Gaming Gone Wild!

I like video games alot, haha. :) I'm good with playing anything from Rockband to solitaire... if you could even call that a video game to begin with. Like most people, I get addicted to these really easily. Get me to play once, and I won't want to stop playing. :) For example, over the break my wireless internet connection stopped working, so I resorted to two games I had forgotten about - solitaire and freecell. And once I started, I was hooked, and I've been pretty obsessed with it ever since. It's sad to say, but I remember spending some nights of my Christmas break just sitting in bed playing Freecell for hours, completely forgetting about the time. But if you were to compare the addictiveness of solitaire to, let's say Rockband... Well that's a whole different story.

I think I kind of grew up with video games, so it just seems natural for me to play them. I can recall numerous times many years ago where my cousins & I would just sit down and play Super Mario on what seems like an ancient Nintendo 64 for hours. After the "Nintendo 64 era" passed, there was the Playstation, the Nintendo DS, the XBOX, the PSP, the Wii, etc., and I think that we can all safely assume that there will be another new spectacular game console to come in the future. I consider myself lucky because I can personally say that I've owned a Nintendo 64, a Playstation (one of the original PS1's, before the PS2 or PS3 came out, haha!), a Gameboy AND Gameboy Advance, a Nintendo DS, and (my personal favourite) a Nintendo Wii. Wow, I'd forgotten how many game consoles I've had. :) As time progresses, more games and systems are being created, and there are games designed for everyone from young children to adults, and everyone in between! It's also fun to try games that you wouldn't normally even consider. For example, during New Years day, my cousin and I were bored at our cousin's house, so we decided to play what I guess is considered a "boy" game called Gears Of War. We were horrible at it, but we had tons of fun and couldn't put it down, even after playing for hours and hours on end. :)

Plus it's not like video games are horrible for you either, as long as you don't get too addicted. Studies show that playing video games at a young age helps can help to increase a young one's learning rate. And game makers are becoming very aware of the health risks of games, and are therefore creating games that seem to encourage health. For example, one of my new favourite games, Wii Fit! It's all about balance and your health in general. The game includes a balance board, which is what you use throughout. You start off the program by taking a body test, and from there you can find out your BMI, weight, and even your "Wii Fit age". You are also encouraged to make weight goals for yourself by taking a body test everyday, since the balance board keeps track of your BMI and weight. Then you can go on and play games, activities, and exercises in four categories - strength training, aerobics, yoga, and balance games. To be honest, doing all of this is a complete workout, and I downed a whole water bottle playing for about half an hour. And that's alot, considering I don't really drink water in the first place!

So to sum this all up, I think that video games are good for you, as long as you don't get too addicted to it. I'm not saying that it's okay to play video games every living second of your life, but to take things in moderation. You shouldn't let them take over your whole life, but as they say, "whatever you do, do in moderation." :)

Saturday, January 3, 2009 Comment on This Entry