I am a gamer.
I love video games and, from what I can tell, video games love me. I was raised on video games, I live on video games, and, more than likely, I will die playing video games.While I am unsure about many aspects of my life, there remains one constant. Whether it manifests itself in the whirr of a disc starting up, the dust flying out of a cartridge, or the ding of "Your download is complete", the video game remains my constant, my passion, and, in many ways, my life.
Although some people might judge me for this, I am what I am. I am Ted Johnson. I am a gamer.
