Gamers : What Do You Say About This video ?

Gamers: What Do You Say About This video ?

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preachy console gamer dribble. Want to yammer on about cretinous entertainment for the masses - go complain about TV or hollywood.

Duh, entertainment and indulging oneself has no lasting value beyond temporary enjoyment, but as humans we all engage in some form of escapist behaviour - for all but the budhhist monk, it's necessary and unavoidable.

Be glad gaming takes at least some thought and an ounce of social skill and community and that's pounds more than what the average 'joe' does when s/he plops themselves down in front of a TV for 6 hours or more.

edit: I concede the ending sentiments expressed in the video save face a bit, though not many would make it that far.

 

Awesome Video! Sounds like the dude is about my same age and I kinda realize the same things. Except I never wasted hundreds or thousands of hours in games like WoW. I DID spend quite a bit of time playing with a friend or friends in LAN or chatting while playing with friends though.

Games can consume your life. You can put off other things because you want to play a game, and you can get caught up in it quite a bit.

Either way, good points made in this video.

 

He starts out with the false equivalencies that are so popular with the anti-gaming crowd (either have a life OR play video games, don't moderate both to have both), but then he turns around with the PAX stuff... not every gamer is fat and lonely, and by and large, I would say car culture and fast food have more to do with the fat part and the increasing compartmentalization and frenetic pace of life have more to do with lonliness.

Just as with anything, hobby, food, or otherwise, if you let it take over your life, gaming can become bad. But if you let it be a part rather than the whole of your life, it can be enriching and rewarding. And at the end of the day, if you get joy out of your high scores, how is that really any less valuable than the corporate tool who gets off on his promotion to district technology vice-chairman?

 

Hm that was a long video, why couldn't he have posted a simple picture of a super sized gamer with the warning saying: keep everything in proportion.

This would have made the message just as good, without wasting 5 minutes of our precious time...

 

@nthony described it perfectly: preachy.

 

I'm playing games 2-3 hours, but I'm not watching TV . If need to watch TV no Game. It just about balance. If you know how to manage time, you have zero problem.

BTW I'm using FB every morning to see updates/b'days .Only take 15 min. No chatting/Gaming/Applications. I don't know why people are so addicted to FB?

 

Let's see ...
I used to play games A LOT when growing up.
Until 6 years ago, I completely stopped.
Then recently started up again, but only with rare titles that peak my interests (mostly games that have an engaging storyline/gameplay and make you think ... which is quite little).

True ... I spent days in a row playing Mass Effect 2 ... but for the most part, it was in the evening hours and through the night (because I was not feeling tired and in the middle of looking for a job).
Throughout the day though, I was going about my business for the most part doing various things that can be called 'having a life'.

There are some decent points in this short flick, but also a lot of generalization.
Nothing new really ... and ultimately, we cannot really judge others on their habits.

As for the guy who created the video in the first place ... games may have contributed to his overall situation (divorced, overweight and depressed) but ultimately, he alone allowed it to reach such a level despite the fact he could have avoided it.

I still go out and meet people (though not often, and never did, because I'm not too social individual by nature), also exercise and look actively for a job.

Most of the time I use my laptop for looking up information.

Then again, I don't play MMORPG's.
I seriously considered ST:O ... though, after playing the Beta (which I usually did again in the evening hours), I was ultimately disappointed with it because of everything it failed in delivering.

Gaming is a part of my life, but definitely not in the same (huge) capacity as it was for the duration of my childhood.
It's rare for the most part, and it doesn't interfere with my 'life' to begin with.

 

I'll admit I spent too much time in WoW a year ago. But that was about it in my gaming career. Even then I still only have one character, never had time for a 2nd.

I think gamers who have issues as this person may have, have other underlying issues and problems that need to be addressed.

 

Not that interesting.

What do non-gamers do with their life? There are those who spend just as much time getting high, doing drugs, etc. That's more "social" than gaming, but I wouldn't say it's healthier. There's sports, which makes you more active and healthy, but otherwise is that any better than gaming? After all, it's "entertainment", and "has no lasting value" (other than health and maybe friends).

