When do you play video games?

by Blake Snow { Nov 3rd 2006 at 6:25PM }

Game blog Aeropause asks the question: When do you play video games? Is it exclusively at night after work, school and personal to-dos? As you travel? While it's obvious games as an entertainment medium generally end up being experienced at night among other things like movies etc, when is the time right for you to play games and just how social of an experience do you view the activity?

[Thanks, Raine]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Hinkmania @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:30PM

I don't anymore, I'm married. I just buy the games I would play and longingly stare at them.

MMurdock @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:37PM

@1 - agreed

lol not really. I play any time I get time. I find myself playing more and more DS as I can have it anywhere (read as on the can). I usually get time while the wife cooks dinner, or if i just decide to play more. Hell, we have 2 TVs in the living room (a 53 inch HD and a 32 inch SD) so I can play.

Johnny C @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:43PM

When I take a huge dump, with my DS.

Thryon @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:39PM

"I don't anymore, I'm married. I just buy the games I would play and longingly stare at them."

ROFL....how true.

I am a night owl. So after the wife is gone to bed, I will play for a few hours. Depending when I have to be up in the morning, sometimes I will play till 4-5AM...then crash.

MMurdock @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:43PM

And might I add to #1.

"It is acceptible to purchase a game at full retail price and not play it until it is on the $19.99 best seller list. It is not acceptible to act like you played it and make up stuff that isn't really in the game." - Manlaw!

FuzzyPickles @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:49PM

I work nights, so in the afternoon after I wake up when I have nothing more important to do.

Vikram Dhaliwal @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:52PM

My wife is looking forward to playing on my Wii - no, seriously!

I play when I have time, as well. On a side note, I think once females are re-introduced to the art of videogaming today, the stereotypes of it being a ritualistic male endeavor will die.

Dracula Jones @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:50PM

I play on Saturday morning, until my fiancee wakes up and says "It's nice out, let's do something" and then I cry a little on the inside.

When I really want to get some game time in, I get a new Sims 2 expansion to distract her with.

Dear Maxis, I'm running out of Sims 2 expansions. Please help.

vgxtremist @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:56PM

Being on long trips for gamedays, the DS works wonderfully. My PS2 is out of commission right now...I would just get a PS3 but yeah right.

2kings @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:55PM

i have developed a weird sleeping habit

i wake up between 4-6 am every day with no alarm clock or anything

but i get some good hours of gaming befor i go to work or whatever

Psaakyrn @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:54PM

Being unattached, my schedule's kinda like this:

I play games when there's no conflict with any other necessities (such as homework, exams, projects, shopping, sleep).
It's social if whatever I'm playing happens to involve interaction with others.

Of cause, once I get out into the industry it might change, but that's the difference between childhood and adulthood. :p

Evan @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:56PM

If I play, its usually between 8:00pm to 11:00pm. Video games and the internet have almost completely replaced my prime-time television viewing.

pokysharpy @ Nov 3rd 2006 7:18PM

I dual-boot my work-supplied MacBook Pro to Windows during my lunch hour... it handled Oblivion and Titan Quest like a champ, and now it's helping me devour Dark Messiah of Might & Magic.

PSP while travelling or in the restroom...

... and games on the home PC after the wife has gone to bed. She's a second-grade teacher and has to get up about an hour earlier than me.

So I get in just enough gaming to be satisfied, but not enough that I'm ever out of games to play, or burnt out. Works nicely, actually.

ciscomaner @ Nov 3rd 2006 7:20PM

When the kids go to bed. Or when the cough medicine i give them makes them too groggy to bother me.

Whichever happens first.

otakucode @ Nov 3rd 2006 7:52PM

Console games usually get played after I get home from work, after taking in the important TV shows from the night before (streamed through a modded Xbox running XBMC of course). Sometimes they take a backseat to my movie buff addiction to weird movies, but most often its some form of videogame.

My DS has a very special and utterly consistent place that was previously held by my GBA. Every single night, whether at home or travelling, I play my DS in bed before I go to sleep. Been playing Contact lately.

Reeve @ Nov 3rd 2006 7:48PM

I always play Animal Crossing on my DS during the morning commute (8:30-9:30am), and sometimes play something else my DS during rush hour on the way home. Don't usually play during the week otherwise, but that's been changing lately, as I sometimes pick up a game on an evening when I'm not too tired.

Do most of my PS2 and PC gaming on the weekends, during whatever time of day, between or after chores or errands.

