Gaming - a positive or negative impact on your life?

[capcom_suicide]

Negative. No doubt about it.

[Dogg Thang]

I'd say very positive for me, for the most part.

Games have given me a huge amount of entertainment over the years and, in doing so, have exposed me to more design, more forms of narrative, and generally more variety than I would find in many other media and, even though I'm not in games, that has provided me with inspiration and motivation to create.

The only negative is that there is probably plenty of game time I probably spent poorly. Where I could have been doing things that matter considerably more.

[kryss]

Overall, positive.

(I seem to be the only person on the forum that complains about this, but i'm sure theres more).

Yup, me for one. It's one reason I prefer offline, non-action based games so I can just put down the console/controller whenever I need to and walk away. All the GBA/DS/PSP SRW, Fire Emblem and Advance Wars games let you save at any time and do something else, and they are turn-based to boot. The controller is the main concern for me - the CCPro is the best since the GC. PS controllers give me cramp after a few hours.
However, I've got hundreds of hours of great gaming on MHTri with Jimtendo, and many with the MisterBubbles on 3rdHD and BF3.

Gaming and anime pushed me to learn Japanese and eventually move to Japan, two things I do not regret for one second. Mainly as it gave my mother and brother the motivation and opportunity to visit somewhere outside the UK, which they haven't done in years (my brother hadn't left the UK until that point).

Yes, I now live in a one bedroom apartment with boxes of games I can't seem to shift (anyone after J GC/Wii games should probably give me a shout) and I do keep buying but don't regret it. One day I'll not have money to buy or time to play.

I'll admit to buying games purely based on how original the idea of the game is, or how oddly real it is. Convenience store sim? Hell yeah. Farming Simulator?! GIMME!! The day I cannot find excitement in buying and playing a game is the day I give them up.

My fondest memories of home are playing Perfect Dark with my brother against a gaggle of bots, and playing Tetris Attack with my mother while listening to Duran Duran or Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music and talking about our days. Those will always be the best days of my gaming life. Hell, coming back from school to listen to Bon Jovi while playing the Super Scope 6 games is probably above 90% of the games I've played in the last 10 years.

For the record, video games didn't kill my marriage, my wife doing a 180 on having kids and the stress of her supporting us caused that. Also despite working nights, I usually have a tan from reading on my balcony and regularly do yoga, so I'm hardly unhealthy.

[nakamura]

Massively positive for me.

Gaming is something I always liked as I got bored with limited toys pretty easily. It lead me to my interest in Japan and eventually to my wife. It lead me to get into cars and own my favourite ever car. It lead me in to making music and I have met so many amazing people because of it.

This forum has been my favourite in the last few years but some great people on others too. So many cool memories tagged to gaming too. Spent an 8 hour session playing Resident Evil and suitable passed out via a massive head rush. That was funny. The launch of Final Fantasy VII was epic. The release of the PS1 was monumental. Winning Eleven 5 was stunning.
Many a night spent playing WE and drinking a **** load, so much fun.

Also gaming has helped me through some tougher times and has often felt like a companion. I pulled away from gaming from around 2004-2008 but now I am back to where I was and I actually enjoy it like I did in my teens.

[rmoxon]

I was reading the other day that its been scientifically proven that playing games makes you smarter. So really, gaming should improve anyone's life.

[EvilBoris]

You were reading?

Well done.

[gIzzE]

Gaming has always been a positive for me.
Got into some debt a few years back through importing, spent a terms grant money on a Jap Playstation on launch day, and I had just had a child as well, so hardly the sensible thing to do.

But overall gaming has been great, from playing Adventure for 20 hours solid on the VCS2600, and the same with Looping and Pitfall II on the CBS Colecovison.
Then the same with Jet Set Willy on the Speccy, or sitting for hours on end trying to crack R-Type on the Amiga with my best mate Phil, who sadly died the week before Christmas.
Then it was the SNES and Mega Drive, followed by the Neo Geo (expensive mistake!).

I have never really got into collecting games, I have a very addictive nature, and when I get into something I tend to go over the top, so I have made a real effort to not get into 'collecting'. To me collecting is when something starts to turn a hobby into something that is a bit unhealthy, it brings out the compulsive and addictive side of people, myself included, and unless you can genuinely afford to feed your habbit it will always end with regret.

So, I play games, probably spend too much on them, but know where to draw the line.

I am a very sociable person though, and I think that helps, if you are a bit of an introvert and can have depressive tendancies I am not sure if gaming does you any favours?

[PaTaito]

Gaming has always been a positive for me.
Got into some debt a few years back through importing, spent a terms grant money on a Jap Playstation on launch day, and I had just had a child as well, so hardly the sensible thing to do.

But overall gaming has been great, from playing Adventure for 20 hours solid on the VCS2600, and the same with Looping and Pitfall II on the CBS Colecovison.
Then the same with Jet Set Willy on the Speccy, or sitting for hours on end trying to crack R-Type on the Amiga with my best mate Phil, who sadly died the week before Christmas.
Then it was the SNES and Mega Drive, followed by the Neo Geo (expensive mistake!).

I have never really got into collecting games, I have a very addictive nature, and when I get into something I tend to go over the top, so I have made a real effort to not get into 'collecting'. To me collecting is when something starts to turn a hobby into something that is a bit unhealthy, it brings out the compulsive and addictive side of people, myself included, and unless you can genuinely afford to feed your habbit it will always end with regret.

So, I play games, probably spend too much on them, but know where to draw the line.

I am a very sociable person though, and I think that helps, if you are a bit of an introvert and can have depressive tendancies I am not sure if gaming does you any favours?