Gaming hasn't made me that much of a worse person, really. I've spent tons of time playing games, but I'm still going to go for my PhD next Fall. Who cares if gaming made me smarter or have better reflexes? Reading Harry Potter wouldn't have done that either.

 

Best advice-movie I've ever seen. All that is 100 % true.
We should play video-games only when there's nothing more adding to your life to do - and that means you did all your jobs and hobby's ( aside from video games ofcourse ) scheduled for a day already.

 

message: don't play WoW if you expect to have a life.

sounds right to me.

 

Preachy propaganda. I'm not saying there aren't a few valid points, but the argument is flawed. If video games control your life, then it's because you allowed them to.

I'm about to turn 25 and I've always played lots of games, console mainly and a little PC. For example I played WoW for years (quit shortly after WOTLK), I just finished Dragon Age, last night I played MAG for 3 hours straight. I also work two jobs, lift weights, play in adult league sports, have a house, a wife, 2 dogs, a Mustang (which is another time/money consuming hobby all together), and usually see my friends/family every weekend.

Everyone has hobbies, if we didn't we'd go insane. To me life isn't about how productive you can be in a given time frame, but how much you enjoy it. I'm proof that you can game actively and still "have a life".

 

And here we go again...

WoW or any video game can indeed destroy your life if you don't know how to manage it in the first place.

It's always the same story going round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round...

 

Hmmm...

Not sure that I'll ever regret the time that I spent playing video games...of course, the Atari 2600 was slightly more social since you had to sit side-by-side with your friend/brother/sister/parent to play Combat...

I probably will regret the money that I've spent on video games and consoles when I'm still working at age 78...of course, I'll also regret the jet skis, the motorcycle, the monthly trips to Kings' Island, the semi-annual trips to Orlando or San Francisco, the annual audio receiver purchase to keep up with Dolby, Dolby Digital, Digital EX, DTS, etc...but I refuse to live my life afraid of the future...difficult to do/enjoy some things in your later years...

In the end, playing video games does not make one a 'loser'...reading 'War and Peace' does not make you a 'winner'...having a level 80 character on WoW does not make you a 'winner'...not knowing Spanish or French does not make you a 'loser'...the whole 'winner/loser' concept is so high school-ish and people that still think in those terms beyond high school probably need to re-evaluate their social integration...

The sad truth is that, other than possibly our children, for better or for worse, most of us that pass through this plastic place will leave very little impression on it even if we aggressively pursue the altruistic route...

Enjoy life and don't be a burden to others...and if enjoyment is watching every season of 'The Office' or 'The Biggest Loser' or competing in marathons or playing video games then so be it...

The video, while raising what I would call addiction awareness (and for some reason, it seems video gamers struggle with addictive personalities more than other groups of people), implies that if you give up video games and devote that time, energy and other resources (money?) to other causes that you may be able to stem global warming or solve the feudal/tribal conflicts in Africa so that the people can finally concentrate on feeding themselves...simply not true...you can help and it will probably make you feel more worthwhile, but in the end, I will let no one determine how I spend my leisure hours...I personally find excessive facebooking, twittering and blogging to be more detrimental than video gaming...but then maybe blogging is equivalent to 500 letters to grandmother...

Time to get back to playing Indiana Jones Lego 2 on the 360 with my 7-year old...he's not quite loser enough and maybe, just maybe, I can completely ruin him by the fifth grade...

Sincerely,
Dave
Not unhappy, not divorced, not overweight, mostly well grounded in reality

 

Sounds about right to me. While the video was directed at games, the message wasn't. The message was directed at people who just "exist." They don't care to live life. They don't care to risk it all. In fact, they don't care to risk anything.

I'm glad it uses a direct voice and sounds "preachy." Too many of us don't risk anything and expect to gain everything.

