Okay, hands up…who’s broken their New Year’s resolution already?
If I’m honest, I haven’t really committed to a specific resolution this year. For 2016 my resolution was to listen to a new album everyday. Despite being a little behind with a couple of albums, I more or less was successful in completing this task (that’s 366 albums by the way, thank you Apple Music!). Usually I struggle in getting to the end of January with resolutions, usually because they involve me changing parts of my lifestyle in ways I want to but I can’t make materialize as yet. For example, I have committed several times to lose weight and eat healthily, where I have generally improved my eating habits, sometimes I just like a pizza, or a bar of chocolate. Or there’s some event or celebration where I am obliged to drink or eat out (of course) and I’m not about to spend good money on a salad at a nice restaurant am I? You see my problem, despite the lack of willpower of course.
For whatever reason or the other, our good intentions sometimes get lost in the hustle and bustle of our lives. It’s usually when we stop and reflect that we remember previous intentions (learn the piano, a new language, stop drinking, exercise more often etc.). New Years resolutions are a common tradition in the western world, the idea is that people, on New Year’s day, make pledges to improve on or remove unwanted or undesired traits or behaviors. Often, I imagine, we make these commitments to improve in an early morning reverie after one or two substantial drinks. The infancy of the new year inspiring us to improve and do better. Though idealistic we struggle for one reason or another, a poll found that some 66% of Brits in 2015 had broken their resolution within their first month, although they may have continued to commit to the resolution. I’ve got to think that for many people resolutions aren’t fun or the enthusiasm wains, then the resolution falls by the wayside.
So what can you do to make your resolutions more interesting? Well how about putting your hobby to use? Luckily, gaming is a great medium to help you keep those pesky resolutions. Not convinced? Consider the following examples of how gaming could help improve your 2017 and let us know if you’ve adopted any of these ideas yourself in the comments below or on the RGM Forums. Of course, these are just suggestions that are worth considering, see what you think.
Losing weight/exercising more
So probably one of the most common resolutions is to lose weight and get involved with more exercise. It is an admirable resolution; by losing weight and exercising more you stand to improve both your physical and your mental well-being (lots of research indicates that exercise is a fantastic means to improve your mental health and mood). Not only that but you’ll probably boost your self-esteem and your confidence should you shed some of that excess Christmas weight. You’ll probably live longer too, so a win win, right?
Well, it’s often easier said than done. Good intentions aside there are always things that people often don’t consider, but we have the answer, here are some of the excuses/reasons why it can be difficult to exercise and lose weight and how gaming can help.
| Reason/Excuse | Why Exercise & Losing Weight is Difficult | How Gaming Can Help |
| Cost | Whether you join a gym, take up running or want to exercise in your garage, there will be financial implications. Gym membership, appropriate clothing (trainers, shorts, accessories; sports bottles, iPod holders etc.) and getting to where you want to exercise, either driving (petrol) or via public transport all add to the cost of maintaining your resolution. | A cheaper alternative would be to get a fitness focused game. If you own a Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 or Xbox One there are various games that focus on fitness, or a have a fitness mode within them. Dance Central: Spotlight on Xbox One for example is a fun dancing game with a fitness regime and calorie tracker to help you build your fitness and stamina whilst having fun. You can also unlock some achievements too. Look out for games you might not realize are fitness focused too, UFC titles often have extra functionality for camera accessories. These are all often cheaper than your standard gym subscriptions and extra purchases that are needed and you’ll often find them all relatively cheap. |
| Weather | With the best will in the world, running or exercising outdoors in the elements (especially in the UK, when it mainly rains) is never fun. Some people like it, but for some it’s enough to make people just not bother and then their resolution is as wet as it is outside. | You game indoors (well you should)! You get home from work/college/shopping etc. and boom, on goes your console and away you go. All your comforts are there; drinks, food, shower. No excuse not to do it when it’s literally in your home! |
| It’s not fun | I think people get bored with exercise, either their regime isn’t engaging enough or they find it difficult. So people give up as it isn’t engaging. | I think the Xbox 360 has a great selection of various Kinect based games that should be able to peak your interest. If not, how about exercising whilst you play one of your normal games? If you own a piece of exercise equipment; you might have a step, exercise bike or even a treadmill (if not maybe check car boots for a cheap one?). Plonk it in front of your TV and do some exercise whilst you do some exercises, that way you’re having fun whilst getting some exercises in. |
| Self-conscious | Getting started is difficult, especially if you are starting in a new sport/gym environment that you’re perhaps unfamiliar with. You may feel uneasy or not very confident in yourself. | Gaming can be a good gateway into feeling better about exercise and losing weight. Though you will have to make that step at some point if that’s your aim, otherwise your gaming fitness options are a good alternative. |
Giving up drinking/reducing how much you go out or indulge in a vice
We all have our vices; alcohol, smoking, maybe even drug use. We all know that all of these are bad for us in some way. Some are more socially acceptable than others (depending on your social circle). Many people, especially after New Year celebrations, vow to reduce how many toxins they chose to put in their body whether it be caffeine, alcohol, nicotine or even sugar!
