# Video Game Generation Take Over **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 28, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776 "2010-06-28T13:05:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/21 "2010-06-28T14:26:10Z")
I look forward with great glee to the day that public offices are filled mostly with people who’ve had experience with video games since they were young. It’s going to be a huge sea change, for better or for worse. Personally, I think it will be for the better, but either way it’s going to be an interesting shakeup. Primarily I expect much more sensible legislation regarding intellectual property and information, as the video game generation is the first to deal significantly with it throughout their lives. Plus we’ll see a reduction in this asinine “gamers can’t tell the difference between fact and fiction” and “Halo breeds domestic terrorists” bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Punisher\_11B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punisher\_11B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punisher_11B)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/22 "2010-06-28T14:30:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Quoting this because **Punisher 11B** didn’t respond to it yet. Didn’t you pretend to play shooting games when you were a kid? Did it matter if you were pretending you were in a video game about a war instead of pretending you were a cop or a soldier? Ok, yes I played war a lot. A LOT, All I ever wanted to be was a soldier. But when this one group of kids came up to me and asked me to shoot it, I told him no it wasnt a toy. His reply to me was "I shoot one all the time on COD4, it’s the main gun I use, I have “steady aim, slight of hand, (and started naming all this stuff), I know how to aim and reload it very fast”. I was blown away. I told him, that stuff comes with practice with a real weapon in real life, you can’t just get a lot of points and select it in the menu. Real life doesn’t work that way. (I wish it did). I would not mind teaching the kid to shoot, he is like 14 years old. I shot my first gun when I was 8 years old. But I’m afraid I’d get sued by his parents. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/23 "2010-06-28T14:33:18Z")
\*\* Punisher 11B\*\*, when was the last time _you_ played a video game? ---
**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/24 "2010-06-28T14:39:38Z")
> [@Punisher\_11B](#): > > I told him, that stuff comes with practice with a real weapon in real life, you can’t just get a lot of points and select it in the menu. Real life doesn’t work that way. (I wish it did). True, I wish I had an ‘unlimmited ammo’ option in real life. Which I wouldn’t have to carry around, of course… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/25 "2010-06-28T14:42:06Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I look forward with great glee to the day that public offices are filled mostly with people who’ve had experience with video games since they were young. It’s going to be a huge sea change, for better or for worse. Personally, I think it will be for the better, but either way it’s going to be an interesting shakeup. They’ll probably get busy scaring the public about whatever replaces video games, or whatever video games evolve into. > [@Punisher\_11B](#): > > Ok, yes I played war a lot. A LOT, All I ever wanted to be was a soldier. Exactly. Yeah, this kid thought he knew enough to handle a gun based on a video game, and I’m sure he didn’t. I just don’t find that very alarming. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/26 "2010-06-28T14:42:07Z")
> [@Punisher\_11B](#): > > Good video, but by no means to I think I was a perfect kid. You’ve rather missed the point. That video is from a 1963 movie, based on a 1960 play. One of the ‘kids’ in question is the same age as one of the parents making the complaint (Dick van Dyke is a year older than Paul Lynde, and, while I’m not sure just how old the characters are supposed to be, they are contemporaries). The point is, people have been going ‘kids today’, quite literally, as long as there have been people. Kids today are the same as kids 10 years ago, are the same as kids 50 years ago, are the same as kids 100 years ago, are the same as kids 2000 years ago… It’s not about ‘we were perfect’ - it’s about ‘kids today are the worst, stupidest EVER’ - if that were true even HALF the times when people have said it, there’d have been cannibalism in every nursery by the time Christ was born, and we’d have reverted to being sub-sapient as a species before recorded history. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/27 "2010-06-28T14:42:30Z")
This is all just training for future stealth UAV pilots anyway… ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/28 "2010-06-28T14:43:00Z")
Today’s video game children will be just as bad as the kids who spent all their time in front of the television the generation before who were just as bad as those who spent the day in front of a radio before that, who are just as bad as those who spent their time working in a nice warm factory instead of out in the fields before that. Times change, and change is always feared, but in general it’s not better or worse, it’s just different. ---
**Author:** ![Punisher\_11B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punisher\_11B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punisher_11B)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/29 "2010-06-28T14:43:10Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > \*\* Punisher 11B\*\*, when was the last time _you_ played a video game? January I think. I’m sure my xbox live has an exact date when I was on last. I know where this is going, and am starting to get sick of defending myself against you people. Yes, I play video games, but that does not in any way make me a hypocrite because I do not let it rule my life or way of thinking. I could care less if I get 30 kills a game or whatever. The biggest game I play is UNO on xbox live. And I have not played in months. That being said, what is your point? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/30 "2010-06-28T14:45:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > They’ll probably get busy scaring the public about whatever replaces video games, or whatever video games evolve into. It’s possible, but IMO there were huge technological strides in the 80s and 90s that many, many older people still aren’t comfortable with. That “future shock” phenomenon that was mentioned in another thread, I think. I don’t think we’re going to keep going at that same pace, but even if we do I’d say people who grew up in the 80s and 90s would be better prepared for it than people who grew up in the 40s and 50s were prepared for current day. This is all assertion and opinion, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/31 "2010-06-28T14:47:00Z")
> [@Punisher\_11B](#): > > Yes, I play video games, but that does not in any way make me a hypocrite because I do not let it rule my life or way of thinking. Why do you assume the ‘video game generation’ lets it rule their lives? You _are_ holding yourself to a double standard. “Yes I play and enjoy video games, but I’m not like those other people who play and enjoy video games! _They_ can’t handle them!” