Yes, it’s another stopgap post, but I’ve been rather busy as of late since college has started. I thought it would be better to have at least something to post than nothing at all. I’ve got an open weekend though, so I’ll try and get something new written then.

‘Guilt-Free Gaming’ was a piece I wrote for ‘Ends’, the personal entry that featured as the final article of every issue of the physical copies of Square Go. They’re not published anywhere other than the tangible mag, so anyone reading from outside Scotland probably won’t have seen this.

So, here it is, available worldwide for the first time.

Enjoy.

———————————————————————————————————

Education is a necessary evil on the path to self-development, but it can put a massive spanner in the works for us gamers. Release dates for eagerly anticipated titles always seem to fall on the same days as assessments, examinations and essay hand-in deadlines, and there’s nothing more disheartening than raking through page after page of notes knowing that your pals are having a great laugh online in your absence. It’s happened countless times over the two years of this course, with progress in several titles put on hold to ensure that elusive word count is reached, or that the final touches to that hellish entity known as the ‘Graded Unit’ are in place.

Which is why I can’t wait for the summer, where I can enjoy a session of Halo 3 without that gnawing feeling that accompanies an unfinished essay stalking me, or compete in a Gears of War 2 Wingman match safe in the knowledge that I don’t have to leave early to get stuck into more revision.

The fact that several games I can’t wait to get my hands on, such as Ghostbusters and Batman: Arkham Asylum, are coming out in the next few weeks only heightens the anticipation. I can enjoy them fully without having to restrict my playtime to that most fiendish of enemies, the dreaded ‘bedtime’. I can spend the day shooting at my pals online in the comfort of my living room, not sitting taking notes on an uncomfortable classroom chair; I can spend my evenings with my pals, belting out passion-filled choruses on Rock Band or Guitar Hero: Metallica, not rooting around the internet investigating management styles. The summer months are going to be epic, filled with good games, good company and good times…

Until next term, at least.