Darran ponders his life choices

Regular readers of this section of the magazine will know I have a lot of games. You’ll also know that I’ve used these pages of the magazine to occasionally mention the depression I’ve suffered from over the years as well. While I won’t bore you with the reasons behind my long-term bouts of depression I will share something that some of you may have already guessed by now – Ibuy videogames as a coping mechanism.

I’ve always made excuses for the games I collect and to a point I still make some of them now. I grew up relatively poor as a child (our childhood photos of our home consist of mismatched furniture and all of us wearing hand-me-down clothes) and I’ve often wondered if my obsession with buying things partly stems from not having much growing up. I know many friends and family in a similar situation though and they don’t exhibit my lust for owning things, so it’s probably a little more deep-rooted than that.

Earlier this year I mentioned that I wouldn’t buy new games unless I sold existing ones. It was a sound idea and for about five months I managed to do it and felt incredibly proud of myself, but then depression snuck up on me in mid-April and I turned to games because I find them comforting. Well that’s not strictly true, I turned to the buying of games, because ultimately that’s what I find comforting.