218 replies to this topic

[Jez]

rovertos, on 19 November 2004 - 03:58 PM, said:

C'mon face it, video games are a complete waste of your time! Every time you turn on your console you should be asking yourself "Is there something better I should be doing with my time... like reading a good book... or watching a good movie... or flirting with a beautiful girl? Do I get anything out of this, does this make me a better person?"

That is true in some respects I will grant you that!

However if you're a games designer/developer they're an invaluable tool to educate yourself, if all you have been doing throughout your own life is playing video games in your spare time (providing you have good written and spoken communication skills from school and the like), your best job will probably be actually games development which is a really lucrative business to be in.

You could get work at EA Sports (stands for Electronic Arts), I was with a guy who played alot of games at University during his spare time, when he'd got his other Uni work done at Leeds Uni in the UK and he found himself a job designing games at EA Sports.

Now he's earning more than me, I am incredibly jealous, but good for him is all I say he deserves it I think!

[wiser]

xboxrulz, on 20 November 2004 - 05:08 PM, said:

Games drives the modern world. Video games triggers your brain to think critically. It is a way to train your strategic part of the brain without something boring like chess. Video game is now essential for kids and teenagers.

Face it, if you take away your son's XBOX forever after he played it for 2 months (especially HALO 2), he'll melt or even take away his internet and all that stuff.

Side note: it also depends on his interests.

wow.... I'm sorry, but that's the most retarded thing I've ever heard and I've tolerated quite a few ridiculous claims. What you said isn't close to remotely true, even from a scientific point of view. If anything video games trigger your brain to turn into mush because it's a MINDLESS TASK. Even a retard, literally, can memorize the controls and master a video game, that's how easy it is. I hate to break the facts to you, but video games do not stimulate brain activity. Chess does stimulate brain activity. Period. End of story.
Read a book, flirt with a pretty girl, and exercise.

Jez, on 03 June 2011 - 02:20 PM, said:

That is true in some respects I will grant you that!

However if you're a games designer/developer they're an invaluable tool to educate yourself, if all you have been doing throughout your own life is playing video games in your spare time (providing you have good written and spoken communication skills from school and the like), your best job will probably be actually games development which is a really lucrative business to be in.

You could get work at EA Sports (stands for Electronic Arts), I was with a guy who played alot of games at University during his spare time, when he'd got his other Uni work done at Leeds Uni in the UK and he found himself a job designing games at EA Sports.

Now he's earning more than me, I am incredibly jealous, but good for him is all I say he deserves it I think!

No, his quote is 100% true. Video games didn't help your friend graduate, his natural intelligence level did, NOT video games.

Edited by wiser, 30 August 2011 - 11:14 PM.

[wiser]

Guest111, on 02 June 2011 - 01:53 PM, said:

Video games are no different from books or movies. They are just another form of entertainment. If some guy reads fantasy novels all day and ignores his other responsibilities, then he's really no better off than a WoW addict. He's spending his time in some alternate universe while his real life suffers. The key here is to make sure you are in control of how much time a day you spend playing video games. If you sit down to play for half an hour, then find yourself unable to get up and do something else after that time period expires, and instead end up playing for three hours, then you have a problem. Likewise, you also have a problem if you find everything else in your life to be a bore and can't wait to get home just so you can boot up your console or space-age gaming PC or whatever. As long as you maintain some form of balance in your life, don't neglect your job, your friends or your loved ones, then playing video games every now and then can't really hurt.

another completely nonsensical post... I blame the education system for failing children like this one.

[wiser]

spawn_syxx9, on 19 November 2004 - 05:02 PM, said:

I hear you on that man. But I usually play video games after I get home and it is around 2am. I have already studied and read all my books. I have usually spent over 12 hours with my significant other, and I'm probably really trying to bore myself to sleep ^^

But I do see what you mean. I do get pissed at those people who spend their entire lives playing games and not really accomplishing anything and then *BLEEP* about their lives.

This and the OP's post are the only sensible ones.

[wiser]

trp, on 21 November 2004 - 07:25 AM, said:

Well, of course if you take away something that a kid has been obsessively playing then s/he's going to be pissed, you can't say that just about video games.

And not all video games (in fact most) do not make you think critically. They are not essential for kids and teenagers!! Some games do, of course, for example puzzle games. However, many are just 'go in and shoot all the bad things while trying not to die', with possibly SOME thinking involved about what to do for that particular situation (ie Halo). But are you really going to face that situation in real life? Most likely not (unless you are in space and come across a huge ring with lots of life on it and the convenant trying to use it as a weapon to destroy life in the galaxy so that the swarm or whatever they're called don't have any food and will die...).

Anyway, videogames distract people from real life. True, this is not always a bad thing. It can be argued from both sides.

Actually, even if you played Halo for 10 years straight you STILL wouldn't be prepared for a real life war against aliens on a Halo shaped space structure. You wouldn't even be able to shoot right... It requires real life training to shoot a weapon, you will never even get amateur skills via a video game. Unless it's a simulation, which is completely different than a video game and even with a virtual simulation you cannot gain amateur skills.

[Jwhiz]

Despite the fact that this is a very old topic I still want to have some input on this. Yes I agree with the OP Games are a complete waste of time but if I didn't stumbled upon RPG, mmorpg, or Games and what not. It would of never inspired me to go on and learn web development which is currently what I am doing now and I am enjoying it.

[HoRuS]

Video games are like someone mentioned before just a form of entertainment and education (some). Some can see it as a way to forget real life problems. It starts to be a waste of time when you get addicted to them and play 24/7, or worse.

Personally Ive been there, done that, so I know when it starts to be a waste of time and energy, forgetting that whats really important.
Enjoy games, but moderate yourself

[Quatrux]

I fully agree, games are fun then you play them for entertainment or with the goal to finish it, some kind of a story or strategy, but those games which are designed for people to get addicted by growing their level and clicking and staying online as much as you can can really become a waste of time, especially those online facebook games from Zynga and similar, which is a total waste of time and money


But strategy games or games with good storyline and similar is just for entertainment and relaxation, the main thing just to not get addicted. There are not a lot of people who get addicted to reading books.