How much time do you spend gaming?

Mr_Grinch

Just roughly, on average? I've found as I've got older (25 now), started working, moved out, got involved in various relationships that my gaming time has naturally shortened. Simple things like ironing, cleaning the house etc seem to take up my time.

How do you all juggle life with your gaming hobby? I ask mainly because (frustratingly) I got a Nintendo Wii for my Birthday (28th Dec for those wanting to get me a card this year) and Zelda + Rayman with it. I've had chance to have a quick go on Wii Sports and Rayman when friends have been round but Zelda has not even been put in the disc tray yet. I really really want to play it and I've put aside a few hours on Saturday afternoon.

Roughly I'd say I can put in 2, maybe 3 hours a week in to games nowadays (if I'm lucky). How about yourselves?

jclast

Most of my gaming is done either on the bus (I ride to and from work) or on Sunday when I have the day off work but my wife does not.

Including transit time, I'd say I get around 15 hours in per week. 30 minutes each day on the bus and 5 on Sunday.

Sharp10r

That's about right, 2-3 hours per week, but there's a slight bump because I'm now a full-time student again (grad school) but it's only a slight bump. Now with the Wii I will know exactly how much I'm gaming each day, so that's nice. (Yesterday was an exception of 2 hours in 1 day! I just got Zelda)

RidleySaria

Not as much as I'd like. I work ten hour days and I'm usually too tired to play more than an hour after work. So probably 30 minutes to an hour on my four work days and a few hours on each of my days off. It can vary depending on how many errands I need to do or if I'm more in the mood to watch DVDs.

Mastervastere

An awfully unhealthy 30+ hours a week...at least.


Fuck it...

Couscous

On holiday where I don't do much, I can spend five hours at a time with a game I really like. I usually don't play for more than two hours on school days.

SporkAndrew

Sadly I only seem to be able to grab about an hour a night. I work 8-4 which sees me out of the house from 7-5, and when I get home I spend half an hour on my exercise bike watching DVDs to attempt to lose some of the Christmas flab.. Then if I don't spend at least a few hours with my girlfriend she thinks that I hate her. Weekends are completley out of the question except for a few hours I can grab on Sunday before dinner..

I swear my girlfriend thinks I'm 80 or something though. I always lie and say that I'm going home to bed at half 10 just so I have time some time in the evening to game..

I've had Zelda since Christmas and I've got about 10 hours in, 10 days later..

Boilerbird

Mastervastere wrote:

A awfully unhealthy 30+ hours a week...at least.


Fuck it...

I miss those days. Ironically, I've reached the point where I can spend excessive amounts of money on video games, and no longer have excessive amounts of time to play them.

Back in college, I had to have been playing around 15 hours a week, and all I had was Quake III, Neverwinter Nights, and a Gamecube with Smash Bros. and Madden.

Mr_Grinch

SporkAndrew wrote:

I spend half an hour on my exercise bike watching DVDs to attempt to lose some of the Christmas flab

Exercise is a bitch, I have a thyroid problem and to avoid getting fat I do 3 nights a week at the gym and 2 nights a week swimming. If I could somehow figure out how to video game AND exercise at the same time then I'd be sorted.

Something tells me a DS + Water might equal disaster though.

SporkAndrew

Mr_Grinch wrote:

Exercise is a bitch, I have a thyroid problem and to avoid getting fat I do 3 nights a week at the gym and 2 nights a week swimming. If I could somehow figure out how to video game AND exercise at the same time then I'd be sorted.

Something tells me a DS + Water might equal disaster though.

I have a friend that only used to play on his PS2 when he was on the treadmill / his exercise bike.. I guess it could work for any console that used a regular controller because I'd be worried of the balance issues stemming from playing a Wii whilst perched on a bike..

Mastervastere

Boilerbird wrote:

Mastervastere wrote:

A awfully unhealthy 30+ hours a week...at least.


Fuck it...

I miss those days. Ironically, I've reached the point where I can spend excessive amounts of money on video games, and no longer have excessive amounts of time to play them.

