Ben-DutkaMost avid gamers tend to have a bit of a ritual surrounding their play time.
Firstly, I've chosen this picture – you've likely seen it before – because I think many adult male gamers have done it before: show a girl how to hold a controller and she'll go along with it like a good sport…for a while. Anyway, what do you usually do when you sit down to play a game? Personally, I know a lot of people like to snack but I hate doing that; not only because I really despise chugging unnecessary empty calories (which is what most all snack foods are), but also because it seriously hinders my game time. I've yet to understand why people will actually pause the game to eat something. So bizarre. Then there are other people who really don't like to play their games in front of someone; they consider it more of a personal hobby and one that's best done in solitude.
I live alone so I rarely play with someone watching, but I have found that I do prefer it to be a solitary experience. I think that comes from the old days when gaming was a solitary experience; the only "multiplayer" was if a friend was sitting next to you and the game supported two players. I've also heard of very picky gamers taking the time to set the TV to exactly the right settings for each title they play. I find this insanely irritating and even boring and the bottom line is, almost nothing looks bad on my TV. But really, some gamers are very, very finicky about getting the picture juuuust right. Then there's the matter of distance; how far away do you sit? It's bad to sit too close – that's not a myth – and it usually depends on the size of the TV, but I've seen some people get really close to like 50" TVs. That's just silly.
So what about you? How do you typically get your game on?
haha same except mine's a roll to the left instead of spin
Beer and pretzels.
Molson Ice?
i don't know why people are thumbing you down by the way. Beer and pretzels are great.
It wasn't me but maybe they prefer peanuts and pistachios? I like me some imperial stout and 'stachios.
Last edited by fluffer nutter on 4/3/2010 2:50:24 AM
Sam Adams and pretzels for me.
I am an "easy" gamer… meaning, I like a challenge however will not destroy my health or sleeping patterns for gaming. I take years to play games and savor them like a fine wine…
I have never achieve a platinum trophy for any of the games i have bought, and probably never will… there are only 3 to 5 titles I want this year… will buy them slowly over time and take even longer playing them.
I enjoy my gaming, but not to the point that I have to actually beat a game on its hardest level. I just want to pop in a disk, relax and enjoy it, rather than pressure myself into trying to be the best…
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
the word around here is that hanah montana is an easy platinum trophy to get, hahaha.
Qubex: Thanks to you, I don't need to post my gaming habits anymore. Most people find me wierd for taking my time on video games; and I thought I was the only one who did, but now I know I am not alone =].
Rumpus room, rocking chair, six feet from the flat screen TV.
Usually headphones on at night so that I don't wake the wife or kids.
Mostly play in the evening when everyone is asleep. Probably only 5 to 10 hours a week as the wife moans otherwise!
Also an "easy" gamer. Will probably never Platinum any game as I play for relaxation and enjoyment.
If I die too many times I just get annoyed. Would rather play Uncharted 2 on easy twice than once on hard! Same with God of War III. Like to enjoy the game and keep on moving through.
Haven't got the patience, time or tenacity of a teenage gamer anymore!
Man I loved reading all the unique tendencies that everyone has. I grew up in a house where I was the youngest of 5 children. With 2 parents and 4 older siblings, the house was pretty crowded. I never had any privacy and was always the last person to get to choose how things were done.
I guess the result of that life is, nothing bothers me when gaming. I'm now married and have 3 dogs in the house. We adopted 2 and the third was ditched in our yard near death, trying to find him a home.
Anyway point is, when I'm gaming I sit a few feet from my 32" Vizio tv which has a gaming setting that I have used since I got it. I sit in an office chair and my dogs lay on my feet. My wife usually comes in and out of the room while I'm playing. She'll watch for a while then go do something, then watch, just depends on what she's up to.
I'm pretty relaxed about it. If I play in the afternoon when we're not working I usually have to pause a lot to get the laundry, or refill the dogs water, whatever comes up. I do most of my playing between midnite and 5 am. I hate to sleep and do so as little as possible.
Sometimes I have a mountain dew, or some sweet tea nearby, but no food. My controllers must be clean. I'm a neat freak, my ps3 and all its parts must be immaculate. Sometimes if I get really into the game I'll forget I have something to drink, I do that a lot.
