-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
have videogames been good to you?
- Thread starter julia crawford
- Start date
I think they have. I think I would have been a much worse person without video games. Taught me a lot of lessons.
Gaming is why my career is currently where it is...well, that and my wife who pushed me to believe in myself.
I started game programming initially went to college for game design. I switched and got my undergrad in software engineering because I was a much better programmer than I thought, and I wanted a broader base for my degree to apply. My first position was with a major company working on optimizing driver support because of my game dev background. My career has since moved on to more things, and I can attribute the beginning to gaming because that creative fire started it all.
I started game programming initially went to college for game design. I switched and got my undergrad in software engineering because I was a much better programmer than I thought, and I wanted a broader base for my degree to apply. My first position was with a major company working on optimizing driver support because of my game dev background. My career has since moved on to more things, and I can attribute the beginning to gaming because that creative fire started it all.
Video games captured my imagination as a kid like nothing else, and it was my dream to make a game and get it published. Thanks to getting an Amiga this dream started taking shape and I was able to achieve it.
I don't know what I would have done without video games to be honest!
I don't know what I would have done without video games to be honest!
Video games stole my ship and left me marooned on a deserted island with only a bottle of rum and a pistol with a single shot left in it.
My actual answer is yes. I find them very creative and I think they've helped flesh out my imagination a great deal. Plus they've always provided a fun outlet in stretches of my life where that's been hard to come by.
My actual answer is yes. I find them very creative and I think they've helped flesh out my imagination a great deal. Plus they've always provided a fun outlet in stretches of my life where that's been hard to come by.
Last edited:
It inspires me to do drawings and level designing, which even doing it for yourself is incredibly rewarding.
That said I play too much sometimes, using time I could use for other stuff.
That said I play too much sometimes, using time I could use for other stuff.
It's just nice to have an interactive medium for entertainment.
And games train you in having more eye for your surroundings. You become a bit better in shifting your attention at the right moments. What people call multitasking.
Have games been good to me? They served me well.
And games train you in having more eye for your surroundings. You become a bit better in shifting your attention at the right moments. What people call multitasking.
Have games been good to me? They served me well.
I am not really sure...but maybe. Because of video games it's made me want to work in the industry as either a concept artist or promotional artist. On the other hand, it is really hard to become any of those things and spending time in my 20s just working on art and playing video games, while everyone else goes on to make lots of money and independence doing whatever, so it makes me wonder if my life would actually be better had I just never picked up a controller as a kid.
I guess this kind of gets into nature vs nurture a bit. Maybe some people are just born with that desire to make art and use it to tell stories you know. Maybe I would have gone down this path no matter what. I don't know. But beyond that gaming never had a huge positive effect for me I do not think. I still got in trouble as a kid despite being a gaming addict. Actually, I think I did bad in school because all I thought about and wanted to do was just go home and play video games. School was just very boring in comparison, and I did not really care about it as a result. Did not care that my odd behavior got me in trouble. Did not care what the teachers had to say. Did not care about doing homework. Just wanted to draw and play video games. You know you screwed up when you can't tell which way left or right is at 15 and can't do math for shit, but you know how to beat so and so game with your eyes closed lol.
So, I guess Video Games actually has had a very negative effect for me and has not been good to me. Or maybe I can't blame the video games and I am just...I don't know.
I guess this kind of gets into nature vs nurture a bit. Maybe some people are just born with that desire to make art and use it to tell stories you know. Maybe I would have gone down this path no matter what. I don't know. But beyond that gaming never had a huge positive effect for me I do not think. I still got in trouble as a kid despite being a gaming addict. Actually, I think I did bad in school because all I thought about and wanted to do was just go home and play video games. School was just very boring in comparison, and I did not really care about it as a result. Did not care that my odd behavior got me in trouble. Did not care what the teachers had to say. Did not care about doing homework. Just wanted to draw and play video games. You know you screwed up when you can't tell which way left or right is at 15 and can't do math for shit, but you know how to beat so and so game with your eyes closed lol.
So, I guess Video Games actually has had a very negative effect for me and has not been good to me. Or maybe I can't blame the video games and I am just...I don't know.
I think I would have had a worse childhood and a better adulthood. I would have probably dealt with a lot of mental health issues as a child and been bored a LOT. I would have also had trouble making friends. Then I think sometime in my teenage years I would have gotten into playing instruments, which would have been a passion for a while. I also would have spent a lot more time doing something like data analytics projects in college, which is a useful and marketable skill in a way that spending hundreds of hours playing Smash and Persona isn't. I'd also have a more balanced social life with more relations of people from all sorts of genders, racial backgrounds, etc. I'd also spend more time doing things like reading books and organizing politically in my free time, neither of which I enjoy as much as games but are probably more stimulating and good for the world than most of the games I play. I probably would have watched more anime too which is...whatever.
