Your thoughts on video games?

I love games of all kinds. Board games, card games, video games, you name it.

We play lots of video games in our house. There are games I refuse to buy, rent or play, and I refuse to let the kids play them. There are two reasons I will ban a game in this house:

1. It is immoral or promotes immorality, has gratuitous violence or has bad language (Grand Theft Auto, for example, is way off limits. Lord of the Rings Online is not off limits. The latter has violence but not gratuitous violence. It is also good vs. evil.)

2. The kids get angry or frustrated playing the game. If it's not fun, then they shouldn't be playing it.

My favorite video games are along the lines of family party games like Mario Party or Super Monkey Ball, and various role playing games and adventure games.

I think we tend to play games too often, and I don't like that. I'm looking to move to a place soon where there's a lot more stuff to do outdoors. I'm looking forward to that a lot.

 

Generally speaking, video games are not good for mental development. They are heavily image based, flashing constantly changing images that does not help develop critical thinking skills and long term attention. It is not surprise that ADD and ADHD have greatly increased in an age of video games.

They are addicting. Some kids spend 8-10 hours at a time playing them. Many of them are violent. Few of them teach kids to think.

They are largely individual in nature, hindering social development.

Better options are board games, outdoor play, and books.

 

I beg to differ. I think you MAY be right in many cases. However, my kids both honed many skills by playing games. I was amazed at how much my daughter, in particular, learned by playing various Pokemon games.

1. Language skills -- she learned a lot of reading from the game, including how to read some Japanese.

2. She memorized 150 pokemon's characteristics, skills and weaknesses. She never lost. Ever. She knew exactly how to formulate strategies on the spot (you can't predict which pokemon the opponent will use, so you have to plan carefully).

Granted, she's already brilliant. She broke a 25-year school record for vocabulary, for example. My son is also brilliant. I'm blessed that both kids love to read, so I don't have to push them hard to do so. So they have an advantage over other kids who are challenged with game addiction, etc.

 

On the flip side of that coin, in moderation, video games do help develop hand-eye coordination faster than otherwise, and do help in other areas.

So, just like alcohol, is beneficial and good in moderation, but detrimental and bad when not used in moderation.

I was, however, reading a study done on this, and although modern video games help with reading and other things (because of the instructions, etc. in the games), old-school video games in which you had to react at a faster pace and much more specifically were better for the hand-eye coordination.

We have been blessed with a child who, while he likes video games, would much rather snowboard, play football, etc., than play a video game, so we don't have to limit his time on them.

 

I think video games are great. The jury is out on their contribution to ADD and lower test scores and other youthful mischief. The ability for users to interact with abstract concepts and higher dexterity is noted in most studies as well.

You've got to have your own limits. I personally love sports games and fps (first person shooters) to play. Usually I play whatever game is on during the season...fall and winter, football, spring and summer, baseball...and really enjoy learning about the games. Honestly I understand football a ton better after playing Madden for five years. I get the issues behind a 4-3 defense next to a 3-4 or Cover-2. Also some of nuances of running a halfback crash right next to a dive on second and third downs. Really enhances the games for me in real life.

As for fps games, I just enjoy wailing on people and having a good time. They are games...and everybody knows they are games. Nobody is taking it out into real life (with some rare exceptions.) There really is nothing like hoping on XBox live and taking your squad of four friends into enemy controlled territory and blasting away after you've reach the objective, lots of fun. But again, you've got to know your limits.

With video games the rating system is a great meter for what games you should get into. If you can't detach fiction from fact don't walk outside, or buy anything over the "E" (everyone) rating.

Now I haven't played my XBox in about two months, but that is because it is summer and ministry crazy busy. But I'll probably get back into it.

If I might suggest something, check out the Ninetendo Wii...it is a fully interactive control system that really helps with coordination, decision making, and keeps you (or the kidos) moving off the couch. Really a great system.

 

We did an unreal tournament to connect with unchurched friends. One of the best activities our small groups have for younger men is a night of video gaming. I don't have a problem with it as long as you know your boundaries.

 

I grew up when game consoles were in their infancy. I had Atari when it first came out, moved to Colecovision and then went gaga over Commodore64 and then pc games. By the time Playstation2 came around, I was a gaming addict. I was a sports addict as well, so imagine my delight when I was able to get a new EA Sports hockey game each year. All this time I was pretty lukewarm in my faith and didn't see anything wrong with the addiction.

Then I had a repentance experience and things changed. Over about a two year period, I dropped my worldly addictions. The Playstation2 was not really an immediate conscious give up as it just sort of sat in my closet unused while I spent time studying the Bible or other activities that were more God centered. I recently parted with my PS2 to a garage sale and I haven't missed it for a second, nor will a game console ever return to my household.

What I have against it is the amount of time I spent and people spend on these amusements. Their affections are not on the things of God but rather being entertained by the worldly box. After the time factor, the things I would have against it would differ according to the game. I remember getting wrapped up in Doom a long time ago and jumping on pentagrams and capping some ogre with a shotgun just doesn't seems fitting to a Christian spirit. I remember playing hours and hours of Starcraft to the point where I would see those little structures in my sleep and I would spend time thinking about it even when I wasn't playing it. I used to attend xBox Halo gatherings with a bunch of friends and that was some fun stuff. However, now I've come to understand some of the theological elements that Halo was teaching and it makes me frustrated that I ever supported that stuff.

Finally, computer programming is just that. In business, if you want to teach people to use a software application or understand how to do a certain function, one of the best ways is via computer based training. It doesn't matter that the CBT is fantasy and not real life, people are able to learn from it and are programmed according to the training. If you put a cute little story line and characters to the "game" it doesn't make the training less efficient, in fact I believe it enhances the training. Thus, if you want to teach children to become snipers, give 'em Siphon Filter. If you want to teach them how to be thugs, give 'em Grand Theft Auto.

The battle for time and minds has been a long running battle throughout the history of Christianity. The Devil always starts out subtly and throughout Christian history you will see Christians battling against cards, theater, television etc. The primary difference in our time, is the devil's technology has gotten sooo good and so tempting and oh so addicting. Today, we have plasma televisions, movie theaters all over the place, VHS and DVD players, the internet, rock and roll music and video games that if nothing else, suck up the mind time of people and rather than focus on the deeper matters of God and the world, they are amused.

"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. "- Ephesians 5:15-16​

 

This is like the thread on casinos. With casinos I have better things to do with my money, with video games, I have better things to do with my time. Not a Biblical issue to me. Checkers, chess, monopoly, and scrabble, plus maybe some card games is as complex as I get, and even that has become rare in recent years.

 

I played ALOT of Siphon Filter, or at least enough to be able to say that the sniper aspect is actually very small in those games. But anyway, I can say that I don't have any tendencies to act out this game in real life. I've played ALOT of "Call of Duty" as well... same thing.

Video games can be a good escape, a great release. However, like everything else, they can be addictive. Anything and everything you can possibly think of that is fun to do can be addicting. The problems come in when you cross that line of addiction... but this is FAR from being limited to only video games.

As a fun side note... to this day, my alarm in the mornings is the theme song to the original Super Mario Brothers on my cell phone. :laugh:

 

I liked pac man and space invaders. I alos like mspacman
faithgirl

 

Hmm... I was *this* close to being a sniper, and Siphon Filter wasn't even thought about at that time. For that matter, the creator of the game probably wasn't even born at the time. Can I blame it on going to church all those years?