I find it amazing how people are so different with something as simple as gaming.
Ha. There are so many times that I will get a big glass of ice water and start playing and a few hours later all the ice has melted and I haven't taken a sip.
Hmmm… A moderate distance, like around 2-3 meters, from the TV (32" LCD), an office chair (the rotating ones, with arm support), sometimes I eat food (snacks) while playing. But I keep tissues close by when I want to handle the controller and my hands are dirty with food. lol @ most you guys here, sometimes I have lunch while playing. And I know ppl who do the same. Just yesterday I was playing BlazBlue with a friend who was eating lunch. And he won XD.
watching my brother play video games irritate the hell out of me. I mean, the last game i watched him play was star ocean the last hope, an rpg. to me rpgs are all about immersion into that world but when i watched him play, he'll pause the game to eat, answer his cell phone, text on the cell phone, go on the computer, and sometimes actually look around the kitchen for food.
I dislike seeing people playing games too, unless they're as good as me, than I can enjoy it, but when my brother plays, I can't do anything but sit there and tell him what he's doing wrong, it annoys me as well as him, so I usually go and do something else..
its not really a habit since i only started doing this while playing final fantasy XIII. when level grinding/component farming in ff13, i use my tvs picture in picture function to watch a dvd while playing. kinda shows how far ff13 is from previous ff games. i can play the game by picking the one action i want to use and keep mashing the x button.
That's funny. FFXIII's battle system is pretty mindless. I find my self commenting on PSX or playing with my iPhone while grinding. Oh my Square really ruined this chapter.
Last edited by Jawknee on 4/3/2010 11:30:32 AM
it depends on what games I'm playing. For an old school Resi Evil or such like, I'll only play after dark‚ whilst a chilled rpg is better for the day. Food is a no no unless i'm playing with a buddy – we occasionally have Fifa & curry sessions
One thing I hate so very much is getting the controller oily because of food, so I don't eat at all when gaming.
Oh yes I hate to play adventure games with my friends around, I just CAN'T concentrate, cause somebody keeps opening their mouth and you'll eventually miss some vital info needed to progress, so I switch to multiplayer games like FIFA, Tekken etc whne they come around. A cut-scene comes up and you're hoping everybody will be quite so you can listen, and suddenly some motherf***** behind is saying something! I believe games are best experienced alone.
And I feel like throwing the controller through the TV when I keep getting killed by an annoying boss. Or, ejecting the disc and breaking it, but I've never had the guts to do that. Though I keep smacking the tables and keep shouting my lungs out till others are looking at me like a mad man.
I love it how everyone wants to keep their controllers clean, I do too, thus I don't eat while gaming. So I was real pissed this one time when I brought my PS3 and my 2 six-axis(the ones I got with my PS3, not yet dualshock, but I like these better, cuz their lighter) and to see how my friends were gaming(dam dutch people and their lack of respect to other people's property) not only were they eatin some fat sausage and cheese while playing, but I had to keep reminding them not to touch my controllers before cleaning their hands and not to come near my PS3 with those fat particles, in the end they got pissed at me, and I luckily convinced them to just watch a movie instead of gaming… Never again.
My gaming habits are, like stated above, no eating during gameplay, a nice cold glass of Fanta is welcome though on those warm summer evenings. I sit about six feet away from my 32" Sony Bravia, on my office chair, also with arm support(who would have an office chair without arm support, it's a necessity).
I can't play very well when I'm too far away from my tv, just doesn't feel right.
I also don't like other people in my room when gaming, especially not with a new game, I want to finish it on my own, before others get to see it, and they only get to play for lengthy periods of time when they are at least as good as I am, that's why I don't often have other people(non-gamers) over when I'm planning to play a game.
I did one time have a lot of fun when me and my friend, last summer sat all day long downstairs in front of the TV to finish Uncharted 1 in one go, taking turns, good times, good times, he is at least as good as me, so it was aight.
Let's see, what else… I think that's about it, 6 feet distance, no to food, yes to drinks, no other people on the first run.
