How does an elephant play a gameboy?

Today in the shower I was wondering if when I get older and have a family(I'm 18) if it would be possible for me to balance family and gaming.

That's really funny that this is posted now. Super interesting, thanks for the story. Nice to know it's possible!

not a problem for me. i don't have kids so all my extra time goes to GTA IV

Maggie - I balance a full-time job managing an organization and getting my MBA (only 1 more year left!) at the same time while commenting here. Not to mention playing with my band twice a week.

If you ever need tips on how to manage your time, feel free to holler :)

Congrats on grad school though - what are you going for?

My boss has three kids, works a lot, and finds a little bit of time at night ever so often to play GTA IV in the basement, when the kids are asleep. When, I getting old or have a family I probably won't spend as much time gaming, and more of my games will be more of the sophisticated nature, since I tire easily of the same old hero story...

I find it hard to sleep well for my job and get my desired amount of gaming into a single day. I hate it. I only work 3 days a week as well D:

And I've been putting off GTA until after my exams are over on Monday.

After that - here I come Liberty City!

Games are pretty much part of my everyday life along with the bills,kids.Getting the stepdaughter a Nintendo DS(pink yuck..lol)so at least I can start them up right.

Gaming as an adult is easy - just give up watching TV. Just think of how many hours a day you just sit vegging out watching the same old crap you've seen for 30 years now. Well you could be sitting there vegging out slightly less and playing a video game instead. If you hear there's a great ep of South Park or Colbert you can just go grab it from bittorrent or scope it out on youtube. No commercials, fast forward at will.

I don't think I could ever stop playing videogames even after getting married and having kids. Can't wait to teach my
progeny the ways of the joypad.

I'm 17 but can't see why it would be so impressionably difficult in someone's life to balance gaming and their responsibilites. I believe this might be something you begin to realize from experience. I just always imagine how my cousin would skip work to play Zelda, Goldeneye, and Metal Gear Solid when I was a little kid. Some impression of life he left for me.

@Green-clad Gamer Dude:

Yeah, you'd think that. But.

Im 23 and have recently decided to settle in with my more-important-than-pie girlfriend. Now with bills to pay and such, and more people to care for than just myself, gaming is no longer my number one priority like it was before. Suddenly, those hours at work become more important, when they mean we can both rest easy having bills and everything paid.

Plus, since we don't play the same games (except Gears, which for some reason beyond me she loves) and because so many of the best games are a single player experience, I find myself watching movies more/etc with her than gaming.

Thats not to say I dont slip out to the living room at midnight for a few hours of good old fashioned gaming, but its nowhere near what I used to do. Part of me longs for the 12 hour gaming marathons I used to have. But theres another part (not the organ in my pants, but the organ in my chest) that enjoys spending time with her more.

If anything, its not adulthood that ruins video games, its girls. :P

@Green-clad Gamer Dude:

You don't see it because your 17.....

This piece definitely made me feel a little better about all the crazies going on in my life. Full time work, part time grad-school, and spending time with my girl-fiend has castrated my gaming habits. Summer time brings relief. I am not married with kids, but I understand the source material for this article. I have found I can game early on in the semester before the shit hits the fan and I have to buckle down!

Look at my nick. But there are so many achievements to unlock dealing with my 1.5 yr daughter. No game can beat that, neither in hardness nor in rewards.

Regarding gaming time: I can afford a full HD TV, PS3 and Wii (and a 360, if I wanted) - yet a time for gaming is only to be found about twice a week for a couple of hours when my two women are asleep. I wonder how Bash does it. Oh well, it's his job.

I'm 25, married, and have a full time job. I'm also a part-time grad student (meaning class + research responsibilities) and have a baby coming next month. I'm a bit worried! There are often times when there is simply no extra time for games or any other hobby. I used to play with a band regularly, but it's almost too difficult to schedule everyone's time now. I'm halfway through the degree, and I hate to give it up, but when this baby comes, something is going to have to give. I suppose I could squeeze out the last remaining bits of free time I allow myself, but I honestly don't believe that's a good way to live. I've been overcommitted for so long that it's hard to recognize that personal time is not "wasted" time. It's okay to give up something "productive" if it's not necessary, and you don't enjoy it.

