[Closed] Computer games

Sort of.

The last console I had was a Nintendo 64 and I found myself becoming quite addicted to it. Since then I have not bought another one as I know how much time they can take up and time is precious nowadays.

My children have a wii and a dsi though and I reckon my son borders on spending too much time on them, then again it is winter and he is outside a lot in the summer.

I enjoy them, but they can be very addictive, and you can get completely immersed in them. I'm not sure that prolonged exposure to some of the more violent ones at least, is all that good for a person really.

When most of my mates were sat indoors playing Manic Miner or Sonic or something, I'd go out on me bike. Never found them interesting at all. Same old repetitive mind-numbing boring crap really, I thought.

I do enjoy the odd blast on a driving game or 1st person shooter/adventure. Like the simulated reality aspect of it. Also like the more recent timeline strategy games such as Sim City and the Sims, as well as Warcraft type games. Not WoW though.

I never understood stuff like Tekken. Just found them to be really, really boring.

The money some people spend is incredible. One mate of mine has had all sorts of consoles, and has a PS3 [i]and[/i] Ecks-Bocks. Probbly got a Wii now too. Spends a fortune on stuff and games and that. Thousands of pounds over the years. Can't help feeling that spending the same sort of money on bikes is somewhat better all round really.

I haven't a clue about any of the games you've mentioned Elfin. 😳
I have canged my opinion about the Wii though, when I first saw the adverts I couldn't believe that the beautiful family were playing virtual tennis while the sun was shining outside their beautiful house. Now I think Wii is fantastic as it's probably the only exercise that these console addicted people get.

I think the last console I played was a horizontal Space Invader game...

Just got an XBox with Kinect - now that's a clever piece of kit.

The daughters just throwing balls to her virtual pet panther - with no controllers

Am I alone in this?

Clearly not, did you really think you were? There are thousands of people on this forum and about 8 on that thread.

The money some people spend is incredible

Coming from someone into photography and biking.. Love the irony 🙂

I never understood stuff like Tekken

Button bashing is boring yes. However I once sat down and really tried to learn how it works and how to play it properly - it is a fantastic thing.

I couldn't believe that the beautiful family were playing virtual tennis while the sun was shining outside their beautiful house

Tennis is fun. Consoles are fun. Gonna get all superior on me? Just because people like different things doesn't mean they are not as good as you. And don't say 'oh I wasn't being disparaging' because I really suspect you were.

Coming from someone into photography and biking.. Love the irony

Photography is creative and encourages the mind to be active. Biking is fun, enables exploration and keeps you fit and healthy. Computer games, while fun, have no real end product.

They're ok, but I wouldn't waste my time and money on consoles and games the way some folk do. But then maybe they wouldn't spend money on cameras and bikes. Hey ho. I'll at least have some nice pics and be fit and healthy....

Tennis is fun. Consoles are fun. Gonna get all superior on me? Just because people like different things doesn't mean they are not as good as you. And don't say 'oh I wasn't being disparaging' because I really suspect you were.

I thought it quite odd to be encouraging people to play tennis indoors when the weather was perfectly fine outside to do the real thing.

Gonna get all superior on me? Just because people like different things doesn't mean they are not as good as you. And don't say 'oh I wasn't being disparaging' because I really suspect you were.

Shock horror - I play computer games [i][u]and[/u][/i] ride a bike.

Who'd have thought it possible?

So do I. I just haven't spent thousands of pounds on consoles and games....

I've always had at least one console since my Atari 2600 back in 1978?

got 2 PS3s and a PS2 just now, daughter has a Wii & DSi.. neither of us play them all that much.

oh.. and Tennis is shit until you get pretty good at it.

Ah, yes - of course Elfin.

My mistake.

The point is, Elf, you are into expensive hobbies, that can easily be far more expensive than gaming.

On the subject of the value of gaming - it's great fun. Fun is important. Why, if I was always worried about the value other people put on my pastimes then I'd be very stressed out indeed 🙂 I could make a point about the endorphins and alpha wave states (or something) induced by a good gaming session being very relaxing and beneficial to mental health, but I'm sure you'd disagree 🙂

I thought it quite odd to be encouraging people to play tennis indoors when the weather was perfectly fine outside to do the real thing.

They're not, they're trying to sell consoles. Quite likely that they chose a sunny day to make it seem happy and cheerful, when perhaps a rainy day might've been better.

Perhaps the hypothetical family don't have a tennis court nearby. Perhaps they've just got a few spare minutes in between white water rafting in the morning and a piano recital in the afternoon. Maybe it's actually sunshine and showers and the sun's only just come out after a heavy storm, and they are finishing up before grabbing their raquets for a few sets.