I sit about 6' from my 32" TV. I think I set the picture to "game" mode a long time ago, but that's about as fussy as I get. Since I mostly play racing games, I get my steering wheel and its stand perfectly centered in front of the TV, then my chair has to be centered behind the wheel. If the chair is so much as an inch too far away from the steering wheel, I have to adjust it immediately. And I have to be wearing socks, because they let the accelerator and brake pedals slide under my feet the way I like. I usually have a Mountain Dew and a pack of smokes by my side. On Friday and Saturday, It's a nice cold Budweiser. I like to play alone, without a lot of distractions, but sometimes it gets like Grand Central Station in the family room – darned family just wanders in and out of there whenever they please! I've tried getting my wife interested in gaming, but she usually plays for 1 minute, laughs at how bad she is, and then quits. She was playing my racing game the other night, I had to tell her that it was a race car, and it could take corners at speeds faster than 30 mph!
I was gonna suggest we have a PSX BBQ at Ben's house and play a few rounds of something, but we can forget that seeing as how 97.8952% of us like to play alone. lol.
i don't really have any specific habits or rituals anymore. I used to be picky about settings, but i have a couple kids now and when i do get a bit of time to game, i don't want to waste it dinking around with the the brightness and contrast…
i sit about 12 – 14 feet from my 'tv', however it is a 100" screen so… 😀
I absolutely cannot eat and game. If I'm hungry i'll watch a movie or something instead, games require 100% attention. I usually have a drink on the go, but that's not specific to gaming… i just usually have a drink on the go.
I never really get the opportunity to play when someone else is around these days, unless it's party games like Buzz or Rockband. But it never used to bother me (my wife has watched the better part of a few RPG's, back before we had kids that is)
wow… this turned into a longer post than i'd anticipated… sorry 🙂
i ususally play alone, but for the most part, ill go downstairs and get…um…."irie" before playng, ironically enough, i play a 100 times better while baked, /shrug i guess it improves my reflexes lol anyyways, i dont eat and play either, used to do it, but try not to eat in my room anymore so ..yeah , i play on my computer chai sitting about 4 feet from my 32 incher lcd,
You like to smoke the herb eh…
its all about the Zen gaming experience man!
i usually take my gaming in chunks. ill put about an hour or two in then go and do something else, then come back and put another hour in.
helps keep me from zoning out and losing track of time, plus thats how i do everything, in chunks. as far as snacking goes i keep a beverage of some sort nearby, but i seldom eat. dont wanna gunk up the controller.
i'm about two feet away from my 32 inch lcd, and for whatever reason i like to have people in the room while i'm gaming, even if theyre not paying attention.
Last edited by LightShow on 4/3/2010 9:10:56 AM
I play naked.
I don't do anything special. If it's my first playthrough of a game, I'll just be sitting on my couch with my feet on the coffee table. If it's my second or third, I'll usually have a laptop sitting next to me with an online walkthrough. If I get hungry, I'll make a sandwich and take bites during the cutscenes.
I live in an apartment, so I play whether my roommates are around or not. I don't do anything special with my tv, but I'm kinda finicky with the volume. I want to be able to hear things 40 years from now, so I try to keep it at a medium volume. I turn it down when there's lots of action and explosions, and turn it up when characters are having a quiet reflective moment.
I try not to eat too often when I play. Not because of the time or empty calories, but because it messes up the controller too much. Some of my friends always eat potato chips or popcorn when playing, and their controllers are all greasy. I hate that.
I have a 19" LCD TV, so I have it on my desk and I sit about a meter from it in a regular office chair. Sometimes I move it over, so I can lay down in bed and watch TV, but I rarely play like that.
One thing I like to do, is to read the manual while the game installs for the first time. It's a recent tradition, because installs weren't an issue on the PS2 really. Back then I had to go to the bathroom before playing, so I could read the manual there instead.
🙂
I sit about 2-3 away from my 32" LG tv. Best thing I ever bought to help with the gaming and I needed a new tv anyway. I always have my slippers on as a rule as I tned to play a lot of a night and not go out anywhere. The picture never needs adjusting I leave it as it is.
