PSN Community Spotlight

After a quick break post-E3, we’re back with another edition of PSN Community Spotlight. We review the dedicated space on the PlayStation Community Forums to find PlayStation stories and commentary from the community, and pick one to be featured on the PlayStation Blog. The winner gets a $50 voucher to the PlayStation Store to spend on whatever their heart desires!

PSN member HorrorGod brings us this week’s spotlight. Sometimes it’s tough to let your true gamer color show. HorrorGod details how he continued his gaming lifestyle into married life. But did it all work out? Read on to find out!

How My Wife Found Out I Was A Gamer

When my wife and I started dating, I was a gamer. I’ve been a gamer since I was a kid, and I’ll die a gamer. The funny thing is, she wouldn’t know that about me until after we were married. I rarely had time to play video games between work and our time together, so she never got to see that part of me. Looking back, I wouldn’t exactly say I was trying to hide it from her; it just simply didn’t come up.

My wife and I

Eventually we got our own apartment together and while unpacking our huge amount of boxes in our cramped little space we called home, she saw my PS2. Not thinking too much of it, she asked “Oh, is that yours?” which I simply replied “Yeah.”, and we left it at that.

After the honeymoon and 6 months later, I finally couldn’t stand it anymore. I needed to play my games! So, one night I whipped out my PS2 and hooked it up. When she got home from work and saw me playing Fight Night Round 3, she gave me this half smile, half “Oh-no” expression. “My goose is cooked! She’s going to leave me! Game over!” were all thoughts going through my head. Overreactions, I’m sure, but her expression was enough to make me feel as if she just caught me with another woman. She just chuckled and didn’t ask another question about it. I continued to play my PS2, but never while she was home.

The PlayStation 3 was shown off at that summer’s E3, and while watching some highlights of it on television one day, I looked at my wife with pleading eyes, as if to say “I want that.” The time had finally come. She knew for sure that I was a gamer. But instead of screaming “NO!”, she quietly said “Okay. Sell your car and you can use the money to get one.” This was almost a dare. You see, I loved my car. Since the age of 17 I had put a lot of money into customizing it (Tinted windows, rims, sound system, engine work, etc.) It wasn’t just a car, it was my car. But, I had plenty of time to decide. The PS3’s launch wasn’t until another 5 months later.

After seeing all the great games that were out, as well as the games scheduled for release in the future, I absolutely had to have one. In February of 2007, I caved. My wife had won. It only took a little over a week for someone to buy my car, and he was a tenant in our apartment complex. As soon as he handed over the money, I rushed down to our bank, deposited the cash, and went out to buy myself a PS3. I bought the 60GB console, an extra controller, and a few games.

Around a week after I sold my car, I saw my neighbor having it towed in the parking lot. When I saw the damage to the side of the vehicle I got a knot in my stomach. I walked over to him and he told me ran a red light and was side swiped at an intersection (thankfully nobody was hurt.) He then said instead of paying to get it fixed he was going to sell it to a wrecking yard as scraps. My car had now not just been sold to another person, it was to be gone. Done. Kaput.

Capturing my moment of silence with my old friend.

As I walked back to my apartment to play my PS3 that day, reflecting on my decision to sell my car , only one thought kept coming back to me: “it was worth it =)”

Five years have passed since then. We’ve traded our small apartment for our own home, we’re about to celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary, and my wife accepts me as a gamer. Instead of rolling her eyes when I escape to the family room to play my PS3 she’s actually played some games with me, like Little Big Planet, Rock Band, and Sports Champions.

Sometimes I think about the next cool gaming item I’d want to get but all I can think is “What will my wife dare me to sell this time?”

Congrats to Horrorgod, who is now the recipient of a $50 voucher redeemable in the PlayStation Store! Send in your stories here, and feel free to read HorrorGod’s original submission right here.