Actually, these incidents don't go into detail and actually say the idea was from a video game, but this strategy has been in the Metal Gear series since its inception in 1987. The scenario is that you hide yourself in a cardboard box in the back of a particular truck, and said truck goes into a base where you sneak around all stealthy. The incidents above are the same, just in reverse order.
I had a discussion with a coworker last night regarding video games. She doesn't like them at all because, as she says, people simply spend too much time playing them, and should instead do something active or productive. I argued that most anybody could serve to be more active than they are, and that video games didn't cause any laziness, rather, that lazy people would simply keep playing instead of doing other things. She didn't like that, as her son was level 80 on World of Warcraft (after learning of this, she made him sell the account. He got about $1,000 for it, too).
The discussion continued in a strange direction, as she was absolutely convinced that video games are addictive, a quality that other entertainment doesn't have. She was going on about it like it was an epidemic of massive proportions, and that today's technology made certain tasks too easy, so that kids today didn't value being active and play sports (my jock of a little brother would like to say otherwise). I told her that many lifestyles include video games in them that are very active. Hell, many NFL players play the latest Madden when they are on the road between games. Everyone that can be called a professional gamer in the US, one that goes to tournaments, someone in a league, that sort of thing, has an active lifestyle. The reason they do is because exercise and good diet increase reflexes and coordination, which are vital skills in a competition. And, of course, look at the Wii.
Looking at it in general, she's not totally out of line with her assessment. There are rare cases of addiction to video games, mostly in Asiatic countries. The games themselves are interactive and goal-oriented, so when a goal is completed, a sense of accomplishment arises in players. Couple this with an escapist scenario found in many games, and what you have is someone who is not in total control of their life, but in the game they are king. It really isn't hard to draw the conclusion that video games are not that good for you in this light.
All in all, though, if someone is passionate about video games, I find it hardly any different than if someone was passionate about any other pastime. What makes a sports nut or movie buff any different from a passionate gamer? The hobby of choice. It will take some time, but eventually, this hobby of choice will lack the stigma it has today. We will get over it.
No comments:
Post a Comment