Videogames that steal your time and soul

[clint g]

I know that there are many gamers here so I feel like posing a question to you all. What games have you played that just ate all your time? Games that you started to play at 6PM saying you were going to "just play for an hour" and before you know it its 5:22 in the morning and you just went the whole night without sleep

I've had a couple of games like that and recently I've added another to my list, Persona 4.

Who would think that a game that has just come out for the PS2 could be so engrossing that you just can't stop playing it even 10 hours after you had started.

I swear, that game has just single handily destroyed my GPA for the semester What games can the rest of you think of that had such power? I remember the same thing happening to me with Final Fantasy X, Resident Evil 4 and Shenmue (now that was an engrossing game)

 

[Aragorn]

When I got GTA IV, I'd play it well past 3 a.m.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Need For Speed Underground and Carbon
Saint's Row
Oblivion

Several others

 

[unimatrix7]

Games don't grab me the way they used to. I love them, and I play a lot of them, but there is no game in a long, long time that has made me want to camp out in front of the TV. In fact, my upper limit is 2 hours per sitting these days, and even that is pretty rare and extreme.

Glad you're liking Persona 4, clint. It's just been confirmed for release here next year, so I'm heaps looking forward to it

 

[Niorah]

From my past, and off the top of my head:

Doom II
Diablo and Diablo II
Ascendancy
Master of Magic

I remember one day I started playing Ascendancy at around 9 in the morning, and by 3:30 at night I was still playing.

And again, in more recent times, despite my best efforts not to get caught in such a predicament again:

Sacred
Neverwinter Nights

The last one in the list is Oblivion, but it honestly never came even close to the previous levels of addiction.

No more! I promise!
Yeah, right.

 

[clint g]

Games don't grab me the way they used to. I love them, and I play a lot of them, but there is no game in a long, long time that has made me want to camp out in front of the TV. In fact, my upper limit is 2 hours per sitting these days, and even that is pretty rare and extreme.

Glad you're liking Persona 4, clint. It's just been confirmed for release here next year, so I'm heaps looking forward to it

I've been pretty much in the same position for a while now as well. Between trying to graduate from college in May and my army stuff I find that I dont have the time for gaming anymore. Which is why my Persona 4 addiction is doing horrible horrible things to me lol

 

[ITL]

Half-Life: Counterstrike.

Not that I played it much - but I did spend a ridiculous ammount of time making my own playable maps for it. Getting the editor and compiler configured was an art in itself.

Oh - my maps were rubbish.

 

[ALF]

SimCity (original)
Diablo II
Star Trek: Bridge Commander
GTA series (all)
Star Wars Battlefront II
...I waste a lot of time drafting in MTG Duels of the Planeswalkers as well, of all things

Some games come and go, but the above list are almost always installed on the PC.

On the Xbox 360, GTAIV is a must, but I'm addicted to Pac Man : Championship Edition as well. Wow. That game is such an improvement over the previous classics.

 

[StolenThunder]

Football Manager.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Games don't grab me the way they used to. I love them, and I play a lot of them, but there is no game in a long, long time that has made me want to camp out in front of the TV. In fact, my upper limit is 2 hours per sitting these days, and even that is pretty rare and extreme.

That pretty much describes me. And I don't know if it's a function of me getting to a ripe old age, or if the games are just losing their luster. Both perhaps?

As for the original topic, I'm not sure about "stealing my soul" but last night, Call of Duty World at War was causing me to lose my religion a lot. Damn, some of those missions are extremely annoying.

 

[Jax]

Its harder for games to do really make me doing an all nighter but about 2 months ago, I decided to play a bit of STALKER at 11pm and didn't get off till 5am

I used to play a game called Star Wars Battlefront for hours because I was in a clam at the time but normally I can only play games for 2-3 hours before wanting a break.

 

[Shurik]

Diablo I and II
Various C&C titles
Titan Quest
Morrowind
Fallout 3

 

[Kimi3013]

Tetris. I've play thousands of hours of Tetris over the past few years, it really is a problem that I have. WoW also eats my time quite well, as do any GTA game. Timesplitters multiplayer also steals my time when my makes are over.

 

[Lindley]

The only games that this really applies to are Diablo II and Civ II.

 

[Piper]

Civ IV, still.

 

[Falcor5]

What games can the rest of you think of that had such power? I remember the same thing happening to me with Final Fantasy X, Resident Evil 4 and Shenmue (now that was an engrossing game)

Yea I loved Shenmue and Shenmue 2! Such a great and engrossing series of games. I still hope that someday SEGA makes Shenmue 3 as I want to see how the story ends after the cliff hanger in Shenmue 2!

 

[ChickenPug!]

Like a couple people have said, I don't have as much time as I used to, to play. But in the past any final fantasy or zelda kept me parked in front of the Television.

When I first got married Tony Hawk (don't remember which number) almost caused me to have a divorce. My wife actually ran over(with the vacuum) the controller cord as I was playing, ripped it to shreds. I learned a lot that day. More time with her and not with Tony. Even if Tony is a bit more understanding at times.

Lately I got hooked on da blob for WII. It is just fun.

 

[Lonemagpie]

When I first got married Tony Hawk (don't remember which number) almost caused me to have a divorce. My wife actually ran over the controller cord as I was playing, ripped it to shreds. I learned a lot that day. More time with her and not with Tony. Even if Tony is a bit more understanding at times.

That's why they invented wireless controllers - to protect the sanctity of marriage!

 

[trekkerguy]

Gears of War for 2 years, now Gears of War 2.

 

[SlyCardie]

Just about anything that's an RPG because once you get sucked in you cannot stop playing until you've beaten the whole game and there's nothing more to do. I've had that experience a few times, the kind of thing where you make an excuse to go back to the game from doing normal things like eating and conversing with other people.
Although I will say the occasional sports game gets to totally hooked, I've been playing a ton of nhl 2k9 on the wii lately. I love what they did with the controls, shooting with a stick and fighting was made for the wii.