Graduated Gamer Welcomes You To The Real World!

Welcome to the real world, gamer! My name is Tim, but you can call me Graduated Gamer. There was a time in my life when all I needed in the summertime was some Mountain Dew, a bag of Doritos, and my Nintendo 64. With that, I was the happiest kid in the world – sleepovers consisted of Goldeneye marathons, days consisted of waking at noon and playing until 4 AM, and beating a game was the greatest and only achievement you needed. From the moment I booted up my Sega Genesis and collected gold rings as Sonic the Hedgehog to saving the galaxy as Commander Shepard in Mass Effect, video games have been a part of my life. However, one day I made a vital mistake: I graduated from college and entered the real world.


My gaming marathon food has changed a little since my childhood.

Blissfully ignorant, I had no idea that this slight change in my life would cause my video gaming to suffer immensely. My Xbox 360 went from running hot to taking up space in storage, my knowledge of the gaming industry went downhill, and I had more half-played games in my library than I care to admit. Who knew that having a full-time job combined with a girlfriend, a cat, bills, and various other adult responsibilities would take so much time away from my console?

Over time I realized how much I was neglecting my games and how much I truly missed the joys of that Xbox. So I did something about it, and today I’m slowly rehabilitating myself into the gamer I used to be…or something close. Sure, I’ll never have the freedom to play from dusk til dawn like I did in middle school, but real life just shouldn’t come between a gamer and his controllers.

Less daunting than working 60 hours/week and trying to beat Mass Effect on Insanity.

After some time, I figured there have to be more gamers living in the real world, who love gaming but may not have the time to buy and play the latest games, or they may have unfinished games that they want to finally complete. Perhaps they’ve been away from gaming for so long that the consoles you own are from the 64-bit era (or earlier). All of those things are totally cool, and I believe that gaming isn’t all about the latest and greatest or about buying the hottest game and beating it in one night (seriously, I only get so many vacation days a year and I’m not going to use one to beat GTA V in one night…although it’s so damn tempting).

 

This is where this blog comes in. I wanted to create a place where people can enjoy video gaming in the real world. Maybe you don’t have time or money to spend on the latest game(s) and some older, cheaper titles are more your preference. Perhaps you wish to reminisce about consoles past, or you’re still getting some good miles on your N64/PS1/PS2. Maybe you just like to talk about gaming because your style is purely recreational. Whatever the case, I hope you’ll join me on this adventure, and perhaps in time you’ll go from a level 1 n00b to a level 50 curb-stomper (and if not, that’s okay too – seriously, don’t quit your job, leave bills unpaid, or dump your girl/boyfriend*).

*Graduated Gamer is not responsible for gaming ruining your life, just like we’re not responsible for the real world ruining your gaming. A healthy work-life-gaming balance is what we strive for here at Graduated Gamer and we hope we can be a part of that.