A generation, lost to video games.

[Philosoraptor]

My son in law is a hot shot video game designer, quite successful, and sometimes he makes a little joke about the millions of youths wasted and permanently screwed up by video games.

I've never played one, have nothing against them, but my son is a freak with them, and for an adult, he spends way too much time in his room playing games.

My sister's two sons are the same, game vampires, asleep all day, alive only at night to play games till dawn when they drop.

Its one thing when kids do it, now they are grown men, and my sister and I lament like old folks do that there might be something wrong with them, and with millions of other men, young and old, addicted to video games.

I know I'm being over dramatic, but I am starting to think there's something to this meme.

[OhioBlue]

1. I understand where you are coming from

TRUST ME - my 28 year old b/f, his brothers and friends all love PS2 games - especially Madden. But alas, it is just a substitute for them drinking beer over a camp fire or playing cards. When they choose to waste time with the video game it isn't like they are substituting it for their normal, daily lives or responsibilities. They just seem to replace another entertainment apparatus.. I would choose a movie...

[annabanana]

2. Fewer hours plopped in front of baseball/football/basketball

/hockey games. .

alternative vegging out, that's all

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. When you say Video games my mental image is

pasty, surly, underachieving, overweight, violence-prone, obscenity spewing young adult males with over-developed thumbs, possible carpal tunnel and bloodshot eyes, combined with poor speaking and writing skills and absentee parents.

I see video games as a major player in the growth of illiteracy and a debasement of human decency. (I am speaking specifically about the violent, earn-points-by-shooting-people-in-the-head video games - not sports video games or actual game(strategy) games)

[Swede]

4. I agree,all the young boys and men I know are addicted.

I read somewhere that that is why there are no big block buster movies anymore,boys would rather play videos that go to the movies. I saw another local news item,the reporter was in a playground on a nice evening and there where no kids playing in it.

[keopeli]

5. many people play games, and many cultural myths deserve debunking

I can understand your frustration and sympathize. But, characterizing video games as a market for boys is not correct. Nor is the idea that games do nothing to help people but just distract from life.

Anything in excess is not a good idea. I'm just advocating knowing the realities outside of emotional reactions because of the tension that you're experiencing.

I hope you can find a place of peace on this issue.

Here's a link to a PBS article debunking some video game myths.

[GCP]

6. Oh No, distraction du jour on which to blame the collapse of society

People have had hobbies since the beginning of language. Or Chess. It's debatable which came first.

Yes, games are getting better, both more fun to play, more visually stunning ( and men love visual stuff - mmm bright shiny things! ) and so on and so forth.

But one thing you should realize is that video games are no longer single player. In his bedroom your son can now talk to people from all over the world, build friendships, and even help build the virtual world he is in.

Sure, exercise is good, and getting out and actually enjoying the real thing is even better, but just because your son locks himself in his room every night doesn't mean he isn't communicating.

[Philosoraptor]

7. actually rock and roll destroyed the world

not the neo cons

[Swede]

9. I think it may be a generation gap scenario.

I never linked gaming to violence or antisocial or gender issues,I just wish my nephews and their friends would go outside and play like I used to,but things change. Maybe I'm turning into an old fart.

[gatorboy]

8. The average age for a gamer is 30 years old.

I think this says less about their immaturity and more about what generation they come from. These are the people that grew up with the birth of video games.

[rug]

10. Maybe they're only looking at porn all night.

[Acadia Blue]

11. I visited secondlife.com and went into the virutal world and realized

how very seductive it is and cancelled because I was afraid I would be online all the time role playing in that increadible virtual world. It was awesome but it was like a drug.

[Akoto]

12. Well, as an online game programmer ...

I can assure you that I'm not out to destroy your children. Being in my twenties, I'm barely out of childhood myself.

Fact is, we all have hobbies. Do I play computer games a lot? Of course, I create them! Setting that aside, I also consider them to be my favorite hobby. Other people like sports, or physical crafts (as opposed to my digital ones), or cooking. I happen to like games.

I don't see why it's thought that one must abandon what they enjoyed in childhood once they pass a certain age.

Video games are no longer limited to Pong and Super Mario. There are games with thought-provoking stories, and worlds populated with all sorts of adult concepts and developed characters. There are complicated strategy games that allow you to build cities and empires, complete with diplomacy and financial management. A lot of this is stuff children would have a difficult time wrapping their minds around, so instead, they are geared toward the entertainment of adults.

Video games do not start and end at shoot 'em ups. I grew up just as Nintendo came around, and if anything, my love of strategy and role-playing games led me to be even more literate and thoughtful than I would've been.

That's not to say that one can't develop an unhealthy addiction. It's entirely possible to become too wrapped up in anything, and at that point, one should step away from the cause or seek help.

Responsible indulgence is another thing. Because someone prefers to spend their free time playing video games does not mean they're an addict or otherwise mentally unhealthy -- and I certainly don't consider myself to be a digital crack peddler to those who do. If they abandon all socialization, quit their job and become xenophobes? Yeah, then you've got a problem.

[gatorboy]

14. Hey that reminds me....

Who's up for some Battlefield 2 or Quake Arena right now? :P

Speaking of which. When Quake Arena came out, I'll admit, I might have played it a tad too much. So much in fact, that my wife hid the game from me (Luckily, I had a secret Quake stash, heh heh!)

