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Games & gear: Video Games, Am I wasting my life?
hardly a waste, if it makes you happy
by drewlore - 12/6/06 12:08 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeMany people consider playing any sort of game, video or otherwise, a waste of time. Many people also consider mowing the lawn, going to church, working, etc. a waste of time. How is staring at a computer screen all day not a waste of life (I'm not talking economics here, though it is related)? Or behind a register at McDonalds? Most people are far too concerned with how they 'spend their lives' because they spend their lives working until they are too old to continue. It seems to me that far too many people believe that life begins at retirement. Some life... being 65 with aching bones and an enlarged prostate, sitting in front of the television for hours because they are too tired to get up and out. Woohoo... now that is something to really look forward to.
What matters is whether it brings you happiness (which I know sounds rather cliché, but it is very true). If playing video games 24/7 makes you happy then who are others to judge? But if you do that, be aware of what you miss out on. Life is what you make of it, one not being any better than another. Working all the time... you will miss out on life, while not working... you might find it difficult to survive. No matter what path you choose you are going to "miss out on" something somewhere. Also, keep in mind that if you're under 18 your parents can pretty much be the dictators of your life though that hardly means they know what they are talking about (I'm presuming, TheCrowing, that you are under the legal age of an adult?).
Everybody needs a release
by greatnessinc - 12/6/06 12:24 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeIn my estimation, video games are a great stress reliever. Moderation is important, it sounds like you're not spending an inordinate amount of time gaming; gaming is better for your mind than simply watching tv as you're interacting and problem solving. Gaming is a growing source of entertainment, now more than ever games are blending with Hollywood production (in terms of quality).
Waisting time!?
by julesov - 12/6/06 12:27 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeThe "ancient" parents , believe that!depends from you what , when ,waste , another words life with gaming video.Indeed it's fun , but do a aprogram quiqly , learn , scool, work , then games.Games was builded to kill the loose time of do nothing.Me , after all, 1-2 hours "waist" my personal time to gaming , RPG , Strategy,or race.Depends from my times, prior is my life, this is for relax and i'm not put all soul into a computer!Game is game.You play , normal for one week.Also , another friends loose time at the street or comitting crimes , use drogs or drink to much for their ages!Put this in a ballance and show this to your parents to decide , if you want ofcourse.Good luck and don't forget the PC is just a terminall!
Play away
by danno355 - 12/6/06 12:33 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeYou wont fry your brain, and its your life to do what you want with. I've been playing video games since their popular inception in the 70's. (they really began in the 50's)
Video games do not turn your brains into mush, nor do they make you act violently. Thats all society using them as a scapegoat for the lack of good parenting and the ability to make a good choice.
If anything is to blame for stupid behavior its the media (tv news papers, radio...) constantly telling folks what to think and believe and not providing complete information to allow people to make their own choices and draw their own conclusions.
Keep playing games. They are a safer world where you can at least have some satisfaction and happiness!
The twinkle in your eye?
by Schand - 12/6/06 12:57 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeIs the act of playing videogames worthless or worthwhile?
This is an intriguing question that poses as a single query but in reality is asking about multiple topics: 'Are games as valid as any other form of entertainment?', 'Compared to work or something non-entertaining are games worthwhile?', and finally, 'How much videogame time is too much or not good for you?'.
In regards to the first of those questions, wondering if games are as valid as any other form of entertainment, the answer is a resounding 'yes'. No one form of media or entertainment is any more superior than any other form of entertainment, regardless of what anyone might say, playing a videogame is no more dorky than wasting hours of your life re-finishing some antique car that you'll never drive on a regular basis. Playing games develops extremely good hand/eye coordination (for the twitch-style games), keen strategic thinking (strategy games), rhythymic abilities (music games), and even develops gamers' social abilities in regards to MMO type of gaming. In light of all these positive benefits to gaming, one might question the worth of other types of recreation instead, as being less beneficial themselves!
Is gaming more worthwhile than working or taking care of your responsibilities? No, it's important to have a balance in your life and not be consumed by your hobbies or passions. If you're neglecting your everyday responsibilities to complete one more level in World of Warcraft, for example, then something's wrong. Keep everything in balance for a healthy life.
Finally, there are valid careers that you can embark upon within the world of videogaming and thus it's not necessarily, by any means, a waste of time if you decide to go that route with your future career.
Maybe
by wheelyeet - 12/6/06 12:57 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeThere are a lot of fun things to do, but when you do those fun things to the point that they interfere with work, relationships, and health, then they are worse than a waste of life, they are detrimental to life. I have a 23 year old step-son who leaves for work at a minimum wage job at 2:00 p.m. returns home at 9:30 and games until about 4:30 in the morning. He sleeps until about 10:30 and then games until he goes to work at 2:00. His only friends are online gamers. He is irritable all the time and doesn't eat right becuase that takes time away from the game. He has no girl friend, no real life buddies, a dead end job, no education, and no dreams. I believe that this level of use is beyond fun -- it is an addiction.
If you are truly only playing 4 or 5 hours a week, I don't think that is an excessive amount IF you aren't then just vegging in front of the TV or surfing the net the rest of the time. Please don't think of a come back to your parents. Rather do the mature thing and negotiate your game time. Maybe if you can hammer out an agreement with them, and you stick to your end of it, they'll quit nagging you.
Video Games, Am I wasting my life?
by ronald_hoppes - 12/6/06 1:02 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeLike anything in life if a person becomes excessive at something, especially at things as triviual as playing vidio games you are most likely wasting your life away. Think about all the other ways that your time could be spent that would provide a greater benefit to both you and to others. Just think if you spent 1/3 of the time you spent with vidio games helping a freind, your grandmother or other person how much it would benefit that person and you would also benefit by the good feeling you had helping out that person.
