Friday, May 12, 2006

Even the Gamers Are Enraged!

Here is enjoyment for anyone with a keen sense of irony. Here is a piece that I wrote several years ago about video gaming addiction. Well, somehow, some gamer looked up from 78 continuous hours of killing leather-clad vampire prostitutes in Bloody Vengeance: Apocalypse IV and stumbled over my piece. With thumbs twitching, he whipped off to me a wonderful sub-textual argument in favor of all parents consigning video games to a ritual burning.

All errors in argument and style have been preserved here as they are the point...

I read your article on video games. While it must obviously make sense in your mind, I'm wondering, what kind of a future do you envision yourself in? I know that from youth, most kids are trained to believe that they'll grow up in the world to become succesfful, tax paying citizens with high paying jobs. However, many people also grow up and realize that the American dream isn't so great.

Your article assumes that playing video games is a waste of time. However, that is only from your perspective. You have now joined the thousands, if not millions, of other people who think the exact same thing. However, you also cannot prove that anything you do is also not a waste of time. Working is obviously not a waste of time, since you need money for food, and food to eat. However, the American leisure time was originally meant for Americans to use to cheer themselves up, not just for getting to know ones "Self". With some obvious exclusions of activities that would otherwise harm onself and others, leisure time was named leisure time necause it is defined as "freedom provided by the cessation of activities; especially : time free from work or duties"

Now, getting to my point, your article is undermining the American ability to choose what they may do during thier leisure time. Not only is this unamerican, it is also irrational.

Of course, since I too am a gamer, you'll probably dismiss this article as spam, or the raving nonesense of a fellow addict. However, I urge you to atleast look at the other side before you bash it, and to bash it sparingly. Otherwise you are no better than a soldier trained to kill, just as you mentioned in your article, sicne you would simply be a writer trained to distort facts.

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