Use your imagination mate 🙂

Don't get your knickers in a twist sweetheart. If you didn't understand what I was saying, don't worry.

You were saying you're an old curmudgeon and hate modern stuff? 🙂

Have I done something to offend you Molgrips?

no you're not alone, I can't get into them either.

I bought a console once - a Sega Master System. Only ever bought one game for it, got bored. Then I won a Mega Drive in a raffle, which came with Sonic The Hedgehog 2. I got as far as the oilfield level & couldn't get any further, so gave up. I think it's still in the loft somewhere

I've tried a couple of PC games, got so far with one & then lost interest; started another one, couldn't even get going on the "intro" level

Have I done something to offend you Molgrips?

Well not really 🙂 but maybe just a little. There was a certain negativity in your posts regarding those who do play games. Seems to be a very common attitude that anything that involves a TV or monitor screen is automatically worthless and makes you a bad person.

You could've started a thread asking why people like to play games, for instance?

The point is, Elf, you are into expensive hobbies, that can easily be far more expensive than gaming.

Yes but they are at least productive.

I have no problem with playing the odd game now and then. None at all. Fun is good. What I'm critical of is the vast amounts of time and money some folk spend on gaming. Ultimately, it's up to them I spose. I smoke cigs, so there you go, eh? 😳

Yes but they are at least productive.

Are you judging?

Gaming is also productive, for me.

I play consoles...sometimes I'll spend hours playing a game. Sometimes when it's sunny out. Couldn't care less if someone thinks that's a waste of time. I enjoyed it, so time well spent.

Well not really but maybe just a little. [b]There was a certain negativity in your posts regarding those who do play games[/b]. Seems to be a very common attitude that anything that involves a TV or monitor screen is automatically worthless and makes you a bad person.

You could've started a thread asking why people like to play games, for instance?

I wrote the OP in first person and how I don't play. Not once did I say anything negative about the games except that I didn't understand why the manufacturers were encouraging people to play indoors when they could quite easily play outdoors. I think I even said that I think the Wii is fantastic.
I don't understand why you should have been so aggressive in you first post, unless there's something else you'd like to talk about.
I am also unable to see how you can extract so much information from what I wrote.

Molgrips is very aggressive because he plays too many violent computer games. 🙁

They've warped his fragile little mind....

[img] [/img]

I'm not into them either, just not interested. I just got an xbox 360 free and sold it in the classifieds. It's weird because as a kid I lived in the arcades, I had a spectrum+2 which I loved and i've got an addictive personality.

Not knocking anyone who likes them, each to their own and all that. The one thing that I do find a bit strange is the way people seem to get so addicted to them, much more so than when I was a kid. Thats not a dig by the way just an observation.

Look at it this way, games are just another popular culture interest point. Just like football and coronation street and kylie minogue.

I for one like playing computer games, the more in depth the better but I still quite like sitting down and ragging my way round a race track for half an hours fun or shooting up helicoptors from a moving speed boat.

I rarely get time though, especially during the week.

I don't understand why you should have been so aggressive in you first post, unless there's something else you'd like to talk about

Well I apologise for coming over agressive. I get that a lot 🙂

I didn't mean to put words into your mouth. This:

Seems to be a very common attitude that anything that involves a TV or monitor screen is automatically worthless and makes you a bad person.

.. is a general observation and not directed at you.

But you seemed to come over somewhat negative.. and really, you were reading far too much into the Nintendo ad.

Not knocking anyone who likes them, each to their own and all that.

I'm not knocking them either, after seeing the level of interest on the other thread I was just interested in seeing if I was the last person in the world to live in a console free house.

Look at it this way, games are just another popular culture interest point.

I couldn't agree more and as I said before I actually agree with the exercise games now. 😀

I was just interested in seeing if I was the last person in the world to live in a console free house.

Serious?

3m PS3s sold a year ago, there's what, 25m households in the UK?

I don't know anyone else in real life with a PS3, which is why I have no PS3 friends.

Yep.

The money some people spend is incredible. One mate of mine has had all sorts of consoles, and has a PS3 and Ecks-Bocks. Probbly got a Wii now too. Spends a fortune on stuff and games and that. Thousands of pounds over the years. Can't help feeling that spending the same sort of money on bikes is somewhat better all round really.

er.. is it even possible to spend as much on console games as bikes?
The most expensive popular console is what? £250? controllers £35 each and even the latest games are only around £40ish. Similarly to Bikes, once you have certain amount of games/bikes there's not physically enough time to play/ride them all so you either end up never using them or get rid of them..
I have 8 bikes ATM and lost count at owning well over 100 years ago, I have probably owned something like 15 consoles and thousands of computer games in the same time and at a guestimate the entire amount spent on computer games would probably only come to around the cost of just one of my DH bikes.