Made many friends due to them. They've enriched my life in so many ways, between expanding my interests and horizons or giving me reason to travel. I have made a career out of them. It's just non stop.
Yeah, they've been really fucking good to me.
Yeah, they've been really fucking good to me.
Video games have been a hobby and interest for me since I was 6 or 7. I got my first Game Boy when I was 10. They're a great source of entertainment and joy. I love the marrying of art and storytelling with technology. I'm always impressed with the progress made with generational leaps and the creative ways the landscape of gaming changes over time.
Video games have also been a distraction and a way to avoid personal growth. Instead of facing anxieties and interrogating why my brain works they way it does (and improving my life through mental health) I've distracted myself with games (playing, buying, reading about). With age I've gotten better with not using games as a crutch (but man these last few years have made that challenging!) and using them as a healthy part of my life and not my entire life!
This recent song captured some of my feelings in some way.
Video games have also been a distraction and a way to avoid personal growth. Instead of facing anxieties and interrogating why my brain works they way it does (and improving my life through mental health) I've distracted myself with games (playing, buying, reading about). With age I've gotten better with not using games as a crutch (but man these last few years have made that challenging!) and using them as a healthy part of my life and not my entire life!
This recent song captured some of my feelings in some way.
Yeah this for me as well.
To go further, as much as I enjoy games I'm sometimes not sure I wouldn't be better off if I hadn't been as into them as I have most of my life. They're great escapism, but can be frustrating and times and put me in a worse mood than if I'd done something more relaxing or cathartic depending on mood. It's a sedentary hobby (excluding some fitness games and VR stuff of course), so while I'm not in terrible shape I'd been in better if I spent more time on active hobbies/fitness. It's addictive so I can stay up too late, be tired/grumpy, be less productive with work etc. as a result. Also ties into other addictions like beer and too many nights of gaming for hours and pounding beers etc.
None of that is inherent in gaming as a hobby of course, and just my only personal interactions with them. Still more good times than bad, but I don't know that gaming has been good for me—or better than whatever hobbies would have filled that time over the years if I wasn't so into games.
Video games have made me feel strong. They've given me a distraction when I've desperately needed one. They've given me some of my closest friends. They've given me some of my favorite stories, worlds and characters. They've given me all of you.
Yeah, they've been pretty good to me.
Yeah, they've been pretty good to me.
My mum introduced me to video games via a Mega Drive to keep me off the streets. Plenty of gangs, drugs and crime in general where I grew up, and I had a drug-dealing stepdad who made me a target for local idiots to try and take a shot at.
They absolutely expanded my ability to read, which meant I was a couple groups ahead for reading in school. Probably gave me a lot more capacity at spatial reasoning and more, though I've always been dogshit at maths.
As a teen, they led me to get the internet as I wanted to play a text-based MMO, Hidden World, that I got introduced to at school. Called up AOL and pretended to be over 18 so I could get set up with a connection since my mum wasn't savvy enough to help. Ended up discovering modding games through people making edits of GTA3 character textures online, which led me to get into game development in general, taking me to University and a career in games. Credited in some major AAA stuff, which is crazy to think about at times.
This is all alongside the stupidly huge amount of friends worldwide that I've made through video games. Games have been good.
They absolutely expanded my ability to read, which meant I was a couple groups ahead for reading in school. Probably gave me a lot more capacity at spatial reasoning and more, though I've always been dogshit at maths.
As a teen, they led me to get the internet as I wanted to play a text-based MMO, Hidden World, that I got introduced to at school. Called up AOL and pretended to be over 18 so I could get set up with a connection since my mum wasn't savvy enough to help. Ended up discovering modding games through people making edits of GTA3 character textures online, which led me to get into game development in general, taking me to University and a career in games. Credited in some major AAA stuff, which is crazy to think about at times.
This is all alongside the stupidly huge amount of friends worldwide that I've made through video games. Games have been good.
While many games and a lot of my gaming time isn't very noteworthy or important I learned how to read through video games, and they have helped me get through many tough times in my life. There were games that truly got me through my bouts with chronic depression. There was a point in time that I would fall into video games so I didn't need to face my problems but I got therapy and now they are pretty much only a good thing. I feel like there isn't much at all that could replace video games for me.
