Playing Games
I found this post in my drafts folder. I’m not sure I ever reached a consensus in my own thoughts on this, but I figure I’ll post it anyway.
I was reading this article linked on reddit from IGN called Playing Games for all the Wrong Reasons by Justin Davis, and the author states that the times in his life where he played videogames the most are times of high stress or difficulty in his life, where he needed to achieve/be successful at something and used video games to do that. Then he questions whether or not this is healthy and whether people use video games to hide from their fear of failure.
I’m not entirely sure I agree with the direction he was trying to take with the article. Videogames, like many other media, are a form of escapism. I know that personally during finals in High School and College I would often end up watching episode after episode of a TV Show on Netflix that I had never cared about before, or reading a couple books I had been meaning to get to, or play some videogames. Everything that wasn’t studying for classes was suddenly extremely interesting! Now was I trying to achieve success with these activities? I don’t think so.
My goal was simple: escape. I was tired of studying, mentally and physically. I needed a break so I would do something that allowed me to relax my brain. Games act the same way. If your life is causing you stress, yes you could spend all day worrying about it, but sometimes you need a break, to refresh, to recharge. The same thing applies to programming, if you can’t figure out a problem, take a break, relax, come back to it fresh. Videogames are just one way of doing that. Do you get feedback in games? Definitely. Is it so bad to leave everything behind? I don’t think so. Now whether or not you can stop yourself from playing to get back to your original problem is something that’s entirely up to you, whether you escape by playing games, reading, or other things entirely.
The more I’m writing this post, the more I seem to be agreeing with the author. I guess my main point is I don’t feel like it’s a negative thing to escape your worries for a while. Going on a hike or a vacation are not seen as negative things to do to escape, and video games allow you to do that even if you can’t take time off.