Back in March of 2008 one of the most anticipated games I can remember finally made its way into my grubby little paws, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. On the day that I bought the thing, I spent over ten straight hours playing it. During that time I didn’t eat, didn’t drink, didn’t sleep, didn’t do anything except play that game, and I did the same thing for another half-dozen hours the next day.
Believe it or not, that used to be a common experience for me in the nineties. Possibly because I’d be dumb enough to rent a game that couldn’t be finished in under 20 hours and had to return it the next day. But from roughly the period between 2000 and 2008, that didn’t happen, at least not for me. Oh, sure, I played some pretty good games, but none of them put me in a state apparently one step removed from sleep.
I had thought that maybe something had changed. Had my passion for my hobby waned? Given that I started this very site in 2001, I’d say that’s probably not the case.
My best guess is that I have logged enough hours in enough games that I’ve kind of become one of those so-called ‘jaded gamers‘. I’ve been there, done that so many times that I almost forgot what it’s like to experience something new. But I’m relieved to know that the feeling is still buried down there somewhere, I just have to dig around a little to find it.