Why I Play

Thinking about topics to write about can sometimes be very easy or very hard.  Managing two blogs and writing a post for one of them each day of the week can exhaust your creative juices very quick.  Yesterday was one of those days where I could not figure out what to write while on top of that spending most of my day working, which left me with little time to write.  Instead of putting together a big piece, I decided to move Hump Day Music up a day and save my big piece until today as it would give me more time to think of what to write.  After bouncing around topics like my thoughts on the ending of Mass Effect 3, the Used Game Debate and many other big topics, I decided I wanted to write something simple and straightforward.  A topic that I would feel motivated to sit down and just watch the words flow because honestly I am not in the mood at this very moment to write about the ending of Mass Effect 3 or the Used Game Debate.  I will save those for a later date.  A topic that might inspire others to do the same and a topic that will shed some light on who this writer is as a gamer.  Unless you are a personal friend reading this post, many of you on the World Wide Web don't know the man behind the keyboard.  You get tidbits here and there in my posts.  So the topic that I am addressing today is Why I Play.  Why I love video games.  Why I spend most of my free time playing them.  Why I love this form of media more than film, music or literature.

Why do I play?  It is a simple question, but a question that really makes one think and reflect.  For as long as I can remember, I have been a gamer.  Since the moment, one of my childhood friends let me play his Sega Genesis, which promptly introduced me to Sonic the Hedgehog, I have loved this interactive media to the point that I once strived to make games for a living.  So why do I play?  I play to be entertained.  I play to immerse myself in long-off fantasy worlds that only exist in this medium.  I play to be immersed in rich, character driven stories.  I play to experience simple, innovative ideas that I can find no where else.  I play to achieve things that I could never achieve in real life.  I play to experience games to their fullest.  I play to spend quality time with friends and family.  I play to feel like a little kid with no cares in the world.  I play to save the world from utter annihilation.  I play to save the galaxy from killer machines.  I play to save all the cute little animals from a mad doctor with a body shaped like an egg.  I play to help a cute green alien taste a delicious piece of candy.  I play to defeat all eight robot masters.  I play to defeat every space pirate.  I play to defeat Dracula.  I play to beat the high score.  I play for the Companion Cube.  I play to stomp on Goombas.  I play to collect all pieces of the Triforce.  I play to catch them all.  I play to throw fireballs out of my hands.  I play for space.  I play for combustable lemons.  I play to defend the innocent.  I play to hear amazing music.  I play to eat mushrooms that make me grow taller.  I play to ride rainbow-coloured dinosaurs.  I play to be a Italian plumber.  I play to be an elf in green tights.  I play to be a monkey with a tie.  I play to be a blue weapon-stealing robot.  I play to be a blue hedgehog with super speed.  I play to be an angel that cannot fly on his own.  I play to be a defender of the galaxy.  I play to be a superhero.  I play to be an anti-hero.  I play to be a rockstar.  I play to be an athlete.  I play to be an amazing anime character with gravity-defying hair.  I play to laugh.  I play to smile.  I play to feel anger.  I play to be happy.  I play to relax.  I play to cry.  I play to be disgusted.  I play to feel.  I play to have fun.

These are just a small dose of the huge number of reasons I play video games.  If I had all day and all the space in the world, this list with be so much longer than it currently is.  So I hope you enjoyed and got to know me a little bit better.  While I have already gave many of the reasons why I play, I would like to hear your reasons.  You can comment below, post a video or even write your own blog on the topic.