I've also had to learn to work hard when it's time to work so that I can enjoy life later. This means everything from avoiding Kotaku while at work to just walking the dog and doing the dishes, when it's quite against my nature to do that before a good bit of procrastinating. If I get my stuff done, the wife is happy and there's rarely any protest if I turn on the ol console. She's pretty cool with games anyway. Let me bask in nerd envy by revealing that among the games she has quite enjoyed playing with me are Earthbound and Eternal Darkness. :-)

Anyway, this baby's going to change a lot, and I'm really looking forward to taking the time to be with my child. Who knows what will happen. Maybe handhelds will be a bigger gaming outlet for me. Maybe once he hits a sleeping schedule I'll have time later in the evenings for the big console epics (I'm looking at you, Fallout 3). Maybe I'll turn to PC gaming, since I can do more of that on my time. I think it'll be okay. For now, finals are over, the baby is a month away, and I'm cruising the streets of Liberty City daily. :-)

There is a Quote that goes "When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things."
This kind of sums up my outlook in regards to gaming.

As a Man past his twenties and ten years shy of forty. I face a mid life crisis of the gaming kind.

To game or not to game? that is the question

As a child of the mid 80's and early nineties, video games are in my blood. my gamer heart beats Nintendo and SEGA. I have played many consoles and Arcade machines.
Owned and sold many. handed hard earned pocket and paper round money money to shops and traded my old Gen friends in for the latest and greatest next machines. Machines I wish I

there is talk of a classic golden age of gaming around the 8 - 16bit era, when machines at home lacked the raw power of the arcade behemoths. so game play was king, more depth more challenge more replay more innovation , compared to the pure adrenaline blast of the beautiful looking arcade games designed to take your money. I used to justify the price of a console games comparing how many times times playing at home would stack up against the amount spent in the arcades.

but to me the golden age of games died with the end of the Dreamcast. No longer did we have two companies that the hard core felt so strongly about making machines. two rivals who tried to win our loyalty by producing more and more elaborate, creative and wondrous works for us to sink our gaming teeth into. because of this events took place that some thought would never happen back then in those heady times (but a few secretly hoped would) Sega were creating games for other systems and Sonic and Mario appearing in the same Games.

as Gamers of that Generation we have gone from Space Invaders to Mario 64 to GTA IV, Single player to Multi-tap to LAN to Online.
Advances inf graphical power, interaction and interface. at the core the way to engage and entrance the players.

but that is the paradox as games get more involving and life like and demand more from players we simple don't have the time to commit anymore, life and responsibilities get in the way and shifting back to the old adrenaline pick up and play games is what I am craving more.

People would mock Nintendo for the lack of graphical power and strange ways of playing that the Wii and Ds would offer. Nintendo on the other hand have the finger on the pulse of our Generation of gamers. look at the sales they have.
sure GTA IV will help to shift a shed load of Xbox 360';s and PS3's but in the long run I doubt it will overtake the Nintendo sales.

My Gaming crisis is many fold. but is summed up in one sentence " I don't have the time to play games anymore"

back in the day a couple of hours of Shenmue would turn into an 8 - 12 hour marathon. I could play Actraiser round my friends house for Hours after school.
Now I cannot take more than the length of an hour to play any games.
I buy Mario Kart WII and no more heroes and I havent even played Mario Galaxy through yet But I am not Whining I don't Lament this I just cannot see how I can Viably do this.
My Wife has told me many times she loves the way I am passionate about games (Read Closet Geek) she herself is not a gamer in any shape or form. (except for Wii sports)
but still I couldn't see myself playing for hours on end like a used to.

I want to play GTA IV but I may pick it up in a few years time for cheaper (Xbox 360 included) but as for now I can wait.

for now the DS and the pick up and play games it offers satisfies my game fix.

also the Next problem is this.
should someone my age be playing games still and my Answer is Hell yes!
I don't see why people should brand what I am doing as sad or anti social.
why can people who support football teams such as Arsenal or Man United support them all their life but a man who is passionate about Games and news relating to gaming be told he is sad? I say screw that!

Gaming is my passion I don't drink or smoke or am into Football so why is my hobby less of a hobby??

I don't think it is anti social in anyway I have a friend i have known for over 16 years who I have bonded with over many a game of SF II or micro machines, and too this day we still play the old classics thanks to the VC (much to the chagrin of and bemusements of both our Missus' )

we are facing a crisis for golden generation many hardcore gamers are now married with kids or in serious relationships with commitments in life. we cannot devote the time anymore that we used to and as the generation at the forefront of gamers when is the time to give up the old ways? I hope we never have to, I wish to continue to play until I am in my old old age. ( I still think on the day I day I will hear the Music played when Mario dies in Super Mario Bros)

To Game or not to Game, There is no Question!!

