 |
|
| Matt Kelley |
“One of these days, these silly videogames will be your death and,
when that happens, I’ll laugh.”
That’s what my mom so kindly said to me when I was 14
and played Metal Gear Solid 2 for 15 hours straight. I could have played for much longer if I didn’t have a plane to catch.
Things have changed since then. I’ve grown older and I don’t get as much free time now that I’m in college. Plus, I’ve come to accept the fact that videogames won’t get you laid 99 percent of the time, especially at RIT. I may have slept through my Principles of Microeconomics class, but if there’s one thing I learned, it’s that when demand outweighs supply, the supplier gets to call the shots. In this case, women at RIT control the “supply” and they’re not going to let you have any of it because of your rank in Halo 3 (although that would be great).
Therefore, many “closet gamers” like me hide their dorky half from society in order to distance themselves from the unattractive “typical gamer” stereotype. It’s the price we have to pay for that sweet, sweet “supply.”
But what entices us gamers to play in the first place? Some are simply people obsessed with collecting things. With a slogan like “Gotta catch ‘em all!” why do you think Pokémon was so successful? Others find games as an escape from their mundane lives and see World of Warcraft’s fictional realm as an appealing exit. As for me, the videogame is the most expressive and interactive form of art. Games tell us a story and let us participate in the outcome.
Will Wright, creator of The Sims, once argued, “Games are perhaps the only medium that allows us to experience guilt over the actions of fictional characters.” In a movie or painting, one can always take a step back and criticize the character or the artist when they have breached certain social boundaries. But by playing a game, I decide what happens to the characters and experience a certain emotion based on my actions.
Movies, music, or paintings simply cannot achieve such a feat.
After years of chasing “supply” up and down at RIT, I feel like I’ve locked away a part of me for far too long. Why should I have to hide a dimension of my personality just to be accepted by certain people? Looking back at my life before the Brick City, things were a lot simpler. I was just “me.” What happened to the days when I could sit down for hours on end and let myself become captivated by an interactive experience without having to think of my public image? Have I really lost that part of me?
To find out, I decided to put my limits to the test.
The Rules
- I have to play videogames for 24 consecutive hours.
- I cannot sleep or nap.
- I cannot leave my living room or kitchen.
- I can only go to the bathroom twice.
- I cannot use my phone unless necessary.
|
Game Lineup
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Call of Duty: World at War
- Killzone 2
- Street Fighter IV
- Prince of Persia
- Rock Band 2
|
Fellow gamers will realize that I’m fan of first-person shooters. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, World at War, and Killzone 2 are all members of that genre. They require quick eye movements and concentration and, therefore, tend to keep me awake. Playing these games and Street Fighter IV online should keep me up since I’ll probably spend a lot of time screaming four-letter words at the TV. Rock Band 2 will be great to play in case other people come over to keep me company. Playing the drums on expert level is also a great workout. Prince of Persia might provide a decent, single-player narrative that will keep me interested for those long hours playing by myself.
Play by Play
0 Hours
12:00 a.m. Let’s do this. I think I’ll start off with some Call of Duty 4 to get me going.
12:38 a.m. Too bad I only took a two-hour nap before I started. My eyes are feeling a bit heavy. I think I’ll chug a Red Bull Cola to start things off with a bang.
12:50 a.m. Note to self: stop drinking Red Bull Cola. It tastes like ass. No wonder Red Bull left us an entire box on our doorstep for free.
1 Hours
1:14 a.m. Laura Mandanas and current Features Editor Mady Villavicencio have come to keep me company! Let’s go with the Rock Band 2. Laura’s on the bass, Mady’s on the lead guitar, and I’m on the drums.
1:20 a.m. I think I’ll call this band Voltron and the Write Stuff. Very catchy.
1:48 a.m. Need … to ... fart ... but women are in the room. This blows.
1:54 a.m. Maybe I can release it while we’re playing Offspring’s “Pretty Fly for a White Guy.” Maybe they won’t hear it. No, my chair’s wooden, that’ll only make it sound louder. I’ll stall for now.
2 Hours
2:00 a.m. Two hours down already, 22 to go! Time has already flown by. This challenge seems pretty easy so far.
2:14 a.m. Okay. Mady, Laura, and one of my roommates, Adim, just left to get me some McDonald’s. Too bad I can’t describe this fart in words. Back to Call of Duty 4.
2:31 a.m. Actually, I think I’ll start playing
Killzone 2 instead.
2:40 a.m. McDonald’s is here!
2:53 a.m. Mady and Laura leave, never to return again.
3 Hours
3:14 a.m. One of my roommates has a test at 10 a.m. and says he needs to go to bed. Watching me play a videogame is soooo much more important right now.
4 Hours
4:44 a.m. Snapped into a Slim Jim.
5 Hours
5:16 a.m. First bathroom break. It was worth it.
6 Hours
6:00 a.m. My PS3 decided to crash on me. Maybe it’s a sign from God that I should give up.
6:01 a.m. I’ll give my PS3 a breather and play Street Fighter 4 on my Xbox.
6:25 a.m. I forgot how much I suck at Street Fighter. I’m getting my ass kicked online and it’s not fun. Next game.
