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How do older people in your life view video games?
capt001
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When I was growing up, it was Pong, Pac Man and Space Invaders. Having a games console was a very family social experience, and when the market moved towards computers, they were seen as highly educational because some programming skill was needed to even get the thing to boot up.
Certainly my family are very PC aware, and they just view it as a pastime like any other. My parents are Apple fanatics though. I work with three '50 somethings' as well and they all play games of some sort on their computers.
Don't let it bother you if anyone frowns at your hobby. You don't need their permission or approval. There are some funny people out there, with some funny ideas. I just wished I had more time to play on my PC.
My PoV: it's fun, I'm not buying/using drugs, it's fun, I'm not ignoring "real" aspects of my life and it's fun.
I would say watching TV and reading trashy pulp novels are equally similar "wastes of time".
I'd say "wasting" your time in a modern society is relative to your situation in life.
If you are out of college, don't have a job and should be getting one to support yourself and instead you spend every waking moment in video games or similar recreation activity, yes you are most likely wasting your time.
If you are playing video games, or watching TV, in a few spare hours a night to relax.
Then that's just good old fashioned recreation, and playing a video game is no worse than the endless volumes of pure garbage you can watch on TV.
Unfortunately video games still have a stigma.
On the other hand, casual gaming like farmville, words with friends and other cheap and easy games will slowly see more and more of the general populace playing some kind of a video game.
I'm assuming people saying that spend 20 hours a day working and 4 hours sleeping their whole lives, dying having contributed a tremendous deal to society... somehow?
I hope they enjoy their time being a cog, sounds like a blast.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
College: They all felt I should be utterly overwhelmed by the homework and not have time to waste on triviality. Dean's list? Not good enough, obviously you're slacking.
Out of college: "Shouldn't you be at a job interview?" ("It's 10 PM." was not an acceptable answer)
Working: "Shouldn't you be out... I don't know, looking for a better job? Giving me grandchildren before I die?"
Now: "Oh, you're married and you own your own business, you obviously have your life together and anything you do is worthy of my respect. What's that one about?" ("That's my briefcase. For work." no longer an acceptable answer apparently)
Now, I'm bringing home less right now than I did before going into business for myself, my wife and I lived together when I was working, but somehow I am now "together" enough that I'm allowed to pursue my own interests free of judgement.
And that's the silly thing: The stigma isn't on gaming, but gamers, and for terrible reasons, some arbitrary qualification where you're adult enough to enjoy childish things again, like my mother-in-law's doll collection or my mother's love of vintage cartoons.
There is one exception. My grandmother is still disappointed I stopped writing, and feels time I spend doing anything (even running my business) is time I should be spending publishing books. But I was never as good as she thought and the only thing I ever produced worth publishing was a technical manual.
It's all a matter of perspective from one's maturity and interests; from one's different phases of life and the way that people's perceptions change (or probably more accurately - doesn't change) as they mature. If someone is not interested in something, they will not follow it and a certain perceptions of it that may or may not be true after time. Also, as people mature their perspectives become more practical.
Games can provide recreation, relaxation, creativity and some level of social interactions. Games also come and go.
Everything in moderation, real life should always come first and make goals to build a good life.
(Sorry, I am not qualified to answer your question. But thought a perspective from another "elder's" standpoint might be of help also. Not everyone thinks the same.)
SCE ADVISORY NOTICE: Improper Impulse Engine maintenance can result in REAR THRUSTER LEAKAGE. ALWAYS have your work inspected by another qualified officer.
- "That's different," she says. "I'm socializing with my friends." :rolleyes:
My dad used to think they're a waste of time, but then he discovered Call of Duty. Now every time I come home odds are I'll find him in the rec room with my little brother, my uncle or alone sniping zombies.
(EDIT: I'm in my late 20s, they're both in their late 50s and semi-retired.)
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
i know this machine is a time waster and i know i should get away from it, as almost as if my life revolves around this tin can with plastic boards. but its like a form of addiction, very hard to break and when you try, you hang on even harder to keep from being thrown off the side. but nothing else in life concerns me much and money has no interest to me other then keeping it for the tax man and weekly shopping. i dont have a "life" and i dont care much, but it depends how you define what a life is.
to my father, he considers computer games to be a colossal waste of time, to him its a "variation on a theme", when i was younger i though that was a pile of TRIBBLE, but i see its true for myself. consider games like battlefield, wolf enemy territory and cod series, its all shooters with the same basic thing but a different title as an example. same with star wars, star trek and freelancer its all based in space, it all has aliens, all has combat and politics, only difference again is the name. people are blind to this because its one of a newest release but i dont care about that as i can get the game anytime. the point is that my father said this and its true.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
My wife used to think it was a waste, until I told her I could be at the bars hanging out with friends, at least I am in the house. This was five years ago.
