Anyone Else NOT Play Video Games?

[RadicalModerate]

I am the only one in America who doesn't dedicate multiple hours to video games?

Frankly, I find no joy in playing video games. At all. Save for a few minutes of Gran Turismo on my roommates 360 every few weeks, I do not understand the appeal of mashing buttons and making cartoons on a screen do things, especially for hours on end. Furthermore, I can't see why anyone over the age of 16 would even want to play video games. It's seems so detached and isolated and just...lame. Then there's the cost. Do "gamers" not realize how bilked they're being? $60, $70, $80 for a video game? The consoles themselves are hundreds of dollars. The game developers must be just rolling in their piles of cash, laughing at the dudes who wait outside for days on end to fork over their money for a CD or two of interactive cartoons. Then there's the video game media! Imagine that, a whole media segment dedicated to video games. Magazines, TV channels, countless websites and blogs, now even a goddamn CONFERENCE! How could someone possible make a entire CONFERENCE out of video games?! "

"Uh, yeah, did you play the one where you run around an imaginary 2D planet and kill some monsters?"

"Uh, no, I played the one where you drive around an imaginary 2D city and shoot people."

"Oh yeah, I played that, I totally drove around and shot people. Then I ran around and killed monsters."
I know, some dweebs take this sh!t dangerously serious. I'm sure this will raise a few blood pressures and pop a few zits at the mere suggestion of such heresy, but someone has to say it.

Video games and the whole culture around it is lame. Plain and simple.

Flame on, nerds.

 

[Centinel]

I am the only one in America who doesn't dedicate multiple hours to video games?

You're not alone. I don't either.

 

[a351]

Gave them up a year ago, Fruitless activity for me, Without their distraction I've actually acquired some useful skill-sets outside of the virtual world.

 

[samsmart]

I am the only one in America who doesn't dedicate multiple hours to video games?

Frankly, I find no joy in playing video games. At all. Save for a few minutes of Gran Turismo on my roommates 360 every few weeks, I do not understand the appeal of mashing buttons and making cartoons on a screen do things, especially for hours on end. Furthermore, I can't see why anyone over the age of 16 would even want to play video games. It's seems so detached and isolated and just...lame. Then there's the cost. Do "gamers" not realize how bilked they're being? $60, $70, $80 for a video game? The consoles themselves are hundreds of dollars. The game developers must be just rolling in their piles of cash, laughing at the dudes who wait outside for days on end to fork over their money for a CD or two of interactive cartoons. Then there's the video game media! Imagine that, a whole media segment dedicated to video games. Magazines, TV channels, countless websites and blogs, now even a goddamn CONFERENCE! How could someone possible make a entire CONFERENCE out of video games?! "

"Uh, yeah, did you play the one where you run around an imaginary 2D planet and kill some monsters?"

"Uh, no, I played the one where you drive around an imaginary 2D city and shoot people."

"Oh yeah, I played that, I totally drove around and shot people. Then I ran around and killed monsters."
I know, some dweebs take this sh!t dangerously serious. I'm sure this will raise a few blood pressures and pop a few zits at the mere suggestion of such heresy, but someone has to say it.

Video games and the whole culture around it is lame. Plain and simple.

Flame on, nerds.

I play them much less than I used to, though I don't begrudge others for playing them.

I think video games can be a solid medium of entertainment and storytelling, and so for that reason I enjoy it. I enjoy the interactivity of it as well. Another reason I like it is because it is a type of entertainment I can use to relax without requiring others, as when I want to play video games other people may want to do other things.

But, ultimately, video games is an entertainment, a hobby, a means to relax - not a productive activity in and of itself. I have more important activities that I can better spend my time on, and so I do.

However, when I'm bored or tired of everything else I'll play a few flash games to pass the time.

 

[RadicalModerate]

Gave them up a year ago, Fruitless activity for me, Without their distraction I've actually acquired some useful skill-sets outside of the virtual world.

You mean knowing the best way to win a difficult level of the newest video games doesn't translate into the real world???

 

[StillBallin75]

I am the only one in America who doesn't dedicate multiple hours to video games?

Frankly, I find no joy in playing video games. At all. Save for a few minutes of Gran Turismo on my roommates 360 every few weeks, I do not understand the appeal of mashing buttons and making cartoons on a screen do things, especially for hours on end. Furthermore, I can't see why anyone over the age of 16 would even want to play video games. It's seems so detached and isolated and just...lame. Then there's the cost. Do "gamers" not realize how bilked they're being? $60, $70, $80 for a video game? The consoles themselves are hundreds of dollars. The game developers must be just rolling in their piles of cash, laughing at the dudes who wait outside for days on end to fork over their money for a CD or two of interactive cartoons. Then there's the video game media! Imagine that, a whole media segment dedicated to video games. Magazines, TV channels, countless websites and blogs, now even a goddamn CONFERENCE! How could someone possible make a entire CONFERENCE out of video games?! "

"Uh, yeah, did you play the one where you run around an imaginary 2D planet and kill some monsters?"

