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I have been gaming since I was six years old. I have not killed anyone. I have not decided to steal cars and go joyriding. I have not become some fat, spotty slob who sits in his bedroom playing virtual girlfriend games.
The reason for all of this is moderation. When it was sunny, I'd go outside and play sports, meet friends and go out. When it was raining, I'd stay in reading a book, watching a film or playing computer games. At no time did I wake up and just lounge about playing games all day due to laziness. My parents encouraged me to do all these things.
My point is simple. If people people are going to complain that games are destroying this generation and making them unfit or psycotic, then thyey should take a step back and ask why computer games should be any less responsible for this than, say, TV.
With TV you have the potential to be entertained for hours on end by cheaply made Australian soap operas. However, at the same time, you can use TV as a tool to learn more about the world, or to entertain yourself every so often. Taken in moderation, TV can be a positive benefit.
In the same way as TV has the ability to be informative and provide entertainment, games can let you relax, have fun and excercise your mind in fun ways. I have no doubt that by spacial reasoning has been helped by games like tetris.
But then again, there will always be those people who play games non-stop, whos parents don't encourage them to experience other things, and whose sense of the real/virtual world becomes corroded. These are the people who we hear about on the news. If anyone is to blame, it's their parents.
Sonic
The reason for all of this is moderation. When it was sunny, I'd go outside and play sports, meet friends and go out. When it was raining, I'd stay in reading a book, watching a film or playing computer games. At no time did I wake up and just lounge about playing games all day due to laziness. My parents encouraged me to do all these things.
My point is simple. If people people are going to complain that games are destroying this generation and making them unfit or psycotic, then thyey should take a step back and ask why computer games should be any less responsible for this than, say, TV.
With TV you have the potential to be entertained for hours on end by cheaply made Australian soap operas. However, at the same time, you can use TV as a tool to learn more about the world, or to entertain yourself every so often. Taken in moderation, TV can be a positive benefit.
In the same way as TV has the ability to be informative and provide entertainment, games can let you relax, have fun and excercise your mind in fun ways. I have no doubt that by spacial reasoning has been helped by games like tetris.
But then again, there will always be those people who play games non-stop, whos parents don't encourage them to experience other things, and whose sense of the real/virtual world becomes corroded. These are the people who we hear about on the news. If anyone is to blame, it's their parents.
Sonic
I agree with your points and its a good post as usual Sonic, but I just thought I'd touch on the violence issue.
The thing is, when events happen such as mass shootings in schools, or youngsters commiting crimes, it is the usual pursuit of the media to satisy a human need at times of catastrophies - an explanation. People can't cope without an explanation, because it neatly pigeonholes the cause and lets them go along their daily life. And games are such an easy scapegoat, because of their violent content.
Nevermind the fact that films have nearly always contained people killing, or anti-social behaviour, once the media gets the sniff that a young offender liked GTA, or played Carmaggedon, then that becomes the sole cause. It allows people to read the paper and think - 'oh, its because he played violent games' rather than address the real issue of why a person might be compelled to commit the crime in the first place.
Games are becoming more and more of a mainstream medium of entertainment. We know they don't do anything - as you say, you've been playing since you were six and have never felt impulsions to go out and shoot someone - but they will never be truly accepted until they stop being stigmatised in this fashion.
The thing is, when events happen such as mass shootings in schools, or youngsters commiting crimes, it is the usual pursuit of the media to satisy a human need at times of catastrophies - an explanation. People can't cope without an explanation, because it neatly pigeonholes the cause and lets them go along their daily life. And games are such an easy scapegoat, because of their violent content.
Nevermind the fact that films have nearly always contained people killing, or anti-social behaviour, once the media gets the sniff that a young offender liked GTA, or played Carmaggedon, then that becomes the sole cause. It allows people to read the paper and think - 'oh, its because he played violent games' rather than address the real issue of why a person might be compelled to commit the crime in the first place.
Games are becoming more and more of a mainstream medium of entertainment. We know they don't do anything - as you say, you've been playing since you were six and have never felt impulsions to go out and shoot someone - but they will never be truly accepted until they stop being stigmatised in this fashion.
My topic wasn't just about games leading to violence. More importantly, the general attitude towards games as an antisocial device is partly true, but no more so than any other mass media entertainment.
People have to wake up to the fact that there is nothing wrong with playing games, so long as it is not done at the loss of other social activities. There is nothing wrong with reading a book, but staying in your room reading all the time and neglecting any kind of excercise is taking it a bit far.
Sonic
People have to wake up to the fact that there is nothing wrong with playing games, so long as it is not done at the loss of other social activities. There is nothing wrong with reading a book, but staying in your room reading all the time and neglecting any kind of excercise is taking it a bit far.
Sonic
===SONICRAV---> wrote:
> But then again, there will always be those people who play games
> non-stop,
Sounds a bit like me....
