Games have always been a part of my life. Even as a toddler I was always playing my Gameboy Pocket while walking around with my mom. I remember going through grade school always excited to go home and play my Nintendo 64. Now as a high school student, games are more of a social experience thanks to Xbox Live and the party system, Xbox is just another place to talk to friends. I remember when my friends and I all huddled around my television playing Halo, complaining about screen peeking. Games have always been more than just entertainment to me though. They've been a sort of coping mechanism for me. To this day I still find this kind of odd but I still remember whenever my parents had an arguement or whenever I heard some unfortunate news, the first thing I always did was turn my console and try and get my mind off of whatever the news was.  Video games have always been like an escape to me. So yes, I do believe video games are a form of escapism. I'll try and post some more later but I think I'll end it there.