Missing Muse

nabeel:

Hi, My Name Is Mike And I Was A FishVille Addict

I’ve never really understood why games as an entertainment medium elicit this kind of cultural shame.

When I was 13 I got really into comic books. I started spending most of my money on it, perhaps all of my spare money. I was showing up at the comic book shop the day a new issue came out. I worked at a comic book store for trade and maniacally collected every issue of my favorite series. It took no more skill to read a comic book than to play Fishville, but it was fun to lose yourself in that world.

It was called a hobby, and it was fun even if the serial nature of the books (”Tune in next week to find out how Batman gets out!”) was meant to keep me hooked. It’s not smoking, or drinking. It is entertainment.

When a person gets into other entertainment mediums he’s a movie buff, music buff, comic book buff, or a sports fan. Think about the pride people have in how much they love music. Somehow people who play games a lot get some kind of shame and then label it a crazy addiction. I’m not sure I really understand or care to understand the cultural elitism.

Don’t worry Mike, you clearly liked having those fish taken care of, and felt bad to let them go to waste. A little escapist nurturing now and then is perfectly fine, I won’t judge.

Love this post. Whenever someone criticized my playing of games I’ve usually snapped back with examples of them watching TV or something similar but this is an even better comeback.