I agree, games are great painkillers. I've always used games (and chocolate) to distract me during my more sad periods.
201: Goodbye, Cruel World
- Thread starter Rob Zacny
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Just read this article recently although it's over a year old, but it definitely struck a chord.
Using video games or any entertainment to escape the problems of real life is something of an unhealthy course to take. While playing the game the problems of the real world still exist, and the problems probably get worse while evading their source. Momentary distraction to escape from a problem is never a solution, and waiting for a problem to go away never works in the long term.
The best games, I think, are the ones where by conquering the game you gain new insight and methods of thinking and problem-solving. Or games that feature problems that seem insurmountable, but can be conquered with some logic and discipline, and most importantly effort to solve the puzzle or correct the problem.
There's part of the article that goes into distraction as a method of dulling pain; I agree it's not enough to be simply distracted. Thinking about or playing Bubble Bobble in a time of crisis is not going to provide a mindset useful for conquering hardship or surviving in a less than optimal state.
Using video games or any entertainment to escape the problems of real life is something of an unhealthy course to take. While playing the game the problems of the real world still exist, and the problems probably get worse while evading their source. Momentary distraction to escape from a problem is never a solution, and waiting for a problem to go away never works in the long term.
The best games, I think, are the ones where by conquering the game you gain new insight and methods of thinking and problem-solving. Or games that feature problems that seem insurmountable, but can be conquered with some logic and discipline, and most importantly effort to solve the puzzle or correct the problem.
There's part of the article that goes into distraction as a method of dulling pain; I agree it's not enough to be simply distracted. Thinking about or playing Bubble Bobble in a time of crisis is not going to provide a mindset useful for conquering hardship or surviving in a less than optimal state.
I guess I am in agreement on this whole feature; I am not a big fan of Halo, by any stretch, but when my Girlfriend and I broke up, I ended up finding my friends (friends I knew for years through Elementary and High School), but I never really would hang out with them, and then for about two years and beyond now, I really got to know them, and know them over what?
Halo.
I can remember all of us playing four player Co-op, going through the entire story mission in about four and a half hours, switching controllers to the other two members when one of us died. I really got to know my friends through a game I never liked. I guess you could mark me down as a believer.
Halo.
I can remember all of us playing four player Co-op, going through the entire story mission in about four and a half hours, switching controllers to the other two members when one of us died. I really got to know my friends through a game I never liked. I guess you could mark me down as a believer.
Totally. Very interesting read, and I can see how videogaming has helped me. I was a bit of a nut-job as a kid, broken bones, cuts, head injuries... but I played games through all of it, and to be honest I can't even really remember the pain. Maybe that's why we often cling to the videogames and game characters that experience as children, maybe we even rely on them somewhat, to block out the memories. Maybe videogames can be said to make kids tougher, better at dealing with pain, and stress for that matter. I often get stress headaches, but truthfully I don't recall having a headache when playing games.
Pain is at it's worst when you have to sit and bare it, when you can't escape it... people in pain are better off at home dealing with it in their own way, instead of stuck in a hospital.
I think this is a great article, because it talks about the side of gaming that we all appreciate, the side that you won't read about in tabloid newspapers. People who don't play videogames just don't see the attraction, they make assumptions, and they can't appreciate the beneficial escapism that they provide. In the 80's Dominic Diamond made a documentary for the UK about videogame addiction, about how dangerous it can be for kids to play videogames, how compulsive playing rots the mind and all that crap. I'd like him to read this article, then I'd like to punch him in the thorax for ruining gaming for a nation of kids for at least 2 weeks... does anyone remember that?, I think every one of my gamer buddies got banned from gaming because of that dipshit.
Pain is at it's worst when you have to sit and bare it, when you can't escape it... people in pain are better off at home dealing with it in their own way, instead of stuck in a hospital.
I think this is a great article, because it talks about the side of gaming that we all appreciate, the side that you won't read about in tabloid newspapers. People who don't play videogames just don't see the attraction, they make assumptions, and they can't appreciate the beneficial escapism that they provide. In the 80's Dominic Diamond made a documentary for the UK about videogame addiction, about how dangerous it can be for kids to play videogames, how compulsive playing rots the mind and all that crap. I'd like him to read this article, then I'd like to punch him in the thorax for ruining gaming for a nation of kids for at least 2 weeks... does anyone remember that?, I think every one of my gamer buddies got banned from gaming because of that dipshit.
I think it's not that they don't play games. The vast majority don't do hobbies very much at all.