Where Do I Stand?

It's been a while. Nearly one month ago I wrote a review for the iPhone 6 Plus. I had planned to do more after writing that review, but all the excitement I once had slipped through the cracks. I began to wonder if what I was doing was even worth it. I haven't been secretive about it; I have been wanting to make money from writing reviews about the video games I have played and the tech I have used. I have also been uploading video content onto YouTube since mid-August. Looking back, I was beginning to be desperate. I constantly tweeted links of my blogs and videos on Twitter. I made sure to post my new content on Tumblr. I was doing my best to use social media as an outlet for what I enjoy doing: playing video games and writing about them. I battled with myself to make it a priority rather than a hobby.

Having given it some thought I have come to realize that that thought process was a mistake. I see others with successful blogs and YouTube channels and began to wonder if I could ever compete with them. I'm not sure I can because I can't see myself making this a full-fledge priority. Rather than make it what I strictly do, I will go back to making this blog and my YouTube channel a hobby. If success comes, then great. If it doesn't come, then that's okay, too. I have been placing too much pressure on myself which hasn't garnered much fruit. Reviews and video content cannot come to fruition if I'm constantly bombarding myself with different games to play at the same time. Instead, I'll game like I used to game: for fun.

Recently I spoke with a friend about my gaming habits. I told him that as a child and teenager, I was a better gamer. He told me that he feels he is a better gamer now than he was growing up. I think the spark he has in regards to gaming was alive and well during my adolescent years. It has died down since that time. I even came to the point of selling all my gaming hardware and software because I felt I had lost that desire. It is still there, but I have come to see that there are more important things in my life than video games. I will continue to play them, but I doubt I will ever get back to how I was as a child.

Gaming will be a hobby. It may become a career someday, but for now it will be a hobby as I find what I can do to contribute to this world—what my identity is. That being said, I won't promise anything pertaining to new content on this blog and YouTube channel. If it comes, it comes. If it doesn't, then it doesn't. Right now, I have other things to take care of. New things will come, but they won't come as regularly as I would have liked them to. I've chosen to be okay with that. It wasn't an easy decision, but I am actually okay with that. It has relieved me of very unnecessary stress.

Let's see how long I take to write something new on my blog. Hopefully it doesn't take me another month to write something.

It's Almost October 14

There are two things I want that are being released next Tuesday. Those two things are Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus and the PlayStation TV. I already have Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus paid for thanks to a Best Buy gift card I had.

The PlayStation TV still needs to be paid off though. I have been trying to make sure that I avoid spending money on games and anything related to games. I have done a decent job about it. I think I have saved over $800. Yeah... I buy too many games. But I don't play them, let alone review them. Sigh.

Speaking of not beating games, I need to finish Senran Kagura Burst on the Nintendo 3DS. It is the game that really got me into the series and I had forgotten how much fun it was. I played some Burst yesterday as I recorded some gameplay footage for both Burst and Shinovi Versus. I thought it would only be appropriate to make a comparison video of the Shinobi Transformations and intros and so forth. For now, I'm only doing a comparison video for Asuka. I may do more down the road, but I'll see how this goes down first.

Like always, I have been going back and forth in regards to buying a PlayStation TV. I already own a Vita and I love playing games on it. It would be pretty cool to play games on my monitor, but I just don't know if it'll be worth it in the end. I'll continue to think about it. I also have to figure out if I really want to sell the games I have been thinking about selling. Yet another thing to think about. I am running out of time though.

There will be a standalone PlayStation TV unit and a limited edition unit. The standalone PS TV comes with the PlayStation TV system, an HDMI cable, an AC adaptor, and an AC power cord. It will cost $99.99.  The limited edition PlayStation TV bundle comes with everything aforementioned, as well as a DualShock 3 controller, an 8GB memory card, a voucher for The LEGO Movie Videogame for PS Vita, and a USB cable. The PlayStation TV limited edition bundle will cost $139.99.

Are you planning to buy either Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus or the PlayStation TV? Or both? Let me know what you're thinking about doing in the comments section.

Gaming Slump

Friends, I'm in a slump—more specifically, a gaming slump. Pretty sure that the title gave it away.

The number of games I have in my collection is sometimes overwhelming. Sadly, that doesn't stop me from buying a game I want even though there's a good chance I won't play it right away. When I turn on any of my consoles or handhelds, I sit looking at the UI while I contemplate which game I should play.

About an hour ago, I turned on my PS3 to play The Last of Us. I managed to play two multiplayer matches and then I chose to quit playing. Is it because I am getting older? Is it because I am losing interest in video games? Is there not enough time in my life for video games?

Here are my answers to those questions: Yes, I am getting older. No, I am not losing interest in video games. In fact, I am discovering new interests with video games. There is enough time to play games. I may not play them nearly as much as I used to as a teenager, but there is time.

As I write, I think I am beginning to understand why this gaming slump is happening. The overall reason is this: I am not playing video games the way I used to as a teenager. During my pre-teen and teenage years, I shifted over to the PlayStation brand. Games like the Final Fantasy series and Metal Gear series really caught my attention, and I first experienced them on a PlayStation. When we got a PlayStation 2, I played Gran Turismo for the first time and owned my first Naughty Dog game (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy). I began having new experiences on the PS2 that I didn't think were possible while playing on the original PlayStation.

To get to my point, I was playing games to play games. Things really changed a little after my family got a PS3. We got our PS3 a year after it was released. At the time, there weren't Trophies. I didn't even know what Trophies were until I got Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. I managed to get Platinum Trophies on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and LittleBigPlanet. I've actually gotten the Platinum Trophy twice on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune because I began using a new PSN name.

Trophies, to a certain degree, began to be an obsession for me. My focus shifted from playing games to obtaining Trophies. I have mentioned through various posts of the small competition a friend and I have about Platinum Trophies. That hasn't help with the obsession I found myself trapped in.

More often than not, I encounter a situation in which I look at how long it would take to Platinum a game prior to buying the game. Not only that, but I can't justify myself playing a game from yesteryear because they don't have Trophies. That makes writing reviews hard when I don't make an effort to play a game from the past. In fact, even wanting to write reviews for the games I have has been contributing to my gaming slump.

In reality, Trophies don't really matter. I made the unfortunate conclusion that they did, but they really don't. I will still want to increase the number of Platinums I have in my Trophy list, but I will do a better job of not making it a priority. After all, I am a gamer. I play games to play games. Trophies (or Achievements for that matter) are just a nice appendage to the world of gaming. I'm glad I took the time to write this.

I don't expect my focus to instantaneously shift back to the way it originally was when I first started gaming, but I will make it a goal. I will continue to obtain Trophies and I will continue to write about games, but I will remember what my focus: playing games to play games. "Let's play a game."