Ps. I'm glad I'm not one of your "friends"

which is why I have no PS3 friends

😐

Sorry, correction: why I HAD no PS3 friends 🙂

Can't help feeling that spending the same sort of money on bikes is somewhat better all round really.

This is called 'being judgemental' 🙂

Anyone remember Dino Dini's Kick Off 2 on the Amiga? Now there was a game I lost my youth on.

...has a PS3 and [b]Ecks-Bocks[/b]

Genius! 😐

*sigh*

I played Kick Off 1 - lots of fuss, but I really didn't like it. Once tried to play a full-length 90 minute match, that was very silly. 128-2 or something the score was.

molgrips' first reply was unnecessarily aggressive.

The ruling on the field stands. 5 yard penalty.

I have a new HD TV and an XBox360. How much do I need to spend and on what type of cable in order to enjoy my games in better definition? When I'm not out riding, running, rowing, walking the dog or climbing like... 🙂

we have a wii - it's great fun but don't use it much. my kids like to challenge me to the dancing game (can't blame them, I'm brilliant to watch 8) ). The kids have DSs & spend a fair amount of time on them - in the car etc

we bought the wii snowboard balancy thing last christmas but I haven't taken it out of the box yet. I bet it's ace though

oh, DonS - the "... it's probably the only exercise that these console addicted people get." was a tad Daily Mail

er.. is it even possible to spend as much on console games as bikes?

Yes. I've worked out that over the last 10 years, that mate has spent a similar amount on consoles and games as I have on bikes.

I have [b]8[/b] bikes ATM and lost count at owning [b]well over 100[/b] years ago, I have probably owned something like [b]15[/b] consoles and [b]thousands[/b] of computer games in the same time

I was talking more about 'normal' people really... 🙂

Ps. I'm glad I'm not one of your "friends"

Your life would truly be enriched if you were. X

was a tad Daily Mail

He owns a Staffie. What did you expect? 🙂

Anyone remember Dino Dini's Kick Off 2 on the Amiga? Now there was a game I lost my youth on.

My brother used to play that loads, never liked football games though - preferred Speedball 2 in terms of sports games! 😛

I'm still a big gamer now, mainly on the 360, PC and DS - at least I've got the 'I need it for work' excuse!

I still get exercise, whether it's out and about in the woods or on the exercise bike whilst watching Supernatural.

GW just went on my fantasy dinner party guest list 😀

Have you spoken to your mate Elf? If you are a true friend you really should be letting him know how worthless his hobbies are. Perhaps you could help him to become awesome like you? He'd appreciate it I am sure 😉

I have told him. He told me to get on my bike. 😀

deadlydarcy - Member
I have a new HD TV and an XBox360. How much do I need to spend and on what type of cable in order to enjoy my games in better definition? When I'm not out riding, running, rowing, walking the dog or climbing like...

Any HDMI lead will do - don't get sucked into buying the expensive MS one, or any expensive one for that matter.

Mine has gold connectors and was £7 from Tesco

Ok, cheers. Thought a cheapie weapie would do the job. Tesco tomorrow then. 🙂

Used to be quite heavily into gaming but I find it a bit boring now - most games I've played I get bored of within about half an hour-hour max. The only one thats managed to keep me interested recently has been Portal, can't wait for Portal 2 😀

can anyone recommend a game for me? previously I've enjoyed sin city, civilisation, the sims and so on.

oh, DonS - the "... it's probably the only exercise that these console addicted people get." was a tad Daily Mail

Only if that's how you want to interpet it.

He owns a Staffie. What did you expect?

Has a Nº1 crop and tattoos, does that help the stereotype further?
😆

How much do I need to spend and on what type of cable in order to enjoy my games in better definition?

I'm not sure about the cables, but I do believe that you will need to put egg boxes on the wall to achieve the true hi-fidelity sound quality. The correct speaker placement will also also enhance your gaming eperience. 😉

I like gaming, and fortunately I seem to have a boredom threshold of about 20-30 mins so I don't spend all day on them. Not got any consoles at the moment due to having no cash so I just have a few first person shooters on the pc

How awfully rude of me dd, how's Molly?

never owned a console, never been interested. probably spent a total of 45 mins of my life playing games. Spent a year working with a games studio on a fitness product and found the creative process pretty cool.

Spent a year working with a games studio on a fitness product and found the creative process pretty cool.

yeah, that feeling wears off pretty quickly.

