When I was growing up, I thought that life was built like a Zelda game.  Perhaps that is why the series resonated so much with me (and many of you as well).  You start out with little to nothing, but the game never throws anything at you that you haven't got a tool to deal with (at least, eventually), and even the parts that are challenging are more skill-based than "controller smashing gameplay...because it can."

We are fed the line from day one that if we work hard, learn new skills, and collect those heart pieces (well, you know what I mean), we'll succeed in affording the dream of owning a home, a reliable vehicle, and all the amenities we would ever want with a couple of extras when we save up for them.

So imagine my disappointment when I woke up one day with my BA and AA degree up on the wall, and realized that the only so-called "opportunities" available to me were Unpaid Internship (which I could not do because I have to pay rent and, ya know, eat), or Retail Hell Minion.  Now I know, I've gotten hell from people because I did not major in something involving cutting up bunnies or programming in C++.  But the truth of the matter is that my Biology and Computer Science friends have had hard times finding anything in their field...at all.

I guess I'm just starting to feel like I have fallen out of the LOZ universe, and landed squarely in the spinning blades of Super Meat Boy, with a side of level 70 Tetris.

Enjoy the flying blocks to the face!

Now I don't know about you, but back in the day, when I was playing Tetris for the good ol' Gameboy, I would start off at level 1 and basically just keep ramping up the difficulty gradually.  And for me, I didn't really notice that things were getting difficult until maybe level 60 or so.  Then, just like the frog that gets put in a pot that is slowly brought to boiling, I didn't realize how dangerous it was until suddenly it was too late and I messed up and it was Game Over.  You see, that's really what the problem is with the higher levels.  It's not like it's hard-it's the same dang game!  But the problem is that one mistake seems to be so much more problematic than it was when you were starting out.  Before, with a slower level, you could spend a lot of time thinking of how to strategize in lieu of your mistake, but when you're up at level 60-70, you're basically shoving blocks in spaces as fast as you can and one block out of place is basically a death sentence.

This is basically what adulthood is like.

Now, I obviously have not been an "adult" for very long (I am 26, but I pay my taxes, have a job, own my own car, and am married with a kid, so I suppose that counts, right?), but it has become increasingly (and painfully so) obvious that my ability to, say, become a millionaire (which is so easy in pretty much every game I play) is basically not going to happen.

Sure, I have a job (which is more than many people in this crap economy can say), but I keep feeling like I'm stuck working at an entry level position FAR longer than I ought to have been.  I don't want to be one of those gnarled old ladies who work as a base level clerk forever, but I know that the job market is really risky right now, especially in government, and most of the jobs that are becoming "available" are in the departments that are being hacked and slashed like nobody's business (ie: health and human services).  So I feel uncomfortable applying for them, but at the same time feel like I deserve at least a couple of dollars more an hour for all the extra stuff they've piled onto my job description (and did I mention that they're furloughing us over 144 hours this year?).

Imagine you're Health and Human Services, and instead of a sexy lady, that's a fat, ugly congressman.

So for me, it's kind of amazing that I don't have any OTHER vices beyond playing video games.  I don't smoke, I don't drink, and I don't do any illicit or mind-altering drugs.  But sometimes when I get home from a day at work feeling like I just got kicked in the teeth all day and that everyone who finds out I'm a government worker looks at me like I'm some kind of freeloader mooching off their tax dollars, it feels DAMNGOOD to sit down and immerse myself in a world where I have god-like powers and a bazillion dollars and it is actually possible for me to SAVE THE WORLD.

And yet, I see my parents looking at me disapprovingly ("Oh, you have a job, but it's not a hotshit job." "Can't you just move somewhere else and endure living in a hellhole until you make some money?"  "If you just eat ramen all the time, you could save up for a house! After all, you're not really successful until you become a homeowner!"  "Sure you're out of debt, but it doesn't mean you're saving nearly enough."  "You're too fat-haven't you considered eating less on a starvation diet to save money?").

And they hate that newfangled loud Ocarina playing that I have been practicing lately, too.

In theory, I know that I am capable, talented in many areas, and generally pretty dang good at anything I set out to do.  I have a healthy amount of self control, am intelligent and generally people like me.

But, I'm still not really "special."

I'm not a Chosen One blazing the trail and killing the baddies to save the world from darkness.

I'm not imbued with special powers that allow me to set people's heads on fire with a thought.

And there certainly aren't elixirs or potions that exist to completely heal me of any hereditary or chronic medical conditions.

So in a world where I don't stand apart from many millions of others on the same level as me, it feels good to escape into that cold world where I don't have to eat, where money amasses without hardly a thought to saving it, and where god-like powers are generally second nature to your unique and special Purpose in the world.

For some, it's wonderful to smash things when you're angry and upset. 

Case in point (Ignore Durst-Wes Borlin is awesome).

For others, it's absolutely liberating to gain godlike powers that you will never be able to have in the real world.

And for me, well, sometimes it is all I can do not to wish that when I open my eyes the next morning, I'll find myself in Kokiri forest after having yet another nightmare about a green-skinned, red-headed guy on a horse stealing the princess yet again.

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So, do you play games that mirror your own real life difficulties, or do you use them for fantasy and escape? 

Do you think that if games became too much like "real life" that they would no longer truly be fun?