 

As irrational as the argument is, I feel good that the guy was able to wean himself off of videogames that was obviously taking over his life, much like a drug. It is unfortunate that it took him so long to do so.

The biggest mistake/assumption that he makes in the video: that gamers must trade virtual reality for actual reality. And that if you want to play video games, you must give up your social/professional/health/etc. obligations to do so. And making the implication that the two cannot peacefully and successfully coexist. While it is obvious that he made those idiotic choices, for other people they can enjoy video gaming as part of their entertainment and still lead a normal life...otherwise the video gaming industry wouldn't be making billions a year. There are plenty of people who are perfectly successful in their professional and personal lives and still enjoy video gaming. Now obivously, for some people, like this man, video gaming consumed his life and ruined him. But I think he is in somewhat irresponsible in placing so much blame on video games when in reality, to me at least, that the player has the bigger share of the blame since I believe in a strong concept of personal responsibility.

 

Great vid, love the part where he says

"were the first generation who have to find a balance between technology improving and taking over your life."

Will share this, thanks.

 

AMAZING video... really welldone

 

Each human being is responsible for his actions, his emotional state, his life and the paths he chooses.

Games did not destroy this man's life, this man destroyed his own life.

Games are not responsible for anything.

A human being to needs to take full responsability for the things that happens in his life if he wants to succeed.

Dont go about blaming games. YOU choose the path to the ruining of your life. millions of gamers out there are not.

Dont blame a car because you drove it 200 km/h into a wall.

People need to start taking responsaiblity for their actions.

But I do understand what the guy is trying to say in the video, hes just got it wrong. At least he's trying to help others from his misfortune.


(I predict this thread to blow up in flames like a house on fire

 

well made video, and some of his points are well founded, but at the same time its your choice not to study and play video games instead.
does reading a book make you more sociable? does studying for 4 hours a night make you more sociable? doing those things can make you just as much a recluse as anything else.

agreed, WoW has a lot to answer for. to my knowledge, no other game has ever been directly blamed as a source of crime. theft of paid-for items in the game? is it theft? well, yes. its your property, but in digital form.
there have been several real life murders due to theft of items in warcraft, friendships torn apart, people losing jobs, health, homes, because they ignored real life problems and retreated to where they feel successful.

i hate warcraft and will never play it for the reasons ive detailed above, but at the same time, my housemate plays it, and he still comes out to socialise. hes not overweight, he has relationships, and we are both at university.

i play a lot of games, ive been with my girlfriend almost a year now, im at university, im on a good path. il admit i play games for too long qute often and miss some things because of it, but thats my choice.
if i didnt play games, what would i do? vegitate infront of the tv? i could study, but i dont want to be a genius. i know what i want to do, i want to be an underpaid, overworked forensic scientist, but i enjoy it.

i think enjoying life is more important than having a life that looks good on paper. i enjoy videogames. im not suffering because of it, so il continue to play. if i wasnt enjoying life, i would remove the unenjoyable part of it, video games, alcohol, driving or whatever.

so balance stuff out and do what you enjoy.

 

I've spent more money on books than I've spent on games, which is saying something. My mini-library is packed with various novels, most of which are about aliens blowing up.

And of course the token graphic novels and TPBs.


In the end, the overarching message of the video is what every momma teaches her child: Everything in moderation. There are gamerholics. There also alcoholics and workaholics.

 

Definitely agree with several of the posters here: this guy has problems, but video games aren't it.

 

no, but both activities listed make you smarter and more intelligent.

to say that video games do the same is a stretch, in my opinion.

 

I'm going to have to agree with Masterchef here. Books make you far more intelligent than video games will ever do. 4 hours of reading has an influence that is far more outreaching than video games. Seriously.

Back before TV, people use to learn 6 different languages before the age of 14. On top of that they had the problem solving abilities that would kick the crap out of anyone here. In the Ancient times, Jewish scholars had entire books of the Bible memorized because there were so few copies to pass around. It was the norm to just memorize them cause that was faster.