Back in college, I had to have been playing around 15 hours a week, and all I had was Quake III, Neverwinter Nights, and a Gamecube with Smash Bros. and Madden.

I'm glad I don't ever have to miss these days...I'm 31 years old, full time job and a wife.

I average 3 hours a night on week nights, 5-10 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. My wife finds time to play videogames as well...

I still find time to go out to pubs/bars, gigs and the cinema. My life is packed with entertainment.

I don't watch TV though...

We don't plan on ever having kids so a lifetime of no responsibilities and gaming lies ahead.

It's good to be alive...

Doronron

Let's see. I usually do not game during the week, but I do spend at least four hours on Friday and around six Saturday or Sunday.

So a conservative estimate would be 16 hours.

I'd also consider forum surfing to be about the same as gaming, with regards to how productive my time is, so tack on about four hours a day during the week - another 20.

That puts the total to 36 hours a week.

If the game is particularly compelling, I'd spend about 2 hours a night during the week on it. So when I'm at my worst, at least 46 hours a week devoted to gaming or gaming related activities. That's rather rare, though.

Simply put, I need to spend my time doing more productive things than I do.

The irony of it is, though, is that I no longer have solid chunks of time to spend with really in-depth games such as Baldur's Gate or Europa Universalis...

Rook

I try to do a couple of hours a day when I'm working. So I've come to love any game that can be finished in under a week (~10 hours). Sadly it is all a case of balance these days, if I'm gaming it means I have less time to read, or socialise or work or general living things that need to be taken care off.

Fortunately (or not, I haven't decided) I'm not yet at the stage where I have more money than time due to being a student for the second time (although at least I get paid for it now).

Steev

I just finished grad school, so I have a lot more free time. But when I was still in school, I'd still put lots of hours into gaming, particularly World of Warcraft. Oddly enough, now that I am done with school, I've had very little desire to boot up WoW. That'll probably change with the expansion.

I'd say that right now, I average around 2-3 hours of gaming a day. Most of this is on the Wii, but that will probably shift to the DS now that I beat Zelda.

Having a girlfriend has changed the amount of time I can spend on gaming as well, but we do play games together too.

I have a full-time job, but I also still live with my parents. I imagine that once I move out, I'll have a lot less time.

Malkor

I spend most of my time playing handhelds now. Sometimes on the weekends or if I can snag a day off I'll play my consoles, but not to the excessive amount I did in high school and college. I do find myself playing more 'party' games with my friends. Donkey Konga and Guitar Hero were a smash during the days before and after the New Year. I don't think the 'cube or PS2 was off unless people were passed out.

Lunker

Doronron wrote:

I'd also consider forum surfing to be about the same as gaming

I'd wager a majority of us actually post on here more than actually playing games. :P

I'm in the same boat as the OP -- now that I'm married and am going to the new gym with my new wife, my play time has been cut drastically. Console gaming is quickly fading from my priority list; I have about 5 hours put into Okami, 4 in Twilight Princess and 25 in FF12, and I'm fairly certain those three games alone will last me for the next six months. DS and GBA, though, is where I get my bread and butter. Commuting gives me about 1:15 a day. So that, plus anywhere from 0 to 1:30 at night on my consoles, and some more time on the weekends ... I'd say about 9-11 hours a week. Not bad, considering my schedule. It's all about pick-up-and-play games; the amount of time I've put into FF12 is a massive anomaly in my regular gaming routine.

So this is why:

• I don't understand people bitching about "short" (read: 10-20 hour) games.
• I don't understand people bitching about not enough games coming out for the Wii.

Mr_Grinch

Mastervastere wrote:

Boilerbird wrote:

Mastervastere wrote:

A awfully unhealthy 30+ hours a week...at least.


Fuck it...

I miss those days. Ironically, I've reached the point where I can spend excessive amounts of money on video games, and no longer have excessive amounts of time to play them.

