Video Games

[Hunter22]

What are games:
Are they the bane of your life?
Are the a work of art?
An amazing interactive new media which portrays feelings?
A get away from life?
A waste of time?
A bit of digital infomation which in the eend counts for nothing?
A memory which will last as long as you do?

Basically recently i have been playing the usual amount of games but coming up with an unusual amount of questions about them and about what im actually getting out of them. So i thought why dont i ask them clever people at UESP forums. Basically what is your view on games in this sort of situation?

[Generalno1]

I'm a huge gamer, Been playing them avidly for years. and i think they're more like a source of entertainment that stimulates the mind , but it all depends on the person's way of thinking.

[Argonanza]

It's very awesome entertainment for bored people like me.

[Hunter22]

I suppose half of this for me is that i was brought up on games such as zelda, to me these games had a living and breathing soul, obviously not but that was what it felt like. Now these days i rarely get that. I mostly play COD and such online because of friends, but i dont have many of those truely awsome games which do not feel like they have almost sold out. So i find myself doing veteran run throughs of COD just for gamerscore, i mean i have done the campaign once why would i do it again? It doesnt change.

[Generalno1]

Awesome games will always be around.
"But awesomeness is in the eyes of the beholder"

[Hunter22]

You sir are immense.
I suppose if its possible im playing games for the wrong reason.
So is it mainly entertainment people get out of games?

[Generalno1]

You sir are immense.

I've been trying to diet
I suppose
But it's different for different people
it's not like it's a big part of our lives after all.

[Argonanza]

This thread gives me the urge to play Super Mario.

[Hunter22]

This thread gives me the urge to play Super Mario.

Then i have succseeded.

Have games changed though since i have played zelda or is it me becoming more synical?

[Generalno1]

Old games have a sense of nostalgia about them, i mean I'll probably always think AOM or populous was a brilliant game that few games now can compare to.

[Jeff]

What are games:
Are they the bane of your life? At 4am, yes
Are the a work of art? Some can be, visually pleasing
An amazing interactive new media which portrays feelings? Not unless I'm missing something
A get away from life? More like a clearing of the mind, even if for just a few hours
A waste of time? More like a time waster, a filler of sorts
A bit of digital infomation which in the eend counts for nothing? Depends on what you are playing, there are some history based games
A memory which will last as long as you do? ...or until the next game comes out

I did not grow up with Video Games. No Consoles, like you all know, we did have an Atari Pong Game when I was a teen. We had to play video games at an Arcade, which was more of a Socializing Place, rather than a Gaming Place. Even PC's were not around then.

As for Loosing interest, that has more to do with the Flooding of the Industry, which can lead to the dumbing down of games as well. It also has to do a bit with how much you play. After a while, the greatest thing in the world will seem Mundane.

[HatofMadness]

My first video game system was Sega Game Gear. I played it alot, but it wasnt my by all end all.

At the end of 3rd grade, I got my first tv game console, an N64. My life changed forever.
I got my worst grades in school from that point on, and yes, I blame video games.
I was the kinda kid who couldnt wait to get home to play.


For the next 10-13 years, I played video games more then maybe anything else. But over the past 3-4 years, i've started to change.

I can't play just any game anymore, becuase i realize there is not really a point. I can beat any game, and the outcome is the same: "Oh, thats it huh".

I used to be a BIIIG Madden and Ncaa Football kinda guy. Playing season after season of dynasty and franchise mode. Now, I've lost ALOT of interest.

I play oblivion still, becuase, well, its one of kind. The game doesnt end, and in all my years of playing video games, oblivion is the only game i've ever played that was Exactly what i thought a video game Should be.

Until something like a TESV debuts, Im stuck with playing madden for a month until i get bored of it and never touch it again lol.

[Lindai]

Are they the bane of your life? No
Are the a work of art? Many games,yes.
An amazing interactive new media which portrays feelings? Amazing and interactive,yes. They don't really portray feelings however.
A get away from life? No. Not if they're a small chunk of life.
A waste of time? Yes. But so is TV,sleep and just about anything that doesn't involve money-making or enlightenment.
A bit of digital infomation which in the end counts for nothing? "Counts for nothing" as in a waste of time? If so,see above.
A memory which will last as long as you do? No. Society will not forget video games. I might though when I'm senile.

[The_Ghost]

What are games:
Are they the bane of your life? Nope. Ill leave that for my bills, my salary and that salary that pays sally may.
Are the a work of art? Of course. I take full respect into ones own art. A game is just that. Hard work, drive, creativity and a great imagination. Dream about it, then real life it.
An amazing interactive new media which portrays feelings? Depends on the game, I guess. When I see the world feelings in a question about a game, i think xbox natal. that will be interesting (by the way, has ANYONE had a chance to test that out?)
A get away from life? YES! I am somewhat of a beginner with Oblivion, and it is most definitely a get away. Its nice to relax for a few hours, or 6, and immerse yourself into a totally different world.
A waste of time? Sometimes, depend if you have the time that you want to waste.
A bit of digital infomation which in the end counts for nothing? Negative
A memory which will last as long as you do? What if i could last forever? anyway...my memory with games (god bless counter-strike/Metal Gear Solid/Madden/NBA 2k) will continue on. the memory of games will continue to grow stronger and carry on. carry on. carry on.

[nyk45]

Fun.

[Veck]

I don't have many games, and the few that I do are detailed and open RPGs with deep story lines (like Morrowind). I can't say I play them often, because that would just be a lie. I probably spend two, maybe three hours a week on games, but I don't do it as a sense of duty to this site. I do like the ones that I play, but I do it more for the choices and storyline than I do for the fun of killing things. So yeah, just my stance on them.

[The_Ghost]

Also, one more thing...

Fred Savage once went through hell and high water to achieve video game glory...

[azuarc]

What are games:
Are they the bane of your life?
Are the a work of art?
An amazing interactive new media which portrays feelings?
A get away from life?
A waste of time?
A bit of digital infomation which in the eend counts for nothing?
A memory which will last as long as you do?

All of the above, usually at the same time. I couldn't begin to describe my relationship with games, particularly video games, without writing a full-length novel. There were the early days when I would go to my friends' houses to play on their system since I didn't have one. There were the high school years when I tried to balance games with other things in my life. There were the years of depression during college when I obsessively played one single game, as it was the only thing that could get me out of bed. And then there have been the years since, which have been all over the map in terms of my collective gaming experience.

[r]

I don't really play games much nowadays - it's just the occasional spot of Oblivion and Trine if I'm playing on my own, and some social Wii sessions with the housemates - this tends to involve playing Mario Kart with me shouting 'Poweeeeeer!' a lot a la Jeremy Clarkson every time I get one of the mushroom pickups (or pretending I know what I'm talking about when I say that I don't like Donkey Kong's car because you can't throw it into the corners hard enough to hit the apex properly, or whatever it is that men in pubs talk about these days), or the classic Super Mario Brothers, which just involves shouting in general and the girl who owns the Wii seemingly getting genuinely angry and mine and another guy's total incompetence at the game.

[nyk45]

Trine

Who knew?

[r]

Really? I think I've gone on about it enough, whether it's the graphics, the ingenuity, or the fact that they seem to have managed to bag Stephen Fry and Brian Blessed to voice the narrator and the warrior respectively.

[nyk45]

I think it's bloody brilliant myself. Just would have never imagined you'd played it. Now that you mention it, though, I think I do remember a post or two of yours about it.