[sup]Bonus points if anyone gets that reference.[/sup]
Going through my big stack of archaic gaming hardware, software, abandonware,underwear, and shareware, I found myself coming to the conclusion that I don't have nearly half of the patience I used to.
Now, before I lose you, I'd like to submit that I'm talking about patience for gaming. I had the (mis)fortune of watching my friend play through an old Castlevania on an emulator, when I saw him making liberal use of the Fast Forward and Rewind buttons to ensure both a perfect run and a more timely one. Last I checked, unless it's Prince of Persia, then having a rewind option is somewhat counter-intuitive to the nature of platform gaming, the challenge is to not excessively screw up, but that sort of behavior encourages caution to the wind. The biggest shocker for me is that it looked so natural.
Wasn't there once a day when seeing that kinda behavior would inspire the taunting joke of failure or stinging condemnation for failure to function as a gamer should, but instead, nothing seemed amiss at all until I thought about it in retrospect. "Wait," I said to myself, "That's not right..." It's odd how it hardly occurred to me until far after the fact. I tried to figure out what to attribute it to, and eventually decided on patience.
I've lost it, or at least, what most of it I had. There was a day when I could binge a game, regardless of the tedium involved, for hours at a time. Where 4 hours of homework were simply a stepping hurdle between me and free time. Where mandatory reading and tediusness between fun was a simple act of doing instead of a chore of immense dread. The drawing point between patience and complaint has been shifting thoroughly and slowly since my early childhood days.
Looking at it from here, I can't even recall the last time I had patience to sit down and play an old and incredibly fun (but tedious) game like Harvest Moon or Link to the Past without losing patience with it after a very short period. Looking at games today, we complain about un-skippable cut-scenes and slow dialog, when not too long ago these were merely steps to be walked, and were done so, ad nauseum, without a single complaint. Hell, we did it for fun. Looking back, I wonder when that change happened, and how we didn't notice it happening.
It's kinda weird looking back, and wondering if I'll be able to bridge the gap, and recover some of that patience. Maybe even remember the days of walking 10 miles to school, barefoot and in the snow. Uphill. Both ways.
With some luck, maybe even remember what it was like to be grateful for the opportunity.
Going through my big stack of archaic gaming hardware, software, abandonware,
Now, before I lose you, I'd like to submit that I'm talking about patience for gaming. I had the (mis)fortune of watching my friend play through an old Castlevania on an emulator, when I saw him making liberal use of the Fast Forward and Rewind buttons to ensure both a perfect run and a more timely one. Last I checked, unless it's Prince of Persia, then having a rewind option is somewhat counter-intuitive to the nature of platform gaming, the challenge is to not excessively screw up, but that sort of behavior encourages caution to the wind. The biggest shocker for me is that it looked so natural.
Wasn't there once a day when seeing that kinda behavior would inspire the taunting joke of failure or stinging condemnation for failure to function as a gamer should, but instead, nothing seemed amiss at all until I thought about it in retrospect. "Wait," I said to myself, "That's not right..." It's odd how it hardly occurred to me until far after the fact. I tried to figure out what to attribute it to, and eventually decided on patience.
I've lost it, or at least, what most of it I had. There was a day when I could binge a game, regardless of the tedium involved, for hours at a time. Where 4 hours of homework were simply a stepping hurdle between me and free time. Where mandatory reading and tediusness between fun was a simple act of doing instead of a chore of immense dread. The drawing point between patience and complaint has been shifting thoroughly and slowly since my early childhood days.
Looking at it from here, I can't even recall the last time I had patience to sit down and play an old and incredibly fun (but tedious) game like Harvest Moon or Link to the Past without losing patience with it after a very short period. Looking at games today, we complain about un-skippable cut-scenes and slow dialog, when not too long ago these were merely steps to be walked, and were done so, ad nauseum, without a single complaint. Hell, we did it for fun. Looking back, I wonder when that change happened, and how we didn't notice it happening.
It's kinda weird looking back, and wondering if I'll be able to bridge the gap, and recover some of that patience. Maybe even remember the days of walking 10 miles to school, barefoot and in the snow. Uphill. Both ways.
With some luck, maybe even remember what it was like to be grateful for the opportunity.
