<p>Well, why not give my story too.</p>
<p>I have played video games regularly since I was 5 years old and I got an SNES (Super Nintendo). </p>
<p>Basically, I play in spurts. I did for my entire HS career and I will for my college career. I may go months without playing a videogame (there is an exception which I will get to) in the traditional sense (read, a console or computer program), and then I'll find a game I'm either interested in or re-discover an older game and play for 5-6 hours a day for a week, or even more. And then, when the game ends, I go into another lull where I don't do that.</p>
<p>The one major exception for me is the Out of the Park Baseball Series. I'm in two leagues (will be one by the time I get to college and has been either one or zero for the past three years) where I, along with 29 other owners, has control over one of the thirty teams, and takes the role of the general manager and coach: making trades, signing free agents, setting lineups, and so on, think of it as a simplified management system. I do spend a fair amount of time, changing each day depending on needs. If I'm trying to negotiate a big trade, I may spend hours working on the league. If it's a day between "sims" (10-15 game periods of time), then I may spend no time on it. It goes on a daily basis. However, that is the one game I'm "addicted" to, although when I get tired of it, I'm done with it. It's that simple.</p>
<p>There's my videogame background.</p>
<p>As for my opinion, I'm fully with the moderation crowd, although my threshold for moderation is higher than most people. Typically, I think the two camps (while it's a generalization, I'll call them the gamer and the non-gamer camps) both overgeneralize and both miss the mark (IMO) on this issue. I'll just lay out my platform here.</p>
<p>A. Videogames, specifically ones with previously mentioned "endgame" or neverending ones, can and are addictive to certain people. Also, there are different types of "addictive". A week-long addictive, where a person will play a lot per day, but will tire of it within a week or two. There's a different kind of addictive, described by the experience of EQ Widows and people who are actually addicted psychologically to the experience.</p>
<p>B. The bad qualities of video games (lacking socialization for instance) are overrated by the non-gamer crowd and, I think, underrated by the gamer crowd. Playing a lot of video games (and I'm pretty convinced of this) will not, alone, make a person an outcast or an anti-social person (not the psychological ailment, more in the society sense). It can be bad, it can be good. I think that video games, with real human interaction involved (preferably in person), can provide a similar social experience to any club or sporting event. Not exactly the same of course, but similar.</p>
<p>C. The power of videogames in terms of development are both underrated and overrated, and it depends on the crowd for the specific part. I doubt, without SERIOUS problems on other ends, that a videogame will turn a person into a homicidal maniac or someone with serious psychological problems. Seeing animated pixels (in a game the player hacked no less to get it) having partially censored sex will not scar the next generation (Ms. Clinton). In that sense, the negative effects are overrated by much of the non-gaming crowd. Likewise, the positive aspects are often underrated by the crowd. A Gran Turismo game is a pretty nice simulation of driving and the car racing world in general. The educational information within games (educational or not) is helpful. Likewise, the reverse is true about the gaming crowd. Excessive game playing can be harmful, and it's not a good simulation for real life.</p>
<p>D. In terms of my life, I regret none of my game playing. I do not believe it has harmed me any more than doing what I would do instead has, and I don't feel that games have restricted my life. Likewise, I don't think they have had a hugely positive effect either, other than providing countless hours of entertainment for me and introducing me to the wonderful world of internet message boards.</p>
<p>I don't think, that even serious game playing, will adversely affect a teenager, especially one who is a sophomore in college. It is of my belief that studying is not #2 on a gamer's list, so they would go to #2 on their list of their games were taken away indefinitely. Once it gets to an addiction stage (which I would place as an uncontrollable urge to play the game on a fairly continuous basis, stopping for food, sleep, and necessary actions), then there is a problem. But as someone who spends the vast majority of his time playing video games or on the internet (more the second part), I know that my social network increased five-fold from sophomore (from when I started my OOTP phase) year to senior year, and I raised my grades significantly (last quarter of the year: one of 5 (5 out of 124) on the Seniors Principal's List, raised my rank 15 spots from the end of Junior Year).</p>
<p>Basically, for those who see a wall of text and don't want to read: videogames are an entertainment medium that I believe is slightly more dynamic than movies or television, and unless the teenager/adult is severely addicted, I don't think the problem really exists. JM2C</p>