So I've been on a media fast (sort of) since the beginning of September. This means I haven't played any video games, watched any movies, or any tv shows for nearly two months. This is a first for me. For much of my life, I've been almost addicted to video games, as they are my main source of entertainment. They are also my escape when things go wrong. Whenever I felt down I would just pick up my favourite game at the time and be transported to a different world, and all would be well. Although video games have saved me from breaking furniture or going berserk quite a few times, it hasn't had the best effect on my academics. I used to be the laziest procrastinator ever, and would leave all my studying to the last minute. I don't remember the last time I got an A in any class I cared about.

This is all changing this year, because at the beginning of September I was in my Philosophy 210 class and there was an option of doing a media fast (sort of), for a bonus 5%. At first the possibility of doing it didn't even enter my head. But over the week I was talking to some friends about it, and they eventually pressured me into doing it. So here I am almost 2 months later, and I've been doing pretty good, except for a few mistakes I've made along the way.

Perhap the biggest change this media fast has brought me is the boost in my marks. I'm a second year university student and my course load this semester has been hellish. Even with all the required readings, papers, and homework, I've still managed to do quite good on my classes and midterms. So far I've rounded up an A+ and a A- for the two midterms I've got back. I've also been studying a lot more. I know for many this might not seem like a big deal, but for me it is because I don't feel like I'm wasting my life at school anymore, and I'm actually doing something productive.

So when my media fast ends on December 3rd and I finally get to play video games again,we will see how permanent the changes that were brought upon me really are.

For the past couple of weeks on Gamespot, I've spent at least thirty minutes every day just looking at the old games I've played and soaking up the nostalgia. I would click on the screenshots of some of my favourite games of past days, go through each one and remember the days which I would spend just playing them with my cousins. These games would usually be older JRPGs on the PS1 platform. A couple games that come to my mind now are Legend of Legaia, Star Ocean, Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy 7-9, and Chrono Trigger. Those were the days when we would spend hours every day just playing great RPGs and not worrying about anything else other than leveling up our characters.

I've realized how well made those older games were at the time. I had almost forgotten how rich their storylines could be, or how beautiful the atmospheres of the games were. One great game that I'd like to mention is Dark Cloud. I remember playing that game whenever I felt down, and it would immediately make me happy again by immersing my mind in its beautiful fantastic world. Whenever I find a game on gamespot that I haven't played in many years, clicking on the screenshots will always bring me back to the early nineties where everything was swell and video games were life. Thanks Gamespot.