After complaining for the better part of three years to get off Sunday nights so he could watch football, I was surprised last month when my co-worker told me he doesn’t watch the NFL much anymore. When I asked him why he doesn’t, he said whenever he sees it he gets the irresistible urge to play the Madden NFL 10 video game.
I laughed silently in my head when he told me this because he outweighs me by more than 100 pounds and has a bit of a temper. But after putting some thought into it, I was surprised to realize the same phenomenon happens to me, except in reverse. I watch TV shows based on how much I like the video games of its genre.
See, I’ve been playing video games ever since I can remember. I started out on the original Nintendo playing “Little League” with my father before I moved up to Super Nintendo, then Nintendo 64 and eventually Playstation 2, where I fell in love with the EA Sports MVP Baseball series.
MVP Baseball 2004 was and still is, the most realistic and entertaining baseball game I have played. It’s because of that game that I started watching Major League Baseball games on television. I adjusted my virtual New York Yankees batting lineup to match the one I saw on TV and even edited the rosters to account for actual in-season trades. But after EA discontinued the MVP Baseball series in 2005, my interest in MLB all but faded. Now all I watch is opening day, the all-star game and the playoffs.
The same can be said with the NBA.
This time last year, I would have challenged you to find a bigger basketball fan than me. But after the disappointment of the NBA 2K10 video game, I just can’t bring myself to watch any NBA games this season, Charles Barkley commentary or not.
Instead I’ve been watching NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), Lock-N-Load (History Channel) and a whole bunch of old war movies.
Can you guess what game I’ve been playing? Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 for X-Box 360.
I’m sure that there have been studies about what I have just explained and terms to describe how video games influence my behavior, but I have no interest in learning about any of it.
All I’ve got to say is maybe if they made a game about politics, I would start paying more attention to the people in charge of our country.