Yeah thats similar to me...first it was videogames, then japanese dvd importing(even more expensive).

In the end i dont think i've ever felt more refreshed than letting it all go.

Now i have a few shelves worth of the good stuff left, which ties in with parts of my life i like to remember.

I was reading the other day that its been scientifically proven that playing games makes you smarter. So really, gaming should improve anyone's life.

Yeah but us humans never fully appreciate the good, maybe in retrospect but certainly not in the here and now...people are good at dwelling on the bad. Unless you are one of those phoney people who "surrounds themselves with positivity"

[gIzzE]

Now i have a few shelves worth of the good stuff left, which ties in with parts of my life i like to remember.

Perfect!!

[briareos_kerensky]

Positive.
Without videogames I probably wouldn't have pursued many things: a foreign language (English), aviation, computers, and arts. In the end, I owe videogames part of my professional career.
I wish I could say the same about my personal life, but I'm kinda sure it would have turned out the same even without them.

[noobish hat]

Overall, positive.


Yup, me for one. It's one reason I prefer offline, non-action based games so I can just put down the console/controller whenever I need to and walk away. All the GBA/DS/PSP SRW, Fire Emblem and Advance Wars games let you save at any time and do something else, and they are turn-based to boot. The controller is the main concern for me - the CCPro is the best since the GC. PS controllers give me cramp after a few hours.
However, I've got hundreds of hours of great gaming on MHTri with Jimtendo, and many with the MisterBubbles on 3rdHD and BF3.

Gaming and anime pushed me to learn Japanese and eventually move to Japan, two things I do not regret for one second. Mainly as it gave my mother and brother the motivation and opportunity to visit somewhere outside the UK, which they haven't done in years (my brother hadn't left the UK until that point).

Yes, I now live in a one bedroom apartment with boxes of games I can't seem to shift (anyone after J GC/Wii games should probably give me a shout) and I do keep buying but don't regret it. One day I'll not have money to buy or time to play.

I'll admit to buying games purely based on how original the idea of the game is, or how oddly real it is. Convenience store sim? Hell yeah. Farming Simulator?! GIMME!! The day I cannot find excitement in buying and playing a game is the day I give them up.

My fondest memories of home are playing Perfect Dark with my brother against a gaggle of bots, and playing Tetris Attack with my mother while listening to Duran Duran or Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music and talking about our days. Those will always be the best days of my gaming life. Hell, coming back from school to listen to Bon Jovi while playing the Super Scope 6 games is probably above 90% of the games I've played in the last 10 years.

For the record, video games didn't kill my marriage, my wife doing a 180 on having kids and the stress of her supporting us caused that. Also despite working nights, I usually have a tan from reading on my balcony and regularly do yoga, so I'm hardly unhealthy.

Nothing healthier than a tan!

[teddymeow]

Negative

Gaming is a hobby which I used to use to relax and unwind after work. Now, I struggle to choose something to play and rather than buy something and finish it I am always looking for the next new title to stick on the shelf.

I'm seriously starting to think about leaving gaming as a hobby. I've sat here this evening going through my, admittedly, average sized collection wondering why I've still got certain stuff sat there. Hence the listing of a load of stuff in the "Its for free" thread.

I'm hoping that the first couple of AAA this year get me back into he swing of things but a with a wedding 2 months away and the honeymoon straight after that I don't see it happening.

I much prefer trawling the forum than playing games.

[DaytimeDreamer]

Both!

Positives: Have met great people through gaming, and my best friend when I was 13 during a class conversation about Jim Power on the Amiga (the memories). My gf is also a heavy gamer and a very competitive one so when one of us play, the other joins in.

Negatives: Got into the collecting bug and now I'm slowly trying to get rid of it all. Only keeping stuff I bought when I was a kid (33 in 3 days!) just because they remind me of good times. I've given away tons of magazines to friends, and many games and systems for free to people i know they will take good care of them so all is cool. At the end of the day they are just machines but hey ... I grew up with them

Verdict: You need to know when to draw the line, with pretty much everything. Plus I find 80% of the games suck nowadays so I'mnot very keen into playing as much as I did.

[Escape-To-88]

Negative

Gaming is a hobby which I used to use to relax and unwind after work. Now, I struggle to choose something to play and rather than buy something and finish it I am always looking for the next new title to stick on the shelf.

Ditto. To a point. Although I can also see the positives that I have had with gaming.

Having lived in Japan and amassed all the rare import gear and buying, selling and repairing & modding for years I still enjoy the odd game, but find myself slowly slipping down the rabbit-hole of obsessive collecting again and again, having sold 99% of my gaming stuff over a year ago.

I LOVE Nintendo titles, but a recent trip back to get all 120 stars on Mario 64 suggested by my girlfriend, only left me quite agitated after each gaming session.

Having said that I would consider it a positive and a negative. But I guess I rarely find myself 'hooked' on anything anymore and find my attention waning. While I have enjoyed the Mario Galaxy games and am intrigued by the Wii-U. I find the lure of other recent consoles such as the 360 very limited. Perhaps this says more about me than the game themselves, but with an increasingly dodgy internet question and the barrage of updates before even playing a game it often leads me to be so frustrated by the time I get to play I have no interest any more.

With a doubt there are a lot of positives, having also written a Master's paper on the use of videogaming in education to enhance learning, I can clearly see this. As of right at this moment however I find myself in my mid-thirties with little time to play or complete the bazillion challenges handed out per game, so feel a little empty unless I fully finish the game, by which point a thousand sequels have come out.

[nakamura]

Stressed gamers should do what Colin does and just play awesome, adrenaline rush arcade games. Short, fun but replay value.