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"Stressful Gaming"

Playing computer games is, to most of us, a leisure activity. Something we do after school or work to relax and let the endeavours of the day drift from our brain to be forgotten. Some people though see gaming in a different light. They see gaming as challenges, something that has to be completed as soon as possible, no questions asked. They will get worked up and when they cant get past a certain puzzle or boss they will throw their pad against a wall, rip the plug out of their console and vow never to play on it again.


This isn’t the meaning of a game; it doesn’t intend to cause severe psychological strain on the gamer. Quite simply it is fun. Perhaps it is the gaming industry that is to blame for making today’s games too difficult? It is a known fact European games have a higher difficulty level than the Japanese counterparts. Have the Japanese got it right and understand games are a way to wind down fro ma hectic lifestyle? Or are their public just not as demanding as ours?


Gaming is a leisure activity, along the same lines as television, listening to music or reading a book. So when you are watching your favourite programme on TV and two of the characters get into a fight, do you manically press the buttons on your remote control and slam it down in anger when the one you wanted to win didn’t? Or when you are listening to the radio and they play an Enrique Englasias song, do you bite through the power cable? Or if you are reading a novel and the main character doesn’t solve the murder mystery are you obliged to tear out the pages with your teeth and tear them into confetti? The answer to all of the questions, hopefully, is no.


Games are meant to be fun, enjoyable and even relaxing. People take gaming a little too seriously, they get addicted to games and rush through them, not appreciating their full glory. People boast about how fast they completed a certain title, I took 8 months to work my way through Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and I am proud. It doesn’t bother me how long I take getting through a game, sometimes I will get stuck but it doesn’t bother me, I will try and try until I can resolve a certain problem and if I can’t I’ll do something else, like come onto the forums or listen to music.


A friend of mine got so wound up over a game he smashed his Playstation 2 pad against a wall, repeatedly. He ended up with a broken pad, a big dint in his wall and a broken little finger. If people get this stressed over games then something needs to change. Either the gamers have to realise games aren’t serious, they are just fun, or the games market has to loosen up on difficulty levels. I personally would like to see the public relax and little and enjoy games for what they really are instead of a mocking challenge which requires completion.


So please fellow gamers, don’t get as stressed or worked up over games. I know I aren’t speaking to all of you here, but I know a fair few will have at one point in your life got irritated and punched your Playstation or thrown your controller across the room. But please, try to appreciate games more, and relax with them.

Thanks for reading

-kyz²²-

Microchips wrote:
> Nice post. Games, believe it or not, aren't getting easier/harder,
> and I believe i's all to do with the mind.

I assume different categories of people (i.e. age/gender/intellegence) find different games easier/harder than others. For example clever people will generally find strategy games easier than the less intellegent people. Also people with a higher threshold of fear are likely to find games like Resident Evil less challenging than those who still hide behind the sofa when a horror movie is on.

Microchips wrote:
If people do, like pb said,
> smash their controllers on the ground, smash the bed with their hand
> etc they relly should get out more, I know I would.
>
> :)



Lol, I do that. But thats cos of this ADHD thing I have. I usually just swear though. You should see my brother go off on one when he fails a mission or whatever on Vice City. Ouch!

(:)

Nice post. Games, believe it or not, aren't getting easier/harder, and I believe i's all to do with the mind. If you find one thing hard in a game, it's likely you'll find the rest of the game hard as you'll be frustrated, but that's just an idea. If people do, like pb said, smash their controllers on the ground, smash the bed with their hand etc they relly should get out more, I know I would.

:)

maddmun wrote:
> waffle? thats a funny word.....

And one I should endevour to use more often.

more difficullt now?
I spent about a year trying to complete Metroid before I fnally lost it, I spent months trying to complete Mario 3, I tooks weeks trying to complete FFVII, and I took days trying to complete VC

Good post Kyz22.


I was gonna do something like this but you did it first, anyway, games are to difficult nower days and it is like GTA: VC, I got stuck on a mission it took me days to do it and I get so angry I will just turn the computer off, a while ago before I joined SR as J Savo, I used to be on my PS2 more than I used to go out, but now because the games are either too hard or too short I just forget about it and go out or post on here.

I love being frustrated at games - it makes the nectar of completing it a whole lot sweeter.

Apart from if it is super monkey ball... grr

waffle? thats a funny word.....

YEah, but when you watch the TV, and you can't get a signal on your favourite channel, right through a once only episode of your favourite program, do you get angry? of course!
It's the same with gamin, you do something correctly about 43 times, and it still doesn't work, you are going to get P'd off.

Tribute wrote:
> An obvious GAD attempt, but hell, we all do it!

As long as it's interesting and not a load of waffle that doesn't mean anything then it's fine.