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Video Gaming Will Take Over

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Re: Video Gaming Will Take Over

#131

Post by p1necone »

anchpop wrote: post #96
Aaronstotle wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that the major difference is a lot of games/apps are tailor made to produce dopamine/cause addiction. While a good book _can_ be addicting, it's not inherently stimulating.

Why would a book not be made to produce dopamine? They're written by people trying to make the most engaging and profitable story possible

I've certainly become "addicted" to good books in the same way I've been "addicted" to good video games - reading for 8hrs straight every day until I'm done and so on.

From the way some people talk about video games on here sometimes I assume they think the android/ios market is representative of all of gaming (even then there's plenty of good "buy once" mobile games without microtransactions, the discoverability on the stores is just godawful - presumably to steer people towards more profitable crap rather than what's actually good).

Re: Video Gaming Will Take Over

#132

Post by GVIrish »

anchpop wrote: post #96
Aaronstotle wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that the major difference is a lot of games/apps are tailor made to produce dopamine/cause addiction. While a good book _can_ be addicting, it's not inherently stimulating.

Why would a book not be made to produce dopamine? They're written by people trying to make the most engaging and profitable story possible

A good book might hook someone into reading it all in a binge, but once it's done it's pretty much done.

A game on the other hand can create a sort of rewards treadmill where no one ever really 'finishes'. A book can't adjust rewards in real time to fuel addictive behavior.

Books don't really exploit gambling mechanics, which is what can drive some of the most pernicious addictions.

Re: Video Gaming Will Take Over

#133

Post by mffnbs »

TylerE wrote: post #99
navs wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought much the same but recent experiences with my cousin's children give me doubt. They're both in the early teens now and they consume games like Minecraft on their iPad as if they were playing on a standard PC. I know the games have been tweaked for the format but not by much, at least in the instance of Minecraft. The virtual controls infuriate me but they're tapping and swiping away building some complex cre…

Makes me wonder what kind of spine and RSI issues that generation will have in 20 years

How's it different from a generation that grew up with books?

Re: Video Gaming Will Take Over

#134

Post by eikenberry »

agumonkey wrote: post #82
cookie_monsta wrote: post #76

There's a point that the article only brushes on that seems important. My generation (born in early 70's) was the first to really come up with access to video games pretty much as a given. We had space invaders etc in the arcades (or wherever else they could fit a cabinet), hand-held Nintendo and basic home consoles in primary school and then of course came the boom with PC, PS, X-Box and all that followed. But a lot…

I'm a tad younger than you and I'd like your opinion. I stopped caring about the gaming industry because 1) even if it's entertainment, I think the deep value is .. as a kid thing. It's not dismissive, I just think that gaming value has limits. It's a dreamy world you interact with and that fits the younger brain. As adults you'd rather master the real world more. 2) I find games today not much more original than in…

1) I don't see it. All adults I know who aren't into gaming still enjoy non-real world things for entertainment. Be they books, movies, sports, TV, etc. You work at mastering your profession, raising your kids, and all the other real world stuff and sometimes you just want to enjoy life.

2) Yes and no. I think this comes around to the fact that there are only so many stories and that there have been original games but they tend not to be big. The big genres in games have been pretty well defined and while original things do get introduced, most are refinements. Also execution matters much more than original content in games and that seems to be hit and miss.

Personally I went through a period of about 15 years where I gamed very little. A time when my kids were young and work was much more demanding. I got back into gaming maybe 6-7 years back when my kids were old enough to have their own interests and I professionally became confident enough that I didn't need constant study. So it might be something that changes as you grow.

Re: Video Gaming Will Take Over

#135

Post by Polylactic_acid »

tomtheelder wrote: post #26
FooHentai wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I've seen a fair number of peeps playing minecraft on ipad too, so you have a point. They are separate, partitioned instances of the games though, tailored for the format.

I think this is at least partly a generational thing. Kids and teenagers seem to be much more willing than my peers to play demanding games on mobile, and to play them in public. It sort of makes sense, since anyone my age or older didn't _really_ have access to serious mobile games growing up.

I grew up while android/ipads were starting to take off and spent a lot of my childhood playing fruit ninja and minecraft pocket edition. Now I'm >20 and I don't have a single game on my phone. I'm not sure what changed but I just don't have any desire to play light/casual games anymore. On the bus I am happy to just sit there with noise canceling headphones and think. Then when I get home I'll spend an hour on a VR game.

