This question has been weighing heavily on my mind in recent weeks -- at my age (34), why are videogames still an attraction? I'm getting closer to middle age (the gray hairs on my head argue that I'm already middle-aged). I own a home and have a mortgage, and everywhere I look in the house, I notice things that I want to tinker with. My wife and I are preparing to start a family. I rarely have time for my other hobbies, like golf, music, and model building (the latter two are hobbies that I haven't pursued in years and dearly miss).
Why do I still play games?
It's not because of storytelling. Let's face it: As much as gamers talk about the importance of story, it doesn't take a good yarn for a game to hook us. Look at Red Faction: Guerrilla. For most folks, I'd wager that the fun isn't in the liberation of Mars but in the game's open-world destruction. Set it anywhere else -- Earth, Venus, or Planet Spaceball -- and the game would likely still be as fun because you're still destroying and smashing stuff left and right. Rock Band and Madden NFL certainly don't have stories, but gamers spend hours playing those games. If I want a well-developed, engaging tale, I'm more likely to find it in a book or a film than in a game (though good yarns do exist, such as Planescape: Torment and Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer). And there's nothing wrong with that.
Do I play for the challenge? Sure, building a nation to defeat your foes in Civilization can be difficult, but I can find a number of other challenges waiting for me around the house. My town's hard water messes up the hardwood floors and the stainless steel in the kitchen; it's a constant pain in my ass. Ceiling fans await installation. The paint already needs touching up in places. And I've still got that novel to finish writing....
Am I drawn to games because they're fun? I love exploring and hurling spells with reckless abandon in role-playing games, experimenting with the motion controls of the Wii, and matching wits and reflexes with my wife in Tetris Party. But I can find fun in many other pursuits -- cooking, grocery shopping, golf, reading a good book, or playing cards with my family -- so it's not that games are more fun than other activities.
So, why do I still play games? Unlike any other pursuit, games combine all of these factors -- story, challenge, and fun -- better than any medium or hobby out there. Maybe it's because I rarely stray from my comfort zone or have low expectations, but I rarely have a bad time with a game. In the last year, I've bought one game that I didn't enjoy (The Dark Spire for DS). I enjoy playing games alone, with my wife, and with other people. With luck, in five or so years, I'll enjoy playing games with my children, too.
Gaming remains a young and growing medium, but it already offers a variety of stimulating choices, from military and sports sims to comedies and mysteries to space opera. You can lose yourself in the well-developed postapocalyptic world of Fallout 3, get a taste of what it feels like to drive a world-class sportscar in Gran Turismo, or just spend a quick 30 minutes blasting baddies and asteroids in Super Stardust HD. It's this breadth of experiences that draws me to gaming, and I hope that as the medium grows, matures, and -- yes -- changes, gaming will always call out to me.
It sure as hell beats installing ceiling fans.
