160: Mario Golf as Foreplay

[Brendan Sears]

Mario Golf as Foreplay

"Tally up the reasons I have biffed relationships. Narrowly eking out emotional immaturity and fear of commitment stands the number one culprit: electronic entertainment. Nowadays, the industry incorporates sex and love into more videogames, but how does today's gamer handle sex and videogames?

"If my story is any indication, he (or she) doesn't."

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[Beery]

Brendan, you REALLY need to learn how to communicate with the girlfriend. Man, you just admitted to dumping your girlfriend, not because you didn't like her, not because you didn't want a relationship, not even because you like gaming better. You dumped her because (apparently) you couldn't explain to her that you needed some game time. That's pretty messed up!

 

[Danny Ocean]

So an article about the clashes between gaming and love... oh screw it. I'm too compu-tired to come up with a more profound response than: What the guy above me said.

I'll leave the in-depth analysis to the heavy-hitters.

 

[Juan Regular]

Well, I have to admit that I don't have a girlfriend anymore because she was too time-consuming. I needed more time for games, books, my guitar, my record collection, movies, etc...
I just have to many hobbies. But then I think it can't be such a serious relationship if I rather play GTA IV all day than to hang out with my girlfriend.

 

[Shushyne4np2ne]

I'm clashing with this problem as we speak. I've got a girlfriend who has a dog. She isn't that big of a problem. I can get her to play Halo 3 or Viva Pinata or Lego: Indiana Jones. It's her dog. He is a very needy little guy! I try to keep an eye on him to make sure he isn't completely engulfing the contents of a bottle of aspirin or anything like that, but when I play games, I zone. I don't talk to anyone (unless it's team on Xbox Live). When someone interrupts me or walks in front of me, I get PISSED. It may be OK for some gamers, but as a human being, it plays with my sense of friendship. I don't WANT to get pissed off when I miss a note on Guitar Hero on expert. I don't WANT to flip out when I get destroyed by a sniper in Halo 3. I have a terrible sense of aggression and it shows when I play. And when I only get a few golden hours to play, I don't like to be interrupted. I wouldn't go as far as Brendan did (Dumping my lady), but I would sure as shit get upset with her.

 

[Eagle Est1986]

Well that's one of the best articles I've ever read on The Escapist.
Sure, I enjoyed reading about your failings with women, caused by gaming, so what if I laughed at your short-comings with the opposite sex?
Truth is, I could have easily written that, especially when you tell her what you think about when you're kissing her, I think about such things during sex, thinking about them while kissing is unavoidable. Don't worry my good man, at least you're not the only one.

 

[arrr_matey]

I have a bad habit of using videogames as a crutch to recover from failed relationships. I remember playing Tomb Raider II for about two weeks straight after one breakup. Probably not healthy that.

I've always had a problem with girlfriends not taking gaming seriously. Like if I talk to them about books or movies, we can have great conversations. But I try to talk about great games like Shadow of the Colossus or Half-Life and they just look at me like I'm five years old. I guess that's just a problem with non-gamers in general. They think all games are still just basically Space Invaders and the only games they ever hear about are GTA and Halo.

 

[teknoarcanist]

I agree, this is one of the better articles I've read here. I think most gamers who've been in relationships can relate. It really does come down to communication; my girlfriend didn't mind when I said 'hey, can I call you back? This match is almost over'. What she DID mind was me hiding it like some kind of shameful addiction and then snapping at her when she distracted me from it.
Also there's the old staple of 'try to get them to play', and I don't mean Halo (unless that's her thing). I set my gf up with final fantasy ix; completely changed her view on gaming, and now she's a gamer

 

[tk1989]

interesting article. I dont really have that much of a problem myself, but i do have problems. Example: My girlfriend loves playing yoshi games on my Wii, so we used to generally play Mario Strikers or Mario Kart Wii online together. My problem is that if i make a mistake or lose in any way i get horrendously frustrated, and sometimes (especially in mario strikers) i would end up taking it out on her. While normally i am calm and relaxed, when i play videos i get too immersed and can sometimes get frustrated if things dont go my way.

Its not like its a problem that would cause us to break up however.