And people today complain about reading a friggin instruction manual.......

 

Reading a book makes you more intelligent?

Reading this



Makes you more intelligent than playing this:



What is intelligence? A high IQ? A high general knowledge? Being able to get where you want to in life?

Reading a "book" does not make you more intelligent than playing a "game" (I consider life it self to be a game you play following certain rules)

People have hobbies, things they do do enjoy life, playing video games is one of them.

This video is about a man that failed to succeed in life by destroying it doing nothing else than playing video games.

Its shouldnt be about why video games are bad. They are a form of entertainment like reading, Cinema, Theater. ENTERTAINMENT!

Imma gonna make a video telling the whole world how BOOKS ruined my life because I did nothing but read them 15 hours a day because I love the fantasy universe I get plunged in by reading them. Then imma gonna come on this forum and share this with you. Then imma read how you agree that books are evil and bad.

Come on. Read my post above, Each and every human being is responsible for his actions, lets not go blaming games now.

EDIT: I read the whole 90 ish book SW collection, and played most SW games, neither made me more intelligent. both stimulated my imaginary in different forms. both gave me entertainment pleasure, NONE RUINED MY LIFE.

 

Tell me who here complains about reading an instruction manual? you inventing random happening? as a matter of fact who is "PEOPLE"?

You failed your history classes? do I even need to argue what you just said here bringing you back 100 years ago? where every 14 year old spoke 6 languages? right thats not what i was taught.

 

The reason why even reading an entertainment book provides far more than video games is because it forces you to comprehend, create an imagery and build a continuum. Just look at all the studies that bash TV watching. The brain is not challenged but rather is just spoon fed information. Our sight is the most powerful sense and it overrides our ability to comprehend.

There is a psych experiment. Colors of the rainbow are listed, but the color of each word does not correspond to the meaning.

When asked to name the color of the word, people will read the word, rather than the color of the word. It goes to show how powerful our sense of sight is and how it overrides even our ability to comprehend instructions.

Any other good example is to tell someone to touch their forehead. As you are giving the instruction, touch your chin. They will involuntarily touch their chin.

 

was worth my 5 minutes

 

Far more what?

 

This is a very interesting and stimulating discussion. I just hope it doesn't escalate to straight up warfare. My 2 cents is summed up by 1 word: "Balance" It ain't easy to achieve but that's what we should all hope to attain. If you play a really good game for 3 days straight, maybe chill for a couple days after that doing other stuff (or maybe game a little less)...I love gaming and have had too much fun playing to call it worthless.

 

Very interesting video. I can say my life is pretty great considering the amounts of hours I play games. I admit, I do play video games a lot but I don't let it totally consume my life. I worry about my grades, my health, and a bunch of other stuff non video game related. A few years ago I did play video games a little TOO much and I did see the effect it was causing me but lately I have been a lot more balanced.

But it isn't the games fault though...its the people that play them and cant control the balance..

 

I don't think he thrust all the blame onto video games.

I think that while that was the initial case, he, as an intelligent human being, realized that it was HIS fault.

Human beings are responsible for how they take their lives.

I think he's just warning about things consuming people in general, and that his 'consumer' was video games.

PurpleSkyz has it right.




P.S. Live at cause, not at effect.

 

I'm highly skeptical of the idea that reading a book is "better" than playing a video game.

Sure, reading stimulates the imagination, but so do video games! Just in different ways. And video games can force you to think (puzzles, strategy), and they can tell a story just as powerful as any book. Don't try to tell me that Harry Potter is more intellectual material than the story of Baldur's Gate, and even Bioshock's atmosphere makes you think and try to imagine what Rapture was like before 1959. Hell, Halo is a lot more mentally stimulating than some books - at least you can play on Legendary and you have to figure out how to bring down enemies 5 times stronger and more accurate than you are.

Back before TV, the only thing most people learned was how to work on a farm or in a factory. Don't kid yourself, we don't live in any more of an intellectually lazy society than we did at any point in the past. At least we have public schooling for everyone, which is an invention of the past century or so.

