The Last Of Us Star Says Banjo-Kazooie Was So Good It Made Him Quit Video Games

This hurts…. I’m also thinking after playing tens of hours into a game ‘what am I doing with my life?’ But I do not have the strength to change my life that radically though….

I am just too addicted to the slow dopamine drip….

Can anyone help me?

its scary how easy video games can have such a grip on your life. any hobby can be done in moderation when you give yourself a balanced cutoff point between work and relaxing

2 weeks of gaming doesnt even sound that bad in the grand scheme of things, but good on him for realizing he'd rather focus on other priorities

I love these stupid reasons actors and actresses of video game shows and movies make up so the games fans dont get mad: No I have no connection to gaming, I dont care, but it is because games are just too awesome and too much fun lmao. As if an interest in gaming is some sort of life-crippling addiction that prevents you from having a job, friends and family. Just say: I love playing this role, but I dont care for the medium of the source material. And by god: make the story more believable by picking a game that is actually surrounded by some addiction discourse like Tetris. So many fell victim to the brutal dopamin rush of the slow collectathon platformer…

@HefHughner This made me laugh - it is so spot on! The reference to basements also signifies a willingness to resort to negative stereotypes. His loss though, I guess. I just think of the home arcade I'd build if I had his money. Anyway, I'd better get back to the addiction... these games won't slavishly play themselves

"I could've been a total loser like all the other people who play video games! Good thing I stopped playing them!"
...Why was this guy chosen to star in a TV adaptation of a video game?

this is so bogus. Nick Offerman lost a couple points for me today.

@HefHughner I don’t know, it’s not that unbelievable. My mum once told me she would take me to school and then go home and spend the day playing Sonic 2 on my Mega Drive and had to stop because she got wasn’t getting anything done

The fact he even knows what Banjo-Kazooie is in 2023 I think gives him a little credibility.

@KayFiOS I think the universal acclaim his performance has garnered is why.

Kind of weird reasoning for an actor where the same reasoning could apply to TV, film, and books..... Imagine people saying "Oh I'm never watching The Last of Us because I binged 24 for 2 weeks straight once and thought "what am I doing with my life" and vowed never to watch a TV series again. "

Realistically I did kind of do that and instead chose to play games where it's interactive and I'm in control and feel like it's less waste of my life than passively sitting there watching a screen, and basically stopped watching all TV and film because it just feels like a time suck compared to the interactivity and involvement of "doing something" in games and having control of the process. So I half get what he means, but, I'm not an actor, he is, and he's contributing to that very type of medium...so it's a weird reasoning for him.

Eh - his comments make sense to me. As someone with an "addictive personality," there have been times where I've had to force myself to stop doing something I was really enjoying - just because it was taking up way too much of my time and causing me stress. And in my experience, video games are uniquely good at creating that feeling of "can't stop yet" / "just a little more" that eventually turns into an all-day nonstop playing session.* ("Stardew Valley" and "Elden Ring" are two of the most recent games that took over my life like that.)

Of course, there are other ways to manage that than quitting cold turkey - but it's all about what you prioritize.

(For the record, I don't blame video games for being addictive to me - it's just I know myself, and I've learned I have to be careful about moderating the amount of time I spend with them.)

@Herna To be fair, someone like Nick Offerman most likely has people who help manage his social media accounts.

I personally have multiple social media accounts, but I get my fill after about five minutes a day. I find all the clickbait and posts designed to create outrage to be exhausting.

Different people find different things addictive. :shrug:

Mr. Offerman is such a great actor, and I have a lot of respect for him. And people should live their lives the way they want to and need to. If video games are too addictive for him or anyone and they have the discipline to stop, then all power and blessings to them.

But I just want to be clear that video games are just like any other hobby. Any hobby can be completely addictive to the right person. And all hobbies are beautiful and useful when handled in moderation, and problematic when someone does them at the expense of their lives and responsibilities.

No lie: I have a family member who is completely, hopelessly addicted to books. You go to his house, and there are books stacked everywhere on every surface. You open the attic and they pour out. And for years he has neglected friends and family just to be alone and read. Books are wonderful-but It is not healthy for him.

I am only posting this because I feel like video games get a bad rap for being overly addictive and/or a non-productive waste of time. I think games are like any other hobby. Things that relieve stress or bring happiness during free hours (games, sports, art, tv, movies, books) are not a waste of time, and are a key part of a full life. But every single hobby can be abused-not just games. Gaming is not better or worse generally than any other hobby. But it is only games that are ever raised in this kind of conversation, which is strange.

What year is this? 2023 and some people still view video games in a stereotypical light as if it's the early 2000s? Have they seen a Switch commercial before? There is no doubt video game addiction is real like other commenters have said, but you can play video games and be happy and healthy and not an addict.

@jorel262 I think it's just a ridiculous outdated concept created by boomers over their fear of the video game industry as it was always new and strange to them because they didn't grow up with it. That's why they couldn't care less about things like streaming/cable television where people essentially just sit and stare at a television for hours on end watching mind numbing garbage. At least video games make you use your brain as you have to interact with something.

It's like video game addiction is a real thing but so is television show addiction, shopping addiction, and other mental addictions related to basic things that people tend to do day to day. The reality is that the kind of video game addiction that should be concerning is the type where someone is spending 15 hours a day playing video games and literally not able to do anything besides play video games all day. I think a lot of people get overly dramatic about someone being engaged in a gaming session, and try to relate it to being addicted to video games like that. Reality is, it's no different from being engaged in a show or movie and wanting to watch it to the end before you disengage from the viewing activity.

When it comes to video games I often find myself setting goals, because there's a lot of information you need to take note of and keep in mind when you are playing some video games, and you will want to complete tasks before you stop playing the game and move on to other things. This is similar to the way some people will keep watching a show because they have been absorbing a lot of things going on and don't want to be lost if they just suddenly stop watching it and start it again. It's things like this that I think we should be taking note of, like what motivates us to be doing something.

If you have a job and children, I can assure anyone from personal experience that you will not spend too much time playing videogames, because you won’t have any time to play videogames

Some of the comments on this article are a bit odd. I think you're reading way too much into it, and he isn't having a dig at the hobby we all enjoy. He's just saying he got so engrossed in the game, when really he hasn't got the time to sink x hours into gaming. Fair enough really.

Playing videogames is a very effective and easy means of escaping reality and that is where the problem can lie. Same thing goes for smartphones though although this is seen less problematic by society.