Gaming and Marriage

Before you read this blog post, read this article. Go on, I'll wait: Call of Duty? For an army of forsaken women, it's more like a call for help

Ready? Good. I just wanted to say a couple of things really. One, if you're with someone who doesn't share your interests, and doesn't recognise your need to indulge in your interests once in a while, what the hell are you doing? At the risk of sounding like a smug married person, the wife and I play games together very regularly. Sure, my days of hours spent playing Counterstrike, playing Torment, and other intensive single player hardcore games are probably over. (Although mind you, we had a very satisfying time playing Fable together - I played, she watched mostly). We have found common ground with games like Super Paper Mario and she regularly trounces me at Mario Kart (The only tracks I can beat her on are Wario's Gold Mine and Snowboard Cross - and that only on a good day). I've had to adjust my gaming habits to meet my new position in life, and that's a sacrifice I willingly make. Men, if you're not willing to do that, maybe you should reconsider what you're doing in your relationship.

I do agree with some of the points in the article though. What I find most enticing about games is the fact that they are a window into a completely different world (And this is why I tend to play RPGs), while I am playing them I can forget the stresses of life, the things I have to worry about, etc. But books do the same for me, so maybe I'm lucky that way. I don't know.

I guess in short, what I'm trying to say is as always, compromise is required. Men need to recognise that they need to adapt their habits if they're serious about a relationship. As I just read, Roland of Gilead (from Stephen King's Dark Tower) said, "A man who is unwilling to share his habit is a man who needs to give it up". And women, if you're serious about this gaming man, maybe you should try to understand what he sees in gaming. My wife has done that for me, and I love her all the more for it. And if he's so into gaming that he's abandoned you and refuses to see reason - jump ship if you still can!