Back in college, I had to have been playing around 15 hours a week, and all I had was Quake III, Neverwinter Nights, and a Gamecube with Smash Bros. and Madden.

I'm glad I don't ever have to miss these days...I'm 31 years old, full time job and a wife.

I average 3 hours a night on week nights, 5-10 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. My wife finds time to play videogames as well...

I still find time to go out to pubs/bars, gigs and the cinema. My life is packed with entertainment.

I don't watch TV though...

We don't plan on ever having kids so a lifetime of no responsibilities and gaming lies ahead.

It's good to be alive...

I've absolutely no idea how you manage that! Typical day:

1) Get up at 7.30am. Wash, breakfast.
2) Set off to work at 8.00am.
3) Get to work about 8.30.
4) Work through till 16.30/17.00ish.
5) Get home about 17.30. Briefly tidy house, do any cleaning needed.
6) Set off to gym at 18.00.
7) Return from gym around 19.30. Get something to eat.
8 ) Eat whilst watching something at 20.00ish.
9) Now do one of following: Pub, visit friends, do ironing/washing/other general house work, see the Girlfriend.

By the time activity (9) is done it's 11ish and time to sleep and do it all again! Of course if you don't require as much sleep as I do then it's possible

Oh and I don't watch any tv. Although I do always manage to put aside 30mins for the newest episode of Scrubs sometime in the week!

::Edit:: Fuck You Mr Smiley 8

PikaPuff

(6:30-16:30) Get up, work, and three meals.
(16:30-1:00) Games and Computer (Vent/Forums/Misc)
(1:00-6:30) Sleep

Lunker

Mr_Grinch wrote:

I've absolutely no idea how you manage that! Typical day:

1) Get up at 7.30am. Wash, breakfast.
2) Set off to work at 8.00am.
3) Get to work about 8.30.
4) Work through till 16.30/17.00ish.
5) Get home about 17.30. Briefly tidy house, do any cleaning needed.
6) Set off to gym at 18.00.
7) Return from gym around 19.30. Get something to eat.
8 ) Eat whilst watching something at 20.00ish.
9) Now do one of following: Pub, visit friends, do ironing/washing/other general house work, see the Girlfriend.

This is so true it's not funny. Last night, by the time my wife and I got home from the gym, had dinner, and I cleaned the bathroom, it was 10:00.

It's a cruel choice to force someone to decide between a non-grimy shower and Zelda. Because if I weren't living with my wife, I wouldn't be cleaning the shower for months.

Mastervastere

Mr_Grinch wrote:

Mastervastere wrote:

Boilerbird wrote:

Mastervastere wrote:

A awfully unhealthy 30+ hours a week...at least.


Fuck it...

I miss those days. Ironically, I've reached the point where I can spend excessive amounts of money on video games, and no longer have excessive amounts of time to play them.

Back in college, I had to have been playing around 15 hours a week, and all I had was Quake III, Neverwinter Nights, and a Gamecube with Smash Bros. and Madden.

I'm glad I don't ever have to miss these days...I'm 31 years old, full time job and a wife.

I average 3 hours a night on week nights, 5-10 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. My wife finds time to play videogames as well...

I still find time to go out to pubs/bars, gigs and the cinema. My life is packed with entertainment.

I don't watch TV though...

We don't plan on ever having kids so a lifetime of no responsibilities and gaming lies ahead.

It's good to be alive...

I've absolutely no idea how you manage that! Typical day:

1) Get up at 7.30am. Wash, breakfast.
2) Set off to work at 8.00am.
3) Get to work about 8.30.
4) Work through till 16.30/17.00ish.
5) Get home about 17.30. Briefly tidy house, do any cleaning needed.
6) Set off to gym at 18.00.
7) Return from gym around 19.30. Get something to eat.
8 ) Eat whilst watching something at 20.00ish.
9) Now do one of following: Pub, visit friends, do ironing/washing/other general house work, see the Girlfriend.

