Why Would An Adult Man Play Video Games?

He's wrong, in Skyrim I can even adopt children and live in a virtual world 24/7 if I so desire.
 
JohnC0817 said:
I recently thought about if I will still be playing video games when I get older and then I said to myself, HELL YEA. Video games are a way for me to get away from it all and everyone has their own method to their madness. Different strokes for different folks....let's keep it clean.
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Man, I still play and I am older. After awhile you realize there are stages in your life and one day you will reach the one where you are still working, maybe you have a woman who tolerates you and you her, and your kids if you have any are out on their own.

You will come home at 5 o'clock and you won't go to sleep until 11. You have six hours five days a week and a full weekend and you will be looking for something to do. We will all have to figure out what we are going to do with ourselves at that time. For me, I still game, more than I ever have. It works, it's relatively cheap for a hobby, I can drop it at any time and see to whatever the wife has decided she needs from me at that moment, and I think, it helps keep me young a little.

We all will have to choose. That's what I came up with, there could be better choices, but it works ok for me mostly. I also have a bicycle :D
 
lcpiper said:
We all will have to choose. That's what I came up with, there could be better choices, but it works ok for me mostly. I also have a bicycle :D
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Heh. You threw in that bike at the end. Gave me a chuckle. On the rare occasion I decide to actually get out of the house, I have a bicycle too.
 
JohnC0817 said:
Heh. You threw in that bike at the end. Gave me a chuckle. On the rare occasion I decide to actually get out of the house, I have a bicycle too.
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Yep, like tonight. Which one you think will win, the bicycle or Far Harbor ?
 
lcpiper said:
Yep, like tonight. Which one you think will win, the bicycle or Far Harbor ?
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dammit. It is nice outside, I was just thinking I will check [H] before heading home from work and maybe go outside and do some shooting or go for a walk, and then I see far harbor released. *calls wife to tell her to start the download* lol. If I open a window, it is still enjoying the outdoors right?
 
A prime example of a self-important person who genuinely believes they are insightful and an intellectual.

I am not sure what led to such ignorance, so I will just say this person isn't someone I would hire for anything requiring intelligence.
 
Kalabalana said:
A prime example of a self-important person who genuinely believes they are insightful and an intellectual.

I am not sure what led to such ignorance, so I will just say this person isn't someone I would hire for anything requiring intelligence.
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Wow, after that post, I should read the article.
 
lcpiper said:
Wow, after that post, I should read the article.
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Yes, you should. It's a well-written, philosphical examination of the value of games, and all throughout he defends them. The bulk of the commenters here either never read the article or are too dense to understand his points. Kinda sad. (Signed, an old gamer)
 
The Austrian novelist Robert Musil wrote that, whether we realize it or not, we are all always aware of our “strange cosmic situation,” of the unanswerable questions of being alive: “Death, the tininess of the earth, the dubious illusion of the self, the senselessness of existence, which becomes more pressing with the years: these are questions at which the average person scoffs, but which he nonetheless feels surrounding him all life like the walls of dark room.”
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You know, many people enjoy quoting others who they feel share their own views. Why quote someone who counteracts your own beliefs right?

So, two pees in a pod so to speak, and both suffer from the same over-educated problem

See, there are people who go get so educated that they start believing that there is more to life than the basics, when in fact, the basics are all that matter. But some people refuse to accept that life is supposed to be about a man and a woman hooking up and raising kids and not a hell of a lot more. I do accept that there are some people who are just not cut out for this and that's OK. But it's not so important what you do or accomplish in your life, as it is how you go about it.

Really, you tell me Leonardo DeVinchi was a great man and I am like "blah". You tell me some guy raised 10 kids and those ten kids turned out to be really great people, great to their families and great to their friends, and that has meaning to me. Louie Pasture qualifies, Mike Tyson doesn't. You get my drift?

This writer, and the Australian thinker he quoted, both are victims of believing in the wrong things. There must be more to life, that is why when they don't find more full-filling things in their own they experience the "senselessness of existence". It's because they refuse to accept that they have turned from those things that do matter and their own self pride won't allow them to recant.

I do pity a man who turns from family and friends, and the pursuit of just being a better person to others, in order to become someone "better" only to find that the house they have built for themselves is empty of meaning yet they can't leave it to return to a better place.

