Is video gaming a waste of time?

[tec699]

What do you accomplish by playing a video game? Hand-eye coordination? Self satisfaction that you just completed a hard level? I guess that's it, but look at the negatives: possible lack of sleep, lack of social interaction, and lack of getting meaningful activities done, such as doing homework. With all the time that some people devote to gaming do you guys think that it's a waste of time? You could learn a new language but instead most video gamers would rather play Ut2K4 until 3am.

I'm just asking guys. When I play a video game I get this feeling that I should be doing something else. I just played a 3 hour session of GTA: Vice City and I feel like I just wasted 3 hours. Do you guys ever feel like this when you finish a long gaming session? How do you effectively balance gaming/work/social life? Has anyone here given up video games because you got addicted?

I'm asking this because I'm seriously thinking about giving up video games altogether.

Sorry for the ramble.

 

[jtusa]

Can I have your consoles and games?

 

[Cuda1447]

Happiness. Its a hobby. If you enjoy it, do it in your spare time. Gaming has been a major part of my life since I was young, I intend to keep it so. I enjoy gaming.

 

[konakona]

well life is a waste of a time. while we are at it, we might as well waste it with a style

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: jtusa4
Can I have your consoles and games?

I'm only a PC gamer.

 

[thawolfman]

Originally posted by: Cuda1447
Happiness. Its a hobby. If you enjoy it, do it in your spare time. Gaming has been a major part of my life since I was young, I intend to keep it so. I enjoy gaming.

:beer:

 

[deftron]

What do you accomplish from living considering you will die ?

Video gamers get unlimited lives (up,up,down,down,left,right,B,A,start)

 

[Fritzo]

It's a hobby- a form of entertainment. You just spent 5-10 minutes making that post, you could have been doing something else. I play a lot of guitar- I could be cleaning the basement, but the guitar is more fun. Instead of watching TV you could be finding a cure for cancer---and so on and so on. If gaming is interfering with your life, stop playing them. If you're feeling guilty because you're enjoying yourself, you may have a problem.

 

[thirdlegstump]

It's a complete waste of time and money.

 

[Deleted member 4644]

good question. I often wonder the same thing. At the moment I have a copy of Star Wars Galaxies running on my main computer. I have been sitting here a good part of the day doing nothing but eating and playing that.

In a way, thats sick (I'm 22 btw).

But...

I just got back from a few days in big bear where I had a great time with people my age and socialized until I could barely move .. lol.

I also dont have school for a few more days.. so..

I dont feel that bad. At the same time, I know there are times when Ive been on the computer (either games or other things) when I REALLY should have been doing something else....

 

[MetalMat]

Good topic my man.

Basically it boils down to the fact that video gaming is just another form of entertainment, basically being entertained is not providing anything directly to society.

I love video games, but I dont swear by them. If I had a whole bunch of time I would be playing video games out the wazoo, like some of my friends without jobs (parents support them) in college do. I have to weigh the fact in that I am in school, social life, work, excercise, band, etc....

Video gaming is so awesome though, I did it so much for so long but I think my time to start growing up a little more is coming. Besides playing my gameboy color sometimes before I go to bed I dont even do a quarter of the video gaming I did in my late teens. But man, I had some fun times playing Ultima Online......

Tommorow, however, I am spending much of the day playing pc games at my friend Jeff's house. We can expect UT 2004, Starcraft, Quake 3, and other strategy games (like the star wars one). Its gonna rock.

 

[Orsorum]

Yes.

 

[StageLeft]

Of course it is. It's entertainment, much like watching a sports game. I hate the latter and would consider it even more of a waste of time; at least video gaming is interactive. If you feel like you're spending too much time on it, find another activity like hitting the gym or something

 

[cmp1223]

http://telemedicine.weblogsinc...ntry/5721616626215816/

 

[Balt]

Everyone needs a hobby to help them relieve a little stress.

I get my relief from shooting people (in games).

 

[Sluggo]

Its entertainment, just like going to a movie.

Could you be doing something productive instead? Sure, but all work and no relaxation isnt the key to success.

I break it down into entertainment for amount of money. Say you buy a video game for $50, and get 10 hours of play. $5 an hour for good entertainment, not a bad deal. Some games you get so many hours of fun it breaks down into pennies. I cant count the number of hours I played Carmageddon, or CS.

 

[spidey07]

i do it for that time called "leisure"

I get enough done in each day. I deserve some mindless stuff.

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: cmp1223
http://telemedicine.weblogsinc...ntry/5721616626215816/

Yea, I've seen the article. I'll read it when I get home.

I have to go to work.

 

[tec699]

I agree. Video gaming is entertainment, BUT what movie will have you watching the screen for 8 hours straight? I'm sure most here have been through long gaming sessions. I'm talking 4 hours and higher. I'll watch a movie and that's it, but with gaming it's hard for me to put away at times. I'll play for hours and that the possibility is because it's interactive. Movies, television and radio are more passive so they aren't as addictive as playing video games.

just a guess.

