Control: Same Old Games

I, Dalton Lewis, have noticed a strange trend for me and my friends. They play the same old video games from ten years ago or more instead of playing the new generation of games. I play Dragon Age: Origins more than any new game that has come out this year. I tried Anthem but didn’t love it. I sit, in my room, drinking soda with fake sugar, eating bagels and toast and food from delivery, listening to whatever music youtube takes me to, and enjoying the day. This makes me happy.

I like the idea of new games but haven’t played many. I tried the first stage of the acclaimed Spider-Man game and tried the first hour of the newest Witcher game, but I didn’t love them. In Dragon Age: Origins in the first hour you can have your beloved family massacred or live the life of a poor dwarven casteless pretending to be a noble and fighting in the arena. You can try to get married and have an asshole interrupt your marriage for his rapey-rapey demands. You can have your nobility stripped and get framed for murder. There’s more plot in the first hour of that game than in all the action games I’ve ever played.

Why do we get set in our ways? Why don’t I play the new hotness? Why do i become this person? I don’t understand. I love some new movies — I enjoy the MCU and the DCEU, which has sort of turned into a series of independent movies of pretty high quality. I read books, but I sometimes read classics. I don’t always read the most famous of the new books. In fact, I should read more new books. I’ve been reading the classics, and they ignore the last fifty years of human history, mostly. I should interact with the present more often.

I remember newspapers. The newspaper used to be huge, with interesting articles that kept us up to date. The newspaper used to be a big, important thing that helped us to understand the world around us. I remember when we had to do research in books and microfilm to find answers to research questions. Now we ask google or another ai and get the answer.

I don’t know why I don’t love the newest video games. I usually don’t give them a chance. I have a friend who still plays an old MMO from twenty years ago: Everquest. He still plays that in favor of newer games. I play Starcraft 2 still because it is an interesting and challenging esport, and it is getting ten years old now. I still play on the ladder.

Why did I get so sedentary? I used to be different. I used to pace aggressively and work out and eat reasonably. In prior years I’d be seen taking chances and trying new things. I don’t do that anymore. I just do the same old shit every day, week and year.

I don’t play the most popular games of this year. I don’t play Minecraft. I don’t play DOTA 2, and I rarely play League of Legends. What happened? I don’t watch the new teen shows even anymore. I used to always watch the best teen shows of each generation and enjoyed seeing them grow up. I don’t do that anymore. I don’t watch Riverdale or Sabrina or any of the Marvel teen shows like Cloak and Dagger and the like.

The thing is — I don’t want to be that guy, that old guy. I want to be young forever. I want to be someone who is fighting and dreaming and giving everything my all. I don’t want to grow old. I think to myself, I will never grow old, and I hope that it will come true.

Thanks, and take care, friends.