OT: video games, waste of time & money?

[chopper2]

i've been thinking about buying a play station 2 for the longest time. but being that i live in the real world now and can't have my parents buy certain things for me it just seems to me like video games are such a waste of money (and time it seems). what's everyone else's opinion on this issue?
 *on a bad movie note that Evil Dead game looks so kickass! is that coming out for P2?

[The Burgomaster]

I am 39 years old and I have Playstation 2. I go into phases where I will get "hooked" and play it almost every day for a month or two, but then I might put it away and not use it at all for a month or two.

Playing video games is just another source of entertainment. I don't think that there is anything wrong with playing them, as long as you balance your life with other things. I don't think that it is healthy or productive to sit in front of the television playing video games 8 or 10 hours a day, 7 days a week.

So, my answer is "no." I do NOT think that video games are a waste of money. If you enjoy them, then play them!

[Neon Noodle]

I agree with Burgo - I happen to be 31 and I slept out to get my playstation 2 on Oct 22nd 3 years ago... The only waste of money is if you don't research your purchases in advance. Since games can cose upward of $60 nowadays, it's so much better to rent from Blockbuster to make sure you don't make a bad choice.

I go through the same type of phase, but it's usually when I haul out my Sega CD games, play them for about a week, then don't touch them for 5 months.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I would recommend buying a PS2.  I own one myself, but only buy the games when on sale (20.00-10.00).  You can get some great games for about this price like Red Faction and Grand Thef Auto 3.

As for the Evil Dead game, it has been out since April which is when I ordered it.  I bought it off of the internet for about 20 bucks including the shipping.  Go out, buy a PS2 and buy the game.

Have Fun!

[Ash]

One word of advice....

While the PS2 is decent...buy an X Box instead.
I compared all 3 systems on the market very carefully before I made my choice and I can tell you that the X-Box outclasses the competition in every aspect.

It has a faster processor...doesn't require memory cards  (it has a HUGE storage capacity for saving games)....and usually comes with two games......the price has also dropped to $179.99 in most places.

I will take the "Pepsi Challenge" any day when it comes to my X-Box.

If you really need more info and a tech specs comparison, Howstuffworks.com has a fantastic article that compares all of the major consoles.

Check it out here:
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/video-game.htm

Oh and by the way, unless you are a super mega ultra hyper Evil Dead fan.....stay away from "Fistful of Boomstick".....it stinks!

[Ash]

Howstuffworks.com has a new article on an upcoming game machine called the Phantom.

I'm not so sure about how successful it'll be.
What do you think?

Go here to read about it:
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/phantom.htm

[JohnL]

>i've been thinking about buying a play station 2 for the longest time. but being
>that i live in the real world now and can't have my parents buy certain things for
>me it just seems to me like video games are such a waste of money (and time it
>seems). what's everyone else's opinion on this issue?

Years ago, I owned an Atari2600, starting from when it was just an obscuresystem with maybe ten Atari-made games available for it to when it died a slow death. At the time, it was the only game system I knew of that allowed you to play a wide variety of games. I got a few full-priced games as gifts, but a large portion of them were bought at closeout sales. Later, I got a C64 and was introduced to the world of pirating games. Suddenly, for the cost of a box of blank disks, I could have dozens of games. This trend continued with the Amiga.

With this system, I only have a couple copied games, but I have a ton of stuff that I've bought at a local closeout store for $5 each. Also, some used games from eBay for less than $10 each.

I can't imagine buying a dedicated video game system for $100+ and then games at $25-50 each.

My advice would be to upgrade your computer system and use that for playing games. Buy them used and on sale. In addition, you also have access to a wide range of emulators that will let you run almost all software written for game and computer systems up to the Genesis and SNES perfectly, plus some games for the original PSX, and N64. Not to mention hundreds or even thousands of arcade games. Many games come with online options, usually free that you can use over your existing internet connection without having to sign up for a special service.

>I compared all 3 systems on the market very carefully before I made my choice
>and I can tell you that the X-Box outclasses the competition in every aspect.

The X-Box is basically just a glorified computer system but without a keyboard or mouse. I can't help wondering what you do when the HD eventually crashes and the games refuse to work. HD's have a limited lifespan and a decade from now, either your X-Box won't work any more, or you'll have to open it up and install a new drive. You'll be screwed if it won't accept a drive formatted under a standard Windows system, or it has to be a particular size. Of course, in a decade, the motors in the CD/DVD drives will probably have worn out, and they'd be even more trouble to replace, if it's even possible.

>Howstuffworks.com has a new article on an upcoming game machine called the >Phantom.
>
>I'm not so sure about how successful it'll be.
>What do you think?

I'd be VERY surprised if this thing ever gets off the ground. It has flop written all over it. They want people to pay $400 for a stripped down computer system, then $10 a month for access to their game network, and THEN pay $3-50 each for games that will be downloaded to the system? Yeah, sure...

Sure, you can download a game, but what about the manual? Online documentation that you can't print out sucks. What happens if a game becomes corrupted on the HD and doesn't work any more? Will they let you download a new copy for free? What happens when the company goes belly-up and you can no longer get support? What do you then if you have problems with your encrypted HD?

If this thing actually gets launched, who wants to place bets on how long it is before the first program to decrypt the game files shows up on the net? Or before the games start getting ripped and patched to work on normal computer systems?

