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Did anyone else take a break from gaming during college?
- Thread starter entremet
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I did it in the first year.... didn't really do much for me. I reincorporated gaming back into my life in my sophomore year and my grades, ability to socialize, etc. didn't take a hit.
Plus the Wii came out and everyone wanted to play that, myself included.
Plus the Wii came out and everyone wanted to play that, myself included.
I haven't for any significant amount of time. It is simply something that I'm too invested in at this point to think that I'll ever completely abandon.
No but I should have. I was big into wow at the time. BC came out about my 3rd year and by that point it took over all my free time.
I didn't fail out of school because of it or anything but I could have done better, had more fun around campus, and gotten involved with some of the more interesting projects going on in my department.
At the time I felt like I was making lots of friends in the game and making cool memories but none of it was really real and none lasted.
I didn't fail out of school because of it or anything but I could have done better, had more fun around campus, and gotten involved with some of the more interesting projects going on in my department.
At the time I felt like I was making lots of friends in the game and making cool memories but none of it was really real and none lasted.
Very not. But getting a summa cum laude on a bachelor's in CS isn't really that taxing, even while doing side projects and a ton of other stuff. Doctorates, I'm sure, require serious time.
In the end I was working full time, school full time, and with a kid and still had time to play games.
In the end I was working full time, school full time, and with a kid and still had time to play games.
It wasn't quite a break so much as a shift in what I played and when. But yes, between school and work, I played fewer games on the whole, especially during the middle chunk from my sophomore year to almost the end of my senior year. I didn't start voraciously consuming games again until BOTW came out, which was well after I graduated.
Yup. One of the many breaks in my life from gaming (though I still played games during the summer, as I only took a handful of classes during the summer semester). I took university very seriously and I felt like I got a lot out of it as a direct result. I wasn't able to balance my workload with playing games. For similar reasons I stopped working during my final two years, as it was interfering with my schoolwork.
Yep! Had to take a break from sophomore to senior year due to difficult majors. I only checked gaming related news during those times
I played much less during my undergraduate years but, oddly enough, much more while working on my Masters.
Looking back at it, I think my children impacted my playtime more than my education. My children were preteens while working on my BA and demanded more of my attention. My oldest is now 19 and consumes little to none of my time.
Looking back at it, I think my children impacted my playtime more than my education. My children were preteens while working on my BA and demanded more of my attention. My oldest is now 19 and consumes little to none of my time.
That's probably when I played the most tbh.
I'd have gone nuts if I didn't have an outlet like games lol.
I'd have gone nuts if I didn't have an outlet like games lol.
In my last year of college I was spending a ton of time working on my senior project, which was a game dev project. So in that sense I was "gaming" - but I wasn't really play(test)ing that project for fun and I didn't have the energy or interest to play much else in my remaining free time.
I barely played anything until after university. I had a couple of jobs so my time was pretty much devoted to that and writing papers.
When I graduated, in 2001, I bought a pc, and later a ps2 and Xbox, and played a bunch of games.
When I graduated, in 2001, I bought a pc, and later a ps2 and Xbox, and played a bunch of games.
I didn't, but now that I think about it my last year in college was rough as hell especially the last semester, so I didn't find enough time to play games at all IIRC and being away from home didn't help too.
My master program years were even harder with me wasting almost 4 hours a day just moving from home to university(almost 2 hours away from university), after the first semester tho that when I said fuck it and bought a PS4, to this day I don't know how I managed to get the degree tbh lol.
My master program years were even harder with me wasting almost 4 hours a day just moving from home to university(almost 2 hours away from university), after the first semester tho that when I said fuck it and bought a PS4, to this day I don't know how I managed to get the degree tbh lol.
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Mostly, yeah. I played some launch Destiny before I sold my PS4, and when I lived in the dorms we played a lot of local multiplayer stuff in the common area (Nidhogg, Starwhal, Smash mostly). After that I was working two jobs and taking a full credit load and while trying to fill every second of free time with parties.
Once I graduated/moved away, my social life slowed down quite a bit and then COVID almost entirely killed it so now videogames are kind of all I have. Don't want to sound unhealthy about it as I definitely still make time for working out, reading, and the perpetual job hunt (I have a shitty retail job at the moment after getting unexpectedly laid off last year), but it is what it is.
