I work anywhere from twelve to thirteen hours per day. I have a wife and two six-month old children. I get up at 4 o'clock every morning. I fall asleep sometime between nine and eleven o'clock every night. When the hell should I play a video game? When will I ever find the time?
Sometimes, on the weekends, I will keep my weekday sleep schedule and PURPOSEFULLY wake up at 4 AM just so I can have a few hours to delve into Ferelden, or mark and execute repetitive baddies in Splinter Cell Conviction. Sometimes I will encourage my wife to take the kids for a walk so I can lose twenty minutes blowing shit up in Panau. Whenever I can. I guess that's my answer.
However I do find that sometimes instead of play a video game I would rather peruse sites, like Bitmob, and just read about games. I'll often pick up my iPhone and jump into TweetDeck to see what a slew of game journalists are up to. Sometimes I'll have Google Reader running next to me on my notebook PC and I'll go so far as to pause the game I'm currently enjoying for who knows how long, just to read the headlines from my RSS.
Which begs the question. How much time do I spend reading shit on the Internet, or listening to podcasts, that should be contributing to my game time? Everyday I go to work and think, "I wish I had more time to play games."
So my question to you is, "Do you play games, or read about them?"
Reading about games should enhance the experience, usually by informing you of something interesting about our hobby or providing something ancillary. Reading about games should never replace playing.
I listen. I'm a podcast and audiobook addict, and I burn through most video game podcasts first chance I get. I barely play games on disc. Too long. I like downloadable games...shorter affairs in bite sized chunks. So my gaming habits have changed drastically due to time restraints.
Of course, I read Bitmob... and that's a lot of work too. Haha.
I play more than I read, I think. But reading impacts what I write.
Take your schedule, subtract one child, add being an editor at Bitmob and wanting to write original articles as well, and you have my situation. Well, except the fact that I get up a little later than you. :)
I truly understand your plight. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in one, I forget the other. The truth is reading, writing, and playing all are fun to me.
One thing that helps me with the "reading" part is listening to podcasts during my commutes and time driving to work sites.
Sometimes, when I am really jazzed about Monster Hunter Tri, but don't necessarily feel like playing, I'll indulge in everything I can find on it. All that stuff still counts as 'enjoying' games, even if it's not gaming. The culture isn't just the act itself.
Right on, thanks for the comments guys! Well, trust me if I didn't read articles, have magazine subscriptions, and listen to the countless podcasts that I do, I probably wouldn't enjoy the act of playing video games as much as I do. My main point is, should I be playing some Chime right now over my morning coffee, or writing comments on my Bitmob article? Time management is such a bitch right?
I often must choose between writing about games and playing them, an agonizing choice that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Reading about them is easier to fit into my day, as I can often access the internet at work. But my writing time is becoming more and more scarce.