[Mr_Vindictive]

It's a hoax!

Check out the website for the phantom.  It's certainly a hoax.  Looks like someone had a few too many hours on their hands and were bored.  

A system cannot offer a full range of cross platform games.  It's impossible and implausible.

But lets say that it actually would offer cross platform games.  These would be downloaded by your broadband connection.  This is yet another big sign that the Phantom is a hoax.  Look at newer Xbox and PS2 games.  Some of these are at upwards of 3 gigs!  Nobody is going to sit and wait for a 3 gig download  to come through just to play a game.

HOAX!

[The Burgomaster]

JohnL wrote:

"HD's have a limited lifespan and a decade from now, either your X-Box won't work any more, or you'll have to open it up and install a new drive."

A decade from now, X-Box will be so obsolete that it won't matter if the hard drive doesn't work. The same for computers.

These days, if you buy electronics under the impression that they are going to be useful for more than 3-5 years, you are just fooling yourself. Technology is moving too fast. As soon as Playstation 3 comes out, I doubt that I will use my Playstation 2 ever again.

[Neville]

Video-games a waste of time? I don't think so. Compared with TV, at least you are to use your brain while playing a video-game. Another matter is if you have tendency to become an addict to these kind of stuff. Otherwise, it is perfectly valid to play video-games for all your life.

[dean]

although i'm not using it as often anymore, i have a ps2 and it was very much a waste of my time, though it was a good waste of time :P  why else would you buy it?  you've got some good games out there, and games like metal gear solid 2 and the final fantasy series get me hooked right into it [great storylines and just enjoyable]  
one good use is when friends come over and we just bum around and play multiplayer games all the time.  its all good fun!!

so if you're after that sort of experience, the xbox is better: it can house 4 controllers
but i will never say go out and buy and xbox, i'm too much of a hardcore ps2 fan!
though it seems to be a better system...

don't let microsoft find another way to take your money i say!! they'll screw you in the end for sure! :P

just think about what you're buying it for, check out what games are available, and whatever you do, don't get a gamecube... they s**t me beyond belief!

and enjoy!

[Neon Noodle]

Video games do have that ability to tap into the obsessive compulsive in every gamer. I played Metal Gear Solid 2 and LOVED the storyline - it was like having a Tom Clancy novel come to life!

However, I soon found out that one could collect the dog tags from each soldier. Yes, I did eventually collect them all, but the payoff was quite good - downloadable wallpaper (got it up right now), game sounds and icons.

This took upward of 3 weeks of constant gaming. Pretty much every game has hidden stuff in it to keep people interested now. Sad that the story isn't enough anymore to entertain people.

But at least they don't abruptly end like the cruddy E.T. game for the 2600!!!!!!

Video games a waste of time? Only if you let it happen.

[JohnL]

>A decade from now, X-Box will be so obsolete that it won't matter if the hard drive
>doesn't work. The same for computers.

Some people actually enjoy having access to their old games. I still own my Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, Intellivision, C64 and Amiga. They're not set up because I don't have room enough, but those games can still be fun.

>These days, if you buy electronics under the impression that they are going to
>be useful for more than 3-5 years, you are just fooling yourself. Technology is

I don't look at electronic devices as being disposable. If I buy something, I expect to be able to use it until I decide to get rid of it, whether that's 5 years, or 10 years.

>moving too fast. As soon as Playstation 3 comes out, I doubt that I will use my
>Playstation 2 ever again.

I know people like that. As soon as something new comes out, they dump whatever they were perfectly happy with up until that point and never look back. One guy I knew used to switch flight simulator programs about every 2 weeks.

In a time when Halo and Half-Life II are considered state of the art for first person shooters, I recently had a lot of fun playing the original Dark Forces. Fairly soon, I'll probably install Jedi Knight and play that. I also enjoyed loading up a C64 emulator and playing Karateka on it.

>Pretty much every game has hidden stuff in it to keep people interested now.

Which penalizes players who aren't good enough to unlock the secrets. I've been playing Rogue Squadron and to unlock the three secret levels without cheating, you have to get bronze, silver and gold medals on all the levels. So far I've only managed to get one gold medal, three silver and bronze on all the rest except for 2-3 where you get blown out of the sky every 30 seconds. Oh yes, on quite a few of the levels, I couldn't even finish them without using the unlimited lives cheat. One in particular has groups of 2-5 laser turrets in clumps, all of which take like 6-7 shots to destroy while they only need maybe 3-4 shots to kill you. To top it off, at the end of the level, I *ALWAYS* get blown up at least 3-4 times by something I can't even see. One minute it's clear sailing to the target and the next I'm getting pounded by shots out of nowhere.

I finally got so frustrated of trying to meet the ridiculous requirements for the various medals that I just used a cheat code to unlock the secret levels.

[wickednick]

Im 22 and will still be playing video games when im 80.I just love them, its just nice to lose your self in a good game for a few hours a day,helps take some of the stress off of life.

[ad]

I try not to buy video games when they are hip, or just released - because this is when they are at their most expensivest - and frankly no game is worth me shelling out £40 odd quid for.

I wait for the game to come down in price - then when it does, I wait until it comes to a rock bottom price - then, when it does that I wait until its so cheap I can afford three of them - then I buy it.

But by then the machine is out of date and so is my taste.