Why do you play Computer games?

[Chow]

I personally play games because I love playing them and have been enjoying them since the Atari 2600 days.

So what about you lot?

[CamperMan]

now this will become a controversial thread

[ChrisRedfield]

I play them because more than anything they are the best value for money for of modern entertainment (its hard to find GOOD books, but when I do I read them), a film costs about £15 and lasts for about 2 hours but a good game costs only twice that and lasts upto about 40 hours.
Games offer more options than films, some of my favourite games have full plots so you get all the benefits of a movie with full interaction.

Basically we all need some sort of entertainment after a hard day of whatever and I find that actually interacting with whats going on is far more satisfying than letting it all fly by me

[hyper!! james]

I've played them since I was a kid. I wanted a NES for my 9th birthday, but I got a Master System cos they were cheaper!

The one thing that has always held back my gaming was a lack of money. My parents were never well-off, so I was always one generation behind everyone else.

As everyone was getting PlayStations, I was looking forward to getting my SNES!

But the best thing is now I'm an adult and in work, I can afford all the games I want!

BWAHAHAHAHA!

*cough

[Crimson_Avenger]

Like Hyper, I've been playing games since I was a kid and they've pretty much always been a part of my life. I suppose for many of our generation they're the form of entertainment that helps us distance ourselves from our parents, just as television/rock and roll was to them and cinema was to our grandparents.

I have to admit that I probably don't spend as much time playing games now as I used to, although, strangely, I do buy more.

[Seabass]

i play games cos there fun and they are one of the very few things i'm good at
i started playing games since i was 5 and i still will be playing till the day i die!!!
bad thing is i'm only 16 and have to rely on me parents

[Socket_Monster]

no contoversy....

I play da gamez cos of tha grafics and graficz only. wha u mean u have fun.

[charlesr]

OMG. I tend to agree with ChrisR on this one. I used to buy a lot of films, but they just dont have the staying power. You only watch most of them like 5 times (10 hours ish). CD's and games are better value. CD's you can put on at any time and last for years. Games, although dont always last for years, certainly give you your money's worth with many hours playing time and you can come back to them years later and still think they are great. I've got a Commodore 64 and still think that Dropzone (Defender update) on it is one of the best gaming experiences you can get. It's so simple and on the later levels, insanely fast. I must have spent hours totaling days playing it originally and still play it now occasionally. Can't beat an Iain M. Banks book though e.g. Use of Weapons. This will be standard text for A-Level English in 30 years time.

[Sturae]

Although i do enjoy playing games a lot and have done for many years, i play them these days for more of a past time more then anything. so if i get in from college and im bored ill play em where as in the past i would play em anyway!!
its probably coz im getting older!!!
Dont get me wrong though...i do LOVE video games

[Chow]

Originally posted by CamperMan
now this will become a controversial thread

Heh heh heh.

I hope ppl will be sensible here.

So why do you play games camperman??

I know that some people like to play hentai games for their own personal pleasure.

[CamperMan]

i play games cos i like em

it don't matter to me if no-one else enjoys the games i play - if it gives me some enjoyment then thats all that i ask.

like other peeps i play less now than i used to - but this is due to having less free time now not because i am getting bored with gaming.

also i enjoy playing a lot of retro games - which is why my gba is currently getting most useage out of all my consoles.

[Amnion]

Gives me something to do
I play more games than I used to, but spend less time with each one. Probably because i'm less forgiving.

[bondiddly]

Because whilst my Missus permits me to play videogames, She slaps me if i try and partake of my 'absolute favourite' pastime in the living room when we have company, kids present etc......

[Prine]

I, ve been playing games since I was 9 (SNES) and now its become a way of life for me. Best of all I have just started my summer holidays (8 weeks)meaning much more time for games, yay!!!!
Bad thing is, I will not be getting no sleep, but who cares.

[electrovolt]

i've played games virtually all my life, (iam 16) but only really been into it since around 1995 - the year i got my playstation i work full time now (and have a very horrible dead end job) but it means i can buy lots of games but i have hardly any time to play them-- my life for the last few months has been - work, internet, games, work , work and even more work!

[Sega GameSation X]

I been playin games almost my entire life,

I get enjoyment outta them, therefore I find it a good way to pass spare time. At least they keep ur mind active in the holidays when there's nothing else to do, unlike that brain numbing Daytime TV

[Spider Jerusalem]

Because I'm a dirty little junkie.

[Rabbi Master]

Games man, definately one of the best inventions ever! The best thing I like about games is, take red faction or goldeneye. You can run around like a mindless idiot and shoot the living hell out of everyone who dares to cross your path. Where as, in reality you cant do that, unless you dont mind spending 300 years in jail. It`s a great way to releave stress and to kill lots of annoying little buggers without having the cops paying you a visit.

I`ll tell you what peeps, they better not stop making violent games, just cause some mums are bothered that their brats are gonna grow up to be maniacs. If they do turn out to be nutters thats their problem. Why should the majority of us sensible peeps have to put up with having violent games taken away from us. We`ve got brains in our heads, we know games from reality. The choice should be up to us whether we want to play voilent games. I just played red faction and I dont have the urge to blow away some poor guy in the street. Anyway I think I made my point.

Games are great man. Long live games! especially violent ones.

[Edited by Rabbi Master on 03-07-2001 at 11:45 PM]

[MartyG]

I play them because I'm addicted - and have been since 1979.

It's a difficult habbit to break, I even take a playstation to hotels and handhelds when travelling.

It's been 3 days since my last fix - withdrawal is setting in.

Regards
Marty

[ChrisRedfield]

Speaking of portables I'm now running on a 700MHz 192MB RAM Geforce2go 32MB with DVD Ok so its not the fastest system in the world but I've now got portable Deus EX and Wing Commander
Now the reason for the graphics card was definatley games and is testament to just how big a part of life they have
become from but I really don't see that as a bad thing.

The fact is that there are more games being released than there are movies, theres a lot of money in it because they are a lot of fun for a variety of reasons, not only is there a genre for everyone but it allows people to take on other roles, perhaps thats why Goldeneye was so popular, who in the world doesn't want to be bond?

[bondiddly]

Are you talking about me?

[THE ARTSIST]

i play them becuase the last time i ran up to someone and said,"you destroyed my town and murdered my father,now you shall endure the fate of a thousnd fists",i got stuck in jail for a while.
also if u pick the right games they last for AGES.I still play mariokart(snes one) and supersmash bros(N64) and their just as good today as they were when they fisrt came out.

quick questions:the atari 2600 was the console that looked a bit like the ps2 with the stick like joystick with one red button and why did the scrolling space shoot em ups on the c64 always have better graphics than the other games for it?

[charlesr]

Because the C64 could do some excellent parallax scrolling with loads of sprites and er.. flat particle explosions. Dropzone, armalyte, Cybernoid. Awesome.

[hyper!! james]

The Atari 2600 you speak of is often referred to as the 2600 Jr.

It's a smaller, sleeker version of the big "wood paneled" original.

Have a look about on Ebay for some pics, and even pick one up for cheap and re-live the days when graphics were simple (blocky) and gameplay was pure (clunky)!