I am a fortunate man, I had a great father. He isn't gone yet, but I sometimes imagine, as morbid as it sounds, speaking at his funeral some day. I imagine taking advantage of the opportunity to tell others, his family and friends, that he was a better man than I ever was, and that all of us were lucky to have known him. I can't imagine that it would be news to anyone who knows him. But at least they would all know that I know it, and that I am not ashamed to say it. There is my weakness, I have a selfish streak. I know the kind of man I should be but I can't seem to become that man.

We all have faults, I think I know mine. That I can't overcome them says something else as well. At least my vanity doesn't blind me as it does this writer and his pillar.
 
That article reads like his mom just caught him jerking off.... felt like asking him "show me where the bad video game touched you"?

This guy obiously thinks he is genius level intelligent, and gaming is just beneath him. So, he had to write about it to try and find some sort of forgiveness... Playing bloodborne is unforgivable. Sorry buddy.
 
I am in my 40's. I'm married with children (queue to the song...). I really don't have much time to game - but I do try to get in a few hours a week.
I still read PC Gamer (the print edition) - love it. I've been into gaming since I was about 10? Can't remember when I get my Atari 2600 but have been hooked ever since. I plan on gaming when I get older. I'm just hoping I can still use my hands (arthritis is a bitch).
 
Show me a life where a person is harming no one in the process physically or emotionally and content living it and I'll show you a life worthy of living. Bottom line how people choose to spend their time is entirely up to them and if it satisfies them and doesn't hurt anyone in process keep your personal views about it to yourself. Are there more productive things they could be doing sure, but the same is true with all forms of entertainment ranging from sports, tv, gaming, and even the vast majority of books.
 
Commander Suzdal said:
Yes, you should. It's a well-written, philosphical examination of the value of games, and all throughout he defends them. The bulk of the commenters here either never read the article or are too dense to understand his points. Kinda sad. (Signed, an old gamer)
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I see wanton ignorance myself. Look at this gem:

"A video game is a tiny, stupid world. Even in the most sophisticated there are only about five things you can actually do, and it’s usually some mix of killing things and preparing to kill; half the time it feels like you’re staring at some twitching hybrid of a spreadsheet and a snuff film. If you play too long you end up feeling awful — crampy, grit-eyed, obscurely guilty. But the tiny, stupid world of a video game is suffused with meaning, and with clarity. Each one of those five stupid actions was put there, on purpose, for you to do; when you do one of them, you know you were supposed to do it — you’re told that you did it, you’re told if you did it right, and then you’re told to do it again."

Sure, that's true of SOME games, but there's such an outrageous variety to them, he's trying to make an analysis of games based on some characteristics of some mainstream ones meant to appeal to everyone. Where does The Dig or Grim Fandango fit into his formula, where you don't really kill anyone, your path is not obvious and has a strong narrative? How about Cities Skylines, another game where you don't kill anyone, where the variables and possibilities you have before you are extremely diverse? Or Dwarf Fortress which contains hundreds if not thousands of variables to simulate lives and ecosystems? Or any number of sprawling 4x games with all their complexity and varied goals? His article is pure ignorance. It's akin to judging all of cinema based on a Michael Bay movie.

He pretends to get philosophical at the end, but it's just basic nihilism. You could sum his examination with "why do anything?" Oh yeah, that's deep. In that case, why write the article?
 
steakman1971 said:
I am in my 40's. I'm married with children (queue to the song...). I really don't have much time to game - but I do try to get in a few hours a week.
I still read PC Gamer (the print edition) - love it. I've been into gaming since I was about 10? Can't remember when I get my Atari 2600 but have been hooked ever since. I plan on gaming when I get older. I'm just hoping I can still use my hands (arthritis is a bitch).
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I'm 39, same situation. I play at least a few games a year and then I sell my card and wait for another pile of games I want to play to stack up.
 
The way he was describing his experience of the "real world" I am not surprised he needs an escape, and I guess writing biased and subjective articles is his escape. Somebody give this man a hug, some antidepressants and tell him that it's going to be OK.
 
Sure, there's better things I could be doing with my time. But none of them meet my need for goal-oriented activity AND escapism simultaneously. Trying to learn a new language or brushing up on Math is rewarding, but exhausting and sometimes tedious. Watching television or reading books is great when I'm tired and want to be entertained without making decisions. Video games satisfy a level of motivation somewhere between wanting to get something done and wanting entertainment.
 
The way I see it is that, a person who thinks like that, I am glad our interests doesn't intersect, making my gaming experience that much better (IE less likely to be ruined by his attitude)
 
sadsteve said:
Don't put me there, I'm old (63) and I game pretty much every evening (UT2K4, Fallout 3 & 4, Grim Dawn, POE, etc). It's much more entertaining than watching TV/videos/movies (most movies).
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Good Lord, I'm not the oldest guy here after all. :)
 
I don't care about the stories most of the time. I think if a game isnt fun to play without the story, it isn't worth my time. I am just going around in Fallout 4 building sentry towers and putting dresses and hats/suits on the settlers.
 
