A mixed reality

As I sit at work, unmotivated and keen for adventure, I lament and force away daydreams of video games.

I’d like to say this is the first time it has happened, but alas, it is not.

I am, however, happy in the knowledge that my mental wanderings are only about playing video games.

I was recently reminded about a friend’s extended daydream to be Spiderman as he delivered his parcels through Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall. This came as a result of playing far too much Spiderman 2 on PS2 (it was some time ago).

He would imagine being able to swing from building to building, thus removing the effort required to walk up the annoying gradual incline, something I’m sure many of us have tried to avoid without success.

When he told me this in great detail and with a serious tone, I was both amused and impressed with his detailed imagination; a far cry from his usual misguided tales of porn and…porn.

On the drive home that day, I struggled to think of a time where my imagination took over and entered me into the world of games when not actually playing a game.

The closest I can think of is as a child when I donned a red headband and started kicking trees in the back yard, pretending to be Ryu. But, this was more likely to be a result of too much anime (if you haven’t seen Street Fighter II The Animated Movie please do - it’s rad!)

Slightly disappointed at my lack of engagement and the absence of imagination, I was reminded that I drive like I’m in Grand Theft Auto, which made me feel a little better.

In fact, my driving abilities have been compared to video games on multiple occasions, with my parents truly believing if I had a crash that I would look for the reset button.

Other comments like “No Tim, if you hit that shiny thing on the road you will not become invincible to other drivers and be able to hit them off the road” have also been heard within my car.

By the way, I don’t /didn’t believe that would actually happen; it was more a case of misunderstanding what I was saying. If people don’t know what Mario Kart is, I shouldn’t reference it in conversation.

With my work day soon to begin, I can take comfort in the knowledge that it will all be over in around ten hours; after which I can come home and knock out a couple of demos fresh from Xbox Live.

I might not be able to re-imagine my life as a video game, but I can definitely envisage being entertained with games for a long time.

Have you ever blurred the lines between reality and gaming?