Totally addicted to games

I've never really been a huge fan of computer games, even though I've had machines since I was about 9. My favourites over the years have included Alex Kidd, Wipeout 2097, Crash Bandicoot and more recently Mario and Mario Kart as well as Blur - yes, I basically only like easy platforms or super fast racers! However, the actual time I have spent on consoles over the years, currently I have a Wii with only four games, is truly pitiful.

I never seem find the time to play but I also suspect it's because I'm not very patient with games and therefore prioritise everything else above going back to that annoying level I can't get past or that difficult track I'm not very good on; seeing friends, sunbathing, reading, watching favourite TV programmes, being online and even household chores all come above the experience of shouting and swearing at a few graphics. Because of the time and stress factors I've never played casual games either but I think I'm learning to like them... too much.

It started with a free Bubble Burst app I found on my Android phone and pretty soon I had to stop myself from playing over and over again. It's a bad sign when you need a quick game in an advert break but then keep playing and miss the rest of the programme you genuinely wanted to watch. When Google celebrated Pacman's 30th anniversary with its version of the game, I started using a portion of my lunch break to get a fix - and now well done me, I want to play it now after I weaned myself off it! Next, a free online pinball game app is launched on the Sony Ericsson Facebook page and, oh no, I had to play it for work - you have to get to know the product you're publicising! A high score of 5457 is not one to be sniffed at, I (and my low scoring rubbish fellow colleagues) can tell you. I seriously challenge anyone reading this to beat me.

Now that lack of patience thing I have might just correspond to a competitive thing I have. When I'm good at a game, everyone around me knows about it and when I'm not, I don't like it. So I might have found a new hobby in addictive (not ‘addicting' might I add, which seems to be a new, grammatically incorrect popular term that really irritates me), quick to play, easy concept casual games that you can boast about to friends. Facebook in particular seems to be the perfect platform for me to explore and with creative, funny and cool new games appearing all the time, like Cadbury Australia's Freida Smooth Moves released just a couple of days ago, I think there might be a lot of programmes missed, books dumped and chores not done.

And as an aside, I've been with Punch one month today so I'll drop in an overused cliché - time flies when you're having fun!

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