sqaure CEO: 360 and ps3 not worth it

[darth los]

yep that's me. i think it's cool when parents can really get into something with their kids and genuinely enjoy it.

[MinionZombie]

yep that's me. i think it's cool when parents can really get into something with their kids and genuinely enjoy it. There needs to be more of that I think, rather than just dumping kids in front of a console to keep them quiet, it's nice if they can get involved. There was an article online somewhere actually, written by a parent who actively played videogames with their kid, so they knew which games their kid was playing and they spent a lot of time with their kid as a result...which is a really grown up and forward looking/thinking way of approaching 21st century gaming.

[Terran]

Yeah ...and thers nothing better than kicking a kids ass in a competitive video game contest..... And I suppose theres always the CO-OP games as well....

[darth los]

There needs to be more of that I think, rather than just dumping kids in front of a console to keep them quiet, it's nice if they can get involved. There was an article online somewhere actually, written by a parent who actively played videogames with their kid, so they knew which games their kid was playing and they spent a lot of time with their kid as a result...which is a really grown up and forward looking/thinking way of approaching 21st century gaming. Unfortunately that what's contributing to the degeneratization of our youth. Dumping them in front of the tv and letting the media be their babysitters. They're exposed to way more things than they should be before their time.

[MinionZombie]

It's not necessarily the exposure, it's the lack of supervision, and/or the lack of backing up what they see with discussion and explanation. *chuckles* I remember when I was about 9 and watching The Fly 2 and after the bit where the guy gets crushed by the elevator (that got rewound several times, and frame-by-framed out of technical interest in the special effects/editing of it), but anyway, yeah, my Dad put things in perspective saying like 'if that person was real then someone would have to tell his wife and kids he was dead and wasn't coming home' ... I'd already figured that, but I wasn't viewing the character as a real person either, but still, it was a good bit of involvement. Ah mate, that just reminded me of the cringe-worthy explanation of the f-word after I accidentally let it slip one night...ah mate, hehe...but still, I appreciate the involvement and such, which is best in the long run. But a lot of kids don't have parents that interested or involved ... or even intelligent, some parents can be complete morons, any idiot can get up the duff and have an equally dimwitted kid...and there's usually more of them...waaaaahhhh!!! "Idiocracy" is coming true!!!

[darth los]

Good point. But there is an argument to be made that whilemedia might not nescesarily cause violence it definitely desensitizes people to it through repeated exposure the same as anything else. Murder is suppossed to be a big deal. But hearing it on the news everyday and seeing it constantly in films and games reduces it's impact.

[MinionZombie]

Desensitisation and influence are completely different things though, and of course, desensitisation to media violence is just that - desensitisation to media violence. Stepping into the real world version is a completely different thing entirely, so there's nothing to worry about in the transition from one to the other. The sort of people who might be inspired, or drawn to such entertainment who end up going on to a rampage, are the sort of people who were already mal-adjusted anyway ... as well as actually being capable of committing serious violence, which the vast majority of people simply aren't. But of course, what I always like to say, you can become desensitised to anything, even a joke, it just becomes less funny...but you still understand what it is. Nutters, on the other hand, have no idea what's going on - fantasy and reality merge, they do not know right and wrong, good or evil. For the very basic and simple fact that there isn't millions of videogamers/film fans out there beating each other senseless just goes to show that games/movies/music are doing no proper harm.

[Danny]

it aint just tv man, people i know one of which is a certified genius all say "i dont read books" one hasnt read a book since he was 11?!?, now english was my forte at school, contrary to my abismal typing (i use all 8 fingures gimme a break ) and i think im reading at once about 6 books right now so as you can imagine i love reading almost as much as i lvoe the cinema, and the idea of not reading a book for 8 years is horrifying when you think that these are the types of people who will be running companys and stuff in the future, hell there are people like taht running companys now.

[darth los]

People have become so dependent on technology and it's sad. Think about it. How many phone numbers can you actually remember? I don't know my own sister's number from memory because i store it in my phone and it does the work for me. Our brains are turning to mush.

[MinionZombie]

Indeed, there is a dependance on technology, and as for the book thing, I'm ashamed to say for a very long time I was one of those "I don't read" type people, but of course the irony was I'd read a magazine, and would read text books for school of course. However, at uni I bought "Fight Club" (the book, already had the DVD of the film) and absolutely loved it. I've since read all the Palahniuk books that followed and am currently in the middle of reading his latest called "Rant". I've also been through several other books, but there's not many authors I actually like or bother with, it's pretty much only Chuck Palahniuk with the odd thing on the side (e.g. Jarhead, Jeremy Clarkson, Clockwork Orange, Last Exit To Brooklyn, Silent Bob Speaks, Autumn etc). Let's say, my reading for pleasure has gone up a lot since finding Chuck Palahniuk. I'd read for pleasure when not having to read for study purposes, so I'd flip between one or the other, so now it's all reading for pleasure (and Total Film every month. )

[darth los]

I think that's the key, finding somehting to read that actually interests you. There's nothing worse than reading a boring, long book.

[Terran]

Chuck Palahniuk rules.....! But the only Palahniuk books Ive read are Invisible Monsters, Lullulaby, Choke(my favorite), Fight Club, and Survivor .... I think thats all Ive read The two most recent books Ive read are Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity is Near....and Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion

[MinionZombie]

Exactly - find something interesting, and that was what I needed. If I'm interested in the book (e.g. If Chins Could Kill) then I'll really get into it and get reading...otherwise, it still might be a good book, but if I'm not really feeling it, or I have too many 'days off' from reading it, I lose the momentum - which is another problem, retaining the momentum to read a bit every day...that's why the toilet is ideal for reading, two birds ... one stone (well, hopefully a few, don't wanna get bunged up...ewww, ha!)

[darth los]

the thought of toilet and stones seems rather unpleasant.

[MinionZombie]

Fugitives & Refugees is a pretty nifty 'chuck tells all' sort of guide to his hometown, Non-Fiction is also really interesting (a series of articles he'd written for magazines and such, the one about people who build their own castles is really interesting). Then there's "Haunted", which is a really cool book, basically a group of people all hide (trap) themselves away deliberately to gain fame and fortune for when they come out, and it's all about them and their starvation in this hidden away old building and so on, I've gone a bit foggy on the details of it, but it's a really good read for a Palahniuk fan. It can get a bit gross perhaps, but the bit with the tattoo is just hilariously grim (you'll understand when you read it). His latest (the one I'm currrently reading) is called "Rant" (came out last month), it's an aural biography type deal with loads of different people all telling their versions/opinions/stories to do with the title character Rant, who may or may not have been a serial killer (with a difference - he enjoys getting rabies and spreading it, and many other things). There's some really twisted ideas at work in Rant, it takes a bit of getting into as it's a slightly new twist on his normal style, but it's good stuff. I say you should definitely catch up on the remaining Palahniuk's you haven't read - go get them and read them now!