By the time activity (9) is done it's 11ish and time to sleep and do it all again! Of course if you don't require as much sleep as I do then it's possible

Oh and I don't watch any tv. Although I do always manage to put aside 30mins for the newest episode of Scrubs sometime in the week!

::Edit:: Fuck You Mr Smiley 8

Easy, take Gym out of the equation FFS, my Wife does the housework, I usually go to bed at 1am and get up at 8am and I play DS for an hour at work.

When you're at the gym or in bed I'm playing with either my Wii, 360
or PC.

Samphis

More than I should, but less than I like.

Wezoin

I have a problem deciding to play... Like, I've had the past 2 weeks off from school, and only been working about 8 hours a week for these weeks... And I just can't play games much... I've gamed more than usual (maybe... 5 or 6 hours a week) but thats just because I have NOTHING else to do.

I would like to just sit down whenever I have freetime to play, but I'm always either on the forums or MSN, so it brings me to the point where I have the time to play, but for some reason choose not to (I never know what the reason is, but its always "I dont feel like it right now", but once I get sat down I know I'll enjoy it and will go for hours)

Couscous

Wezoin wrote:

I have a problem deciding to play... Like, I've had the past 2 weeks off from school, and only been working about 8 hours a week for these weeks... And I just can't play games much... I've gamed more than usual (maybe... 5 or 6 hours a week) but thats just because I have NOTHING else to do.

I would like to just sit down whenever I have freetime to play, but I'm always either on the forums or MSN, so it brings me to the point where I have the time to play, but for some reason choose not to (I never know what the reason is, but its always "I dont feel like it right now", but once I get sat down I know I'll enjoy it and will go for hours)

I do that way to often. I figure it is because I can't decide on what game to play.

Lindsay Lohan

About an hour a day or so (mostly DS at this point). I may get more in on the weekends, depending on the weekend naturally. Last night I played 3 hours (!) thanks to finding True Swing Golf and Metroid Pinball for $3.50 each at Kmart!!!!

I used to play PS2 (thanks to the Logitech wireless controller) on the excercise bike, but since we've moved I haven't set a TV up in the excercise room yet.

Mr_Grinch

Mastervastere wrote:

When you're at the gym or in bed I'm playing with either my Wii, 360
or PC.

Quite often when I'm in bed I'll be playing with my Wii too.

Katchem_ash

My normal work day is from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Train ride is usually and hour so I reach home around 6:30 to 7:00. I then proceed to have dinner and then from 8:00 to 11:00 I play either my PS2 or Gamecube. So I get in 4 hours or so usually. Its actually a very nice setup I have.

I get up around 6 though so I use that time to read my manga on the train. People give me curious looks but damn if I care. I also read it, if the go train is late.

Wezoin

Mr_Grinch wrote:

Mastervastere wrote:

When you're at the gym or in bed I'm playing with either my Wii, 360
or PC.

Quite often when I'm in bed I'll be playing with my Wii too.

Sigg'd.

ZackSchilling

Mr_Grinch wrote:

SporkAndrew wrote:

I spend half an hour on my exercise bike watching DVDs to attempt to lose some of the Christmas flab

Exercise is a bitch, I have a thyroid problem and to avoid getting fat I do 3 nights a week at the gym and 2 nights a week swimming. If I could somehow figure out how to video game AND exercise at the same time then I'd be sorted.

Something tells me a DS + Water might equal disaster though.

I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis and all I have to do is take a pill every day (because my immune system saw it fit to completely kill my thyroid). I mean, yeah, you go with that exercise routine, it's better for you in every way, but don't you normally need to take pills to stay healthy no matter what type of exercise you do on top of it? You'll keep the weight off with exercise alone but the pills are pretty important to... uh, living.

Oh, time spent gaming. My Wii is grossly underused because I have a fulltime job and a fulltime family, so that leaves me with no time until late at night when I'm exhausted (and in danger of getting less than 6 hours of sleep if I don't get to bed right away).

My DS is in constant use, however. Bathroom, train, car, bus, bed.

