gaming Do you think videogames are bad? or good?

[omnusus 52]

All things in moderation, my friend. I don't buy into the idea that they make you violent--if you claim Grand Theft Auto made you steal a car, you had something wrong with you before hand. However, I don't think they're very good for you, either. They could temporarily relieve stress, but I don't think my life has been positively benefited by gaming, besides the fun factor.

[Koori 156]

I think the video games are quite good for you as long as you know the limits and what's right and wrong. I once made a slideshow about game violence, basing everything to articles where violent games were an influence to something (usually school shooting). ... And one of the games was Doom. That was at least 6 years ago. The thing was that most culprits couldn't tell the difference between reality and fantasy, though. The same thing can be said about car/racing games like Need for Speed or Burnout.

 

That been said, I really don't think video games are bad for you. In fact, most of them are very good. Puzzle and adventure games force you to use your brain power and think things through. Strategy and (at least some) FPS games make you strategize and survive. Simulators in turn teach you things, though not very realistically since you don't have, for example, an airplane panel in your living room. And then there're my favorite genre, RPG. RPG is like a movie or a book where you get to decide how to proceed (usually), what to use, how to fight. In other words, RPG combines strategy and brain power while the player can enjoy the story.

 

So yeah, I think the games are good for you as long as you don't go overboard and start thinking the game world is real and/or start living like in the game world. ... Imagine if someone started to live like someone from Skyrim.

Edited April 21, 2013 by Koori

[Derpius 138]

Video games are good, and if anything, are actually helping some people. I've heard that gaming helps ease Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (as long as the game isn't too violent, probably). They're a great source of entertainment for people of all ages, and there are countless titles and genres to choose from.

 

And yet there are still many people against gaming, particularly, Shooters. After the Newtown and Colorado theater shootings, many people, including some politicians, have blamed the rash of gun violence in America on violent video games. But what these people fail to understand is that FPS games aren't just about killing. In fact, many have compelling storylines (Halo),complex characters (Half Life), and encourage teamwork online (Battlefield). If these anti-gaming people,e would actually look deeper into gaming, they would find that it isn't what's causing violence.

 

But alas, most of these people still need a scapegoat for the unfortunate incidents that have happened in the past year, and what's better to blame than video games that appear at first glance to be nothing more than violence.

 

Sorry for ranting, but anyways, I just wanted to tell everypony that gaming doesn't make people violent.

 

 

But lag does.

[OEG5789 3]

Im not much of a "gamer" if thats the word you guys use, im not into the whole shotting games thing, i mostly play angry birds and stuff like that.

 

I dont think they are bad but, ive seen some videos of like "call of black ops warfare" or whatever that is called, and those games look a little to much. I think blood in games are super unnecesary

[Erza 581]

Well, it's good as long as i won't play it for 10 continuous hours and as for me...

As long as it won't include Nudity and Sexual reference.
That's my opinion.

[Thrashy 2,799]

As somepony who was practically raised on video games, I can say that they're just about one of the greatest forms of entertainment modern technology has to offer. Like movies, they offer the visuals, musical scores, characters and story elements that fuel the imagination of creative spirits. The difference, of course, being that the story progresses according to the player, rather than every event being preordained as in movies, leaving lots of room for exploration within the game world (for this reason, sandbox style games are my favorite). It is this type of exploration that I feel broadens the mind and prompts players to critically and creatively analyze different approaches to certain situations.

 

That said, I advise all who aren't too familiar with gamer culture to ignore all negative propaganda churned out by "activists" such as Jack Thompson, who constantly like to scapegoat violent video games for actual acts of violence. These claims are always completely unfounded and tend to ignore the principles of empirical observation (i.e., using scatterplot charts to correlate games to violence to make the fallacious claim that the former is the direct cause of the latter, even though scatterplots say do not dictate causality). In the face of misinformed naysayers like Thompson, all I can say to you is "Keep calm and game on."

[Gay Bird 420]

I play video games for the same reason I read a book or watch a movie, for the story. Certain parts of the game make it more fun like gameplay and graphics (like word choice in a book or cinematography and editing in a film). This is what video games have evolved to today, a medium for telling stories that you can get even closer in to. The best games are the ones that let you make your own decisions and explore a world independently. I do play other video games like tf2 or gary's mod just to have fun. Gary's mod has lots of different gamemodes, that make you be creative or think. TF2 is just plain fun! I do agree there are some video games that are a waste of time *cough* call of duty *cough* but most of the time I think gaming is a good entertainment medium.

[Coffee Cream 74]

I think that video games are fantastic! I heard on the news that gaming actually improves a person's logic by initiating problem-solving skills in game. I also heard on the news that gaming actually improves hand dexterity by how you manoever the controls. My main passion with video games is that it allows you to immerse yourself into someone else's story. It's like starring in a movie! The only downfall to video games that I can find is if you become addicted to them and if that addiction draws you away from the real world. Other than that, I am definitely pro-gaming!

[Paleopony 690]

To be honest playing video games is like watching a movie or a tv show or using the internet, you're just sitting down and staring at a screen. I don't understand people who think they are bad yet they sit all day watching tv or on the internet.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Paleopony

[Paleopony 690]

On 2012-09-11 at 7:40 PM, Demi said:

Also I don't believe in the whole video games make you violent thing either. I

There are a lot of violent things in movies and books too, not just video games.

[EpicEnergy 22,085]

They can be good or bad. They can be good because they give you feelings of success and accomplishment and they allow you to socialize. They can also be bad because overuse can get you addicted to them. In the end though, it is what you do with video games that makes them good or bad.

[Evil Pink One 12,990]

They're bad for you..... Why do you think we play it?

[Ice Princess Silky 10,821]

I love them! I don't think they're bad for you at all unless you play too excessively.

[Evil Pink One 12,990]

To be honest. It is bad. Instead of wasting time with video games  one could have honed ones skills instead. 

[Pentium100 2,057]

I think video games are, like many other things, good in moderation and bad if done too much. Yes, video games are a waste of time, but a lot of other things are as well. Very few people could be happy only sleeping, eating or doing something that makes them money. Yes, there are some people like that, but I am not one of them. I want to have fun once in a while.

When I was a kid, there was a time when I did not have a PC or when my PC time was limited, so I listened to music and read books (mostly science fiction) instead. There was a time when I had a PC at home, but no laptop (because laptops were expensive), so I read a lot when on vacation, I used to bring a stack of books back home. 

Of course, like with a lot of other things, you can overdo it. 

[Pony Flutters 530]

Video games can be bad mostly if one is addicted to them at the expense of anything else, but then again, so is any addiction to anything else. Gaming provides people with escapism and, compared to shows or movies, has a high degree of interactivity and choices over how the game goes, so its positive in that sense.