After having a discussion about it with my wife, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at play styles when playing a game. I know many of the games that come out today promote short bursts of almost ADD style gaming. Downloadable titles offers small gaming experiences at a reduced price. Multiplayer games are mostly consumed by people in small doses. It all has me thinking how many people really “marathon” through a game anymore.
I’m someone who does for the most part. Certainly some games I play, such as Peggle, are played in small amounts. But other games dominate entire days of my time at once, such as Arkham Asylum or Uncharted 2 most recently. Maybe it is the excess amount of time that I have while I am job searching. But part of me has always played games this way.
One gaming moment that often comes about when my brothers get together is the memory of me playing through Wild Arms in one sitting getting every item, beating every boss, and every side quest. The whole affair took around 24 hours. Of course this was done on a weekend before I became an adult, and isn’t likely to ever get repeated again.
I think this mentality is partly due to the way games used to be played. Often times, games had to played in one sitting. Sure some games featured passwords, but they rarely had things set up exactly the way they were when you quit. Some games had saves, but they were few and far between. Games were short and meant to be enjoyed in one playthrough.
Plus, I think there is something to be said about getting in the zone. Sometimes while playing, you will hit a level of play that is hard to reclaim when returning to a game the next day. I think this is a sign of a good game, one that can weave you into its very fiber. This doesn’t happen very often, so I feel it is something to greatly value. Others think it may be unhealthy.
To wrap things up before the drone on too long, let me be clear about something. I am not talking about gaming to the extent of forgetting about reality and all the things around you. People need to eat, drink, sleep, bathe, and get important things done. People around gamers shouldn’t be zoned out. But I do find that “marathoning” through a game no different than losing oneself in an itunes playlist, enthralling novel, television season, or movie series.
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