Samphis

I game while sitting on a yoga ball. It's not aerobic, but constantly adjusting so that you don't fall off works your abs. Like nobodies business. I went from flab to fab in like three weeks, and didn't lose any gaming time.

This will not take weight off, but will shape what you have.

It doesn't work well with the Wii, though.

Lindsay Lohan

Samphis wrote:

I game while sitting on a yoga ball. It's not aerobic, but constantly adjusting so that you don't fall off works your abs. Like nobodies business. I went from flab to fab in like three weeks, and didn't lose any gaming time.

This will not take weight off, but will shape what you have.

It doesn't work well with the Wii, though.

I've actually started working on a Yoga ball this week (working from home FTW!) I'm hoping to see amazing results...well, not really, I'm hoping to get down to needing only one X to describe my shirt size :oops:

Smudge

I work about 9-6, have a wife, a new puppy, just bought a house, and still have plenty of time to game 5 hours a night on a weekday if I want to.

Weekends maybe 10 hours a day if I wanted to.

What do you guys spend all the time in the day DOING? And if you have girlfriends/wives that don't like gaming while you identify yourself as a gamer, what are you doing with them?

I get home from work, sit in my computer chair, which is in our den, with my wife right next to me in HER computer chair, both in full view of the TV and the consoles.

My wife is there happily playing EQ2, doing digital artwork (she does artwork for strategy guides and manuals, she did course artwork in the tiger woods 07 stratguide and all the maps in all the EQ2 strat guides and the atlas), or learning the ropes in some beta so she can help with strat guide writeups. The only nagging I get from her is when she wants me to log in my EQ2 character while I am busy playing Wii/gears fo war/dead rising/watching bad asian horror films.

Around 1 am, I wander off to bed.

The only interruptions are supper and any indoor chores I want to get done. Most of my chores around the house right now are outdoors so I do those on the weekend. Even then, doing chores during daylight gives me a TON of time to mess around at night. I usually play with the puppy for an hour or so as well. But that is because I want to more than I have to.


All that said, if I have TOO MANY games I want to play I have a weird mental block where I find it really hard to pick one to play. This often leaves me wandering the web aimlessly or watching something on TV.

Mr_Grinch

ZackSchilling wrote:

I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis and all I have to do is take a pill every day (because my immune system saw it fit to completely kill my thyroid). I mean, yeah, you go with that exercise routine, it's better for you in every way, but don't you normally need to take pills to stay healthy no matter what type of exercise you do on top of it?

I have hypothyrodism and yep, I'm on tablets, but I haven't been on them for long and the doctor is still finding the right dosage (currently 50mg). My TSH is still really high and even on the tablets I find if I don't exercise lots I start to put the weight on very easily. So to stay at the same weight I've found I've had to do this. Once the tablets start to work a bit better I'm sure I'll be able to either drop a bit of the exercise or eat more crap

Samphis

I also saw a neat excercise gadget at Linen's and Things last night. It's a small swivel chair that you spin left and right on, and it works to tone pretty much everything. I might move to that for the living room and the yoga ball to the PC. I love the idea of burning calories when I blast my enemies. It's why I bought the Wii in the first place.

rathstar

Mr_Grinch wrote:

SporkAndrew wrote:

I spend half an hour on my exercise bike watching DVDs to attempt to lose some of the Christmas flab

Exercise is a bitch, I have a thyroid problem and to avoid getting fat I do 3 nights a week at the gym and 2 nights a week swimming. If I could somehow figure out how to video game AND exercise at the same time then I'd be sorted.

Something tells me a DS + Water might equal disaster though.

?

Worked for me for the last ~3 years until the local arcade shut down for the 3rd time and was finally replaced by an ass pile of redemption and fighter crap.

Lunker

Smudge wrote:

And if you have girlfriends/wives that don't like gaming while you identify yourself as a gamer, what are you doing with them?

This sentiment always makes me laugh.