 

[Cuda1447]

Originally posted by: LordSegan
good question. I often wonder the same thing. At the moment I have a copy of Star Wars Galaxies running on my main computer. I have been sitting here a good part of the day doing nothing but eating and playing that.

In a way, thats sick (I'm 22 btw).

But...

I just got back from a few days in big bear where I had a great time with people my age and socialized until I could barely move .. lol.

I also dont have school for a few more days.. so..

I dont feel that bad. At the same time, I know there are times when Ive been on the computer (either games or other things) when I REALLY should have been doing something else....

How is SWG? I was considering buying it. I used to be huge into CS, so Im wondering if this will be a good FPS?


*edit* nm, Thought you said you had SWB (battlefront)

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: tec699
I agree. Video gaming is entertainment, BUT what movie will have you watching the screen for 8 hours straight? I'm sure most here have been through long gaming sessions. I'm talking 4 hours and higher. I'll watch a movie and that's it, but with gaming it's hard for me to put away at times. I'll play for hours and that the possibility is because it's interactive. Movies, television and radio are more passive so they aren't as addictive as playing video games.

just a guess.

I wonder how many people that bought the Star Wars Trilogy this week sat down and watched all three movies straight through, plus a few hours of extras. More than your or I would guess I think.

 

[Super56K]

I definately see what you mean about them being a waste of time. I sometimes feel that way about reading books also. I just enjoy reading too much though so I always make time to do it. That usually means only getting six hours of sleep instead of eight or so on the weekdays and everyonce in a while I'll be up nearly all night reading(mainly on a weekend). I don't really feel like I've accomplished anything other than maybe increasing my vocabulary a bit while engrossing myself into a good story. I'll steer this back on topic now...

I used to be addicted to this drug called "Diablo 2". It totally sucked my life away. I look back on those few years and wish I had found something better to do. Now, my gaming is propably only for a few hours everyother day or so on average.

I agree with Fritzo about this being a hobby/form of entertainment. I enjoy time spent at my computer or playing games. Hell, I think I proved my joy of computers/gaming by posting on an internet message board on a Friday night. Lol.

 

[Chompman]

Bleh, just wait until WoW is released and then you will see if it's a waste of time

 

[nietsni3]

thsi is what my economics teacher called opportunity cost

actually OP, i feel you. i havent got a proper answer for myself either. so i ended up RMAing my video card so taht i can see wat it feel like to stay off games a couple weeks...

 

[jiffylube1024]

My take on it: casual video gaming is a blessing that only these past couple generations have been able to do; frequent (and obsessive) video gaming is detrimental to everything: your social life, your physical health, your school grades (when in school) and just about everything.

I'm a pretty typical guy in my early 20's I'd say (a bit on the geekish side, perhaps? I dunno).

I play video games about 1-2 hours a day, plus or minus an hour. I work out fairly frequently, both weights and sport. Usually I play some Warcraft 3 after class just to relax; occasionally I play UT 2k4 or Doom3 or another shooter for the same reason, stress relief and just to go into numb-brain mode for a couple of hours where I don't have to think.

As a kid I grew up in front of the game box. I was a huge fan of the SNES RPG's (in my early teens when the SNES was popular); I've beaten Final Fantasy II and III about four times each, for example and FF7 three times through. I was a big console gamer up until this generation; now I just don't have time for it with school (university), work and other priorities. I own a fairly big collection of console systems from the years: NES, SNES, PSX, PS2, Gamecube, Gameboy, GBA, etc.

Gaming (especially FPS gaming) does improve both your hand-eye coordination and your spatial perception; I read recently in a study that people who had played FPS's frequently had the ability to keep track of twice the amount of moving objects around their periphery. The test was how many cars a driver could monitor around them before they start to kind of blur together; the FPS gamers could monitor quite accurately ~20 cars around them; non-FPS players started to lose track at about 10.


Gaming is a plus and a minus in my book. Playing RPG's taught me old-school English way before anyone else in my agegroup knew what "Thee" or "Thou" meant. It also taught me such phrases as "parry" and "flank" at quite a young age. Still, had I been reading the whole time, I would undoubtedly be smarter than just gaming all the time .

Also during grade school (talking grade 3-6 here), I became a pudgy kid in my youth because of afterschool gaming (often 3-5 hours per night for those Final Fantasies), and it undoubtedly stunted by Basketball skill (I could have been so much better if I practised more), my social life in pre-highschool (man was I a dork in grade 7 and 8) and delayed my sexual life (curse you video games!).

Is video gaming a waste of time?

I think it is like pretty much everything else there is to do in life; good in moderation, bad in excess. When I was playing Diablo 2 for 8 hours a day in the summer six years ago, that was terrible. When I play Warcraft 3 after a boring lecture now, to ease myself into some reading, I think it's great .


Edit: Oh yeah - stay away from WoW and MMORPG's. Those things are so addictive it's dangerous (and I'm not even joking).