Page 1 of 1

Negative impact of gaming.

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:01 pm
by 3DOKid
I, despite what I write on forums, am a 'good boy'. No drugs, beyond cigarettes and beer. Never been in a fight. Never been involved in a car crash. Never cheated on the wife. I do social job. Where i interact with new people every day. I don't worship the devil. None of things the 80s claimed i would do, if i played video games.

But lately, i've had a burning desire to be engaged on a mission. I've tried reading, watching movies, my job, but everything is a bit meh. That sounds weird. I played Sniper 2, Sniper 2 Nazi Zombie Army, Shockwave 2 on the 3DO recently, and noticed i felt more empty and pointless when the game ended.

Have games taught me my life is worthless unless I am on some sort of critical crusade be it real or virtual? Do other people, non-gaming people, find 'cause' in the mundane. Is gaming more damaging than TV?

What I'm asking is, am i more weird than I initially thought I was? It's been troubling me. Mostly because i'm really bloody bored. Mega-bored. Super-Mega-Bored.

Re: Negative impact of gaming.

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 9:03 pm
by goldenband
3DOKid wrote:Have games taught me my life is worthless unless I am on some sort of critical crusade be it real or virtual? Do other people, non-gaming people, find 'cause' in the mundane. Is gaming more damaging than TV?
All forms of media, old and new, push us to see ourselves as heroic protagonists in some grand saga. Never satisfied, always in conflict, we're supposed to be forever taking up arms against/imposing our will on something -- even if that something is just the world itself.

(This is especially true for men, I think. How many movies, books, or games encourage us to see the value in avoiding violence, seeing our enemies as human beings rather than the Evil Other, and de-escalating conflicts so that all may live in peace?)

Contentment is the enemy of consumer culture, so yeah, pretty much everything out there is trying to get you to feel unsettled and uneasy. Contented, self-grounded, humble people don't buy nearly as much stuff, especially stuff they don't actually need! And it's damned insidious, because if everyone thinks their life is pushing inexorably towards an unavoidable fight -- then, well, if all you (think you) have is a hammer...

Re: Negative impact of gaming.

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 3:26 am
by Trev
Hmmm ... sometimes if I get bored with gaming (or any other hobbies) its just because I want something different. For example, maybe I'm playing action games when my mood is more suited to an rpg or graphic adventure. By owning such a large collection, and with so many choices readily available (depending on my cash situation) I don't usually get bored.

Re: Negative impact of gaming.

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 5:58 pm
by Martin III
goldenband wrote:
3DOKid wrote:Have games taught me my life is worthless unless I am on some sort of critical crusade be it real or virtual? Do other people, non-gaming people, find 'cause' in the mundane. Is gaming more damaging than TV?
All forms of media, old and new, push us to see ourselves as heroic protagonists in some grand saga. Never satisfied, always in conflict, we're supposed to be forever taking up arms against/imposing our will on something -- even if that something is just the world itself.

(This is especially true for men, I think. How many movies, books, or games encourage us to see the value in avoiding violence, seeing our enemies as human beings rather than the Evil Other, and de-escalating conflicts so that all may live in peace?)

Contentment is the enemy of consumer culture, so yeah, pretty much everything out there is trying to get you to feel unsettled and uneasy. Contented, self-grounded, humble people don't buy nearly as much stuff, especially stuff they don't actually need! And it's damned insidious, because if everyone thinks their life is pushing inexorably towards an unavoidable fight -- then, well, if all you (think you) have is a hammer...
I really don't think we need media to make us unsettled. Before the printing press was invented, allowing media to be widely disseminated for the first time, people weren't just laying around completely contented with doing nothing. Discontentment with a lack of accomplishment is perfectly natural, and not the problem. The problem is lack of accomplishment.

Re: Negative impact of gaming.

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 5:59 pm
by NeoGeoNinja
goldenband wrote:Contentment is the enemy of consumer culture, so yeah, pretty much everything out there is trying to get you to feel unsettled and uneasy.
Pretty much this.

From your physical appearance to your mobile phone to your choice in gaming to the food you eat.

Avoid consumer culture (rammed down our throats 24/7) as much as is practical and feel more content.

Works for me.

Completely off-topic though, sorry, but had to chime in...

Re: Negative impact of gaming.

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 5:56 pm
by JohnnyDude
3DOKid wrote:I, despite what I write on forums, am a 'good boy'. No drugs, beyond cigarettes and beer. Never been in a fight. Never been involved in a car crash. Never cheated on the wife. I do social job. Where i interact with new people every day. I don't worship the devil. None of things the 80s claimed i would do, if i played video games.

But lately, i've had a burning desire to be engaged on a mission. I've tried reading, watching movies, my job, but everything is a bit meh. That sounds weird. I played Sniper 2, Sniper 2 Nazi Zombie Army, Shockwave 2 on the 3DO recently, and noticed i felt more empty and pointless when the game ended.

Have games taught me my life is worthless unless I am on some sort of critical crusade be it real or virtual? Do other people, non-gaming people, find 'cause' in the mundane. Is gaming more damaging than TV?

What I'm asking is, am i more weird than I initially thought I was? It's been troubling me. Mostly because i'm really bloody bored. Mega-bored. Super-Mega-Bored.
I suspect I've hit the same wall a few times. I don't know if it's the same as what you've run into. I used to enjoy obsessing about video games without questioning why I enjoy them. I didn't really have to until I noticed they got boring to me. But, they definitely got boring to me somewhere and I eventually did figure out why.

I figured out that a lot of forces caused the apathy. First and foremost I hate where the industry is going. Most new games are not difficult or engaging to me. Secondly, all my friends have gotten bored with the industry in the same way. As a result, the social aspect of gaming to me had slowly dwindled away. Third is external, but I'm no longer in school and so meeting people requires more effort; it's no longer just a given. Because of that last reason, video game's lack of social benefit becomes more of a cost. I may play a good obscure game, but it's detrimental if I can't share that experience with anyone.

So, the solution for me has been to make video games social again. I usually only play games if someone else is playing it as well. For example, my friend and I are each independently playing through (and enduring) Majora's Mask, but we talk about it frequently. I'm just lucky enough to know a handful of people that aren't just entirely disenchanted with gaming nowadays. The forums help me with this too, by the way.

Other than that, it goes without saying that finding purpose/fulfillment other places works well, but that's a bigger and more difficult problem. :)

Re: Negative impact of gaming.

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:07 pm
by T2KFreeker
I wouldn't say you are weird, Kid. I'd say you are having a normal reaction to gaming. It's like down the road when you get that gratifying feeling when you remember Space Hulk with your buddies. How awesome it was and how amazing it was to finally beat it and how you get that itch to play it again. It hit's so differently at that time though because it may have been a bit since you have played it though. The only time I would be worried is if one day you decide to get a sniper rifle and are laying on a roof somehwere peeing yourself so you don't move looking for your target for days on end. That's when things may be getting a little overboard. :wink:

Re: Negative impact of gaming.

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 6:52 pm
by sneth
There are lots of less stimulating things out there. The only gaming i sometimes regret is the 1000's of hours put into MMO's. But even that is just barely.