I only went in there one afternoon a week and got to play with what they'd spent the rest of the time on..... they did look a bit 'upset' when I asked for amendments........

Exercise and consoles? Try this...

Elf you spend so much time on here when you could be out peddaling your bike 😉

I seem to have a boredom threshold of about 20-30 mins so I don't spend all day on them

Me too.

Over the years I've had,

A pong-style TV game; ZX Spectrum 48K; Atari 512 STM; Atari 1040 STe; Atari 2600 VCS; Commodore Amiga A500; Sony Playstation; Sega Dreamcast; Nintendo Gamecube; Sony PS2; Xbox 360; and several PCs.

I find it quite interesting that the people who say that console gaming is pointless and 'has no end product' (whatever that even means) are the same people who by their own admission have never really played anything. Different strokes for different folks, of course, one man's meat is another man's pornography and all that. But who's best qualified to comment, do you think?

I think I'll go and create a "bikes, they're crap aren't they" thread.

Oh, and,

Despite being such an evident slave to the idiot box, I've somehow managed to have hobbies including MTBing, running, fell walking, camping, rock-climbing, parachuting, model rocketry, power-kite flying, festival-going...

I have an x-box and the wife has a wii (for the whole wii-fit thing) I dip in and out of games, Call of Duty and Halo being favourites, don't play online and lucky if I buy 5 games a year. the wife likes her wii-fit because she hates gyms.

Nothing wrong with video games, but like everything it needs to be in moderation otherwise it becomes quite unhealthy.......but then they said that about TV

.......but then they said that about TV

The same was also said about books.....

And in reading of many books is distraction.

-[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_the_Younger ]Seneca[/url]

I find it quite interesting that the people who say that console gaming is pointless and 'has no end product' (whatever that even means) are the same people who by their own admission have never really played anything

Elfin says that there is no end product yet he says that he plays and enjoys them.
I've never played and am interested to see how many other people like me there are, and don't care whether there is an end product or not, model building has an end product and I don't do that either.

People are very defensive over playing games...

See, when I talk about an 'end product', I'm talking about something tangible, like the nice pics produced with photography, or the fitness produced by riding a bike, that sort of thing. I'm not saying 'fun' is trivial and unnecessary at all. Quite the opposite in fact.

I'm merely pointing out that [i]some[/i] folk spend far too much time and money on playing computer games, that's all. Of course it's their choice, but to me it just seems a bit of a futile waste, to be immersed to such an extreme level. The same way maybe as someone who always rides their bike and never socialises or does owt else, I spose. Y'know; obsessive behaviour. I don't see nowt wrong with having consoles speshly if you've got kids, play them a few hours a week or so, but much beyond that and it's a bit unhealthy, imo.

I can play the odd game, when the fit takes me, for 2 or 3 hours or so. It's fun, but I do tend to feel a little 'wired' for a bit afterwards. Dunno if others feel similar. I can see that prolonged gaming possibly isn't all that good for my mental health. Perhaps some people don't really consider this.

Elf you spend so much time on here when you could be out peddaling your bike

Sod that; it's too cold and wet at the moment... 🙂

Currently have, in order of amount of use, a DS XL, a Wii, a PS2, a Gameboy Advance and a Dreamcast (waves at Cougar, the only other person in the UK to buy one!).

I've enjoyed video games since a mate of my dad's gave us a Binatone 'Pong' game in the 70's. I then graduated to an Atari 2600 and have owned all the Nintendo consoles since the SNES.

I've always bought games and consoles secondhand and traded most games when finished - works out a hell of a lot cheaper.
Tend to prefer the classic Nintendo Miyamoto stuff but the Gran Turismo and TT Superbikes series took up an awful lot of time a few years ago.

Deliberately avoiding gaming seems to me as perverse, affected an eccentric as avoiding music, literature or film - there's a huge variation in the quality of games from dire to epic, mainstream to niche.
It's a big world out there, but you'll find SOMETHING you enjoy if you look hard enough.

Gaming is a mature pastime now and has been established long enough for there to recognised classics of the various game genres, but that's a different thread entirely!

Deliberately avoiding gaming seems to me as perverse,

but you'll find SOMETHING you enjoy if you look hard enough.

I'm not particulary interested in looking though. 😉

People are very defensive over playing games...

Yeah, we have been looked down on for years for it. NOT saying that's what's necessarily happening here of course. But it does happen, the same as if you admit to watching TV.

t to me it just seems a bit of a futile waste, to be immersed to such an extreme level

Well.. have you ever taken recreational drugs?

It might be negative to play games to the exclusion of everything else, same as it's not great being an alcoholic. Doesn't mean a few drinks or even the odd bender are bad.