I dont drink or eat while playing if I do get hungry or thirsty ill stop go get something and then get back to the gaming.
I always play alone unless im playing online and even then that's alone anyway technically, just speaking to others via the mic.
I do play some co-op with a friend if they come round and suggest a quick game of Fifa or something.
I never had a ritual, but I find myself doing the same thing every night now.
1. Shower, put my Pajamas with a t-shirt and sweatshirt, then my slippers on
2. Unzip my headset from the case, plug it into the mixamp, hook the optical and usb wire into it, hook my iphone into it and rest it on the ottoman 3 feet away from my tv
3. Bring my office chair into the living room and place it directly in front of the tv about four feet away.
4. Take my DS3 (my new red one that no one else uses but me) off the charging cradle and fire it all up.
5. Pour the coke I bought earlier into my Yankees souvenier cup (highly recommended, hard plastic with a hologram on the front only served when buying a cup of cofee or hot chocolate at the stadium) with ice.
6. Grab my empty bottle behind the fireplace mantle I use for a spit cup.
7. Grab my tin of SKOAL citrus.
8. Go through any messages and see what friends are on
9. Game on.
10. Dinner is usually brought to me by my wife at some point, which I relecutantly eat while not getting up. Usually I'll wait to dip until after eating.
after reading most of the comments, one thing is certain.
Most of us like our nicotine and caffiene when gaming!
Caffiene, yes. Nicotine, waste of money and covers all your electronics in a nasty film. I quit smoking years ago. One of the best things I've ever done.
no one has seen anyone sit any close toi a 50" than my roomate. literally he is not ever more than 2 feet away from the screen. and in most cases his chair is never more than a foot from the entertainment center.
but besides all that, myself have to have total ssilence. Theres nothing more irritating to me than missing a fricken cutscene because someone else was talking. And headphones are out of the question, i didnt spend the money i did on the set up i have to hear a game through some headphones! Second no drinking alcohol while playing, i cant focus once i start to drink, and definitely no food. Cant have my controllers all greasy. I like to have people watch but again if noise becomes an issue id rather be alone!
I also have to have everything be in order from games to controllers. im not ashamed to admit i have ocd a little, but its only with my games lol! anyways other than that im fine with playing MP with other people and what not, but in single player i have to make sure i catch everything!
My stepson, sits a foot away from my 55 inch. I tried it once and hated it.
I know what you mean about headphones, I paid 800 bucks for my receiver and another 500 for my speakers that I have in 7.1. That being said, I love my headset. Astro A40's, pure frikkin gold.
As far drinking, I'll pour a beer and won't even drink all of it. When I do, it just makes me tired and want to sleep. I barely drink anymore.
Last edited by JPBooch on 4/3/2010 12:51:20 PM
@ johnld & Alienange, I'm very aware of the @$$holes that are online and that like to cuss at young children. Battlefield Bad Company 2 has private squads so we don't communicate with the other players. There's no way in Hell I would put my son at risk of being threatened or negatively talked to by Internet toughguys. He's a hardcore gamer like myself so I've looked into everything so he can enjoy gaming with his dad and what better way than parachuting behind enemy lines and conquering enemy strongholds together? You never know, you might see him on Major League Gaming someday. God willing.
I usually sit 7 feet away from my 52 inch RCA (Not LCD or plasma, still tri-colour picture tube…) with a bowl of Post brand Shreddies cereal and a Coca~Cola… LOL i usually munch during respawn wait times… and since I use a spoon, there's no risk 2 my controller…
and I didn't intend on making my post an advertisement… lol
I hit my bowl, got my soda, good to go!
I am pretty easy going about it. I don't have any particular eating habits for games but if the feeling arises to snack on something I will head to the kitchen.