Nukester said:
I'm 50, but don't game NEARLY as much as I did in my 30's and early 40's. But I can still get hung up for a few hours a week in a game I like. I can't be with my wife all of my off time, I still have my sanity to keep.
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Dad, is that you? But your profile says you're 66 :cautious:...
 
Dr. Righteous said:
The PROBLEM is that most women don't find it entertaining and many just don't get it. My wife is one of these. She just doesn't get it. The one time she complained about me spending time playing games I told her like it was..
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I think the actual problem is that most games don't appeal to women because they are mostly designed by and marketed for 18-30 year old males.
 
MavericK said:
I think the actual problem is that most games don't appeal to women because they are mostly designed by and marketed for 18-30 year old males.
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I really don't think this is it either.
For RPGs and online multiplayer you have the option for a female player with special abilities; been around for a while. As are as gaming targeted to women; what exactly is that? Well, there are tons of portable games targeted to girls.
Like 'Pet shop owner' and beauty salon, etc, etc. But will this appeal to adult women? This is a hard one to pin down. Gaming appeals to them or it does not. For most women, it doesn't and since most have on interest in it; it is somehow bad, or immature for adult men. IF women loved gaming as much as men do you think you would ever hear a squeak about this from the media? no.
 
This idiot sounds like he sucks at games, therefore the hate. Frags teammates by accident, etc.
 
MavericK said:
I think the actual problem is that most games don't appeal to women because they are mostly designed by and marketed for 18-30 year old males.
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This is perhaps true, but I think there is more too it. More at a deeper level.

Women don't like it usually when men talk about them as being emotional, I think because women hear that and take it as a judgement ruling like we are pointing out a flaw. But if you listen to women, really listen to them, they are ruled by how they feel and that doesn't mean they are not smart or intelligent. But it does mean that their feelings on things have a great bearing on their discussion making process and on who they value and what they enjoy doing. If a game isn't pushing the right buttons for a woman then it won't be rewarding, and if it is pushing the wrong buttons then they sure aren't going to play it. The same is true for the people they are playing with.
 
These studies will flip, because now girls are stuck more in games than guys. Good lord, Nintendo and Zelda. My daughters can't get enough of that, and Pokemon.
 
Nukester said:
These studies will flip, because now girls are stuck more in games than guys. Good lord, Nintendo and Zelda. My daughters can't get enough of that, and Pokemon.
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very true, wife loves zelda and pokemon since she was a teen.
 
lcpiper said:
This is perhaps true, but I think there is more too it. More at a deeper level.

Women don't like it usually when men talk about them as being emotional, I think because women hear that and take it as a judgement ruling like we are pointing out a flaw. But if you listen to women, really listen to them, they are ruled by how they feel and that doesn't mean they are not smart or intelligent. But it does mean that their feelings on things have a great bearing on their discussion making process and on who they value and what they enjoy doing. If a game isn't pushing the right buttons for a woman then it won't be rewarding, and if it is pushing the wrong buttons then they sure aren't going to play it. The same is true for the people they are playing with.
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My wife plays games with me often. She likes when either there is an engrossing story (loved witcher and life is strange) or there is a level of intimidation like playing ark survival. I feel very much the same way, maybe i have too much estrogen lol. She doesn't get into the mindless shooters as much, sometimes but it isnt as long lived as an rpg or survival game.
 
"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."


Lesson to learn:

Don't beat yourself (or let anyone else) up over activities that are generally not what society considers to be worthwhile. If you're enjoying yourself and if it's making you happy, the time is well spent.
 
Whenever I get this question, whether it be about video games, riding motorcycles, playing basketball, and especially about having sex with women who are much younger than I am, I simply ask the person why they hit a ball with a crooked stick, follow it, then hit it again, often into trees, water or sand, follow it, and repeat over a series of 18 different playing areas. Because most of these people like to play golf, and think it's a nice elitest past time, and seem proud of the fact that they play golf (why, I'll never know).
 
nightfly said:
Because most of these people like to play golf, and think it's a nice elitest past time, and seem proud of the fact that they play golf (why, I'll never know).
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For the same reason you follow the tail, hit it with your crooked stick and repeat the process. ;)
 
Oh, man.

Why would an adult man play video games.

