I’ve been playing “Skyrim” since the early hours of 11/11/11, when it came out. Yes, the night before, just shy of midnight, there I was, standing outside the videogame store inside the otherwise shuttered Burbank Town Center mall, eagerly awaiting the game’s release so that I could run home and play it until early morning. I had scheduled the entire next day free and clear and had warned my kids:  “Get all your enjoyment out of the xBox now, because come 11/11/11, you won’t be getting near it for months.” Given their experience of me with the game’s predecessor, “Oblivion,” no one thought I was kidding. At the mall, awaiting the game’s release were late-40’s me and four dozen pimple-faced boys in black clothes. While waiting, I won a used “Batman: Arkham City” poster in a free drawing. I did momentarily light up when I saw a man who by appearances was older than me — his hair was white — but then I realized he was there because he was his son’s chauffeur for the evening. So, really, it was just me among the gamers who could have stopped on the way home and bought whiskey if he wanted.

I took the game home and started playing it and have been playing it ever since. I’m happy to report that I’m now a Level 31 Imperial with a solid mix of fighting and spellcasting abilities, and I no longer die every three minutes or scream for my 9-year-old to come grab the controller and save me.

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with my friend Victor. Victor is roughly the same age and mindset as me. Over lunch, we discussed various books, the joys of comic books, a little current events, how our kids were doing in school, and our love for games and gaming. I got perhaps a little too whipped up discoursing about “Skyrim,” but he did seem interested — honest! — and said it was on his Christmas list. I told him that if he did get it, not to worry, that while the adventurer’s path begins shakily, eventually he would become stronger and more able, and not to worry about dragons in particular because with a little practice they’re actually quite easy to kill and to bask in the triumph of sucking their souls into yourself. You know how sometimes when you’re in public other people will overhear and join in with a comment or a question? In this case, no one did.

Yesterday, I emailed Victor to see if he had indeed gotten his Christmas wish. Here’s what he said, and this is what makes me feel again how under-appreciated and exploited some of us men may feel this holiday season:

“I did get Skyrim and can say definitively, my kids really enjoy it.  They watched me play for an hour and then in the days since Christmas have logged in countless hours playing and I have played for about 3.  I have not played long enough to decide if I really like it or not. I’m still more caught up in  learning the interface than enjoying the story.  I am looking forward to a few hours of playtime over the long weekend.

I have not yet read that Julian Barnes book–that was co-opted by my wife who is reading it slowly.

Have a Happy New Year.

I should add that as my kids sat fuming and watching me play “Skyrim,” I thought their combustion would rise to the level of explosion. Finally, I started cycling in play times for them, too, on the xBox:  45 minutes each, as scheduled on the kitchen timer, and then it was back to me. This may have made it worse — “I just need five more minutes to finish this quest!” — but it seemed a good primer for life, where hopes are often forestalled, and time is of the essence. It’s also a good lesson in power:  money usually triumphs, and I paid for the game and the electricity that runs it. In this way, I’m encouraging them to do well in school and in life, so that some day they can shut out their own kids at a whim.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 30th, 2011 at 10:12 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.