"Uh, no, I played the one where you drive around an imaginary 2D city and shoot people."

"Oh yeah, I played that, I totally drove around and shot people. Then I ran around and killed monsters."
I know, some dweebs take this sh!t dangerously serious. I'm sure this will raise a few blood pressures and pop a few zits at the mere suggestion of such heresy, but someone has to say it.

Video games and the whole culture around it is lame. Plain and simple.

Flame on, nerds.

You can't participate in an online forum like this and not expect almost most of the members to be gamers of one sort or another.

 

[samsmart]

You can't participate in an online forum like this and not expect almost most of the members to be gamers of one sort or another.

Well, I think it's kind of funny, because I often think that a lot of the discussions that happen in this forum are just as much a waste of time as playing video games are.

 

[Helix]

i enjoyed playing for years, but then kind of got out of it. i think the last game i completed was GTA3, although i did play vice city and San Andreas for a while. just got to be so much of a time commitment that i couldn't fit it in anymore.

last system i bought was the first xbox.

 

[UtahBill]

Well, I think it's kind of funny, because I often think that a lot of the discussions that happen in this forum are just as much a waste of time as playing video games are.

Pre 1985, a neighbor tells me he lets his boys play the games because it improves their hand/eye coordination and that is desired for fighter pilots.
None of them got into college....

But like samsmart is right, this is a waste of time. After all my posts and all the time spent here, I don't think I have made a dent in the thick skulls of the extreme lefties or righties...

 

[Fiddytree]

I'm a pretty casual gamer, who happens to play the "hardcore" games, and despise that is what they call those kind of games.

Indeed, to me, the gaming culture is generally lame. It's a great way to relax, but really, I don't like glorifying it.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

I am the only one in America who doesn't dedicate multiple hours to video games?

Frankly, I find no joy in playing video games. At all. Save for a few minutes of Gran Turismo on my roommates 360 every few weeks, I do not understand the appeal of mashing buttons and making cartoons on a screen do things, especially for hours on end. Furthermore, I can't see why anyone over the age of 16 would even want to play video games. It's seems so detached and isolated and just...lame. Then there's the cost. Do "gamers" not realize how bilked they're being? $60, $70, $80 for a video game? The consoles themselves are hundreds of dollars. The game developers must be just rolling in their piles of cash, laughing at the dudes who wait outside for days on end to fork over their money for a CD or two of interactive cartoons. Then there's the video game media! Imagine that, a whole media segment dedicated to video games. Magazines, TV channels, countless websites and blogs, now even a goddamn CONFERENCE! How could someone possible make a entire CONFERENCE out of video games?! "

"Uh, yeah, did you play the one where you run around an imaginary 2D planet and kill some monsters?"

"Uh, no, I played the one where you drive around an imaginary 2D city and shoot people."

"Oh yeah, I played that, I totally drove around and shot people. Then I ran around and killed monsters."
I know, some dweebs take this sh!t dangerously serious. I'm sure this will raise a few blood pressures and pop a few zits at the mere suggestion of such heresy, but someone has to say it.

Video games and the whole culture around it is lame. Plain and simple.

Flame on, nerds.

Funny: a lot of people feel the same way about computers in general - which you're using right now to tap out your issues into cyberspace on this subject.

Why do you take the time to forum? :shrug:

For me: I like gaming - though I'm not into trying out every new game. Instead, I favor one. Unreal Tournament - because I can script for it and create my own anythings that I want and alter what's already there. My gaming isn't limited. I enjoy the maps that I play in - 3D environments with no limits to what you can imagine. You can travel ot dark ancient alien forests or visit the desolation of a deserted planet.

It's better than watching TV.

And I love using fake weaponry to kill fake things and have them hurl insults at me whilst I do it - and then earn awards such as 'Godlike' and 'Flak Monkey' from a female announcer's computerized voice that sounds like she's orgasming every time she squeals "UNSTOPPABLE"



Just who the hell wouldn't love that ****?

 

[HonestJoe]

I am the only one in America who doesn't dedicate multiple hours to video games?

I very much doubt it. Do you think that makes you special? Maybe you should let us know how you like to spend your free time and we can throw out some ignorant rants against that?