I just don't know in what form

@Komrade_Kayce:

My girlfriend plays TF2 with me. But other than that she commandeers my TV for CSI or Law and Order. You probably feel similar pain.

@Komrade_Kayce: Ha, very insightful.

Yep, growing up means less gaming for a lot of us, it's not that hard to find balance, I work as a lab assistant in my college during the morning, and take my last classes during the afternoon/night, I'll be graduating this December if everything goes as planned, yet I still find time to do the things I like, hang out with friends, go to bars, concerts, and of course enjoy a nice gaming session every once in a while.

@the_answer: Like your name says, that's the answer!

Seriously, though, despite the programming of society, you don't HAVE to have children. Just b/c it's "expected" of you, doesn't mean you should. There are a lot of unhappy kids out there who have crappy lives b/c their parents thought they "had to" have kids.

Evil Tortie's Dad and I decided long ago that we'd probably be crappy parents and wouldn't want to inflict that kind of life on a kid. So we've been married longer than most of the Kotaku-ites have been alive, and we're a perfectly happy family. We have a house, a mildly complicated retirement plan, two annoying kitties, and all almost the gadgets we want.

But, like the article and Maggie's post said, there will be times you have to give up a hobby temporarily. Give it up for a couple of years in grad school, or 5-6 years till the kids go off to school, and most certainly when there's a newborn. When you have a newborn, any free moments should be spent sleeping. (I personally have kept an eye on babies long enough for mom to have a shower or bath uninterrupted).

@Spoony Bard: I'm getting my PhD in modern Chinese history. Research just consumes my life right now, I was running behind coming into the project & it's carried over. Next year will be better!

@Green-clad Gamer Dude: That's because you're 17. There are a lot of things I do now as a matter of course that I couldn't have imagined doing at 17. I'd get my ass kicked by my advisors if I was skipping class or shirking responsibilities (or reading) to play games, or do anything else for that matter - and rightfully so, frankly. I had plenty of time to do all sorts of stuff as an undergrad, but times (and the demands on your time) change.

Gaming has really taken a back seat for me Im attending college, trying to balance my girl friend , friends, and work but when i do put in a game i play it for about 20 minutes then it just gets boring i guess I've just grown out of it.I come to kotaku occasionally to see whats going on in the industry.

@Evil Tortie's Mom: Bah. Of course I meant "almost all the gadgets".

@catapult37: Don't give up the degree, you have obviously worked too hard. Looks like the band will have to go, and you won't be wanting to spend time with those guys when you could be playing with the baby anyway! I mean, those little fingers are SO CUTE! wooga wooga wooga.

@thegoodlife88: You might get back into it later. I mean, much later.

Like me, I went console-free from the Atari 2600 to the Wii.

I game, I love, I am.

@Maggie Greene: Awesome. I hear you on the grad school thing - though if I recall, you're in San Diego. While I'm doing grad school in bleak, miserable Chicago :(

But as I'm sure you have figured out, you somehow find time for the things that are important to you. Doesn't matter if it's video games or kids.

I've gotten used to being busy every moment of the day - but it's nice to look forward to the days when you have nothing to do. :)

And MULTITASK!

@JUFONUK: Good God, man. You can't possibly expect anyone to READ all of that.

Of course as you grow up, your interests and desires change, and so will your relationship with video games.

But if people find time to play with model trains and the like, video games will still be a part of many of our lives.

@Spoony Bard: I literally never have a day where I don't have something to do. Last time I had a weekend off was to attend my grandparents' funerals, so not exactly 'fun' relaxing stuff.

I am the queen of multitasking, however - but there's only so much multitasking you can do when a good bulk of the day in, day out work is reading.

@yanipheonu: This is true. I think that it's changing a bit for me, and I wonder sometimes if my subconscious isn't rebelling a little at the thought. What I mean is that I'm actually more into games now than ever -- reading all the sites daily, listening to podcasts all the time, and gaming whenever I get the chance. However, sometimes I find myself wondering if I'm really excited about a game or if I'm just trying to be, you know? I still legitimately enjoy a lot of gaming, but if there's an inclination in the back of my mind to spend more time on life's other pursuits, I think I'm going to have to eventually start following it instead of running the other way. :-) I'm sure that one day games will occupy a smaller, but still valued, corner of my life, and that will be okay!

