Gaming as a parent

I decided to siphon off a section of the domain to dedicate it to pusuing the hobby of gaming — something I’ve had my entire life — while transitioning into parenthood.

I have two kids (2 years old, and 7 months old at time of writing). Two boys. It’s inevitable that they’ll grow up with a controller in their hands, and find the joys in gaming just like I did. In fact, I’m banking on them following my journey almost exactly thanks to FPGA-powered emulation hardware (Analogue Mega Sg & Super Nt systems). That’ll give them the experience of using cartridges combined with modern Operating Systems!

But beyond their journey, I’m keen to find my own and log it here. I have many friends who are parents. And while some of them maintain a modocum of gaming in their lives, they’ve never been as keen on the types of non-casual games I keep as bedfellows. I have a PS5, but I’ve always stayed true to PC gaming. That’s going to be hard to keep up with alongside 2 young kids, a demanding job and maintaining friendships and hobbies outside of that.

I’ll stop here to avoid writing a huge amount about the idea of writing about this journey. But I’ll drop one thing in here as a precursor to the narrative; the Steam Deck has been instrumental in allowing me to snatch short bursts of new (and old) games while kids are asleep, travelling, etc. I feel about the Steam Deck the way I felt I was meant to feel about the Nintendo Switch, but never did.