 

[Razzle Bathbone]

Great read. Thank you, Brendan.

 

[kiltmanfortywo]

You need to get some balance out friend. Gaming is simply a part of life, don't let it pull you to the shoulder while the race of life, love, and sex drives by.


Kiltman

 

[Aries_Split]

Nice read, but you might need to get your priorities straightened out a bit.

 

[CanadianWolverine]

I'm willing to bet that by writing this article, the writer has come to some realization of what previous posters have opined.

We should all be so lucky as to explore our foibles through the excess of gaming rather then other bad habits: drinking, drugs, smoking, workaholics, treating women as objects ... well, you get the idea. When it comes to things we can do excessively to hide from our lack of maturity, games really are lower on the scale of life destroying, so we have a better chance of coming back from the brink and realizing we can love ourselves and others.

Self realization, acceptance, and caring are important if you want to give that to others too.

 

[Nikolita]

My boyfriend and I are gamers. We play Ragnorok Online together, and he plays World of Warcraft too. We both also play console games, although he's leaning more towards PC games now, and I'm still more of a console gamer.

I think that both of us being gamers helps our understanding of each other. For example, if I ask him to do something, he can say "Just a minute I need to finish this quest" or whatever, I understand he's busy playing a game that's important to him, and he'll do what I asked when I'm done.

interesting article. I dont really have that much of a problem myself, but i do have problems. Example: My girlfriend loves playing yoshi games on my Wii, so we used to generally play Mario Strikers or Mario Kart Wii online together. My problem is that if i make a mistake or lose in any way i get horrendously frustrated, and sometimes (especially in mario strikers) i would end up taking it out on her. While normally i am calm and relaxed, when i play videos i get too immersed and can sometimes get frustrated if things dont go my way.

Its not like its a problem that would cause us to break up however.

My boyfriend is like that too sometimes. His big thing is people online - gamers who do things in the game that he doesn't like piss him off really easily, and it can put him in a bad mood for awhile. I differ from him in that sense in that I too can get annoyed by people online, but it doesn't bother me for more than a few minutes.

 

[Yx0que]

I have a bad habit of using videogames as a crutch to recover from failed relationships. I remember playing Tomb Raider II for about two weeks straight after one breakup. Probably not healthy that.

I've always had a problem with girlfriends not taking gaming seriously. Like if I talk to them about books or movies, we can have great conversations. But I try to talk about great games like Shadow of the Colossus or Half-Life and they just look at me like I'm five years old. I guess that's just a problem with non-gamers in general. They think all games are still just basically Space Invaders and the only games they ever hear about are GTA and Halo.

I think this is a great point. Most non-gamers do no accept gaming as a valid media for stories. Luckily my girlfriend does: I once explained her the whole story of Shadow Of The Collossus and she was very intruiged. Other people however are not. Everytime I try and bring up gaming, as I would bring up a relevant book or movie, people look at you in a very peculiar way.

 

[Alexandra Erenhart]

I met my boyfriend in a web-based online game. We've been together for 6 years now and we're about to get married (I wanted to finish my university studies first). He doesn't play as much as I do now, but he understands my addiction and even encourages me by giving me games as presents. All I can say is, is easier for a female gamer to find her other half, than for a male gamer hehe. Don't give up!

 

[Ryan Sumo]

I think that it isn't so much that gamers need to take their games less seriously, but that they need to find girls who either take the games just as seriously, or have enough of a life that they can appreciate gaming as a hobby, even if they don't like it all that much.

Personally there was a point after college where I decided that I'd spent most of my life in a virtual world, and that I needed to have more "real world" experiences. That's why MMOs have never appealed to me, I'd rather be out living real life than a virtual one. I still play a bit of oblivion, ninja gaiden DS, or the current RTSFPS whatever game du jour, but I try to balance it out a little more than I used to.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

That was so sad...Honestly, games never affect me or my girlfriends relationship. Wow. Im ashamed I read it >_<

 

[meone007]

you sure you arent gay? I mean, I love video games too, I've racked up a third of my teenage life on them, and probably 2/3 of all the money I have ever made, but I cant say I have ever thought of any of them while making out with a hot chick.