@Maggie Greene: I know the feeling, although I'm sure that getting your PhD might be even more harrowing than an MBA. I am assuming you're on the quarter system - so is U Chicago. That makes it even harder to keep up with everything.

Sorry to hear about your...did you say grandparentS?

As for me, I'll have to keep chugging along...

O stereotype gods!
Beckon everyone in their dreams:

"Post your top ten games after each lengthy post@"

...and I'd be able to sort each bourgeois rant into "valid" and "not-valid".

I have my first GCSE's next week. They start on Thursday, several hour exams. They are the last compulsory exams I will ever have to take, and I've pretty much been doing schoolwork for 2 years that is all for them.

I have to learn the most popular instruments used in Sub Saharan Africa and India, along with all the features of Minimalism, Serialism and Expressionism and also know the differences in styles between Romantic, Baroque and Classical music, along with knowing the main techniques used in, and history of, electronic dance music. That's for my Music exam. One of 12.

The thing is, I didn't work hard enough in those two years, and in four days I will sit the test.

This weekend I spent 15 hours on Final Fantasy XII.

I reckon that for me growing up is going to have to kick in soon, or I'm going to be fucked at being an adult.

I just needed somewhere to say this. Thank you.

@Evil Tortie's Mom: "Give it up for a couple of years in grad school, or 5-6 years till the kids go off to school, and most certainly when there's a newborn."

Nuts to that. I've got 2 boys, 3 and 5. And I've got twin girls arriving in 3 weeks. No, I'm not going to be pulling any marathon sessions, but you can bet your ass I'll be using free moments to play Dirt or the Grid demo. Outside of crisis situations, you can always find free time, if it's a priority.

Personal recreation *should* be a priority. And if it's not a priority, then you have to ask yourself what sort of example you're setting for your children. They learn what they see: if you're doing chores 16 hours a day and not letting yourself play or relax, then don't be surprised when your kids end up just as miserable as you.

We make time for the things we like, simple as that. It's just that as our horizons expand, we realize that things like work, relationships, and kids can be far more engaging than video games. The whole work/life balance thing shouldn't be seen as a scheduling problem, but just knowing what brings you the most enjoyment, and doing that when you can.

@Spoony Bard: They died within a day of each other (one was unexpected, the other wasn't), but since they were cremated we had the service several months after they actually died.

We are on the quarter system. I have mixed feelings on it - it's pretty nice on the one hand (we get lots of stuff done in one year!), on the other, it's so. damn. fast.

Why does "adulthood" always have to equate "kids"?

I for one will never be giving birth to one of those ungrateful, life stealing, shit making, money spending things.

@Maggie Greene: OMG. That's terrible. Must have been very tough on you.

Quarter system flies by WAY too fast.

Aight, whenever I get the stupid idea that I should get more serious and settle, I'll just remember that poor sap playing his DS on the way to work, to get me back on the right track.

Okay I have one question... so there's one other thing people usually don't have time for after growing up (no not s ex) but the time to work out and stay in shape. So my worry is.. how do I do all of that plus gaming plus work out? Most guys get huge after having a kid. Do I want to spend my free time hiking, doing push ups, going for a jog... or playing a video game? Plus, that whole fuidity thing comes in. Plus, rpgs are pretty much out of the picture... maybe i'll stick with fps,fighting games, racing, and other games that can give me faster gaming.

My answer has been to sleep less and catch up on my gaming after the wife and kid are asleep. I've been pretty tired but a lot less stressed and a lot more tolerable by others.

you know I'm trying to work on that balancing thing too XD right now I have a butt load of homework but instead I'm on my computer looking at kotaku stuff =] when will I ever learn!

People get in the way of drinking and gaming, so I decided to do away with people.

I remember thinking that people who say that they cannot balance work with whatever their hobbies are at the time to be nothing more than just a bunch of whiners. That was when I was still a student.

Now, bills, rent, girlfriend (and a bunch of parasite housemates), I will never find a time for me to enjoy the gaming marathons that I used to have. But, the thing is, I can concentrate more on one game, rather than have a bunch of unfinished games begging for me to play them.

@Capt. Struggle Bunny:

there are people who can drink and play at the same time.

We are expecting our first on or around September 5th and this is something that I've wondered about. Actually, we figure the child will be all into sports and totally opposite of me but we'll be happy either way I'm sure. :)