Despite owning over 90 titles of video games, I probably consider myself a casual gamer. Because I am a miserly gamer, most games I own were purchased years after release. Alternatively, they were included in giant Black Friday bundles mark down to less than five bucks (where it was cheaper to get the one game I did want this way, than alone). I particularly love RPGs, but between work and school, I barely find the time to sit down and play anything through to the end. It took thirteen years to beat Final Fantasy VII! I own all of Zelda. Someday, I hope to sit down and play it. Obviously not all games sit untouched, but the ones I did play average around three years to four years to finish. Of all those games, I can count the number I have actually completed as less than ten. Yet, according to my family, I play too much, as is. There is no reason to be spending more than two or three hours a week gaming. Past that is an obsession. However, next to my gamer friends, I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of gaming. As an illustration student, I find that I usually do not know what classmates or instructors are referencing when they talk about the art used in this game or that game. Therefore, I feel that I really need to step up and play more, to gain a better awareness to what is out there. So I wonder, for someone who is interested in working in the industry, how much gaming is too much gaming?
My lack of time spent gaming… is this like someone saying they want to be a writer, but then not reading enough books? How much reading is too much reading?
On that note, I’ve been told that I own way too many books
and comic books. That is, enough to fill an entire bookcase (and unlike games, most
of those I actually have finished).
