An adult take on playing with food
Recently, in a video game store, I overheard an employee convince a mother not to buy a violent game for her 12-year-old son. “I can sell the game to you, an adult,” he said, “but let me tell you why it might not be suitable for him.”
The virtuous choice of the employee stood in contrast to my own as I scanned the shelves for some outlet of digital fantasy, that I might feel as if I got revenge on the guy who parked his Humvee in the bike lane.
If you are in the market for a new DVD player, someone will suggest that you purchase a Playstation 3, which they will argue, is also a Blu-ray player. This is a little like being told to buy peyote as a window sealant and that you are under no obligation to get high with it. It’s been a decade since my Gold
eneye 007 addiction, when friends would routinely stop by unannounced at 2 a.m. to play tournaments of the first-person shooter.
As a freelancer who structures his own time, I was nervous about inviting this dangerous element back into my life because it could mean sacrificing work, exercise or preparing nutritious meals.
Shaun Hatton doesn’t have that conflict. He plays video games for a living.
“Any game that has an ending, I attempt to finish it,” says the reviewer for the television program
Electric Playground.
Though his wife Leslie does not play video games, she doesn’t seem to mind that he does. She even re-enacts the repetitive sounds from her household, the dialogue from Street Fighter 4 and the sound effects from Centipede.
The two smile at each other a lot. With his long, dark hair and bountiful moustache, he resembles Ringo Starr circa 1970. Hatton does not look pale or malnourished. Perhaps video games and life are not mutually exclusive.
“Look at me. I’m out of the house right now,” says the full-time gamer. “It’s proof that it can happen.” Hatton even finds time to record music under the names DJ Finish Him and Megashaun (among others).
I hardly ever play during daylight hours. Most of my gaming happens, as it will later tonight, after guests have left, once all the dishes have been washed, the table wiped and the floor swept. For 20 minutes I’ll sprawl in the big chair and use a rocket launcher to blow up Humvees, sniping drivers as they flee the wreckage. The other night, instead of playing Grand Theft Auto 4, I was up late doing my homework, pickling vegetables: Carrot, daikon, turnip, sunchoke, cauliflower. For this dinner, we start with a spread of pickles, rice and nori, helping ourselves from the communal bowls. I could eat this meal once a day, if it weren’t for the dearth of nutrients in the white rice. Don’t even bother with brown rice. You don’t need a cheat code to learn that brown rice makes a miserable addition to any meal. Every week, some guest picks up the lightsabers in my kitchen. But Hatton uses them as a cue to start a good long talk about Star Wars, specifically The Phantom Menace, which we continue as I assemble the white chalupa.
It’s a dish from Agave y Aguacate, the maddeningly slow Kensington food stall operated by Francisco Alejandri. There is a lot of white onion, vinegar, lime juice and chili piled into the shell of a cucumber with Manchego cheese shaved over top. Three out of four dinners this month being vegetarian, this dish has gone on every week’s menu. It’s cheap (mostly cucumber and onion), quick to put together (five minutes) and as winning as it is simple.
After the spicy cucumber is scooped up, I’m a little bummed that we aren’t playing video games. “I think one can definitely play video games at a dinner party and not be rude,” says Hatton, “provided all guests are okay with that,” adding, “This was a rarity for me prior to the release of Guitar Hero 2.” Mostly, gaming is a solitary experience. Even if it were not, there is no worry about my jobless friends coming over late at night. They don’t exist anymore.
Since those wastrel days, life has changed. The Internet now presents an infinite capacity for pantless diversion, a constant reminder of the need to be more productive. Having purchased two games I have still managed to get all my homework done, socialize inside and outside of my home, labour on extracurricular projects and eat well.
I don’t think anyone returns to the lifestyle they had 10 years ago. And most of us would not want to, I’m sure. mintz.corey@gmail.com