Civilization causes missed book deadline
by Kyle Orland 
{ Aug 18th 2006 at 5:25PM }
Ever spent months getting absolutely nothing done because you're so obsessed with a game? You're not alone. British sci-fi author Iain Banks has admitted that his next book, Matter, will be delayed due to the author's crippling Civilization addiction. The Independent reports that the author of The Player of Games played the game for three months straight without getting any work done.
To solve the problem, Banks eventually had to "delete all the saved files and smash the CD." There's always the chance of a relapse, though -- maybe someone should tell this guy about Civilization Anonymous.
[Via Idle Thumbs]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nod @ Aug 18th 2006 5:35PM
In Banks' 2002 book "Complicity", the protagonist plays a game quite like Civ, and it was interesting how the game was tied-in to the story as metaphor. Good stuff.
Paul P. @ Aug 18th 2006 5:47PM
Is it bad that I feel contempt for the weak-willed? I have an unnaturally strong will, and am very judgemental about it.
obo @ Aug 18th 2006 6:08PM
All that willpower and you can't resist being publicly judgemental, eh?
Geist @ Aug 18th 2006 6:32PM
obo:
Oh SNAP. Nice burn.
Still though, I've never understood how people get so addicted to these kinds of things. The closest I ever got was playing Sims for a few days straight (with sleep, mind you,) before playing something else.
Koletha @ Aug 18th 2006 6:35PM
"All that willpower and you can't resist being publicly judgemental, eh?"
:-O Oh no he didn't!
caselog1c @ Aug 18th 2006 7:12PM
that picture was my wallpaper when i tested for EA.. awww memories... 14 hours strait of sim 2 for gamecube...and BF2:SF for 4 months.
boogiebeans @ Aug 18th 2006 8:40PM
"All that willpower and you can't resist being publicly judgemental, eh?"
Genius :)
JFink @ Aug 19th 2006 12:32AM
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."- Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhiker's Guid to the Galaxy
arrakisman @ Aug 19th 2006 1:04AM
Come on...Just one more turn.
supersocialist @ Aug 19th 2006 2:58AM
That picture's just cruel--lots of people grow up into ugly bastards without ever getting their hairy, sweaty palms on a game controller.
epobirs @ Aug 19th 2006 4:36AM
Iain Banks or Iain M. Banks? They're two writer in one body and each in denial of the other's existence. One does horror, the other SF.
The SF Banks would be a hell of a contributor to a galactic scale Civ type game. This is the guy who brought us the Gangster class of warships, with such names as 'Frank Exchange of Views.'
Josh @ Aug 19th 2006 6:42PM
Paul P., you shouldn't feel contempt for the weak-willed, but feel free to feel better than them in this case. I'm the same, as I can't seem to get addicted to any games, at least not on this massive scale.