GameCentral readers reveal how much time they spend playing video games, from just a few hours a week to several every day.
The subject for this weeks Hot Topic was suggested by reader Wormwood, who asked whether you have a regular pattern for playing games and if there are particular days or times you set aside for them. Do you play more or less than in previous years and do you worry that its too much (or too little)?
Peoples stories varied not only according to the time of year and weather but also their age and responsibilities, and even how long their commute in. But almost everyone still said they wished they had more time.
Regular schedule
This is a tricky question and to be honest Im not entirely sure I know. When Im really into a game, like I have been with God Of War recently I can spend four or five hours a night (we have a separate TV room/man cave). That sounds like a lot but I do try not to be antisocial with the girlfriend and she understands that Ill only do it now and again when a big game comes out.
But since games are so unevenly distributed throughout the year this can become a bit tricky so have to sort of ration myself out so I get around to one about every three months or so. In between that I will play but only an hour or two here and there on most multiplayer games.
To me that seems relatively healthy, we havent had any big fights about it and to be honest I think its good to get out of peoples hair a bit now and then. Theoretically Id want more time but I dont see how thats really physically possible. Not until I retire or something anyway.
Dan
Interactive chat
I realise I am probably one of the more extreme case for the amount of time spent gaming, as I spend at least four hours every day playing games and more at the weekend. That might seem like a lot, but most of the time my character is sitting around in a hub of an MMO while I talk to friends via the chat box.
Of the 30+ hours I spend weekly gaming, Id say 20 or so hours is spent chatting in an MMO. Of the rest I spent the majority playing single-player games; Rime being my current game thanks to Origin Online, with a couple of hours playing mobile games mixed in.
Im not in front of the computer gaming all the time, I try to get out for at least an hour a day to get some exercise, but outside of work Im lucky enough that I have plenty of time to indulge myself, so why not?
Jim
Narrowing the field
This is a good question because its something Ive been thinking about ever since the idea of spending more time reading about games than playing them came up. I definitely suffer from that problem, to the point where Im essentially daydreaming about playing games Ill never really play. Sometimes I even buy them, but get time to enjoy them properly? Thats rare.
This is why Im not sure about the games as a service idea. If youre an adult with a job youre only going to have time for one or two of those at most, with no time for anything else. Which is fine if youre the company making that one game, but what about the rest? Are we going to get to the point where there are only half a dozen major franchises and everything else is indie?
Games as a service may not be as greedy with money as loot boxes but instead theyre greedy with their time. Always publishers want something from you, whereas personally I just want to take… when I have the time. Which his maybe an hour or two every other day at the moment.
Psyko
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Causal time
I would say I probably play about 10 hours a week. Sometimes more if theres a big new game out or Im stuck in the house (i.e. not now with this weather) but not often much less. Im not sure whether thats a lot or not really, and Im curious to see in the rest of the Hot Topic letters.
I know I seem to be more into games than a lot of my mates, in that I know about them and keep up with the news and new releases, but a lot of the times they seem to spend a bit more time than me – but only on FIFA, Fortnite, Call Of Duty and other ultra casual games.
I do play Fortnite occasionally, but I prefer single-player games and have recently completed the excellent new God Of War game. It took me about three weeks of playing almost nothing but that, which is about right if you figure the average story game is around 20 to 30 hours if you try to do everything.
Trepsils
Train timetable
My number is a bit skewed because I have a very long (almost two hours) commute every day and thats increasingly when I get the most time to play games. I started doing almost nothing but games on the train with the PS Vita, which I love and still get out occasionally.
But increasingly, thanks to its equally good support for indie games, Ive been using my Switch instead. Its a bit bigger than the Vita, so if its a crowded train things can get a bit awkward, but the lack of compromise with the controls is more than worth it in my opinion.
I dont tend to play big cinematic type games like Zelda but more or less anything else is fair game and Im currently playing through Hollow Knight which is fab. So averaging things out with may five extra hours in front of the big TV and the odd day when I dont have time Id say about 20 hours a week? Thats not too bad, is it?
Horaz
Late night gaming
I used to play games a lot when I was growing up, especially in my teens. Im talking at least four or five hours a day. I found games like Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3 very absorbing, sometimes to the detriment of school work and socialising with friends.
Nowadays with work and other responsibilities Im lucky to get four or five hours in a week and thats only because I lose track of time and stay up way too late (to the detriment of work? Nah) Time flies when your having fun!
StealthReaper
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Time is money
I imagine youre going to get a lot of people complaining that they dont have as much time as they used to for games and I think unless we have some 15-year-olds writing in thats going to be true for everyone. I do think it is one of the big problems for gaming though, in that games take up more and more of your time and people have less to give of it.
Id say I maybe have two or three hours I can spare on gaming once or twice a week, and thats certainly not enough to get good at a multiplayer game. It also means the average single-player takes me the best part of a month to get through (just completed the amazing NieR: Automata on Xbox One).
To be honest Ive almost given up on multiplayer games because of this and have switched in indie games instead as my other main source of gaming nourishment. It seems to me the video games industry is being split down the middle into the haves and have-nots, time that is.
Smg
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