The balance between work and play

It’s a funny give and take to be a so-called gaming journalist. On one hand, you need to play games to get a true understanding of the way certain titles control and how they mesh with the player. It allows writers to really experience the feel of a game and give a more in-depth insight to readers. On the other hand, if you get stuck playing too much, you fall behind on the actual writing aspect of the job. What good does it do to play games if you can’t reach out to people and give them the information they want? It kind of defeats the whole journalist side to it, you know? As someone who greatly appreciates both sides(as I’m sure most gaming journalists do) and is new to the whole experience, it’s been quite a challenge to balance work and play.

I will admit it’s at least ten times easier to get caught up in the hands-on side of things. What’s not to love about sitting down and getting lost in the experience of a good game? Although, I must say it’s pretty easy to get lost in a good article too! But the point still stands that, for a large majority of video game journalists, they must have started playing the games and then picked up writing along the way. If you love both enough, eventually it becomes a no-brainer what to do with the rest of your life. But, as someone who has just started the transition to serious gaming journalism and video production, non-stop binge gaming is a hard habit to leave behind.

RIIIIIIGHT!?!?!

For instance, I only have about five hours of free time each day. By the time I get home from work at around 10:45 P.M., I’m so beat that playing is always the first option that comes to mind. It’s the easier route that offers instant stress relief. Now that I’m trying to make something of myself though, I almost always choose the route of writing and editing. It leaves me with a sense of pride at the end of the night that a game can’t provide. Now don’t get me wrong, there is a certain sense of satisfaction from beating a hardcore level on “Towerfall: Ascension” or finally making that awesome set in “Monster Hunter” that I spent hours farming for, but it’s a different feeling of accomplishment. It’s almost as if posting that new video makes me feel like I’m one step closer to getting a job at an awesome website, magazine or newspaper(yes, those still exist). It’s something that makes me sleep easy and keeps me excited to do it all over again the next day. But overall, I like to write and edit because of my love of the content: video games. After all, they’re a huge part of what got me here. If it wasn’t writing, it would have been drawing concept art, developing or testing games. Heck, I would even find a job in PR if it meant I could promote games. So, that leaves me with the big question: What is the right amount of playing?

Well, I’m now figuring out that there isn’t really a definite answer for me right now. Lately, I’ve been getting in about five to seven hours weekly. That’s not enough, in my eyes, because it doesn’t lend itself well to keeping up with the way games feel, a facet that changes quite a lot. Playing only this much allows me to put out four to six articles a week and possibly one video, but I don’t feel like I’m experiencing anything. It feels more like I’m on the outside looking in. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as I believe there needs to be some sort of divide between work and play, but it seems like the same concept as a sportscaster who never played the sport they report on. I understand that this isn’t a foreign concept in the case of many sportscasters, but I’m more inclined to listen to someone who understands what they’re talking about from multiple points of view.

So I have no boss at home... but this one was too good to pass up!

So, in the end, too much playing equals not enough writing, which means nobody wins, and too much writing gets content out and keeps people interested, but it creates a disconnect between myself and the spark that ignited my passion. I’m between a rock and a hard place, but eventually I think I’ll be able to get it right. It’s just funny that the aspect that makes games so appealing(The physical act of playing) is my biggest obstacle to overcome right now. If worse comes to worse I could always quit my day job, I suppose. Right!? Who needs an income?! But what fun would that be? All great journeys have their difficult parts, and if it wasn’t for games that truth wouldn’t be so apparent! Link doesn’t just save Zelda. Portals don’t just automatically solve puzzles. Foxes don’t just naturally do barrel rolls. There has to be a struggle, and in my case it’ll be the one where I make sure to always- Oops! Time’s up. Sorry, got to go check on my town in Animal Crossing. K.K. Slider’s going to be here soon!

Take care, guys. If you have any tips or suggestions on how you balance your time, I would love to hear them. See you all next time!