I usually move the couch up a bit closer to the TV as it is pretty small. I am cool with people watching me play but I really cant stand watching others.. even if they are good, they are doing it wrong.
i just turn my console and play. i don't care if someone is watching. my roommate watches me play and sometimes tells me what to do. (he doesn't have a ps3 and he usually tells me to throw grenades; must like explosions.) my only pet peeves are a dirty controller and playing someone elses consoles when they aren't around. i'll pause the game clean it and wash my hands. don't know why but it annoys the hell out of me. annoys my best friend too when we're playing left 4 dead 2 and i pause in the middle of a horde to clean his controllers.
lights off, volume up so i don't miss any details. I like to have my computer next to me at my disposal so i have something to do during loading screens. if i'm playing online i will turn the volume down and turn up the music on my computer. other than that i'm not too picky.
just for curiosity. how close can i sit to screen before i'm blind when i'm 60??
I always end up gaming on weekday nights, not much time on the weekends and I work all day long during the week (10hr shift at the shop ends at 6pm). I'll get cyberlife outta the way. Mostly on looking for NewEgg ShellShocker deals or promotions (just grabbed a 500gb HDD for $50 from NewEgg). Chomp down some food, take a shower and then the gaming begins.
I lay back in the couch with about 5 pillows behind me and game away for a couple hours till I have to snooze. Gotta blast the 5.1 Dolby Digital, I usually dont tinker with the TV unless Gamma is looking too low. I had this problem with Batman. GoW and Heavy Rain had me adjust before launching the game and that did great!
I'm still trying to get the woman in the mood for gaming, but she's all about the Mario Bros-type gaming. She started my game on Uncharted 2 and quickly became overwhelmed, although she was climbing the train wreckage like a frickin pro!
I'm a concentrated gamer. I don't get to play that often because I spend all my time writing. When I do get to sit down I'll play for 48 or more hours straight. If I sit down with a new game I won't shut the PS3 off until its had all the trophies beaten out of it.
Finicky gamers are losers/weirdos who hinder the playing experience with anyone they are "sharing" it with. Seriously, every since online gaming shot up like heroine addicts from the 80's, "multi-player" gaming has lost its shine. Do whatever pleases you on your own time but around company the only adjustment you should be making is to your social setting. I found it annoying when playing a sports game with a friend years back. Before every game he would make changes to his line up to heighten his chances of winning and would get all weird and quiet when he was losing. Whatever if you're playing single player but not cool if friends are over just to hang. Adjusting TV settings for each game? I'm not even going to comment on that. With friends/family play to have fun, unless you set up a tournament or agenda before hand (that's fun too). "Exhibition" is a term still known and used today people.
Snacking while gaming? I find that grotesque. Honestly, that's just nasty…you aren't sitting back enjoying an event on TV, your favorite program, nor a movie. You have a CONTROLLER in your hands and you're probably covering it up with oils and gunk while you snack'n'play.
When I set myself up to game I do so with whichever game is up. If it's Guitar Hero, I'm ready to go at it alone or with gaming partners. If it's God of War III I'm ready to go at it alone and with the potential of excited viewers watching me play..regardless if they come and go as they please. If it's Army of Two, I'm ready to get at my brother to join me in some gaming fun (in person). Online play usually has a bunch of weirdos (truth with frequent complaints from everyone who isn't a weirdo) messing up the fun. Online play with friends? That's cool, but seriously, what the hell happened to inviting someone over physically opposed to sending them an "invite"? LOL.
Rock on Gamers, Gamers rock on.
A little obsessive but I always wash my hands before gaming so the controller doesn't get greasy (pisses me the f*** off)
I like to make sure I'm comfy and nothing is obstructing my view. I have to find a comfy place to sit to since room's a bit small.
I can game without a snack or drink..
I personally hate eating and touching my controller.! fuckin nasty
play on a 22" dell hdmi monitor or vizio hdtv depending on which house im at
then i use either a cambridge soundworks dtt2500 5.1 surround sound or sony mdrex35b earbuds which is like a surround in your ear canal
if theres soda or some good chips in front of me i eat during respawn or story death times
i dont care about changing too many settings for each game other than brightness, audio, or sensitivity
i just refuse to play on an sdtv unless theres no other option!!!
I play my amazing ps3 on my stardard 13 inch tv. I plan on buying a 40 inch hdtv but for now this just has to do. I also love to play by myself (unless it's co-op) and I am literraly right in front of the screen. (whether a 50 or 13 inch tv)