Well, first you’ll need a really top-notch PC Exclusive, which leaves…

…

…

Crap.

I’m with you Jason. After sitting at my work computer all day, the thought of my uncomfortable desk at home is unnerving. When I’m super stressed-out like I am now, I tend not to play games at all. Sometimes playing a video game just seems pointless and a waste of time to me. Other times I’ll spend hours a week playing games.

One thing I’ve started doing, to counter my sedentary day job and nightlife, is to do a little exercising on my lunch and 3x per week. I don’t have the goal of weight loss, but I find that physical exertion can jump-start my desire to do things I enjoy by breaking the monotony of my day.

Depending on your PC at work, can you download the Steam client to it and play some of the popular Dialo clones like Torchlight, Magika, etcetera? Maybe even bring a laptop.

Maybe our Crysis 2 MP demo nights will help rekindle some of the love.

I often feel pressure to keep up with everything happening in gaming. After all, if I’m going to be a successful games journalist one day, I have to be up-to-date right? But I often don’t feel like I want that as a hobby. I have a handful of games I want to play, the others I either don’t have time for, or can’t afford to buy until they are old enough that no one cares. Maybe you just need to play games when you feel like it and let this funk run its course. I think what your feeling is healthy.

Top Secret Plan B – buy some recent $10 indie games, get that HDMI connection going from the PC to your TV, cozy up with the wireless mouse/keyboard, crack open a friendly, and relax that way. Maybe the combination of comfort and light-hearted gaming will ease you back in.

By the way, great job on the AVault .5 podcast. I want a PS3 even more now!

Booth, it sounds like it has less to do with PC as a platform and more with “uncomfortable desk” and possibly a not-so-hot computer. I do the same thing you do (except more development than design) and every day after work I can’t wait to go sit at my awesome desk and my glorious computer. =)

But anyway, since I was rudely excluded from the Avault PC Gaming Night, we’ll just have to play Crysis II separately.

I work on a work PC for 9-12 hours a day and dont mind playing games on my home PC… but then again, my home rigs are way more powerful than what I have at work

I also game on other platforms if I am in the mood to game.

Finally, I have the largest backlog of games of anyone that works for or reads Avault and I still buy games monthly (sometimes weekly)

FYI: at Avault, we call it ‘snailgaming’

Well, without turning his post into a pissing contest, we can await his further input into the matter.

I have had comfort and glory in my PC gaming setups, and for me it still boiled down to what I was in the mood for.

My response was directed at Alaric by the way.

@Bob – I’m in a similar situation, minus the huge backlog and weekly purchases – you lucky dog you!

Booth, well of course. Nobody is going to just sit down and play if they are not in the mood for it. But I think that goes without saying.

Actually wait… ever since I became a games journo, I do actually sit down and play when I am not in the mood.

o.O

What have I done…

Alaric, I think that’s just it. I don’t want to force myself to play a PC game because I’m never in the mood for it anymore.

I have a decent gaming computer. If I played more I’d get something better. I also have a great chair. It just doesn’t do it for me anymore.

Jason, any luck getting back into the PC Gaming mood?

Maybe some casual “platformeresque” indie games will do the trick.

The Undergarden and The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom were pretty fun. Swarm also looks pretty interesting.

If you like Medieval stuff (LARP, Ren-Fairs, etc…) you might enjoy The Sims Medieval. I’ve put in several hours so far and it’s fun. It’s not challenging or intensive, but getting my evil Jacoban priest to seduce and bed his blonde haired assistant was pretty entertaining. It is awkward when they start making out right before I preach an intense sermon though.