gaming

What gaming means to me now

~ Joel Albino

At some point in my life, quite unexpectedly I turned 30 years old.  Then 35.  Now, I am 38 and as I am jet skiing towards 40 I sometimes reflect on my life, my hobbies, and the way they have changed.

It is no secret that from the tender age of seven years old gaming has been my “primary” hobby.  It’s been with me through elementary school in the 80s, junior high and high school in the 90s, through my own LAN center in the 2000s and now into my convention, the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo in the 2010s.  Over the course of this long journey I’ve seen the mind blowing “best graphics ever” of the SNES, the advent of 3D gaming, the rise of HD and the not so popular “I have to wait 90 minutes to play my new game I just bought because there is a 40GB patch.”

Do I see or play games the way I used to?  Surely my approach has to have changed since I am not seven years old anymore.  It is no secret that most gamers my age have “eyes bigger than their stomachs” in regards to games and thus always have a tremendous backlog, often resulting in the sale of games that have never even been opened due to lack of time.

I can say personally that while in the midst of my heaviest gaming related projects (the store and the convention) my playing definitely decreased, sometimes to the point of non-existence.  The convention has been a little better since there is some type of “off-season” (though that window has been getting shorter and shorter).  There is also the undeniable personal truth that for a while there games were boring.  I wasn’t excited for anything anymore.

Then came the Nintendo Switch.

As many gamers my age I will be the first to admit I am a sizable Nintendo fan.  Even during the Gamecube days I stuck with them.  I bought a Wii U in 2015 and barely touched it.  I knew the games were good but it just didn’t excite me.  When the Switch came out however, something clicked for me, and I think it clicked for a lot of other people as well.  The games on it weren’t just fun, but the unit itself was fun to play on.  The fact that it was extremely small, powerful, and portable definitely did not hurt either.

While some people criticized the early launch library I found it liberating,  Going back to why people have backlogs – in my mind if there is at least one more game I want to play on a system what does it matter if the system has 2 or 200 games?  If there is always one more game I want to play then I am good.  And from day one, that has been the case.  Zelda to Shovel Knight, to Blaster Master, to Mario Rabbids, to Mario Oddysey and so on and so forth.

Does this line of thinking work for everyone?  Of course not, no line of thinking does.  But for me, it’s perfect.  Because in reality, even though I am involved in so many gaming themed projects, and I have lots of exposure to the gaming world, in truth I am not much of a gamer anymore.  That doesn’t mean I don’t love the time I have playing games, but in my modern landscape I am also a guy with a full time job, multiple side projects, a convention head, and I’m someone’s fiance to boot (and boy is she understanding!)  I am also always interested in improving myself and learning things, which is a hobby in of itself.

So obviously gaming is much different to me than it was, and it’s true you can never truly go home again.  It is impossible to capture that same feeling of playing Chrono Trigger for the first time because there were so many factors involved in creating those special memories (your age, the world at the time, infancy of the internet, etc) that can never be replicated, especially if you attempt to do so.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t find the new games, appreciate them for what they are and have a blast when you are able to.  You just also have to be comfortable with the fact that you may play 1/10th the amount of games you want to, and that is a-ok!

What’s on your shelf?

~ Joel Albino

High on the list of commonalities of our culture is displaying games (or various other items, figures, etc.) that mean something to you.  Why is this?  Why do we do this?

Let’s try to break down the reasoning.  What is the fundamental reason you put something on a shelf?  It could be for easy access.  Is it something that is moved frequently – like a controller or a remote?  If not, it is probably there to give you an emotional reaction when you see it.  Thus having it on a shelf gives you easy access to not a thing but an emotion, always just a glance away.

Being that there are different strokes for different folks, it should come as no surprise that personally I prefer cleaner shelves with less items on them, uniformly arranged.

Storing things away (like in a closet, a drawer) is dangerous and you need to be careful.  Out of sight, out of mind is a true and powerful thing.  I have seen the majority of gamers (and people in general) stow some shit away and never think about it again.  This is a waste on more than one level. Even if you don’t know what’s in the back of that closet, you know SOMETHING is there, and that can weigh on your psyche.  Be honest with yourself.  Ask “Am I really going to ever play/use this thing again?”  The answer is often going to be no rather than yes.  Open up that tired space and free it and your mind a little.

Physical vs Digital

~ Joel Albino

The argument versus physical and digital games has been going on for quite a while and with digital games becoming increasingly popular it is an argument that is not going away any time soon.

By their nature, us “retro” gamers are tangible people.  We like to hold the physical object, as it usually has more value in our eyes that way.  If you are like me and grew up in the 80s you most likely feel this way, it is a natural product of having grown up in a time when technology wasn’t nearly as balls out and it is now.

The younger generations (and this is by no means a “get off my lawn” post) do not necessarily see this as their world has always been one of iPads, mp3s and throwaway app store games.

So now that we have our backstory it seems easy now – physical games work best for the geezers and digital is great for the babes.

BUT WAIT, THIS IS A MINIMALISM BLOG!

Let’s look at some pros and cons.

For physical games you have something tangible to hold in your hand.  It can be placed somewhere and admired, lent out and (perhaps most importantly) resold to recoup some of the cost after your time with the game has finished. It is also by no means a secret that many games take up a lot of room.  Clutter, as least for me, is akin to a wild boar coming into my house and shitting on everything that I love.

Digital games are a little bit of a different beast.  They are not lend able or resell able but they do have some conveniences.  They are usually able to be accessed anywhere via an account login.  You can generally (though not always!) find them cheaper than their physical counterparts.  Some games also only have a digital release. They also take up no physical space.  Just because they take up no space does not mean you can buy them up and hoard them!  The mental part of it, that invasion of the nice comfortable “zen” feeling can be affected by not just physical but digital items as well.  Clutter is clutter, no matter what form it takes.

Minimalism is not just about keeping clutter in order (or non-existent!) it is also about simplifying your life. The number one reason these games exist and why we play them is that they give us experiences and enjoyment,  I can recall many a game, remember the play through, sometimes even remembering where I was when I finished them (looking at you FFIX on Christmas Eve many years ago).  However after I completed FFIX I have never gone back to play it.  I never will, because there are so many other great experiences (both gaming and otherwise) that I have not been a part of yet!  Thus I let it go and moved on to my next adventure.

Obviously which direction you go depends on what type of person you are.  Through this post I am only trying to get you to have an internal dialogue with yourself and ask, “When I look around at the games I have am I completely happy?”  I was not with a moderate amount of physical (and digital believe it or not), games but have gotten to a place I am personally very comfortable with.