Re: Video Gaming Will Take Over

#136

Post by tachyonbeam »

Nextgrid wrote: post #84
navs wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought much the same but recent experiences with my cousin's children give me doubt. They're both in the early teens now and they consume games like Minecraft on their iPad as if they were playing on a standard PC. I know the games have been tweaked for the format but not by much, at least in the instance of Minecraft. The virtual controls infuriate me but they're tapping and swiping away building some complex cre…

Maybe it's because they haven't tried any better and so don't know how the constrained controls are limiting their gameplay? I see a lot of this in other fields. People will use a sub-standard workflow and think it's fine until they experience something better and at that point they realise how bad their previous workflow was.

That's probably true, but I think most people don't have desktop computers anymore. Most people buy laptops instead, and they don't use a mouse. Hence, most kids growing up won't really interact with desktop computers and mice anymore, and won't really get to see how different the experience could be. Not unless they happen to be at a friend's house, and that friend has a desktop computer with a mouse.

Re: Video Gaming Will Take Over

#137

Post by Polylactic_acid »

GVIrish wrote: post #132
anchpop wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would a book not be made to produce dopamine? They're written by people trying to make the most engaging and profitable story possible

A good book might hook someone into reading it all in a binge, but once it's done it's pretty much done. A game on the other hand can create a sort of rewards treadmill where no one ever really 'finishes'. A book can't adjust rewards in real time to fuel addictive behavior. Books don't really exploit gambling mechanics, which is what can drive some of the most pernicious addictions.

Yep, people sink literally thousands of hours in to a single game. Some popular games literally punish you for the time you spend not playing the game or give you daily rewards so that you log in frequently.

Re: Video Gaming Will Take Over

#138

Post by giancarlostoro »

tashoecraft wrote: post #31
giancarlostoro wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly what games have 20 minute updates so often? I havent played a game like that in a while. I can only think of MMOs doing this. I agree as well though, keyboard and mouse is the superrior interface for me.

I had a comical situation happen a few years ago when I went to a friends house. Tried to play Halo on his xbox one, something he played almost daily. Required an update which took maybe 10 minutes. Got in and realized we couldn't play local split screen online. Fine, he has a gaming pc, let's fire that up and play with his Rift. Pc has an update, then steam needed some kind of update, and Oculus did, and then the da…

I'm a "patient gamer" so I play games that likely wont be getting updates as much anymore. The newest games I have right now are basically because of Humble Choice. I probably wont play them yet either. I got too many games. I might freeze Humble Choice for a few months at this point.

Re: Video Gaming Will Take Over

#139

Post by Polylactic_acid »

geerlingguy wrote: post #25
giancarlostoro wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly what games have 20 minute updates so often? I havent played a game like that in a while. I can only think of MMOs doing this. I agree as well though, keyboard and mouse is the superrior interface for me.

I was surprised/annoyed by this as a very casual gamer—my sister lent me her Xbox One a few weeks ago, and I have a copy of Halo (Master Chief Collection). I wanted to play it for a few minutes just to relive some memories from Halo CE and see how the remastered graphics looked. It took like 20 minutes for the game to copy from the disc to internal storage (luckily her Xbox had some free space!), and then it spent an…

>it was a matter of plugging in a cartridge/disc, turning on the system, and playing the game after a few boot screens.

It was also a matter of traveling to the store during opening hours, purchasing the game and traveling home. That is almost always less convenient than purchasing it in a UI and having it download.

What does annoy me is how steam and probably other platforms force you to install updates before you can start a game even if the game has no online features.

Re: Video Gaming Will Take Over

#140

Post by Polylactic_acid »

tashoecraft wrote: post #31
giancarlostoro wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly what games have 20 minute updates so often? I havent played a game like that in a while. I can only think of MMOs doing this. I agree as well though, keyboard and mouse is the superrior interface for me.

I had a comical situation happen a few years ago when I went to a friends house. Tried to play Halo on his xbox one, something he played almost daily. Required an update which took maybe 10 minutes. Got in and realized we couldn't play local split screen online. Fine, he has a gaming pc, let's fire that up and play with his Rift. Pc has an update, then steam needed some kind of update, and Oculus did, and then the da…

Linux handles this with much more grace. The entire system from the kernel to the web browser can be updated in a single action without requiring downtime during the update. if steam would integrate itself with linux better, perhaps by using flatpak for itself and all games then things would just be kept up to date for you without 1000 updaters opening when you turn on your compuer.
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