I often have this discussion with a close friend of mine, because we tend to over-analyze EVERYTHING, so why not gaming? Last night we were talking about Skyrim, since he just recently bought it, and the difference between games such as Skyrim and Mass Effect.

Really, when it comes down to it, it is always preference of art form. Clearly, Skyrim brings an immersive open world to your hands, giving to the "feeling" of being a part of something great – and transposing your own self outside of your livingroom and into a place where you can explore, discover and create your own excitement. This is essentially what a Sandbox game IS, it is a sandbox, filled with toys, open for you to create, destroy, dig, build and discover your own fun.

However, a game like Mass Effect doesn't bring such an open world to your fingertips, but what it does do is bring you into an immersive world of characters, depth, situations, conflicts and relationships. Many of which Skyrim cannot offer due to it's massive size. Mass Effect touches our hearts, and our desire to be connected, Skyrim touches our spirit, and our desire to be adventurous.

So which are you? Do you look for adventure or connection? Are you a Skyrim Gamer or a Mass Effect Gamer? Me… I'm both, it really depends on the mood I am.

As a side note, lets throw in Gears – which touches our inner Animal, and our desire to be destructive. Of course, we all love that one too :)

Thoughts?

That's true, it's amazing how much time commitment is required to play games these days. It's almost like having a second job. It sucks not being able to keep up with them as much as my friends – since I work full time, have a kid and a job. LAME :D