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/32 "2010-06-28T14:49:38Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > It’s possible, but IMO there were huge technological strides in the 80s and 90s that many, many older people still aren’t comfortable with. That “future shock” phenomenon that was mentioned in another thread, I think. I don’t think we’re going to keep going at that same pace, but even if we do I’d say people who grew up in the 80s and 90s would be better prepared for it than people who grew up in the 40s and 50s were prepared for current day. People who grew up in the 40s and 50s saw the introduction of television and consumer air travel and the widespread availability of personal automobiles. (And socially, they saw desegregation.) I think you’re falling victim to the opposite fallacy of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Punisher\_11B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punisher\_11B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punisher_11B)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/33 "2010-06-28T14:50:14Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > This is all just training for future stealth UAV pilots anyway… Your more right than you know. I am Infantry with a Stryker brigade and our weapon systems are based on video game technology so that the “video game generation” will be able to come right in and be able to use our systems. It takes us months to learn the new programs and a 9 year old kid can crawl right in and use it off the bat. The “Joint Strike Fighter” is the latest fighter jet the US has adopted and already has announced that it will be the last fighter jet EVER TO BE MANNED. In 20 years when we start getting new Jets, they will all be UAV. Which I think is crap, because next they will be coming after my job as “Boots on the ground”. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/34 "2010-06-28T14:52:24Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > People who grew up in the 40s and 50s saw the introduction of television and consumer air travel and the widespread availability of personal automobiles. (And socially, they saw desegregation.) I think you’re falling victim to the opposite fallacy of the OPs. Could be, but the concept of intellectual property and data rights wasn’t fully explored until software and the internet really got under way, which happened more or less parallel with video games. Sure, there was TV, which falls under IP, but I don’t think people understood what that really meant until recent years when the ability to copy IP became so easy and widespread. The internet is a _huge_ change. I’m just lumping it in with video games because the gaming generation and the internet generation are more or less the same. ---
**Author:** ![Punisher\_11B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punisher\_11B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punisher_11B)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/35 "2010-06-28T14:53:28Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Why do you assume the ‘video game generation’ lets it rule their lives? You _are_ holding yourself to a double standard. “Yes I play and enjoy video games, but I’m not like those other people who play and enjoy video games! _They_ can’t handle them!” I believe it rules their lives because as soon as they come home from school they are playing until bed time, sometimes skipping dinner with their families. They don’t want to go outside and play because it’s hard and there are games to be played. I don’t think this is every kid in the V.G.G. but a big part of them. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/36 "2010-06-28T14:54:26Z")
> [@Punisher\_11B](#): > > Sorry if that seemed “catty” but it irritates me when I get categorized as a child when I had such a short childhood. I think this here is the root of the issue. You’re pissed off that you’ve had such a short childhood and you’re pissed off at the kids you know because they’re acting like kids. Why can’t they be as unhappy as you? Why can’t they be made to slaughter their first doe at age 5 with just their bare hands and a rock? It built character for you, right? Just let the kids be kids and be happy for them. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/37 "2010-06-28T14:56:53Z")
> [@Punisher\_11B](#): > > I believe it rules their lives because as soon as they come home from school they are playing until bed time, sometimes skipping dinner with their families. They don’t want to go outside and play because it’s hard and there are games to be played. > > I don’t think this is every kid in the V.G.G. but a big part of them. But anything _can_ be an addiction. Sex, drinking, video games, anything. But they can also be enjoyed responsibly. Why rail against the object when it’s the addictive personality of the user that’s most likely to blame? ---
**Author:** ![Punisher\_11B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punisher\_11B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punisher_11B)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/38 "2010-06-28T14:57:24Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > You’ve rather missed the point. > > That video is from a 1963 movie, based on a 1960 play. > > One of the ‘kids’ in question is the same age as one of the parents making the complaint (Dick van Dyke is a year older than Paul Lynde, and, while I’m not sure just how old the characters are supposed to be, they are contemporaries). > > The point is, people have been going ‘kids today’, quite literally, as long as there have been people. > > Kids today are the same as kids 10 years ago, are the same as kids 50 years ago, are the same as kids 100 years ago, are the same as kids 2000 years ago… > > It’s not about ‘we were perfect’ - it’s about ‘kids today are the worst, stupidest EVER’ - if that were true even HALF the times when people have said it, there’d have been cannibalism in every nursery by the time Christ was born, and we’d have reverted to being sub-sapient as a species before recorded history. I agree with your point, and I am sure it will happen in every generation from now until kingdom come. But as I stated earlier, I don’t like change very much. Which is why I live in the woods. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/39 "2010-06-28T14:59:24Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > The internet is a _huge_ change. I’m just lumping it in with video games because the gaming generation and the internet generation are more or less the same. On the (comparatively) narrow issue of IP, you could be right. But though the internet is a huge change, is it bigger than (say) electrification, or the automobile? You’re significantly underestimating the degree of change anyone alive has seen in their youth. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776/40 "2010-06-28T15:00:26Z")
> [@Punisher\_11B](#): > > I believe it rules their lives because as soon as they come home from school they are playing until bed time, sometimes skipping dinner with their families. They don’t want to go outside and play because it’s hard and there are games to be played. > > I don’t think this is every kid in the V.G.G. but a big part of them. I see it as opposite from you. I do happen to know a kid exactly as you describe, my cousin who’s pretty developmentally stunted and has no ambitions other than to lock himself in his room and play video games. However, I see him as the exception to the rule. I also don’t see games as being responsible for his behavior; his parents have done an exceptionally poor job of raising him correctly, instead choosing to let him do whatever he wants and acceding to all his wishes. He’s gotten lazy and entitled because of that. In the 50s and 60s, he’d probably lock himself in his room reading pulp comics or other books, or hang out at the movie theater, or some other sedentary activity. Video games are simply what kids (and plenty of adults) do for entertainment these days, and as always there are some that overindulge, but most have a better sense of responsibility than that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-game-generation-take-over/544776.md?page=3)