Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

vulture.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 268 posts

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#141

Post by overcast »

mikestew wrote: post #38
civilian wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dad just turned 65 and he still has no interest in video games except for solitaire. But I really think that he'd enjoy video games, especially as a way to keep an active mental life in retirement. I tried to explain the "it's almost-real physics!" angle of Kerbal Space Program, but that wasn't persuasive. Any tips? Also, have you played Overwatch or TF2? I found both of those more interesting than Titanfall-- and…

"Hero" type games don't interest me much, and though Team Fortress interests me, just never made time for it. But, yeah, I've always been the one to sit on the flag with a rocket launcher, throw my warm body at a territory when no one else will (K/D, phfffftt ). Don't see why that won't still serve me well in my old age.

Overwatch is an EXTREMELY polished version of TF2. There is really nothing at its level at this point. I play both Titanfall 2 and Overwatch now. Titanfall 2 is a great, super fast team action shooter. Overwatch is completely focused on balanced team combat, each player has a unique character, with unique abilities to counter other character abilities. No two players can have the same character on one team, and the "scoring" is quite unique. KD is really not taken into account, and in fact, you can't even see that ratio at any point during the game, except for your own number of kills, and deaths. Points are awarded at the end for a wide variety of things, and ALL players vote the top 4 players, based on these types of achievements. It's pretty awesome.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#142

Post by lazaroclapp »

nvarsj wrote: post #105
marcofloriano wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can relate to you. Ten years ago (with 20 yo) i was playing WOW and skipping college. Before that, i was playing competitive Counter Strike and doing bad on high school. Today i look back and think: if i studied and worked more, i would be much far by now. Probably rich. I´m creating an online business where i have to learn and create every day. And yes, i'm very happy doing it and not playing anymore (one year now…

> if i studied and worked more, i would be much far by now. Probably rich. It's sad that we measure our progress in life in terms of material wealth.

It is sad that we measure it terms of our material wealth. There is plenty positive to be said about creating material wealth over all. Not that it is the only possible objective either, of course.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#143

Post by chc »

nvarsj wrote: post #105
marcofloriano wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can relate to you. Ten years ago (with 20 yo) i was playing WOW and skipping college. Before that, i was playing competitive Counter Strike and doing bad on high school. Today i look back and think: if i studied and worked more, i would be much far by now. Probably rich. I´m creating an online business where i have to learn and create every day. And yes, i'm very happy doing it and not playing anymore (one year now…

> if i studied and worked more, i would be much far by now. Probably rich. It's sad that we measure our progress in life in terms of material wealth.

Not really, because our ability to do anything in the world is largely determined by material wealth. Wealth is only as vain as what it's used for.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#145

Post by mikestew »

overcast wrote: post #141
mikestew wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Hero" type games don't interest me much, and though Team Fortress interests me, just never made time for it. But, yeah, I've always been the one to sit on the flag with a rocket launcher, throw my warm body at a territory when no one else will (K/D, phfffftt ). Don't see why that won't still serve me well in my old age.

Overwatch is an EXTREMELY polished version of TF2. There is really nothing at its level at this point. I play both Titanfall 2 and Overwatch now. Titanfall 2 is a great, super fast team action shooter. Overwatch is completely focused on balanced team combat, each player has a unique character, with unique abilities to counter other character abilities. No two players can have the same character on one team, and the "…

Thanks, all. It's obvious I've confused Overwatch with something else. Given the backlog I've currently got, I'll wait until the "Game of the Year" discount and give it a whirl.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#146

Post by GuiA »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #44
M_Grey wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that videogames fill my "brain in neutral" space very nicely. If I'm just not in the mood to read, or get out, pick up some new skill or polish an old one, hang out with friends or do something productive (and sometimes you truly want to do nothing )... I find that videogames are a nice choice. I especially enjoy combining them with unabridged audiobooks that I might not otherwise bother reading/listening to o…

I believe the essence of what you're saying is true, but I dispute the overall reasonableness of what you describe. The vast majority of video games are either built around the principles of addiction, or require a tremendous amount of time in muscle memory training. What you're describing seems like describing how enjoyable it can be to smoke one cigarette a month. (assuming that actually felt good). Could be true-…

I smoke a cigarette or two about once a month on average, typically when attending a party.

Not only is it quite pleasant after I've had a beer or three, but they're the ultimate social hack for introverted nerds. Are you at a crowded bar/party where it's impossible to have a proper talk with someone? Step outside for a smoke, and you can instantly have a nice, low key conversation with the other smokers. Lulls in the conversation aren't awkward cause you can just go back to taking drags; and once you're done, you can keep talking if you like the person- or have the perfect excuse to head back in if you don't.

