Another Nonsensical Rant Against Video Games

"Dorm rooms are like bacteria dishes where crueler and more virulent microorganisms are constantly introduced to breed in a frothy frenzy of poor judgment. When video gaming is added to a culture of persistent sexual experimentation in a peer group of sex radicals fueled by vast amounts of mind-altering narcotics, reality is the big loser. …Sharp colors and quick movement like you find in Grand Theft Auto make these couch potatoes feel as if they’re really moving through life at a brisk pace while in reality growing obese. It makes them feel important, as if they’re achieving something, while their textbooks sit unopened on nearby desks. It sucks up hours upon hours when these children could be learning business or engineering. Instead of American history, they memorize the satanic rites of Resident Evil, thrill in emotional suffering with Silent Hill or train to be Columbine-style murderers with Dead Space Extraction. The foundation of modern morality so necessary for the next generation to lead is not something you children will get sucking on the end of a filthy bong while yanking a joystick around the streets of San Andreas, gunning down minorities and looking for “Hot Coffee” as some mysterious classmate from Art History oils your tensed-up pecs.  This might seem fun now, but it’s truly destroying your soul." - Author Stephenson Billings

Source: Game Politics
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Is today National Pile on Video Games Day and I didn't know about it?  What exactly is going on?  This is the second story I've posted that dealt negatively with gaming.  The first was about the man who was drunk and shot his son over a missing video game.  While that dealt indirectly with video games, this is a full on attack on them.

Let's just take each of Mr. Billings facts and discuss them.  "Sharp colors and quick movement like you find in Grand Theft Auto make these couch potatoes feel as if they’re really moving through life at a brisk pace while in reality growing obese."  What's making these people obese is taking in more calories than they burn.  While it's true they may be sitting ont he couch playing video games, they could be reading a book, or watching TV.  There are a huge number of activities that Americans do each day that don't burn calories and a number of them are things people consider constructive.  Grand Theft Auto does not make people feel like they're moving through life and that description could have just as easily been about someone's favorite TV show. 

Last time I checked in a Resident Evil game you were not encouraging satanic rituals, you were attempting to stop a crazed bio organization or a group of cultists from releasing a deadly virus to the world.  There are no rituals to memorize or spells to perform.  You're shooting zombies and infected humans in an effort to rid the world of the plague they were causing.  If you haven't played the game, Mr. Billings you can't talk about it. 

Silent Hill is not a thrilling game.  It's scary.  It's not necessarily a fun experience.  There are people out there who enjoy getting scared, but it's not because they delight in the suffering of others, it's because they like the adrenaline rush that comes with being in that situation.  I don't remember any high school students in Dead Space either.  That was a ship that had been over run by aliens and turning humans into unholy creatures known as Necromorphs.  Next time there is a high school filled with those creatures, let me know. 

Mr. Billings needs to sit down with a controller in his hand and play everyone of those games he mentioned.  And while he's at it, pop in Super Mario Galaxy and tell me that's rotting the souls of our generation and the generations to come after us.  Let me know when there are studies that prove that petting a virtual dog is harmful to your health or knocking down towers in Boom Blox leads to terrorism. (Wait that's plausible. /sarcasm)

Chances are there aren't any five year old children sucking on bongs while playing GTA IV or Dead Space Extraction.  They're playing with Mario and Spiderman, or the Jedi from Star Wars, in Lego form.  Gaming's not evil, Mr. Billings and this is coming from a conservative.