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Growing up in a home with many siblings, we didn’t receive a lot of huge Christmas presents, but there was one that I still remember to this day.

It was the year that we all eyed up a present under the tree that was for all of the children. After weeks of anticipation we saved that box for last when we opened presents that year, and my brothers and I shouted with glee when we saw the gift was a brand new Nintendo, complete with “Duck Hunt” and “Super Mario Bros.”

My oldest brother shouted out that it was the best Christmas ever and I was in complete agreement. As the years passed on, I would latch on to games like the Legend of Zelda, Top Gun, and Super Contra.

But after an unfortunate experience with the game “Metroid,” where I thought I had beaten the game but couldn’t finish the final task, I swore off action and adventure games for good. That’s when I dove into the world of “Tecmo Bowl,” “Bases Loaded” and “Tecmo NBA Basketball.”

The games not only entertained me, they also helped introduce me to the world of sports, which is an arena I am quite fond of. As the years went on, the games became more advanced and it wasn’t long before I could play with all of my favorite players, from present and past.

When I got to college, I strengthened some of my best friendships through gaming. It was a cheap, fun way to stay entertained in the boring days of the dorms. Gaming was even better when you could set up a second TV, and play a sports game, while watching a sporting event at the same time!

Don’t judge me, I told you that I’m passionate about sports.

As I grew older and had kids of my own, the NBA2K games became a way for me to bond with my son as he would watch me play, before taking it on himself. He actually learned to read by memorizing the names of the players on the screen before he even started kindergarten.

But in recent years, I’ve noticed a negative shift in the gaming industry. The games seem to be more driven to make you pay more money, than they are to entertain.

For those who have never played a sports video game, or any modern game for that matter, the format allows you to play after you purchase the game, but if you want to improve your team or player to the point where online play is enjoyable, you have to either play countless hours on boring modes or fork out some hard earned cash on top of the money you already paid to acquire the game.

Even worse, sometimes the game forces you to gamble, only giving you a small chance at the best players after you’ve put in the time or paid the cash.

Combine these things with an online community that is becoming more and more brutal, and you have gamers who are filled with rage. My son was eight years old when I had to block off all messaging on my PlayStation because people were sending him hate filled attacks. I stopped listening to the game chats almost as soon as I started, because they were also filled with hateful insults and slurs.

Since I never paid extra and I could ignore the online negativity, I dodged those drawbacks. But what I started to realize was that the games were highly addictive and I was wasting many hours in front of my two screens, still one for sports and one for gaming. Worst yet, I would sometimes confuse the game I was watching with the game I was playing.

This year I realized it was time to make a serious change and I didn’t buy an NBA game for the first time in 30 years. Instead, I bought a college football game.

I found it had the same problems as the NBA games I had been devoted to, and I made the decision to give up gaming.

It was an easy decision when you realize how valuable our time and attention are. I may experience stretches of boredom without gaming to distract me, but I’ll also enjoy spurts of creativity and I may even discover new and more rewarding hobbies.

I will be better off.