Highly recommended.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#147

Post by enqk »

tradersam wrote: post #106
emodendroket wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't improving at the game an enjoyable end in and of itself? Getting really good at chess has few extrinsic benefits but nobody's embarrassed about it. Why is getting really good at Street Fighter or whatever any different?

I think the difference is chess is more a mental planning game, Street Fighter is muscle memory. (Disclaimer: I'm a huge gamer.)

Analysis of Daigo Umehara vs Momochi, Stunfest 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKj5NMnc05Q

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#148

Post by GuiA »

M_Grey wrote: post #62
droopyEyelids wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the essence of what you're saying is true, but I dispute the overall reasonableness of what you describe. The vast majority of video games are either built around the principles of addiction, or require a tremendous amount of time in muscle memory training. What you're describing seems like describing how enjoyable it can be to smoke one cigarette a month. (assuming that actually felt good). Could be true-…

You can build the skills necessary to play games over time, and of course it greatly depends on the games you play. I would tend to stay away from pure time sinks like MMO's, and I've lost the taste for 2D fighters. That said, I've been playing FPS' since FPS', and those skills wake up whenever I play for more than ten or twenty minutes. I don't see a correlation with cigarettes, which offer you nothing beneficial, a…

> which offer you nothing beneficial

Nicotine can have some benefits; see for instance https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6457772

> are physically addictive on the level of heroin

False. They're a bit above alcohol; heroin is much higher. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rational_scale_to_as...

> and are one of the leading causes of human death.

Correct.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#149

Post by cgriswald »

tradersam wrote: post #106
emodendroket wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't improving at the game an enjoyable end in and of itself? Getting really good at chess has few extrinsic benefits but nobody's embarrassed about it. Why is getting really good at Street Fighter or whatever any different?

I think the difference is chess is more a mental planning game, Street Fighter is muscle memory. (Disclaimer: I'm a huge gamer.)

My game is Daytona USA. My friends and I developed our skills over the course of years, dropping $40 on 40 races as often as we could afford to do it. We played against each other frequently, and against a larger group of maybe a dozen people who we met there. All of us shared the techniques we learned with each other.

Every once in awhile we would run into someone who would beat us. I remember one guy in particular. His driving was better than average, but to us it was basically garbage. Yet he was consistently beating us on the Advanced course. (It was infuriating, because the game would have the players select the course, but would always default to the easiest course selected. He couldn't touch us on Expert and new it, so always chose Advanced.) So I observed him for awhile, and I learned that he was absolutely killing the final curve of the course. I figured out how he was doing it, showed my friend, and we never lost to that guy again.

We were good. We handily beat a rather famous NASCAR driver one morning. His skills didn't translate. One friend left the state for awhile and came back bragging how he won a Daytona USA tournament. We destroyed him by a matter of about ten seconds (then showed him how we were doing it). Everyone who beat us had their techniques analyze and assimilated and never beat us again. And yes, I'm bragging, but my point is, our muscle memory and technique was basically perfect by the end. But we kept playing and it kept being fun.

The game was no longer about technique, or muscle memory. We all had that down. It was now a chess game. We had the same pieces, and we had to decide how and when to use them. The game was no longer trying to hit the turn perfectly. That was a given. The game was to figure out when to pass, whether to take a cheap shot, whether to slow down because someone is drafting and you want a third player who is more aggressive to come and take shots at him, etc. etc. Planning was basically the entire game at that point.

So, while Street Fighter is NOT my game, but I imagine for high level opponents, it's very much a mental game, too.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#150

Post by OraclesDyn388 »

laplace2 wrote: post #25

I've found learning and creating to be more fulfilling activities than videogames. That's not to advocate against gaming, or to generalize all games, but I've thought about how much time I spent playing games in the past and if I was happy with what I gained from it: I largely was not. I felt as if I was lacking in skills that I wished I had, and believe I could have learned in that time. I'm happier with myself afte…

I find it depends on the game. The Witness was truly challenging and interesting. It really made me think "how do I solve this". I want to play it more.

Things like TF2 and OW are really just re-enforcing muscle memory, and an exercise in "how long can I last all this chaotic audio/visual vomit" (both from the game and juvenile player base).

Pushing near 40, I can understand why people saw them as just noisy distractions when I was a kid: more often than not a video-game is a noisy distraction.

Re-hashes of CoD and other FPS shooters really aren't teaching anything new. It's exercising muscle memory built up 15 years ago playing the first one.

Post reply on HN