(This is a repost. I wanted to edit the old topic, but I can’t. So, to those of you who haven’t read this here before: enjoy the read! To the others: can you spot the differences? )
Gaming’s Most Obsessive Moments
How many of these are you “guilty” of?
by Brian Altano & Brian Miggels | IGN | Aug. 4, 2010
[Edited]
We gamers are a meticulously psychotic bunch. In a good way, of course, but that’s not to say that we’re not chock full of neurotic little compulsions that plague nearly every game we play. Here’s a collection of some of our most common video game obsessions. So how many of them are you “guilty” of?
Grab a pen and pad and keep score. We’ll even let you compare yours to that of some of our most obsessive IGN editors, just so you don’t feel so bad about yourself.
#1. Diagnosis: Boss Door Bouncer
Can’t you just, you know, walk through that platformer boss door like a respectful house guest? You have to jump, you say? Are you that excited to get your ass kicked by some kitchen appliance turned deadly robot? Well, OK, if you must, jump, jump, jump!
#2. Diagnosis: Relentless Item Grabber
Are you really so afraid that the items in a platformer will shatter when they hit the ground that you need to leap in the air and catch them before they fall? Or is it some sort of show of style that you absolutely must perform every time? Either way, we know you can’t help it, so why bother telling you to stop? Grab it! Why? Because you’re obsessive!
#3. Diagnosis: Legendary Lawnmower
Look at that field, it’s a damn mess! And it’s all thanks to you. You couldn’t just walk past the lush plant life and ornate pottery neatly aligned in rows? You had to completely destroy everything in sight, just for the off chance that you might find an extra silver coin or two, even when your wallet’s capacity is maxed out? Come on, man, that grass takes entire seconds to grow back!
#4. Diagnosis: Anxious Ammo Clipper
So, you have a full clip of ammo in a first-person shooter. Should be good enough, right? Nope, because there’s another full clip of ammo sitting right there on the floor. But since your clip is full, you can’t pick it up. That’s where you find yourself firing off a single round so that you can pick it up. But why? Because you can’t just leave it there on the floor. Somebody else might grab it.
#5. Diagnosis: Gun Nut Wall Knocker
You know how you make the lifts in shooters come to you quicker? You randomly and haphazardly melee attack the nearest wall in front of you repeatedly until it arrives. Oh wait, that’s a total lie and you only do that because of some bizarre yet totally understandable compulsion.
#6. Diagnosis: Bored Door Blast Addict
You know those doors will open eventually, right? Shooting them over and over again while you wait for them to let you through won’t make them open any faster. Have some damn patience!
#7. Diagnosis: Heavy Inventory Hoarder
Your pockets are completely, totally, absolutely full. You’re traversing a role-playing game world with the agility of a walrus. But that’s not going to stop you from opening every single crate, barrel or locker just to see what you “can’t” possibly fit in your inventory, right? Right…
#8. Diagnosis: Save Slot Maniac
Enter door. Save. Open inventory. Save. Use health potion. Save. Save again. Grab a drink of water. Save. Save, save, save. Ask yourself, “Why am I constantly saving?” Save. Who knows when you might need to restore a save file where your character has exactly 76 health points? After all, there might be a boss up ahead. Save again.
#9. Diagnosis: Constant Clock Stopper
When dumping 130 hours into a game about a boy whose sister is a wizard that flees the town after an evil emperor burns it to the ground or whatever other role-playing game clichés are in motion, there’s nothing more important than making sure the game recognizes your actual completion time down to the second. That’s why you obsessively pause the game to stop the clock, right? You just can’t help it.
#10. Diagnosis: Persistent Percentage Practitioner
Are you the type of gamer that needs to complete everything? You know, unravel every secret, uncover every corner and collect every single pointless coin, statuette and balloon just to get your game completion percentage to 100%? Or worse, to some arbitrary “107.5%” number that the developer set just to mess with you? Then this one’s for you.
#11. Diagnosis: Regular Race Restarter
Sometimes you can figure out within the first few seconds of a heated racing game that things just aren’t going to pan out for you. Are you that much of a doubtful perfectionist that you’re positive that you won’t be able to turn things around during the next lap? Who cares? Just restart the damn thing to be sure, right?
#12. Diagnosis: Frequent Furniture Facilitator
Your life sim bedroom is a meticulously organized page from a furniture company catalogue. Your real life bedroom, however, looks like a scene from a horror movie. We’re not going to ask you to learn to prioritize better, we’re obsessive gamers too. Just try and make sure you’ve got a little bit better balance between both worlds. Or don’t, because that polygonal furniture set isn’t going to collect itself.
How many are you “guilty” of?
0-2:
You're either a gigantic liar or
you're somebody's grandmother lost on the Internet.
3-6:
You're fairly in control of your gaming habits. For now...
7-9:
You're teetering on some very crazy habits.
We're actually a little worried about you.
10-12:
You see Tetris blocks in your sleep,
are tempted to shoot out security cameras at banks and
jump around everywhere thinking it will get you places faster.
It won't.
Arthur G. – “4 out of 12. Does that mean I’m doing video games wrong?”
Ryan G. – “I scored a 5. This test confirms what I’ve always known. I’m mildly obsessed with useless things.”
Greg M. – “7 out of 12. 7 out of 12?! I’m practically a jock. ‘Nerd cred’ ruined.”
Colin M. – “I’m blatantly guilty of 7 of these. But now I’m torn. Do I keep writing this guide for an RPG, or settle in for a rigorous fifty hours of psychotherapy?”
Anthony G. – “8 out of 12. I guess I’m not as obsessive about pursuing things as I thought.”
Ryan C. – “8 out of 12. For someone that actually has a minor case of obsessive-compulsive disorder, I was expecting to get a perfect score on this. But I didn’t. Which means I need to take it again…”
Ryan S. – “I count 11 of these things that I have been guilty of during my gaming life. The only reason it isn’t 12 is because I don’t play life simulation games. Help!”
Sam C. – “I’m guilty of every single one of these – although my real living room is just about as cool as my life sim one. This reads like a checklist of the things my girlfriend makes fun of me about while back-seat-gaming.”
So what was your score? Let us know in the comments section.