Playing video games is exactly as pointless as watching TV, films or sports or posting on internet forums. Some people get enjoyment, entertainment, relaxation from them and some people don't. I don't see the point in mindlessly insulting people for choosing to do something that you don't.

 

[RadicalModerate]

I very much doubt it. Do you think that makes you special? Maybe you should let us know how you like to spend your free time and we can throw out some ignorant rants against that?

Playing video games is exactly as pointless as watching TV, films or sports or posting on internet forums. Some people get enjoyment, entertainment, relaxation from them and some people don't. I don't see the point in mindlessly insulting people for choosing to do something that you don't.

People have their opinions, I have mine. I have just as much right to say video games are pointless, stupid and a waste of time as others have to say they are "art" roll. I wasn't "mindlessly insulting" something, I was offering my opinion on a very popular American activity for men of my generation.

Since you asked, my free time (what little I have) is spent...

-Watching movies and certain TV shows
-Reading Motor Trend, Skeptic, and The Week magazines
-Driving my car, other peoples cars, sweet rental cars and fantasizing about driving ultra-sport cars
-Working out, boxing and planning/cooking my borderline obsessively healthy meals
-Reading non-fiction (I don't like non-fiction)
-Learning bass guitar and playing the drums
-Listening to underground music of all genres, sometimes the same song over and over and over

Go ahead and make fun of any or all of them. I don't care.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

I have just as much right to say video games are pointless, stupid and a waste of time

Yeah - sure it is. . . I like them because they are a pointless, stupid, waste of time when I have time to waste and feel like wasting it

When I spend all my time doing the necessities in life - without much else for fun - I feel worn out.

But again: gaming for me is what I do when I've done all my work and chores - it IS my break. If I have other things that need to be done I don't play. So I'm not pulled into it quite as much as others can be.

 

[RadicalModerate]

Why do you take the time to forum? :shrug:

Some gamers I know like to say that it's a social thing, playing online. I never got that; the socialization seems limited to A. complaining about the game being played, B. complaining about other players online or C. insulting and dogging on each other mercilessly.

At least on DP, there can occasionally be some semblance of rational discussion about pertinent issues and ideas.

 

[Your Star]

I am the only one in America who doesn't dedicate multiple hours to video games?

Frankly, I find no joy in playing video games. At all. Save for a few minutes of Gran Turismo on my roommates 360 every few weeks, I do not understand the appeal of mashing buttons and making cartoons on a screen do things, especially for hours on end. Furthermore, I can't see why anyone over the age of 16 would even want to play video games. It's seems so detached and isolated and just...lame. Then there's the cost. Do "gamers" not realize how bilked they're being? $60, $70, $80 for a video game? The consoles themselves are hundreds of dollars. The game developers must be just rolling in their piles of cash, laughing at the dudes who wait outside for days on end to fork over their money for a CD or two of interactive cartoons. Then there's the video game media! Imagine that, a whole media segment dedicated to video games. Magazines, TV channels, countless websites and blogs, now even a goddamn CONFERENCE! How could someone possible make a entire CONFERENCE out of video games?! "

"Uh, yeah, did you play the one where you run around an imaginary 2D planet and kill some monsters?"

"Uh, no, I played the one where you drive around an imaginary 2D city and shoot people."

"Oh yeah, I played that, I totally drove around and shot people. Then I ran around and killed monsters."
I know, some dweebs take this sh!t dangerously serious. I'm sure this will raise a few blood pressures and pop a few zits at the mere suggestion of such heresy, but someone has to say it.

Video games and the whole culture around it is lame. Plain and simple.

Flame on, nerds.

This made me laugh the most :lamo

If you can't find the joy in games, then don't play them. I've been playing all my life, and find lots of joy, and fun to be had. Nothing better then delving into a good RPG, getting lost in the world, and story. Fun times.

 

[RadicalModerate]

Yeah - sure it is. . . I like them because they are a pointless, stupid, waste of time when I have time to waste and feel like wasting it

When I spend all my time doing the necessities in life - without much else for fun - I feel worn out.

...which is why I'm not trying to convince anyone to stop playing them. Or ban them. Or anything that would interfere with your boring hobby. :lol:

 

[MKULTRABOY]

-Watching movies and certain TV shows
-Reading Motor Trend, Skeptic, and The Week magazines
-Driving my car, other peoples cars, sweet rental cars and fantasizing about driving ultra-sport cars
-Working out, boxing and planning/cooking my borderline obsessively healthy meals
-Reading non-fiction (I don't like non-fiction)
-Learning bass guitar and playing the drums
-Listening to underground music of all genres, sometimes the same song over and over and over

wow...

