Who killed videogames?
I used to play <i>way too many</i> video games. I broke the habit by refusing to buy games that didn't fit a very particular set of criteria:<p>They have to be...<p>- single-player,<p>- story-based campaigns<p>- with a target completion time under 30 hours<p>- and a Metacritic score above 85%.<p>This way, I can play 5 to 10 games per calendar year without a dramatic dent on my social or professional lives. I've been doing this for the last 3 years and my annual gameplay time is probably somewhere around 100 hours.<p>Some tricks:<p>Convince yourself that all side quests are for losers without better things to do. That may or may not be true, but it's helpful to avoid spending way too much time on any particular game. Aim for the ending credits & then when you get there, stick the game back in its case and put it on the shelf. Don't leave it in your console.<p>Don't even try the multiplayer versus modes. Just don't do it. Pretend that menu option isn't even there. Those modes are intentionally addicting.<p>And if you really prefer multiplayer, or if you simply can't avoid that attractive menu option... then set an alarm before you start playing. Press snooze when it goes off, finish your round, and then STOP PLAYING. If the snooze alarm goes off, turn the console off mid-round.<p>Try to find great co-op games & schedule time with a friend to play them. This lets you overlap human-contact time & gaming time.