Once I graduated/moved away, my social life slowed down quite a bit and then COVID almost entirely killed it so now videogames are kind of all I have. Don't want to sound unhealthy about it as I definitely still make time for working out, reading, and the perpetual job hunt (I have a shitty retail job at the moment after getting unexpectedly laid off last year), but it is what it is.
Not a break, but I changed what games I played. No JRPGs during my Masters, for example. I distinctly remember thinking, "should I start Wow? Nah, I should graduate" lol That's me knowing I have an addictive personality though.
Didn't take a break, but my gaming time was drastically reduced with school and sports (football). Essentially just the big games I really wanted to play and Madden for a few years. I did take a break from comics, but late 90's-early 2000's Marvel/DC didn't make that a hard thing to do.
Yes. Final Fantasy X and Ocarina of Time (the GameCube re-release) were the only games I played in 4 years. Too busy with school and dating. Got back into it bigtime after college though!
Yup. And I didn't get back into it until 3ish years post graduation. Really it was the RRoD and beer money that made the choice for me. Can't say I was more productive but I was definitely more social.
I can't say I actually "took a break" but the first years of university really did diminish my gaming. Only game console I took with me was my DS (rest were left with my younger siblings) and my old gaming PC was dying so I chose to retire it and just get a cheap laptop for schoolwork. I was completely out of the loop of gaming news and industry for around ~3 years, but it's not like I quit being a geek, I got introduced to board games and niche movies through my new group of friends I met in classes. I also hauled myself and my laptop to high school friend's place to play older PC games few times a year.
By the time I was working on my master's thesis I actually got more into active gaming again, by that point I also had extra money to spend on the hobby.
By the time I was working on my master's thesis I actually got more into active gaming again, by that point I also had extra money to spend on the hobby.
No, but my gaming hours took a hit when I started my second year. CompSci major doesn't fuck around and I'm the type of person who does group projects alone, so my workload for most of the program was insane. I stick to the rule that I wouldn't play/relax until I've made reasonable progress on my studies for that day/week, so that means I don't have plenty of time to play. I primarily play MP games as they're great for quick bursts though I was able to sneak in 1-3 SP games every semester. I played all day during breaks though.
Didn't regret it because I was able to maintain a solid GPA. I'm graduating soon so I've been playing a lot recently (hopefully I don't bomb my defense next week). Feels great
Didn't regret it because I was able to maintain a solid GPA. I'm graduating soon so I've been playing a lot recently (hopefully I don't bomb my defense next week). Feels great
Yep. I was at university between 2011-2014 so there were quite a few late gen PS3 games that I never got round to. The PS3 was in the living room so we used to to play FIFA as a group mainly. I played The Last of Us during a summer break and played GTA V when it came out, but other than that barely played anything.
I was at uni from the early to mid 2000s and I didn't have a TV for much of it so gaming wasn't that much of a thing. At various times I had to 'make do' and was often without personal internet or just too busy doing other stuff to really have much of a chance to play video games.
Playing socially with friends was more of a thing, and particularly during first year when living in halls meant that 1) whoever had a tv and/or a console was a popular place to just hang out and 2) everyone lived nearby or was easy to get to.
By the time of second year, third year etc it just wasn't in the picture that much. There's no time to do much else than to worry about deadlines and exams.
I got a gameboy advance and a couple of games for that and ended up wearing those out during first year.
Gaming, particularly PC gaming seems like much more of a factor nowadays. Aside from the context of covid it seems like a lot of students at my uni (I work at the same uni I studied at) come with a relatively high spec pc or laptop and gaming forms some amount of the social activities that they partake in. I've spent a small amount of time getting to know a gaming society at my uni that does esports etc and it is very different from anything that we had when I was studying there to my knowledge. Console gaming remains a smaller aspect, I don't get the impression that many people bring a console with them outside of a Switch etc.
Playing socially with friends was more of a thing, and particularly during first year when living in halls meant that 1) whoever had a tv and/or a console was a popular place to just hang out and 2) everyone lived nearby or was easy to get to.
By the time of second year, third year etc it just wasn't in the picture that much. There's no time to do much else than to worry about deadlines and exams.
I got a gameboy advance and a couple of games for that and ended up wearing those out during first year.
