Hi! It’s me. I used to blog to you.
If you have been checking this empty, wordless site
in the past few weeks with nothing to read,
then thank you, thank you for your patience.
I now give you: actual blogs.
It’s a gamer’s dream. It’s a lover’s dream.
I wake up with my lovely wife on our day off.
Tea is poured, breakfast is enjoyed. Our hearts are warm and soft.
The day is cold and wet outside; we find solace in our warm, cozy living room. My wife slyly opens our game-drawer in the coffee table, pulling out a Wiimote and Nunchuck.
And then… this:
Life in Cozynook.
She asks if I mind if she plays for a bit.
(She’s just getting used to this.)
Unreservedly, happily, I oblige. Is this really happening?
She then begins her day in “CozyNook”, and I continue my descent into the Tower of Zot in the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV. We sit together, comfortably chatting about the games we’re playing, and exploring the strange, unique worlds that we’ve been placed in.
I never saw this coming.
You see, after much trepidation, I bought her
Animal Crossing: City Folk last Christmas. Essentially my wife was a non-gamer, which inevitably led to me sweetly asking that she try games that I’d picked up. The occasional game would pique her interest, but eventually I’d try and break from my gaming obsession temporarily, and window-shop some non-gaming activities. The constant gaming fit
my lifestyle, but it felt wrong to try and and force it on hers, especially since
her own varied and creative hobbies are time-consuming enough.
But still, It made sense to buy her Animal Crossing. It fit her personality. And you know what? She loves it.
To be honest, I didn’t expect her to love it, love it: I just expected enjoyable, mild meandering and tinkering with the game on occasion. But instead, she’s been exploring the charming world of Animal Crossing with gusto. More interestingly? My wife is now a gamer.
Did I just say that?
It feels weird, wrong even. My wife is a gamer.
Of course, the ‘wrong’ part of it stems from societal conditioning that gaming is bad; a lowest-common-denominator activity for those with weak imaginations, corrupt spirits, and a predilection for over-the-top testosterone-fueled violence. In truth, of course, it can be a meditative, positive activity. Playing Animal Crossing is absolutely that. And while I was playing Final Fantasy, the turn-based strategic battles sure felt a lot like chess, but with a story. Certainly can’t go wrong there. After all, gaming is and has always been about what you
put into the experience. I’m a firm believer that if you play games regularly without any contemplation, without giving any of yourself to the experience, then yes: video games are a complete and utter waste of your time, because you’re not really interacting. (And you’re likely a
faqtard as well). But games are glorious when your intentions in playing them are positive. The phrase ‘my wife is a gamer’ would only be detrimental if she played games zombie-like, mindlessly and thoughtlessly — a slave to FAQs and cheats.
Anyway, I never really expected my wife to share my hobby with such verve, yet she does. It’s a beautiful thing to share thoughtful, intelligent discussion with your loved one. And with video games being–as Bioshock creator Ken Levine so aptly put it– the “convergence of everything”, you have yourself a never-ending trove of interesting conversation. And, of course, the two of us are not flooding our lives with video games: we’ve been good at keeping in check with reality, and the time the both of us are allotting to other healthy activities.
Now, there’s a good chance that you’re in a relationship with one whom
isn’t a gamer. Maybe, and hopefully, everything is going perfectly. If not, perhaps you’re trying to find some sort of balance or normalcy considering the difference in lifestyles. If that’s the case, then
please consider
this wonderfully written piece by Mister Raroo.
See you in the sky.
