Grokking Games

What do you do when you're on disability and stuck sitting on a couch for 14 to 16 hours a day? Answer: read and play games. But when this becomes your life don't just read and play, you grok what you read and play. Grok meaning "to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience."

I don't track how much time I spend reading each month but Big Brother a.k.a. Microsoft, is kind enough to track everything I do whenever I power up the 360. The overseers in Redmond also send me a monthly summary of my activities. Just to make sure I know how truly pathetic my life has become. So courtesy of Microsoft, here are my frightening grokking stats from the month of April:

Total amount of time spent on the 360 - 263 hours, 30 minutes.

Most frequent activity - 160 hours , 52 minutes playing Just Cause 2.

Other activity - Saints Row 2: 45 hours, 12 minutes. Halo: ODST: 35 hours, 37 minutes playing.

260 hours is the equivalent of working a full-time job plus a part-time job. If I could find a company willing to pay me for playing from home, I'd be rolling in money! But it's highly unlikely... sigh. BTW - All of the time was spent playing single player, I won't go near multiplayer anymore because it's a toxic environment.

For the record, I'm not even playing for enjoyment anymore. Truth is 9 out of 10 games are really, really bad. Unless you happen to have masochistic tendencies. If you do, then you should definitely play all of them. You'll "enjoy" yourself... wink, wink. (cue sound effect of a leather whip cracking on a bare ass). The only reason I keep playing is I'm interested in game design / theory and the game industry in general. If and when I'm able to get back to work I'd like to get involved in game research and or market analysis, fingers crossed. So it's not a complete waste of time, it's just a partial waste of time. But on the bright side, I've doubled by gamer score since last year and XBL has started rewarding me with MS points. Now, if I could get Blue Cross Blue Shield to let me pay my insurance bills with MS points, I'd be a happy guy.