> whos parents don't encourage them to experience other
> things,
Doesn't sound like my parents....
> and whose sense of the real/virtual world becomes corroded.
Again sounds a bit like me.
maddmun wrote:
> hitting me with 500ml filled plastic bottles
Sounds quite specific!
Here's my piece - games stop you doing bad things because you're playing the game instead of doing the bad thing. Therefore games are good.
> But then again, there will always be those people who play games
> non-stop,
Sounds a bit like me....
> whos parents don't encourage them to experience other
> things,
Doesn't sound like my parents....
> and whose sense of the real/virtual world becomes corroded.
Again sounds a bit like me.
maddmun wrote:
> hitting me with 500ml filled plastic bottles
Sounds quite specific!
Here's my piece - games stop you doing bad things because you're playing the game instead of doing the bad thing. Therefore games are good.
===SONICRAV---> wrote:
> virtual girlfriend games.
Why haven't I heard of these before?....
> But then again, there will always be those people who play games
> non-stop,
First, I hope you are talking about the people who are breaking the law etc, and games arew being blamed, if so...
Although not non-stop, I do play games very often, since my village is boring, and it almost always rains. I am a near-pacifist, as I hate violence and when I do have built up rage inside of me, I will only attack someone who has provoked me in extreme cases (someone constantly punching me, hitting me with 500ml filled plastic bottles etc) normally I like to take out this anger by beating up a Pikachu in SSBM etc
You can't blame these people, who are often oplaying video games, it normally occurs in bullied or neglected children. The people who are blaming games normally have no proper excuse for these things, so they blame games, it's as if to say violence never occured before gaming.
> virtual girlfriend games.
Why haven't I heard of these before?....
> But then again, there will always be those people who play games
> non-stop,
First, I hope you are talking about the people who are breaking the law etc, and games arew being blamed, if so...
Although not non-stop, I do play games very often, since my village is boring, and it almost always rains. I am a near-pacifist, as I hate violence and when I do have built up rage inside of me, I will only attack someone who has provoked me in extreme cases (someone constantly punching me, hitting me with 500ml filled plastic bottles etc) normally I like to take out this anger by beating up a Pikachu in SSBM etc
You can't blame these people, who are often oplaying video games, it normally occurs in bullied or neglected children. The people who are blaming games normally have no proper excuse for these things, so they blame games, it's as if to say violence never occured before gaming.
Sonicrav?!
:D
:D
Marvellous!
I have been gaming since I was six years old. I have not killed anyone. I have not decided to steal cars and go joyriding. I have not become some fat, spotty slob who sits in his bedroom playing virtual girlfriend games.
The reason for all of this is moderation. When it was sunny, I'd go outside and play sports, meet friends and go out. When it was raining, I'd stay in reading a book, watching a film or playing computer games. At no time did I wake up and just lounge about playing games all day due to laziness. My parents encouraged me to do all these things.
My point is simple. If people people are going to complain that games are destroying this generation and making them unfit or psycotic, then thyey should take a step back and ask why computer games should be any less responsible for this than, say, TV.
With TV you have the potential to be entertained for hours on end by cheaply made Australian soap operas. However, at the same time, you can use TV as a tool to learn more about the world, or to entertain yourself every so often. Taken in moderation, TV can be a positive benefit.
In the same way as TV has the ability to be informative and provide entertainment, games can let you relax, have fun and excercise your mind in fun ways. I have no doubt that by spacial reasoning has been helped by games like tetris.
But then again, there will always be those people who play games non-stop, whos parents don't encourage them to experience other things, and whose sense of the real/virtual world becomes corroded. These are the people who we hear about on the news. If anyone is to blame, it's their parents.
Sonic
The reason for all of this is moderation. When it was sunny, I'd go outside and play sports, meet friends and go out. When it was raining, I'd stay in reading a book, watching a film or playing computer games. At no time did I wake up and just lounge about playing games all day due to laziness. My parents encouraged me to do all these things.
My point is simple. If people people are going to complain that games are destroying this generation and making them unfit or psycotic, then thyey should take a step back and ask why computer games should be any less responsible for this than, say, TV.
With TV you have the potential to be entertained for hours on end by cheaply made Australian soap operas. However, at the same time, you can use TV as a tool to learn more about the world, or to entertain yourself every so often. Taken in moderation, TV can be a positive benefit.
In the same way as TV has the ability to be informative and provide entertainment, games can let you relax, have fun and excercise your mind in fun ways. I have no doubt that by spacial reasoning has been helped by games like tetris.
But then again, there will always be those people who play games non-stop, whos parents don't encourage them to experience other things, and whose sense of the real/virtual world becomes corroded. These are the people who we hear about on the news. If anyone is to blame, it's their parents.
Sonic