Gaming, particularly PC gaming seems like much more of a factor nowadays. Aside from the context of covid it seems like a lot of students at my uni (I work at the same uni I studied at) come with a relatively high spec pc or laptop and gaming forms some amount of the social activities that they partake in. I've spent a small amount of time getting to know a gaming society at my uni that does esports etc and it is very different from anything that we had when I was studying there to my knowledge. Console gaming remains a smaller aspect, I don't get the impression that many people bring a console with them outside of a Switch etc.
Yep! Completely dropped it all 5 years (lmao😔) I was in school. Combination of having a shit ton of other commitments and not having the funds. Missed a large chunk of the 360/PS3 era but it was cool getting a lot of those games dirt cheap once I returned. I did occasionally play Wii with friends at gatherings though.
Yeah I found alcohol and socialised a lot more in my first year of Uni so didn't do too much gaming.
Almost. I didn't get any console or gaming-capable computer during college, and rarely used the one I already had (an Amiga) for gaming. I remember playing Nethack quite intensively, but only for a few months. After college, I remember getting hooked on Final Fantasy VII and VIII on PC (not bought for gaming) and that led me to get a PS2 so that I could play Final Fantasy IX (as well as upcoming and older JRPGs I had heard of at the time.)
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I did, yes. I played a little bit here and there but my last 3 years of college are definitely the least I've gamed in my life. I wasn't even aware of the 360 and PS3 launch details and actual releases, which is kind of crazy in retrospect.
Hell no.
I played way more games in college than I did afterward or even before. In fact, college was probably the time in my life I had the most free time to play games. There were times where I played significantly less for a couple of weeks around midterms or finals but otherwise like +75% of my day was free.
Of course, it doesn't help that I went on to work in AAA game development and that's 60-80 hours a week.
I played way more games in college than I did afterward or even before. In fact, college was probably the time in my life I had the most free time to play games. There were times where I played significantly less for a couple of weeks around midterms or finals but otherwise like +75% of my day was free.
Of course, it doesn't help that I went on to work in AAA game development and that's 60-80 hours a week.
My last year I became hyper focused on my major and ended up playing almost no games except when I was sick at home.
Thankfully the thing I was studying was making games so I wasn't far from the medium, and after I got to join a studio and get right back to it.
Thankfully the thing I was studying was making games so I wasn't far from the medium, and after I got to join a studio and get right back to it.
In my first year there was a decent amount of Melee and TimeSplitters 2 in the dorm, but once I moved into a place with some roommates for years 2-4, I only played a handful of games: Wind Waker, Dragon Quest VIII, Shadow of the Colossus and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. We were too busy splitting our time between studying and going out/socializing.
After that my gaming fell off massively for about a decade, with the exception of major Mario and Zelda releases, and stuff like Wii Sports. I pretty much stopped gaming regularly between ages 23 to 33, as there was more schooling, a career, marriage, baby, new house, etc. etc. I credit the Switch for bringing me back hard into gaming, but it could also just be that I got more settled in my early thirties.
After that my gaming fell off massively for about a decade, with the exception of major Mario and Zelda releases, and stuff like Wii Sports. I pretty much stopped gaming regularly between ages 23 to 33, as there was more schooling, a career, marriage, baby, new house, etc. etc. I credit the Switch for bringing me back hard into gaming, but it could also just be that I got more settled in my early thirties.
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no i think i played way more games i was basically flying through like 2 games a week. homework was due like every 2 weeks and it was way less then the busy work they gave us in highschool. so i would wait to do it wednesday before the friday due date the rest of the time was gaming.
I gave away my WOW account at the beginning of the senior year of high school. Also took a hiatus during the year I was working on my Master of Architecture thesis, because I was sleeping less than 4 hours a day for a whole year.
I think it was more my habits changed, I played games that I could easily jump in and out of and playing Hearthstone in person with friends on mobile. I think I trended more towards social gaming experiences rather than sinking tens of hours into a single player RPG.
After I finished I had more time to try out what i missed and start playing single player games often again.
Honestly those years are so important in discovering new people and things to do. I could never lock myself away to play video games for hours on end, as much as I enjoyed the hobby.
After I finished I had more time to try out what i missed and start playing single player games often again.
Honestly those years are so important in discovering new people and things to do. I could never lock myself away to play video games for hours on end, as much as I enjoyed the hobby.
I never took a break. Drinking games involving Street Fighter II on SNES and the NHL games on Genesis were a big part of that era. Arcades were still worth frequenting, too.