When I first started playing, the Enterprise looked like this: o=
Star Wars ships looked like:
>0<
|-o-|
<-o->
Games only become a problem if you don't have a real life otherwise. There are studies that show that gamers are better problem solvers than non-gamers. I don't know if a causal link has been established.
STO Forum member since before February 2010.
STO Academy's excellent skill planner here: Link
I actually avoid success entirely. It doesn't get me what I want, and the consequences for failure are slim. -- markhawman
I REMEMBER THAT!
I play STO and only STO... and never thought of rationalizing it until one day where I spent nearly six hours in a row into the wee hours of the next morning and found myself being glared upon by my wife!
Imagine her relief and happiness when she saw STO instead of what she at first feared: TRIBBLE... LOL
STO has become my "me" time and a great way to connect with my childhood, especially the ship models. How nice to be able to fly them now!
...Oh wait, I do. I'm in their Black Ops clan. They manage the records.
:cool:
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5RSngCFpsc
I don't know why people who say that someone who plays games for about 3 hours would be an addict. When most films are much longer.
Considering the low-grade level TV and even the news are on these days, I'd say your teacher needs a reality check.
Videogames at least dont try to pretend to be real... They don't hide the fact that they are fiction, compared to the news that, while having a certain level of realism, present the "truth" in the manner that sells the most.
In my family, I am pretty sure I am the only one who spends time on games... I am sure my family thinks of it as waste of time (I am 28 btw), but in the end, when I come home from work, kids are put to bed and GF is on facebook, games are the place I can go to, to clear my head and relax without having to bother with the customized reality that is TV/newspapers.
P.S. Yes I spelt "farcebook" and no it was not a typo.
When I was alot younger I was into video games, not to much I was more the "outside" type. It was more the odd occasion of me playing them. The good old floppy disk gaming days haha. After that little phase I was always doing something outside. Never touched a video game or watched much tv. Always finding myself playing "army" in the forest with my cousins or friends, going to school mtv dances, ect.
Then I met this one guy and he got me hooked on mortal kombat. After that day I was glued to video games.
My parents always thought I was very addicted to them when I hit my early 20's. I rarely went outside anymore, always doing something online with the guilds I was part of. Didnt really socialize that much eather. Guess I got my party habbits out quickly then some others my age now. My parents always tryed to pull me away from video games, always trying to get me to do something outside, like walks or something with them.
Now 32, going on 33, its all I do now. I love video games, its my break of the "every day" and its a good stress relief for me. I still socialize, go on dates ect but for the most part Im all about video games and movies these days. And Im very proud of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy1zDBW_UAw
I still play video games, and it's better than gluing myself in front of the TV in the evenings.Besides, it's not like a drug habit,or other horrible vices you could be engaged in.I wish video games were as good as they are now, when I was 19. I plan to be a gamer until the day I die, and I look forward to what the future holds for the industry.Never feel that your hobby is a waste of time OP.:cool:
There are many physical and psychological benefits to gaming, but as with all things, only in moderation.
People who criticize video games have:
A) Never tried it.
C) Said so because they think it's the mature/proper/popular thing to say, in other words they're a sheeple.
D) Other pastimes that take up their free time that may be more or less socially acceptable than gaming.
E) No free time to play video games, have hobbies or any form of pastime, in other words a mindless labor drone that thinks the only reason to live is to do nothing but work until you die.
When I graduated HS, my dad thought I was foolish for using some of my grad money to buy a Super NES. Even though he was really into watching WWF and was almost late to his wedding to my mom because he was watching TV...
Pretty much every generation looks down on the one behind for being into "childish" things even though they themselves are into things their parents' generation would consider childish.
Now what people of all ages find odd is that I am also a collector of retro hardware and software. When I tell people that I have an Atari 2600 and currently have ~90 carts they look at me kinda funny.
Ha, thanks for the advice guys.
I hope that this will become my future:D.
I'll sit in front of my computer while listening to music, watching the football game, getting drunk and yelling at my monitor because some idiot screwed up the stf.
Who says men can't multitask? :P
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
I make sure when I do play it don't interfere with our lives as well. So I mainly play when she is sleeping in on weekends, or if I'm off work and she isn't, or when she is watching a TV show I don't care to watch. So it shows I'm not addicted to it. As she don't see playing on it all the time. And not doing things for family or work.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
That's just an average day. There are times I will be reading a book and surfing the net in addition to what I mentioned.
People around me... well... when we were all younger they all love games as much as I do. I guess getting married and raising a family changes that. My luck with women is pretty bad so that didn't happen for me.
"Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*