Well, obviously this guy is just prejudiced, as many others here have said.

Well, I myself play. Have since I was a kid. I'll be 40 in a couple of months. Why do I play? because It's one of the things I still can do.
Albeit horribly, but I can.

It is my escape from the reality of the world. My world.
I can't do many of the things I used to, and if I had no escape I'd go insane. (if I haven't already lol)

Plus, I have young kids, who like gaming. I can relate to them through it, whereas in many other ways that I'd like to, I cannot.

At 40 years old, via some odd evil twist of fate, combined with horrible life choices, I find myself in a position I'd like nothing more than to be out of.

I have a left leg with knee damage that is inoperable due to the amount of foreign matter embedded in the muscle and joint.

I have a right arm partially usable, has been reconstructed once, and is being reconstructed again in the near future. Time being, it is very limited.

I have severe degenerative disc disease, and my l4, l5, s1, and s2 need operations.

I have a heart defect since birth, forcing me to be sedentary.

I have daily pain. And guess what? I can do nothing about it. Because, as fate would have it (evil I tell you) I ALSO have a condition causing me to react horribly to medications. Nope, no painkillers for me.

Oh I'm not done. Suffered an accident at work leaving me hearing impaired. Not 100% deaf, but enough to cause major issues.

Oh, and let's not forget the TBI from a motor vehicle accident that left me unable to read easily, among other issues.
TV? I need to use captions, and it takes me 90 minutes to watch an hour show due to the combination of having to rewind multiple times to understand what's being said, as well as multiple tries to get the captions right. They just go by too damn fast for me to read.

And recently, I find out that I may be developing early onset parkinsons. Still going through that one. Runs in my family anyway, both maternal and paternal sides, so no real surprise anyway. Hell my mom has it.

Many others in this situation would turn to drugs or alcohol. Or worse. Or may not even be here.

Me? I am 100% clean. I do not do drugs. I do not drink. I do not smoke. And I deal with the daily pain.

My escape is into the world of gaming. Where for a short time, I don't have to be me, trapped in here. A place where I go as often as I can without it interfering in my life (which, admittedly, sometimes it does)

And thankfully, I have a wife who will play games with me and let me watch. Because there's times I can't play myself, or the game requires skill I am no longer capable of. So I can still escape, through her.

And this escape relieves me, and allows me to be there for my kids.

It's not perfect, mind you. And I just know my wife hates me for our situation, although she'll never say it. My kids, they are too young, but maybe someday they will too. For now, I relate to them the ways I can.

But this guy, the one who wrote the article, puts down people like me. An adult man who plays games.

Because maybe the other options available to me are somehow better.

Drugs?
Drink?
Suicide?

Sure, buddy. Go on in your tiny life, with your short-sighted views. Thinking everyone's like you, and has the same choices as you. Accomplish what you can. While I struggle to find my way, escaping in the best, most therapeutic, healthiest way I can.
And I will accomplish more than you. But you will never know it. Because what I do I do behind the scenes. In my own head, in my own life.
I am accomplishing me. And my family.
Which is worth more than some 1-sided article of bigotry.

BTW - yes, it took quite a while to type this, and proofread for spelling. (which is a huge issue for me)

Considered deleting it and not posting. But hell. Whatever. You only live once.
 
Ask any man who's ever been in a position where he feels unable to "make it better". Where his strength and his manliness, and his will, all seem like useless tools because are not what he needs, or what those who depend on him need at that moment. Ask that man why he feels helpless and it's because he is missing something that he needs. Usually he is wrong, he just doesn't know what it is that is needed of him. A wiser man will see it, that it's compassion and understanding and sometimes just the ability to listen and not "fix it" or "make it better". enterprise, you can still do this. You can still help and you can in fact help when another man is impotent. You can do it by remembering what you can still do and not let what you can't do keep you from doing what you can.

My best wishes to you.
 
Darunion said:
My wife plays games with me often. She likes when either there is an engrossing story (loved witcher and life is strange) or there is a level of intimidation like playing ark survival. I feel very much the same way, maybe i have too much estrogen lol. She doesn't get into the mindless shooters as much, sometimes but it isnt as long lived as an rpg or survival game.
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Dude - you've got a keeper. My wife rolls her eyes at me when I play games.
 
steakman1971 said:
Dude - you've got a keeper. My wife rolls her eyes at me when I play games.
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no kidding! Though even an eye roller aint bad by any stretch. There are way too many out there that will work as hard as possible to stop any and all gaming, buddy of mine has one of those.
 
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