Vacate

I used to be a master at video games.

When I was a kid, I would sit in my room and play games for hours upon hours. I would play all kinds of games, from shooters to fighting games to role-playing to sports. Some games were difficult, some were frustratingly hard, but that was part of the fun. I would try different strategies, practice different techniques, and outline a plan for success in advancing to the next level.

I was consumed with winning and beating games that I enjoyed, like Final Fantasy, and even games I didn't enjoy that much, like Home Alone 2. True story: One weekend, I just stayed in my room, obsessively trying to beat that crappy game, and what made it hard was there were no save points and only a limited amount of Lives and Continues. But I did it. I eventually beat that game, because I eventually beat every game. For awhile, I thought it was the one thing I was good at. It got to the point where I wasn't interested in winning, I was only interested in dominating. If anyone landed a punch on me in Punch-Out, I would consider that a loss. If I couldn't beat the last boss in Final Fantasy in 5 hits, I was disappointed.

In recent years, the magic just isn't there. It probably started freshman year in college, when I was the only person among my friends who had Grand Theft Auto III, and the only person who didn't beat it. Literally, every night, there would be a crowd of people in my room, taking turns playing GTA, and everyone eventually finished the game while I got bored after getting to the third island. I had fun with the game, but I had no interest in finishing it. I did beat the sequels to GTA3, but I've never beaten the original game. I've had the game for six years.

I still have interest in buying games, especially now that I'm working and have disposable income that I should be saving. I've bought roughly 10 games in the last year, including the Nintendo Wii. And I've beaten absolutely none of them. And it's not like I don't enjoy the games. Bully for the PS2 has a great story and is a lot of fun to play. Zelda for the Wii might be the best game to come out this decade. And while I play these games, I enjoy them tremendously. I just eventually lose interest, or get frustrated, and stop playing.

I've been thinking that maybe I've become a quitter, because that's what I do with these games. I don't try to achieve greatness anymore. I'm just content in having fun and quitting whenever I feel like I need to. However, I've been talking to people about this, and some people say that it's part of becoming a mature adult, to put away childish things. And sometimes I think that maybe that's true.

But it isn't. I've become a quitter.

It happens with all the greats. Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Britney Spears. All of them eventually became over the hill. Ali because he had fought in too many ring wars over the years. Jordan because he kept coming back from retirement one too many times. Britney Spears because she became more concerned with having babies and eating double cheeseburgers. I'm different from all of those legends though. Nothing happened to me, I just became a quitter. I tried thinking of reasons my sudden downfall in video gaming, but you know, after awhile I just quit thinking. When things get too hard, I just stop trying.

I would continue writing, but I don't feel like it, so I quit.