[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: videogames

[Bernadette M. Crumb]

----- Original Message -----
From: "grey_wolf_c" <greywolf1 at jazzfree.com>

> (going off a tangent)
> I've always wandered about this: what is this thing with
parents and
> videogames? I've seen loads of examples of people raving about
the
> wickedness of videogames (not unlike people raving about the
wickedness
> of Harry Potter) for all my life, and I've never understanded
what's
> wrong with them.

SNIP

> So, what are the arguments AGAINST videogames, and why haven't
I turned
> into whatever you're fearing I'd might have turned into?
>
> Hope that helps,
>
> Grey Wolf, who hopes no-one takes this as a personal attack,
since it's
> tone is maybe a little too strong

I don't have anything against videogames per se, but I HATE the
obnoxious noises most of them make.  I also have problems with
some of the more violent and gory ones, but I can control that by
paying attention to what makes my kids uncomfortable when they
watch videos or TV, and make sure they aren't playing something
that could give them nightmares.  I think they are great for
hand/eye coordination and for teaching a child how to react
quickly to changing requirements... but the bloody "beep-beep"
and "boop-boop" noises that most of the games that my children
play at their friends' and cousins' houses literally drive me to
screaming fits.... In my case it's because I'm extremely
sensitive to sounds in certain frequency ranges (while totally
lacking the ability to hear in certain other ranges) which seems
to be right in the middle of what the manufacturers put in the
games.

Games like CIVILIZATION, PHAROH and any of the SIM games are
fantastic because we don't HAVE to put the sound and music on,
and we can still enjoy them.

I prefer the computer games too, because I don't have to pay a
fortune for a "Nintendo Whatever" or a "Gamebox Whatever"... and
I don't need to worry about my kids fighting over whether the TV
is used for the games or for watching DVDs. :)

Play the games, but if I'm around, please turn down the sound!

Bernadette
(Who caught another bit of her hearing range vanishing
yesterday... listening to the stereo in the car, perfectly
balanced left, right, front, rear... and the sound from the right
side of the car abruptly halved in volume...and it wasn't the car
stereo. *shudder*)
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art. It has no
survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value
to survival."
-- C.S. Lewis (1898-1963).