7 Hours
7:26 a.m. Why does the prince of “Persia” sound like Tobey Maguire? Unless maybe the prince is really Spiderman in disguise! I’ll play on just to find out, as long Kirsten Dunst
isn’t involved.
7:54 a.m. Adim leaves for class.
8 Hours
8:11 a.m. I think I’ve started to lose hand-eye coordination. The game has simply asked me to jump onto a wide ledge yet I’ve completely failed eleven times and counting.
This is embarrassing.
8:15 a.m. Make that fourteen times. I’m getting bored and my eyes are heavy once again. I think it’s time for some
Eggo waffles.
8:32 a.m. The waffles just made me really sleepy so I drank half of a Five-Hour Energy shot. It feels like David Beckham kicked me in the back of my head.
9 Hours
9:00 a.m. Time for a change. Moving to
Call of Duty: World at War.
9:32 a.m. My other roommate Alvin starts heading out for class. He asks why the heck I’m still up playing this early. I explain that I have to play for 24 hours for Reporter. He laughs.
11 Hours
11:00 a.m. Tore open a bag of sunflower seeds. They really keep me awake because they’re so damn hard to eat in the first place.
12 Hours
12:00 p.m. Oh, we’re halfway there! Microwaved leftover fries from McDonald’s for lunch. Yum.
12:30 p.m. Oh boy, that coffee’s not sitting very well
in my stomach.
12:32 p.m. I just realized I put my roommate’s regular milk in coffee and not my soymilk. I’m lactose intolerant. This won’t end well.
12:48 p.m. Just went number two. Thought I’d share that. No more bathroom breaks left for me. Stomach is a-okay.
13 Hours
1:00 p.m. Call of Duty 4 all day, baby.
14 Hours
2:36 p.m. Alvin’s back from class and decides to keep me company. He’s acting as my third eye for Call of Duty 4.
People get sniped.
15 Hours
3:47 p.m. Alvin leaves. Time seems to slow down.
16 Hours
4:20 p.m. I just realized that it’s a gorgeous day outside. Some of my neighbors are out in shorts throwing Frisbee.
4:29 p.m. I’d really like to be outside right now. Maybe it’s time to draw the shades.
4:46 p.m. Did my brain just get 10 pounds heavier?
17 Hours
5:00 p.m. Ok, my eyes feel really weird right now. They feel like a cat is tap dancing on them.
5:01 p.m. I wish cats could tap dance. Maybe that way they would be as cool as dogs... It would be cool if they had little canes with them.
5:05 p.m. Wait, I just spent the last five minutes thinking about tap dancing cats. Yup, I’m reaching my breaking point.
18 Hours
6:12 p.m. Either I took a nap just now or that was a really long blink.
6:23 p.m. Ever since that “blink” my eyes have been feeling shooting pains. Playing a game is hard when it feels like your eyes are going through a cheese grater.
6:30 p.m. Five more hours, I can do this. It’s still a piece of cake.
6:45 p.m. I lied. I’M EFFIN’ DYING HERE!
19 Hours
7:28 p.m. Just begged Mady to let me sleep. She said okay. That’s it folks, I’m throwing in the towel. I like my eyes.
I have big plans for them in the near future. Good night.
TOTAL: 19 hours 28 minutes
The challenge ended with failure, but the 19 hours prove that I’ve still got it. Why couldn’t I complete the task? Frankly, in the words of Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, “I’m too old for this shit.” Yes, 22 years is old for me. Back when I was bustling with youth, staring at a TV screen was a simple task. Now, it felt as though my body was slowly decaying as every hour went by. It would have also helped if I had someone to talk to throughout the entire experience. Time seemed to fly by when I was with other people.
This best way I can describe this experience is that it was like taking a trip to IHOP on a Sunday. When you’re on your way there, you can’t stop thinking about how awesome the pancakes are going to be. But by the time you leave, you’re completely stuffed and can’t look at another pancake. I was looking forward to sitting down and indulging in some great games, but eventually “overstuffed” myself. On the bright side, documenting and writing about this whole experience for the public to read has helped me come to terms with my dork side. But would I do this again to achieve success? Hell no! Like I said before, I like my eyes.
I would say that I’ll be taking a much needed break from gaming, but that would be an utter lie. No matter how much “pancake torture” IHOP puts you through after you have had your fill, you’ll be back next Sunday like a little bitch.
Pantry Audit
- 1 Five-Hour Energy shot
- 2 Slim Jims, original flavor
- 1 bag of sunflower seeds
- 1 can of Red Bull Cola
- 1 McDonald’s Quarter-Pounder Meal
- 3 cups of coffee
Not All Fun and Games
1981 Peter Burkowski, an 18-year-old student, set a number of high scores in the Berzerk arcade machine. He turned away from it for a bit, and as soon as he put his quarter in, collapsed from a heart attack. The autopsy revealed scar tissue in Burkowski’s heart, making him a “ticking time bomb.” His heart attack was triggered by an increase in blood pressure and heart rate caused by the video game.
2005 A 28-year-old South Korean man collapsed after playing the game Starcraft at an internet café for over 50 hours with few breaks.
2005 A young Chinese girl gamer by the pseudonym “Snowly” died after playing World of Warcraft for several continuous days.