[Warren DeMontague]

13. Pffffft.

Feh.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. I play computer games a lot. It's been probably my biggest hobby over

the last 20 plus years.

Basically it's a type of diversion. Somewhat more addictive, but the time spent would often have been spent in other "nonproductive" diversions as other posters have noted. I don't consider all my gaming time wasted as I enjoy it very much.

An excellent game (many games are crap) is a far superior entertainment experience to me than most movies (outside of the best movies), because my interaction with the game and influence on its environment is something that is missing in movies.

The biggest problem with gaming IMHO is the time lost to exercise and athletic activities, which has been a problem in my case.

[Philosoraptor]

16. why, when I was a lad we didn't have all these fancy schmancy games

and weeE LIKED IT!

[gatorboy]

18. How old are you if you don't mind me asking?

eom

[Philosoraptor]

19. 112

55

[gatorboy]

21. Now see that might have something to do with it.

I was just talking to my wife about this. I'm from the generation of Atari so I grew up with games. And some of the games grew up with us. I think that's what mystifies some. They're still thinking of video games for kids. And some still are. But there is a large market out there that decided to make games for the aging market.

[sweetheart]

17. As a computer programmer,

i find strategy games especially interesting, as i can practically reverse-engineer how the
heuristics the intference engine is using, (if playing against the computer), and its quite
fun to celibrate good art (ElectronicArts software team's development).

I used to like chess a great deal in youth, but the zero sum nature of the game left
me in antagonism with people whom i played and beat too often.

In computer games, its not so personal, and being good at a game is not an ego thing so like
in chess, and i can get back to enjoying the game itself, and its cool efficiency, its
intense engagement of my intellecual capacities just short of DU, a good strategy computer
game is better than GO. Go and Chess were created when they did not have dynamic software
objects and rotating 3d/4d displays to simulate war games. Now that war game simulation has
moved on, the world is forever changed, and like elecronic music has transformed music
forever, likewise video games.

The engines of modern video games are entire operating systems in and of themselves,
really the cutting edge of interface design, for effectiveness of information transfer,
and it teaches people about different sorts of media information paradigms by the very context
of adapting and learning different complex video gaming worlds.

Is there a meme? is playing video games not the optimal contribution to society i could be making?
If i am not working, does it matter what 'experience' it takes to refresh someone in our world?
Sometimes a mindless video game can chill a person out who is stressed in a world where
they face constant unknowns, to enjoy a system where there are some knowns, however
fantastic, its good to know that hobbiton exists.

One think about video games that's addicting is it keeps nasty people out of your face,
as the worst that can happen is like dying in a dream, then you wake up anew. Whereas
with people, its always something they want and need pathologically to complete their
perceived-to-be incomplete lives... and then life is a video game, and the people go around
with their money and buy different things, until they realize that its not about that.

But that presume's we're sitting here at the end of experience looking back, rather than
craven hungry for the novelty experiences our technological world has to offer, and
revelling in the mystery of it all.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

20. Oh I think there's a LOT of ego in losing at online gaming. Maybe not

QUITE so intense as typically happens in chess, but I'm not so sure. I've played a lot of online Starcraft/Broodwar matches, and there is an intense ego response to winning and losing, both on my end and my opponent's. Same with shooter games like Counterstrike.

[sweetheart]

23. Playing human opponents

Yes! I was talking about the genre of games where you play an expert system,
and nobody knows your score except you.

Human opponents, in deterministic zero-sum games inevitably have an ego
response as 'survival' instincts are triggered. Our generation has seen evolutions
of computers that can beat any human being at chess, and this rising computer
intelligence is what gives me hope for the benefit of learning systems designers.

A generation used to PC computer games is much more capable of desinging engaging
learning software, where a computer beats you in a game that teaches you a skill
you did not have before you played it.

[ContraBass Black]

22. They'll go nicely with the generation lost to Television

And the generation lost to Rock & Roll.

[Jcrowley]

24. And then some

Far from being a plain, vanilla tool, computers are a means for advancing
a particular mindset, he argues. That mindset is laden with Western ideas:
that abstract knowledge forms the basis of all thought and action; that
individuals make autonomous decisions; that language is a conduit through
which objective data and information can be communicated; and that change
is the expression of progress.

But when you consider the aspects of culture that can't be digitized, he
says, it is apparent that most of our knowledge is contextual, tacit, and
takes the form of interconnected patterns.

He contends that language, which computers use to communicate, reproduces
a group's way of thinking. The suggestion here is that computers can be a
tool of cultural imperialism.

"One of the implications of globalizing computers is that they undermine
culturally diverse ways of knowing, which are often attuned to the
intergenerational experience of living in a specific bioregion," he says.

Sure, he admits, computers can enable people with common interests to
communicate with each other and give them access to important
information. But the communities created by computers lack the richness of "real
world" communities.

What's missing from these virtual communities? There's no
intergenerational sharing of knowledge and patterns of moral reciprocity, no mentoring
relationships necessary for character building, no family and communal
narratives that help shape personal identities and values, and the
absence of a wide range of relationships that can't be commodified.

http://list.uvm.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0101b&L=communet&P=182

[shadowknows69]

25. My name is Shadow and I'm a gaming addict

I think I have a bigger game collection than a CD collection and for a professional wedding DJ that's saying something. My wife suffers in incredulous silence.