Is it really growing up?

With the release of the XBOX 360 looming right on the horizon, the question I think is on the minds of all the NJP wives is, "When will it be enough?". The enough, of course, is enough of videogames. On one level they tell us that they understand. I believe them, but I also know that if they had the chance they would throw every single game and system right out the window. I know for a fact that my mother-in-law thinks it is silly that we still play games like we do. The thing about it is that for us to give up videogames would be like giving up a part of who we are.

Maybe it started out as a childhood pastime, but video games have grown with us. I was just about to type how we still don't play the games of our youth, but that isn't true. I personally collect old games and systems. When you do this you start to see that a great game in 1985 is still a good game in 2005. Great games are like great movies. They age with you. They mean different things to you as adults. The appeal sticks with you because it more ingrained into what you are than your teddy bears or Transformer toys ever were. They immerse you into a world where you control the outcome. They did that from the day Pong hit the shelves and do it even more today with the movie-esque presentation of this generations games.

The subject matter has grown with us as well. I have joked with my friends that someday there will be shuffleboard simulators and old folks home themed role playing games. With the original Nintendo and even before we took control of the content matter. The proof is games like Halo, Resident Evil and Grand Theft Auto. They would have never made these games 20 years ago because the market was kids. Those kids have grown up and so have the games. Of course you still have your Shrek and Spongebob games because you have to recruit some new blood to the mix.

All I ask of the wives and mother-in-laws out there is to understand that to take these games away from us would be taking a piece of who we are. If that sentimental argument doesn't sway then I leave you with this... Video games are just fun.

Like the title of this entry says, is it really growing up to give up these games? I think not. Also you can check out the website below for further proof that we haven't even gotten started yet.


Click here for some stats that give us poor grown up kids some hope that we will never have to give up games.