It's fun, but I do tend to feel a little 'wired' for a bit afterwards. Dunno if others feel similar.

No, I don't feel wired at all. Perhaps that's why you don't game much, and it's a fair point. It can affect us different ways.

It's a big world out there, but you'll find SOMETHING you enjoy if you look hard enough.

Sure but there's no real need to is there? 🙂

I've been into computer games ever since I was a kid and have gotten a great deal of enjoyment out of them (and now they pay the mortgage, so it's not entirely wasted). Some people like them, some don't, doesn't bother me, just irritating when you get idiots like Keith Vaz running around trying to get them banned. Though I guess it's just like rock & roll, films and books in the past, I'm surprised there's any society left to destroy after all those 😉

Dreamcast - in my defence, I bought it after it'd died the death, for about ten quid.

Nintendo DS - forgot that, got one of those too.

some folk spend far too much time and money on playing computer games, that's all.

That's all very objective though, isn't it. How much is too much? How do you quantify that against other hobbies? I put in over fifty hours in total in Final Fantasy XIII last year - over an extended period of time I grant you, several months - is that excessive compared to, say, spending the same time watching a couple of seasons of the Sopranos, buying a Blackburn Rovers season ticket, or going to the pub and getting trousered once a week?

I take your point, I think anyway; some people [i]do [/i]obsess about it. I've mates who've been on raiding teams in World of Warcraft and, because you've then got two dozen people depending on you, it becomes a permanent fixture in your life. You end up [i]having [/i]to play, for several hours a night, several nights a week. To me that's excessive (and why I never raided other than as a stand-in back when I played WoW).

However, I really don't see why games get singled out here (apart from the archetypal whipping-boy WoW anyway). I don't see obsession as a 'feature' of gamers, any more than it's a feature of football fans, sci-fi geeks, mountain bikers, Team Edward or any other hobbyist demographic. I think it's unfair to suggest that games = obsession, it's implying a cause-and-effect connection that simply isn't true.

I do see, though, why people get defensive about it. It's been a niche hobby that most people know nothing about, and it's only really now reaching mainstream. Case in point, a guy I work with arranged an online game session with a colleague as they were both leaving the other day; I then sat and listened as the women on the contact centre desk opposite spent the next ten minutes ripping the urine out of them behind their backs. Grown men playing computer games? On their own? But on the Internet? With headsets, talking to each other? Oh my god, how desperately sad and pathetic.

It's just a product of its time though. Watching a movie at the cinema? Grown adults, sitting in the dark with a bunch of strangers, ignoring each other and staring at a screen for hours, how sad. Telephone? Wow, who wants to talk to someone who isn't there?

Video gaming's moved on since the 1980s, it's come of age. Saying you don't like computer games is like saying you don't like books, or don't like films. Which is fine, of course, point is that it's not the exclusive domain of the 14-year old schoolboy any more.

It was a only a simple question. 😕

I bought a Dreamcast on the day it came out. That's how shrewd I am.

Since the old C64 (with Vic 1541 disc drive 8)) I have owned and loved...

NES
SNES
Gameboy Advanced
N64
Dreamcast
Gameboy SP
GameCube
PS2
PS3

plus a load of old Nintendo Game & Watch type things. Gaming is ace.

Do you not read the OPs? I asked how many people [u][b]DON'T[/b][/u] have consoles and computer games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
🙄 😀

My OH doesn't, they're all mine.

Uh, apart from her DS. And her iPhone I guess. Damn. My mum?

How much is too much?

As much as I say it is. 🙄

Jeeze, all I said was 'that bit of halibut was good enough for Jehovah'....

Cougar - model rocketry

Photo required surely

Oof. I [i]might [/i]have something kicking about, might take a bit of finding though.

I think anyway; some people do obsess about it.

As anything else. There are people who obsess about riding bikes to the detriment of everything else in their lives, and we follow them as sporting heroes.

Mrs Grips does own and play games. I love Mrs Grips 🙂

Are they any less productive than spending hours posting crap on a forum?

i have a ps2 and a wii dont use either of them - can i post on your thread Don? The kids play the wii whilst i post up gibbeirsh on a forum whilst telling them they are awesome.

Are they any less productive than spending hours posting crap on a forum?

I did wonder when someone would point out the elephant in the room.

i have a ps2 and a wii dont use either of them - can i post on your thread Don?

Of course you can, luvvy, as long as you promise to play nicely :D.

Are they any less productive than spending hours posting crap on a forum?

May I be bold enough to mention that now might be a good time to stop posting crap and start posting something useful and constructive. 😈