Hell, I've played video games, I've read books, I've played sports, and none of it has ruined my life or made me explosively better as a person than I would otherwise be.

I agree with Jack Nicholson as The Joker.

 

Ive got no idea where most people are pulling their "facts" from and have no idea from what countries you are, but i know for a fact that my mothers parents didnt even have the money to send all of their kids for studies back then (and thats 40~ years ago). My uncle left the house and started working alone at age 18 and so on. Not to mention they werent a poor family (they had a factory and a driving lesson "company").

So im very curious as to which those people are that they were all learning 6 languages at the age of 14.... Except if people still keep talking about extremes.

As for challenging your brain apparently people haven't played many multiplayer games or if they did it seems they sucked at it. Most multiplayer games (excluding spray and pray games) need a large amount of concentration and the ability to think ahead of the person you are playing against.

Since most people like to talk about WoW, if you played arenas are high rankings (2400+) i'm sure you know what im talking about..

All and all, depends on what you want from your life. You want money, knowledge, etc. If someone just wants to be happy and games make him happy then why he should change that ?

Some people are happy with reading books, others going to the gym 24/7, others watching tv till they fall asleep, others go to bar etc, others play games. What makes you happy is whats important, IMO of course.

 

And if you read sci-fi books by Baen writers, you can learn how fast a two-ton object has to move before it has the kinetic energy equivalent to a one-kiloton nuclear explosion. Really.

I can agree that reading is nominally better. I know for sure my prose and general grammar skills have improved the more and more I've read.

On the other hand, I think my imagination has gotten more ideas from the audio-visual spectrum than pure reading. Seeing something--I usually find my mind churning during epic battle scenes, like during Lord of the Rings--definitely gives a jumpstart to creative thinking.

Of course, your mileage is going to vary, since I consider myself a hardcore visual learner/thinker. I honestly have a hard time solving relatively simple math problems unless I can scribble on a piece of paper.

 

Half-way through I decided to stop the video because, well, I had already gotten the point, and he started playing the stereotypes, which is foul play if you ever want to get a point across. A CEO, surgeon, president, what-have-you can be just as much a fat, lazy, depressed slob as anyone else.

Problem is, it's a one lane point of view. Hmmm, trade video games for family? Fair enough. Hmmm, trade video games for friends? Ok, I'll settle. Hmmm, trade video games for creativity? Sure, why not?

Videogaming is entertainment, but define entertainment. Define work, Define life. You think it's that easy? You really think it's that easy to make a point and change lives?

Ultimately, it is up to you, who you are and what you want to be. Unfortunately, I have already realized no matter what I do, or you do, or the neighbor does, it means nothing. I can make millions, it means nothing. I can get a nobel peace prize, it means nothing. Life is a game, and that's all it is. We are one among billions of other lives living in the same, synthetic bubble. Day by day, the situation becomes worse. We're just as much a virus as the "dreaded" Swine Flu.

If there's anything one needs to get by in life, it's happiness. Whatever makes you happy, buddy.

And I'll define depression for you. Depression is when you fall out of the loop, the game, life. For every up, there is a down. I can guarantee you, you can strive for as high as you can, but eventually you come down, and that's depression. When you consume yourself outside the real game, you know, like in videogames, it's almost like postponing depression. It's just as much a drug as anything else. Generally speaking, it's a good idea to avoid it, but remember (!), whatever makes you happy. The author of the video is rather depressed, so he wants you to join him

And if you want to know, I haven't owned a console since my 360 broke years ago, and I've sold my gaming laptop some months ago. I'm clean. For me, videogaming is a pastime, but also a temporary patch. I do generally find that when I'm "depressed", I game more, but I don't feel the depression. Eventually something happens in life, an epiphany of sorts, and I drop the gaming for a while. You can attach any sort of habit to your current mood, or psych. It could be eating, it could be drugs, it could be TV, it could be socializing, it could be art, it could be creativity. What everyone doesn't know is everybody enjoys everything, and simply denying something because it doesn't attribute to your chosen aptitude is plain silly.