I play world of warcraft at least 3hrs a day. And I don't feel this lame.

 

[StillBallin75]

RM, I'm not understanding why you feel such disdain about video games over other types of entertainment that you engage in. Movies, reading magazines, driving for the sake of driving, all are equally wasteful of time in my opinion. That's the point of entertainment. To have fun and waste time.

 

[RadicalModerate]

RM, I'm not understanding why you feel such disdain about video games over other types of entertainment that you engage in. Movies, reading magazines, driving for the sake of driving, all are equally wasteful of time in my opinion. That's the point of entertainment. To have fun and waste time.

Feel free to make a thread about your disdain.

To answer your question (of sorts); I'd much rather be a talented driver than a talented gamer. One has real world implications, one does not. Plus, you've a better chance of getting laid in the back of a car than in front of a Playstation.

 

[MKULTRABOY]

Feel free to make a thread about your disdain.

To answer your question (of sorts); I'd much rather be a talented driver than a talented gamer. One has real world implications, one does not. Plus, you've a better chance of getting laid in the back of a car than in front of a Playstation.

Assumption, being a gamer has little or nothing to do with chances of getting laid, which is pretty hot talk from someone who wishes they had a proper car. Car's don't get you a lay like they used to, I bet in the 80s a fat bald man with a Lamborghini could bang anything he wanted.

 

[ThePlayDrive]

I haven't played any video game in several months, but only because I've been busy with projects that will not allow the wasted hours that will surely happen if I start again. Whenever my workload lessons, however, I will. I like video games. They are incredibly fun. I, like others, can't understand why you have such a hostile attitude towards them. I consider myself an intelligent person who thinks about serious, "real-world" things plenty. However, I also enjoy leisure time and since my leisure time is just about fun, I have no problem filling it with video games (if time allows for it).

 

[StillBallin75]

Feel free to make a thread about your disdain.

To answer your question (of sorts); I'd much rather be a talented driver than a talented gamer. One has real world implications, one does not. Plus, you've a better chance of getting laid in the back of a car than in front of a Playstation.

Well, going to a bar or a club gives you a better chance of getting laid than either of those. What's your point? I don't play games in order to get laid. People play games for fun, same as any other form of entertainment.

 

[400321]

Haters gonna hate.

Besides video games being a rather enjoyable form of entertainment, one of the things I really enjoyed about video games was the community surrounding them. In referring to this community, it makes sense why a conference would pop up, its just like star trek fans. They all like it, so they all get together and discuss it. Why not? Adds to the experience of the game. For example, I just loved flitting around on youtube watching fan-made animations and videos of games. Especially games by Valve. While I have put video games and the community behind me in order to move on in life, the best thing about the game is not the game itself, but the community.

So in essence, video games aren't just for dead-brain fatties, but are in fact have a rich community surrounding them that spawns culture, interesting discussions and such. I don't think that's lame at all.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Feel free to make a thread about your disdain.

To answer your question (of sorts); I'd much rather be a talented driver than a talented gamer. One has real world implications, one does not. Plus, you've a better chance of getting laid in the back of a car than in front of a Playstation.

Aaaaah damnit - I do both! *gaaah* :lol:

Actually - my gaming abilities (beyond the game-play, but the scripting and designing) has been beneficial in many ways in my life. so I thusly assert it has very hefty real-life benefits.

Beyond being an immense consumer of time when I have time to consume. . . it stirs creativity which was helpful in the past with my jewelry crafting business.

It involves a lot of math and basic computer-programming skills which have proven helpful to me in my mathematics courses (when it comes to more complex equations and graphing - etc).

Of course - having my comp-programming knowledge is helpful in or out of said scripting program.

It was also quite helpful to use the scripting program for UT2K as a schematics program when I do plumbing and other such home-improvement tidbits. I can map out, save and render the skins and skeletal framework of various elements that I use often such as plumbing fittings - etc. There are a lot of home-improvement programs out there but many are VERY expensive and the free or cheap ones are unreliable, inaccurate or too limited.

It's also helped - a lot - with the design for my cabinetry in the kitchen . . . which has taken on this cool medieval monestary look - and the plans I have for my lighting are straight out of a map in Unreal called 'Griffin'

so - it's no big deal to 'not like to do something' - but you're doing yourself a disservice by dismissing the potential benefits of such skill or knowledge.

And talk about financial security: if you're a Bullfrog or Unreal executive you have a nice, comfortable living culled out for yourself. Nerds unite - and make a living