Royale @ Nov 3rd 2006 8:00PM

More wife jazz:

I got my wife into WoW so that was nice. She played a lot and while she did that I had my way with my ps2 and ds. Since I don't play WoW very much anymore, it is very convenient. Other than that, she knows that I don't like to watch TV at all so when she wants to watch TV, she's pretty cool with letting me get some DotA in!

Other then that... when is: night time DotA, weekend RPG, and when my dad calls to play BF2 and I have time I play with him, usually early night time before my mom get's home.

Styki @ Nov 3rd 2006 8:18PM

i usually play games in the evening after work right after i rip a fat bowl and check out the days gaming developments on the Stiq.

On a side note, Im 28 yrs old and i picked up a ds a few months back strictly to play new super mario. while that game didn't disappoint, i look at the rest of the ds lineup and its virtually all kiddie games.nothing interests me. i picked up metroid prime hunters but i think my hands are to big for the stylus control scheme.i played like 5 wifi matches and never logged a kill. im seriously thinking about getting rid of the ds because there are no ther games that appeal to me. nothing. but i wonder if i would be making a mistake besause i know how many gamers love their ds. Am i the only one who feels that at 28, im too old for the ds? i sure as hell don't play it in public. Is there something Im missing?

Naruhodou @ Nov 3rd 2006 8:27PM

"Is there something Im missing?"

Phoenix Wright, Meteos, Trauma Center, Megaman ZX, Advance Wars, Ouenden, Castlevania?

Naruhodou @ Nov 3rd 2006 8:33PM

Oh..I usually only play in the evening, two hours at the most, and sometimes pick up where I left off before work. I more than often pull out the DS or PSP on the bus.

Fe Boogie @ Nov 3rd 2006 8:54PM

"Am i the only one who feels that at 28, im too old for the ds? i sure as hell don't play it in public. Is there something Im missing?"

Yes. You're missing the point entirely. Why wouldn't you play it in public? Why does being 28 have anything to do with it? If this gives you pause, perhaps it's time to find a new hobby.

Me, I'm on the road for travel a ton, and my DS is a near nightly ritual for me, just before crashing. I've been stuck on the final stage of Trauma Center for damn near a month now.

Johnny Hundo @ Nov 4th 2006 12:24AM

I usually hang with my wife after work and when she goes to bed, I will fire up the 360. Usually I'll play from about 10:30 to 1 or so. I used to travel every week for work - and when I was in the hotel room, I played GameTap on the company issued laptop... passed the time well -- also brought along a DS and a PSP... barely ever played the PSP. Advance Wars and NSMB were great on the planes though - 2 hours in a z-snap.

Now I'm killing time waiting for her to go to bed... she's f'n watching reruns of 90210... sometimes I hate DVR...

Hundo

Zeruel @ Nov 4th 2006 12:29AM

I generally play whenever I have free time. My girlfriend is extremely chill with me playing games as she knows it allows me to work my brain a little. Plus, she enjoys playing some of the games, if not just watching. With my TurboGrafx-16 nostalgia going on, she's been taking in The Legendary Axe and Bloody Wolf.

It's also good to have someone of equal skill in Monkey Target. :)

AJ @ Nov 4th 2006 10:46AM

I don't play during the day, it makes me feel like I have no life. So I go out and do whatever during the day and once its dark out I play till I can't keep my eyes open any longer.

iLLwiLL @ Nov 4th 2006 3:19PM

@ #18
"Is there something Im missing?"

Yes, Advance Wars DS, Brain Age, Metal Slug(GBA).

Ed @ Nov 5th 2006 10:57PM

I wake up early and play. 6 or 7 'til about 9 or so. I also play late at night, but i usually end up falling asleep cuz i'm a pansy like that

Brian @ Nov 4th 2006 4:24PM

I game at night. In the morning I never feel like playing. I swear I can actually detect my craving for video games as the day goes on. The later it gets the more I want to play.

Kuan @ Nov 5th 2006 11:59PM

I play during the week instead of doing homework. Hopefully I'll finish this Senior year without getting completely raped grade-wise.

Gennee @ Nov 6th 2006 11:23AM

I usually play in the late afternoon or the evening. That's when I'm finished with school and whatever else I have to do.

Mauselous @ Nov 6th 2006 3:06PM

Most of my gaming is done on the weekends, and sometimes on the weekdays after work.

If there's something I'm really into at the time I'll sneak away at lunch for a quick session.

One trick I use to get the gears rolling is to do a bit of gaming right when I wake up, usually puzzle gaming of some kind. I keep my GBA on the bedside dresser for these. I find it helps grease the skids for those first few and often tough hours at work.