Evolution of a Gamer 8: Unity

Written by Ryan Johnson (RyanDJ) Wednesday, 14 March 2012 15:00

I am wondering if I need to change the name of this series? I have my son, who is learning games. My wife, who is dipping in for the first time. My baby, who I wonder whether he'll join the crew. And me, who is getting a lot of life lessons out of this. It has really become a family affair.

My youngest son is kind of into gaming. He's starting the road I remember five years ago, where he likes controllers, but he hasn't made the link my first son did with train controllers back in Episode 1, though. I imagine I will re-learn most of my lessons again. My oldest is learning the finer parts of progress now. He loves Monster Jam on the Wii, and now that he is into reading I was able to educate him on what the scoreboard means and how to choose levels to gain points and unlock trucks. In freestyle, you are judged on four criteria, and he is able to understand where the game tells him to improve without hollering for Daddy. I love to watch him, but it is neat seeing it be "his hobby" too. 

My wife is progressing as well. She's deep in Disc 3 of L.A. Noire. She recently went back to get the DLC episodes (while I had them purchased, I suppose this was my first "Pass," and I didn't know you downloaded them in-game) and is set to finish it very soon. Her eyes are searching for another game, and I see her branching out, as she's looking over my shoulder when I look up stuff for the new SSX.

Meanwhile, I see myself evolving in the way I guess I should have before...paying attention to the grown-up stuff. Seeing the dishes that need to be done after the kids are in bed but BEFORE GAME TIME. Being on Raptr, the new cumulated game time emails have slowly been shrinking away. Perhaps I've felt a smidge of jealousy as my son plays Monster Jam and Kinectimals and my wife cracks cases. But then I look at it and realize I wouldn't have it any other way. The old me in college would roll out of bed at 10 with a 2PM class being my only obligation. I'd fall out of bed (literally) onto the couch and pick up the controller to kick two hours of the newest Final Fantasy before my 2 hour class to come back and invite people over to multiplay.

Now, while I take joy in my family progressing in gaming, I can also take joy in knowing that I'm starting to do the fatherly/husbandly things a little better. Gaming is very important to me: why else would I be writing on a gamer website? I'm getting less and less time, but it's different than when I was young. I'm not sighing and rolling my eyes like my parents did and saying, Do those stupid chores...instead, I'm leading a family. I need to level up in my dishwashing skills instead of my material handling. I need to break out my save file from six years ago that has high XP in midnight rocking and diaper changing. And overall, I need to know that I have no reason to ever be jealous of other's time gaming...I should take joy in the fact that my family shares my hobby. More and more, I see that the title "Evolution of a Gamer" is not about my son...it's about me. My gaming approach to life helps me see where I lack and what I need to improve upon. We are truly coming into unison as a family more and more every day. I'm enjoying my wife's hobbies, she's enjoying mine. My son shows me what he loves, and I show him my best hobbies. We come together in unison to do the real-world level ups in chores, budgeting, and the like. And every day, we become a better team. I love writing these things. It provides a good perspective on where my life has come from and where it's going. Now, I gotta go see if my wife and kid want to 3P some Kirby's Return to Dream Land !

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