It is very tempting/easy to be drawn back into these habits, or go out too often. I’ve had some thoughts on how gaming could help you reduce your usage of these items:
| Reason/Excuse | Why giving up our vices is difficult | How Gaming Can Help |
| Want to be social | For a lot of us we go out to socialize with friends or work colleagues. We like to get out of the house or blow off some steam and have fun with people we maybe don’t communicate with that often. | Why not go out online? Host a gaming night with your friends and catch up over a game of Horde in Gears of War 4. You can still share a laugh and have a great time. It is more likely to happen more frequently too as it is easier to get people on Xbox Live than all out together for whatever reason. |
| I can afford to | This may well be the case, but how many nights out do you go on? How much do you spend per night out; drinks, cigarettes, taxis, takeaways, it all adds up. Even if we have the disposable income. | And now you can’t afford that new release you were looking forward to! One night out may well cover the cost of one or two new games that you are looking forward to. Alternatively, you could always trade in one of the games you’ve finished with to help fund an occasional night out. |
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with indulging and going out from time to time and I am certainly not saying you should become a hermit in order to play games, but do you need to spend $20 on that bottle of Vodka? How much are cigarettes too!?!!?! All I’m saying is, a chilled night in with the squad online can be just as fulfilling a night out as one “with the lads.” Plus there’s a lot less chance of getting that “beer fear” the term attributed to the guilt associated with overindulging in alcohol and doing something embarrassing.
With all resolutions though, willpower is key, you need to want to commit to these improvements or you won’t succeed, there’s no point in being tokenistic about what you want to achieve just because it is the done thing. If you want to improve, make it happen, you are the only one who can!
These are just a couple of examples but I think it is totally possible that gaming can help with a number of resolutions:
- Keeping the house tidy – reward yourself with a couple of matches on your favorite multiplayer game in between chores; do the washing up, a few matches on Battlefield 1, then onto the hoovering.
- Studying – for every milestone or one/two hours of hard work, give yourself 30 minutes playing an indie title.
- Saving money – you can commit to not buy any more games until you have completed the ones you have got. You can then use those completed games to help pay for your next purchase (presuming you’re not all digital).
I do think that we should all do our best to not ‘resolutionize’ (see what I did there) our hobbies as we do them because they are fun, not because we want to make them into something that needs to be improved on. That being said, there are some a few resolutions that a few of our fellow gamers need to consider:
- Be a better person – don’t be a dick online!
- Be more focused – PLAY THE DAMNED PAYLOAD ON OVERWATCH FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY!!!!!!!!!!!
- Be a better loser – Stop. Quitting. Just. Because. You. Are. Losing! Sometimes people are better.
- Consider everyone’s point of view – fanboys are just harmful, you have your preferences, great, accept that others do too. Your choice doesn’t make you superior, regardless of your machine of choice, we’re all gamers!
- Get on with your life – stop letting insignificant things bother you – day one DLC, season passes, micro-transactions are all things you can’t do anything about. If you have an issue with them, don’t buy them, simple. Don’t become an online troll, there’s already enough hate in the world.
And, I think the most important resolution we all need to adopt:
Every gamers new years resolution needs to be caring less about resolutions!
