Whaddya Mean?!? The GAMES are my friends...

This being my first round table topic, I really thought long and hard about what I was going to write. I went through several different approaches to the theme, and finally had to admit to myself that all the planning in the world wasn't going to make this blog worth a damn. So, as always, let the ramblings begin!!!

Not to sound anti-social, but for as long as I can remember, I have counted my games as my friends. Don't get me wrong, my Mom didn't have to pay the kids $10 to come over and play basketball or ride bikes with me. But there were times when I really just looked forward to sitting at home and playing Yar's Revenge for hours on end. I was comfortable. I wasn't self conscious about being the tallest, skinniest kid in class. I was Yar, dammit.

As I have gotten older, and games have gotten more sophisticated, there are more and more characters in games that I feel I have gotten to know. Over the years, I feel I know Snake from the Metal Gear Series, or Master Chief from Halo, so on and so forth. But it's still the game that I feel the connection to. Even at the heaviest of my World of Warcrack addiction, I still looked at all the NPC's as nothing more than what they were, constructs in a game. Am I the only one who feels this?

I think this may be because of the line of work I do. As a bartender, I am social for a living. And my friends come up to where I work to have a good time. There are times when the last thing I want to do is interact with another human. That is normally when I am warming up the 360, or booting up my laptop.

Before you go locking your doors, I am not always playing FPS's. I spend most of my time playing RPG's. I know, if I don't want to interact with anyone else, why play an RPG? Like I said before, I am deeply aware that the NPC's are just that, and I am not truly interacting with anything other than AI, (which is smarter than some of my real friends,) or, if there is some online interaction, it is by MY choosing, at my pace. Most of my friends I play with online are people I either know in the real world, or people I have met through various forums and gotten along well with. I very seldom play random people online. I have to be either really bored, or have been a shut-in for a month.

That being said, I must say that I love my friends dearly. I have been very lucky to have made a few wonderful friends who have been with me through quite a lot. But, there always comes a time when I hear the call of my oldest friend, the one that's been with me through high school breakups, my parents splitting up, rejection at band auditions, and the like. Doesn't matter which console, or on my PC, but to me, the simple act of gaming is my friend. Or as close as something with no arms and legs can be. Because remember, friends help you move, but real friends help you move dead bodies.

Thanks for staying awake this long. I know I nodded off twice. Oh, and my Mom called. She only had to pay the other kids five bucks a piece. Told you I wasn't a social reject...