I am a gamer. Throughout junior high and high school, whenever I had free time, rather than watching TV or hanging out, I would be sitting behind my computer, leading my army into battle, taking out enemy soldiers at several hundred yards with a precision shot from my sniper rifle, or on the couch in front of my Nintendo console, wielding sword and shield on an epic quest to restore the fallen lands of Hyrule. I found myself spending more and more of my free time behind a flickering screen, completely immersed in another world.
When I entered university I found more and more demands on my free time. Classes consumed a significant portion of my day, and most of the remainder was spent working on assignments for various courses, or studying material. And yet despite not really having enough time to play games, I found myself wanting to spend more and more time playing video games; staying up later into the night to get a few more rounds in, and so on. This forced me to start re-evaluating why I was a gamer. It had become something more than just a fun way to pass the time – I wanted to play games, and became annoyed when things began to cut into my gaming time. I became reluctant to get involved in other activities for fear that it would cut into my video game time. But as I began to think more about it I began to realize that my “addiction” to video games (for that is what it had become) had a deeper root. I began to recognize that I was deeply dissatisfied with my life – university was difficult and I was struggling with academic work for the first time, and video games provided my avenue of escape. Rather than being a stressed out 3rd year Engineering student, I could be General Nanotaz, commander in chief of the Allied forces, Captain Nick “Havoc” Parker – GDI special forces commando (Bonus points if anyone can name the game this is from :), or Link the hero of time, saviour of Hyrule. This was the perfect way to block out the disappointments and frustrations of my life.
Except it wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t real. Regardless of how many hours if poured into these virtual worlds, eventually I would have to return to reality –often with even more stress because of these hours I had wasted. Each game I played, regardless of whether it was a victory or a loss, only left me wanting more. I realized I needed my life to be something I could enjoy living, not something I was trying to escape from.
Growing up in a Christian home, I had always considered myself a Christian, but my understanding of what that meant changed radically in my second year of university, when I joined the Campus for Christ group at the U of A. Through my experiences in this group, I began to understand that being a “Christian” meant a lot more than doing the “right” things, even more than doing the right things for the right reasons. It means living a life surrendered to God – it sounds strange, and it isn’t something you can explain, at least not easily. And it’s not something I fully understand, but I do know that God promises a life worth living, infinitely greater than any virtual world found in a game. This life isn’t easy; there is no sitting back and idly clicking a mouse, but it is indescribably more satisfying than any high score, k/d ratio, or ladder ranking could ever be. Christ offers us the chance to make a difference, a real difference, both in our own lives and in the lives of others, and although it’s a lot harder than sitting behind the keyboard, I have found that it is worth it.
When I entered university I found more and more demands on my free time. Classes consumed a significant portion of my day, and most of the remainder was spent working on assignments for various courses, or studying material. And yet despite not really having enough time to play games, I found myself wanting to spend more and more time playing video games; staying up later into the night to get a few more rounds in, and so on. This forced me to start re-evaluating why I was a gamer. It had become something more than just a fun way to pass the time – I wanted to play games, and became annoyed when things began to cut into my gaming time. I became reluctant to get involved in other activities for fear that it would cut into my video game time. But as I began to think more about it I began to realize that my “addiction” to video games (for that is what it had become) had a deeper root. I began to recognize that I was deeply dissatisfied with my life – university was difficult and I was struggling with academic work for the first time, and video games provided my avenue of escape. Rather than being a stressed out 3rd year Engineering student, I could be General Nanotaz, commander in chief of the Allied forces, Captain Nick “Havoc” Parker – GDI special forces commando (Bonus points if anyone can name the game this is from :), or Link the hero of time, saviour of Hyrule. This was the perfect way to block out the disappointments and frustrations of my life.
Except it wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t real. Regardless of how many hours if poured into these virtual worlds, eventually I would have to return to reality –often with even more stress because of these hours I had wasted. Each game I played, regardless of whether it was a victory or a loss, only left me wanting more. I realized I needed my life to be something I could enjoy living, not something I was trying to escape from.
Growing up in a Christian home, I had always considered myself a Christian, but my understanding of what that meant changed radically in my second year of university, when I joined the Campus for Christ group at the U of A. Through my experiences in this group, I began to understand that being a “Christian” meant a lot more than doing the “right” things, even more than doing the right things for the right reasons. It means living a life surrendered to God – it sounds strange, and it isn’t something you can explain, at least not easily. And it’s not something I fully understand, but I do know that God promises a life worth living, infinitely greater than any virtual world found in a game. This life isn’t easy; there is no sitting back and idly clicking a mouse, but it is indescribably more satisfying than any high score, k/d ratio, or ladder ranking could ever be. Christ offers us the chance to make a difference, a real difference, both in our own lives and in the lives of others, and although it’s a lot harder than sitting behind the keyboard, I have found that it is worth it.
~ Thomas "Nanotaz" Zylstra, Edmonton CA
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