Generally, when a game I've been looking forward to comes out, I immediately run out to the nearest store and pick it up. I always try to be the first one on my friends list to play it. It severely frustrates me when my friends are online, and I can't get the game yet.

But for one reason or another, this is not the case for Forza 2. It's strange because normally there is a sort of hype that builds with this kind of game. One where I can't stand not being the first of my friends to play it. But Forza 2 came out yesterday, I saw friends playing it, and I didn't care. And I still don't. Half of my list is playing the game at this very moment, and I still don't plan on getting the game this week.

For me, this brings up the question: What has changed? Has the importance of games in my life diminished? Simply: yes. I don't have as much time to play as I used to, but I still love to them. Only having an hour a night never stopped me before. I think I've become scared of the power games have over me. Forza 1 absolutely sucked away my life for a good three weeks. I fell to my knees on the brink of "addiction" and decided I didn't care anymore. And the same has happened with a number of games (including about two straight summer months of Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow). But it seems I'm starting to take that approach into games before I even start them. I'm going into the game already thinking that I don't care what my kill to death ratio is, or if I save the world. And that attitude is removing all the fun from games all-together.

Although I've always whispered this, I now fully realize that I really do enjoy getting excited about a game before its release, more than I do actually playing it. How stupid is that?