I have failed The Pit of 100 Trials for the tenth time. I have to admit that it's driving me crazy that I haven't finished it yet. Dang. What, you don't know what that is? It's a part of Super Paper Mario you unlock after finishing the main campaign. What's Super Paper Mario you ask? It's a video game for the Nintendo Wii game console. Why is a grown man playing a video game, you might ask? Uh, well...
OK, it's not a big deal. My wife thinks it's a bit silly, but I'm not alone out there. After a Google search I found some interesting statistics about video game play. The first thing is not a surprise, 97% of teenagers play video games. It's a perfect 100% in my house. This next stat was a little surprising and also a little comforting, 60% of adults ages 30 to 49 play video games. This next one did surprise me, 23% of adults 65 years old or older also play. So much for the "teaching old dogs new tricks" myth. Perhaps the retirement years holds more for us than bingo night down at the American Legion hall after all. Of course, males play more video games than females in all age categories, so the ladies can still hold that over our heads when we haven't finished the honey-do list.
Still, why do I play video games? Well, I've actually mulled that over and have an answer. Like most people, I think they are amazingly fun. Video games can be visually stunning, intricately complex and involved, mentally stimulating and simply an enjoyable way to spend time. I know people will argue if it's a good way to spend time, but I'll let them debate that.
But that's not the whole reason. I play partly because I have a very competitive nature. I was the kid that spent his summers down at the neighborhood park playing whatever pick up game came along. I played little league baseball. I tried to play high school football, but my mom feared I'd get injured and wouldn't let me. If she would have seen us play tackle football elsewhere... man, that was violent! I'm lucky I never got seriously hurt. As a young adult I was in softball and basketball leagues a couple nights a week. Then I blew my knee out. Three knee operations later and I simply don't compete in sports anymore. What's the kid pent up inside a grown man supposed to do? Well, I have found video games. It started with the sporting games like Madden football and some baseball. I used to have the Sega Genesis gaming system years ago and loved to play Sonic the Hedgehog, so naturally I drifted toward other games and found them fun and engaging. So, for a 41 year old dude with a bum knee, video games replaced sports and helped satisfy that competitive nature. It's purely anecdotal, but If you ask other older guys why they play video games you might get a similar response.
Now, not all the studies I found were good news. It would seem that older folks who play video games are more sedentary, over weight and are less sociable. I thought it was funny that it took a study to figure that one out... Of course, a lot of adults are sedentary, over weight and less sociable who scoff at the thought of gaming... and I think they're lazy... just sayin'. But I wasn't surprised to find adult gamers are more susceptible to depression. I actually can relate. I still can't finish that stupid pit of a million trials! My son informed me that there is a second pit of a million trials elsewhere in the game as well! Now that is depressing. I simply have to beat it! Dang video game!
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar