Video games are often portrayed as something bad. Parents often criticize video games for taking up too much time every day. However, nowadays there is too much time left over. During this time, I have used video games to fill the spaces normal everyday activities held.
I have discovered that videogames are a great way to let loose some stress. Because of the incredible amount of time that had been allotted to me with the absence of tutors and normal everyday activities, I needed something to fill the time. Although it‘s not really what a lot of people would want to hear and accept, EDL was not a very good substitute for learning. Therefore, once I would finish my daily assignments of EDL, (Emergency Distance Learning) I would instantly contact my friend in order to play some video games with him. We did this because we had nothing better to do, and we finished our work very quickly so we did what we enjoyed as quickly as possible to get as much time out of it.
Inevitably I started spending more time playing on my computer. Often I would just close my door and talk while playing with my friends. To me this was all that I cared about during the middle of 2020. In a way, it became a necessity. In order to not feel lethargic I had to sit down, put on my headset and enjoy myself for a bit. Instead of being simply an option from which I choose from, it became a cornerstone of my life during the pandemic.
I believe this happened because of one thing. The pandemic was really the influencing factor in my case because it just allowed me to do more of what I enjoyed for longer. That in turn allowed me to enjoy the game more thoroughly because normally I didn’t play games on the weekdays and only on weekends, and even then it wasn’t for a prolonged amount of time. But nowadays I spend a good half of my day on the computer in general. For example doing schoolwork, playing games, watching youtube, listening to music, etc. The pandemic forced me to a more sedentary lifestyle by having me rely on the computer as a source for education, and enjoyment. I don’t really like this type of lifestyle, but it is something that is necessary during this time.
Honestly, I believe that this transition of the video game in my life has occurred to many people during this past year and this year. The fact that the pandemic confines people to the safety of their houses provides nothing in terms of relaxation, enjoyment, or anything else that has to do with going outside. The amount of people who have played games has increased dramatically. Although this doesn’t show an increase of the amount of time a person has played, it does show that more people are using games as a way of enjoyment. The video game has gone from a representation of sedentary life to the one of the representatives of the virtual world that we live in now.