Meh, mindless jibber jabber, but alcohol is good mmmkay? Can you tell me why I type better when I'm intoxicated? Didn't think so.

 

Books spur one sort of mental development, games another. Books aren't going to do a damn thing for your spatial/temporal reasoning. Games will do very little if anything for your verbal skills. As many developmental psychologists have found, playing games is an exteremly important part of development and mental fitness. Not the only part, but an important part.

Eating food is an important part of development and fitness too, but too much food will put you out of order too. As the recurring theme of this thread goes, balance is key. Anything to an extreme will end up badly.

 

That video only shows what the creator has yet to realise, not the other way round. He should use the time to take classes as he suggests in history, anthropology, sociology...

We are not the "first generation forced to find a balance between letting technology improve our lives or risk allowing it to dominate us". If you haven't managed to gather that computers were not beginning of technology, then I wouldn't blame wow for that, you look like more of an idiot.

Gaming is not inferior compared to things that you might be able to put on your CV (that's a résumé for the Americans, or seeing as he puts "there is no place on a resume for xbox acheivements", I can only take this to mean he believes you can't pause and take the credit when gaming. He is hardcore.) or driving across country (isn't that more mindless?) or reading fiction or cooking turkeys (eh? was that even funny?) or even apparently learn two foreign languages fluently in a few days. It replaces a history of time wasting measures and gratifyingly and psychologically healthy anti social pastimes, that have existed since the dawn of humanity, and are all part of a balance that other posters here recognise. Simply because he did nothing else does not mean he can blame this for his addiction, lack of personality or a neurological condition.

I can't even begin here to really point out how moronic and egotistical this guy is. He thought he was being profound on wow and left to make toons on youtube. Nothing has changed mate and neither will you significantly. We all occupy our time based on what wavelength we're on and our circumstances. Get over yourself and accept who you are. Trying harder to get attention doesn't make you any more worthy of it.

He claims video gaming is only really ok if you meet up with people for it. Did we really want to watch a video that advertises his need for friends by obfuscating it with a nonsense critique and shallow blaming? He would have been better off drawing something good that represents how his wife left him and he's a terrible father, selling it and buying a copy of mass effect 2, another for his daughter and a second controller for the hooker.

 

Okay. Well, as to the youtube toon comment, he was targeting his audience. This could easily be a "This I believe" essay for npr, but its not gonna get heard there. He did this to appeal to his audience.

And i don't think hes saying that that makes it okay, what hes saying is that that's an aspect that brings something to the table and is beneficial to the human soul.

I cant tell you how many friends Ive made from games. My gaming experience extends off the screen, into TCGs, and pen and paper RPGS, tabletop games like Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, even some casual larping. Now those, those challenge a person to think, and exercise their imagination, use critical thinking skills and strategy, just to name a few. LARPing is one of the most physical things ive done, and thats coming from someone who is a cyclist, enjoys rock climbing, skiing, hiking, and a long time fencer. Now i grew up on rts and turn based strategy games like Alpha Cenaturi and C&C. Tell me those don't require you to think.

However, Games aren't always a good thing. I used to read a ridiculous amount. My family has a small library, with books on some of the most outlandish things. We have a great deal of books on being an arborist for example. Since Ive integrated technology into my life heavily, Ive found that that has changed a great deal. I have a much harder time engaging myself in books. This however, can be avoided with balance. With some people, like the video creator, its an everything or nothing situation. This can be seen in the literature of various 12 step recovery programs, if you have that big of a problem, then its something that needs to be eliminated from your life.

Its a case to case thing, and everyone has different issues.

 

Nope. Look at his site:

http://www.brianschmoyer.com/

Note that he says, "The irony is now that I have lots of free time, I can't seem to bring myself to make anything creative."

He specifically says that "healthy gamers do not dwell away on games".

