I came to olganon a while back. I thought it was only a year, but my profile says much differently, I guess time goes very fast sometimes.
Anyways, I read an article on olganon the other day about how games are being more addictive and improving on attracting addicts instead of improving gameplay. I think this was exactly the case with Call of Duty: Black Ops. It might be the best opening day selling game of all time, but it sure as heck is not much different from Modern Warfare 2, just different locations and a different time period (1970s, I think).
Funny thing is that I played MW2 online today after about 4 months and for the first time I was able to quit when I wanted two. Before when I used to plan 1 hour, it became 2,3, 4, and then the whole day. I could share all the reasons why I didnt play for 4 months but that would be quite boring for most I assume. What I think most of us are really looking for is a way out. So here are some of the things I did:
Volunteer: Sometimes, your local community needs more help than you do is what I've found
Part time/ Full time job if you don't have one and a change in career perhaps, as sometimes we just need a little "kick" to discover our real interests and a great job.
And finally, finding new hobbies. I started working out, looking more into fashion (obviously my image was horrible after thousands of hours of video games), and just being a better person (corny, eh?) well, think again. Being a good person is not what you hear at your local faith services essentially, it goes beyond that. Try controlling your anger sometimes, donate to charities, tutor a child, and you will see the difference it can make,
and so I hope through this it can help at least one or two people get back in touch with their real self, as after all we all have one, its just that we have lost it inbetween the many hours of gaming.
Take care and happy new year everyone