ZackSchilling

Mr_Grinch wrote:

ZackSchilling wrote:

I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis and all I have to do is take a pill every day (because my immune system saw it fit to completely kill my thyroid). I mean, yeah, you go with that exercise routine, it's better for you in every way, but don't you normally need to take pills to stay healthy no matter what type of exercise you do on top of it?

I have hypothyrodism and yep, I'm on tablets, but I haven't been on them for long and the doctor is still finding the right dosage (currently 50mg). My TSH is still really high and even on the tablets I find if I don't exercise lots I start to put the weight on very easily. So to stay at the same weight I've found I've had to do this. Once the tablets start to work a bit better I'm sure I'll be able to either drop a bit of the exercise or eat more crap

Getting the dosage right takes forever. I'm finally on 150mcg (micrograms, check the bottle, it surprised me too) and my numbers are higher each time. I don't eat crap and stay pretty active. I was never super thin, but at 6'3", the uncontrollable slide from under 250 to over 300 was horrifying when I first got the condition. For a while before I found out it was a thyroid condition, I nearly stopped eating altogether in a desperate attempt to lose some weight and all I managed to do was stop gaining. Shit sucks.

ZackSchilling

Lunker wrote:

Smudge wrote:

And if you have girlfriends/wives that don't like gaming while you identify yourself as a gamer, what are you doing with them?

This sentiment always makes me laugh.

For those that don't get it:

Fucking. The answer is fucking.

Archebaldo

Lunker wrote:

Smudge wrote:

And if you have girlfriends/wives that don't like gaming while you identify yourself as a gamer, what are you doing with them?

This sentiment always makes me laugh.

Me too. Is it that common to find a girl that is into gaming or at least watching you game?

It's pretty rare that I've gotten a gf to watch me game...and enjoy it, so after a while I'll give up on that and just play when they aren't around.

Mr_Grinch

ZackSchilling wrote:

Lunker wrote:

Smudge wrote:

And if you have girlfriends/wives that don't like gaming while you identify yourself as a gamer, what are you doing with them?

This sentiment always makes me laugh.

For those that don't get it:

Fucking. The answer is fucking.

Quite right. My girlfriend doesn't like video gaming but here's the kicker:

She'll sleep with me.

Lunker

Archebaldo wrote:

Lunker wrote:

Smudge wrote:

And if you have girlfriends/wives that don't like gaming while you identify yourself as a gamer, what are you doing with them?

This sentiment always makes me laugh.

Me too. Is it that common to find a girl that is into gaming or at least watching you game?

It's pretty rare that I've gotten a gf to watch me game...and enjoy it, so after a while I'll give up on that and just play when they aren't around.

Well, it's not so much that (although I generally do the same, but my wife and I make a killer Wii Tennis doubles team) so much as the fact that I like gaming, but I also like spending time with my wife doing things that don't involve gaming. A lot of the games I enjoy are very insular and single-player, and so I let up on the gas pedal every so often in order to do things that focus on the two of us instead of on a game. I'd get agitated if my wife spent our dwindling free time zoning out on the computer, too. (I'm not even going to bother and defend against the :winky: onslaught!)

But I'm really spinning this OT, though, so I will say that incorporating gaming into other activites is the best way to get more time in. Also, aside from FF12 and Zelda I've pretty much jettisoned all large, epic games and most RPGs from my library. Even a game like RE4 would be pushing it nowadays.

Smudge

My meaning was that I have seen a lot of lifetime gamers with women who just hated gaming and would get pissed off at them every time they tried to play at all. That is insane. If you're a gamer, your wife/gf should at least understand the draw of the games and not be jealous of them.

Gaming is good, having sex is good, having sex while gaming is good. They are not all mutually exclusive.

Also note that I said 5+ hours a day if I wanted to. Neither one of us really WANT to spend that much time EVERY day gaming. Maybe if would be different if one of us was compulsive to the point where we ignored the other. I am also not the kind to get totally engrossed in most games, so gaming time is also time I am chatting with my wife.