He says video games have "overwhelming negative effects" on "his generation". Not only can he not distinguish between generations (or doesn't want to) he can't tell the difference between the way he treats things and how others do, preferring to blame the games rather than himself. That's probably why his wife left him as well.

He says that he is teaching us that his issues are a "lesson" to ALL those who play video games alone. Even if it does relate to some people in those circumstances, he stupidly tars everyone like that with the same brush. He clearly wants to think everyone who games alone is as sad and lonely as he is, and is reaching out in an attention seeking way, but to anyone less self conscious than he is it just looks pitiful.

 

Only ~3 hours away from 100 total hours on L4D2! Must...continue...playing.

brb.

 

Some of you obviously didn't watch the video to the end. That makes a perfect case for attention span...

 

I saw the ending where he says computers maybe aren't half bad, after saying they are "overwhelming negative" etc, as there are communities based around them. Then going on to reemphasize not using a computer alone and contradicting himself.

I don't take advice on becoming teetotal from a fake reformed alcoholic. He's a joke. Needs a different form of therapy than preaching in the street that he's born again.

 

I only play single player titles now because they all end which I pretty much require due to my obsessive personality. So for example my 90+ hour binge (a string of 8+ hour sessions) on Fallout 3 ended conclusively last week without ruining my life. I'll take a few weeks off and then try something else. I had a LOTRO account for a while and when I realized what kind of hours I was pulling I simply had to dump it. Cool game though, I still feel the draw!

 

there is a consistent overall theme in the video and in most of the posts that I definitely agree with, which is a simple principle for life: Moderation.

Overdoing anything can be a bad thing, just ask my 10 year old nephew who gorged on three big bags of cheetos one day and now can't stand the sight of them. Play a game here and there, but don't let it dominate you. Set limits for yourself on how to balance work and play, and stick to it. I think the MMORPG crowd tends to be most susceptible here when it comes to overconsumption.

As for the video itself, good topic, glad he did it, although at times the execution was obnoxious.

His line about " we are the first generation forced to find a balance between letting technology improve our lives or risk allowing it to dominate us" was laughable. Eli Whitney and his cotton gin, Robert Oppenheimer and the nuclear bomb, and all the factory workers during the propagation of the assembly line might all have something about that. Our love-hate relationship with technology spans countless generations, let's not get carried away here.

 

I'm with you on this one. There is a bad case of overreaction and soundbites here.

 

I disagree. While some people obviously didn't watch the whole thing, many of us did, and recognized this for another anti-gaming fear-mongering piece. This is a video by and about a guy who couldn't balance his life and ended up losing much because of that. Now instead of trying to achieve balance, what he did is take a strong reactionary response and try to transfer that same response to others. The guy is a loser, obviously, but as others have said, rather than taking responsibility for his own state of life, he is trying to transfer blame on to video games. It's an easy answer that absolves him of any responsibility, but it is not a responsible or balanced answer.

I don't think anyone here is saying that throwing your life away to gaming is good. But throwing your life away to anything is bad, that doesn't make the thing bad, it makes throwing your life away bad. That's not the message that this guy is putting out though.

 

The end of the video, he never blamed video games for throwing his life away but his own decisions to play the games.

This video could of been about billiards and have had the same lesson.

 

This video is so true. I started gaming just like him when I was young with Atari all the way to PC, and now looking back through the years it actually took a toll on my social life. I even have to admit it probably was the cause of my break up with the mother of my kids who I've been with for 8 years.

Movies are prophetic and some have story lines that mimic or portray reality. The wizardry of electronic entertainment, not just video games but social networks or even the internet, dumbs people down and hypnotizes them. It reminds me of the Batman movie I believe it was the Joker who put a multimedia box in everyone's home and all the citizens were hypnotized in a negative way. It also reminds me why the Bible has a verse about not dabbling in wizardry, which modern electronics are, because it takes away from you being fully human and interacting in a fully human way without an artificial interface.