Video Games, Am I wasting my life
by tcesnik - 12/6/06 1:44 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthree4 to 5 hours a week does not sound excessive. It is impressive that
you cut down from 15-20 hours per week. You would probably be spending that much time in some form of recreation. Your parents
sound obsessive. I suspect you come from a family of overachievers.
Your parents need to lighten up and play some games themselves.
Life is for living, not just making money and being successful.
4 or 5 hours a week is definitely not excessive. Your parents
are way too harsh!!
I'm 60 and I play video games!
by l1628 - 12/6/06 2:23 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeWhile I don't spend a tremendous amount of time on video games, I've picked a few over the years that keep me interested (starting out on an Atari 1040ST with Silent Service and Flight Simulator).
Now it's Blackhawk Down and Silent Hunter 3. When the weather is crappy and we can't do what we had planned for some reason, I dive into one of my games and get lost for the day. I love it.
I just don't go the store in search of something new every day. Once I find one I like, I like to play it and play it, and get good at it. That's when it really gets fun.
I don't think it should replace outdoor play for kids though, or interaction with their friends. I'm pretty old fashioned on this topic.
Honing your skills is never a waste.
by abbyd - 12/6/06 2:23 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeThere was a story in the newspaper last week about a young man who joined the Army and because of his special skills with video games he was assigned to operate a remote controlled drone. In his interview he said all his life his mother scolded him for wasting his time playing with video games. Now, he said, he had a reason to tell her she was wrong.
People develop faster reactions as they become more skilled with the game controllers and those are similar skills required by pilots. I would say that you won't ever be wasting your life playing video games. You may waste it if you glue yourself to a chair in the living room watching dumb cartoons.
They wasted mine...
by onlinebackup - 12/6/06 2:57 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeI've been playing video games since 1980... I don't mean the occasional game here an there, I mean I have been spending many hours of many days just staring at a monitor (IBMs), or a TV (Commodore/Atari days). I mainly did it to avoid my very abusive step-dad. It was an escape for me. I still play games to this day. What I have noticed is that a lot of people my age seem to be hanging up their full-time gaming habits and choosing to do other things. This makes me wonder too...
When I think about it, all of the countless hours, days, weeks, months I've spent sitting in front of video games, could have been better spent enjoying life. Sure, I have a degree and a job, so I am not an unproductive citizen. I just think that I could have been experiencing the real world instead of living in fantasy virtual worlds. I think of myself in the future, on my death bed trying to think of what I have actually done with my life. The sum was pretty close to zero... I have managed to spend 99% of my free-time, my life, playing video games. What a legacy to leave behind. If I were suddenly stricken with blindness, I would be complaining that I never got to experience outdoor scenery... waterfalls, mountains, vast forests, etc... I would be upset that I couldn't see wildlife, people; that I would feel shut out from the rest fo the world...
How ironic that I have been shutting myself out for the last 26 years without complaint...
I don't know. If I had the chance to start over again knowing what I know now, I would have attempted to choose another direction for my life... another escape...
Good luck to you...
Be VERY selective what you play and how often you play.
by supergrover08 - 12/6/06 9:56 PM In reply to: They wasted mine... by onlinebackup"I don't know. If I had the chance to start over again knowing what I know now, I would have attempted to choose another direction for my life... another escape..."
This struck a chord with me. There is no way to load your life up again and start over. I think of that same thing at times.
I wasted/spent over 20 years of my life playing games. I killed off my online character worth thousands of dollars several years ago by not signing in to play it. Now if only we could load our lives over again...if only...
My advice to everyone: Be VERY selective what you play and for how long it is played. You do not need to get 100 percent in a game. Hopefully just one peson will turn off their game in agreement. I did and wondered what happened to the past 10 years of my life.
Read the book "A Theory of Fun for Game Design"
by spyeye1 - 12/6/06 3:41 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeI recommend reading the book suggested in the title, "A Theory of Fun for Game Design". It will explain what games are and pull them apart for you. Games teach pattern recognition, goal formation, and other very useful things.
Games do not make people violent, and a game can't warp a kids mind any more than a book or movie can, which is not at all. The most any fiction can do is impart knowledge as those experiencing it, no matter how young, realize that what they are experiencing is fiction. Experience teaches them just how much is complete fiction and how much is partial truth. This experience is absolutely necessary to have to survive in the world. Parents who shield their children from this and do not teach them these skills are harming their children.
If your parents complain about the games you play, get a copy of Naked Lunch by William S Burroughs and quote some passages since they probably view books as a "higher" form of fiction conveyance. Or have them sit through "Happiness" or "Kids" or "L. I. E.". They're all great works, but very disturbing and challenge the skills I mentioned above more than any game currently on the market.
As in all things, moderation is key.
by djFLWB - 12/6/06 4:39 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeHey, there's nothing better to blow off a little steam or release a little aggression than peering through the scope of a sniper rifle. Of course I'm talking about video games not a bell tower at a university in Texas.
Anything is ok in moderation. Too much of anything is not a good thing. It doesn't matter whether it's gaming, television, food, snacks, even too much exercise is bad for you.
One tip. If you think you are spending too much time doing something, then you are.
Video Games, Am I wasting my life?
by reconatl - 12/6/06 4:57 PM In reply to: Video Games, Am I wasting my life? by wjnthreeWhat I have seen of the games, and the time wasted on them I would say yes. Most are so violent they only produce violence and hate. I clicked on a site that sold video games, and was astonished at the amount of trash I saw. The people who sell them should be in prison, for selling this garbage to our kids.
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