# Video Games hell for kids? Heck, what about adults? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 3, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-hell-for-kids-heck-what-about-adults/117259 "2002-07-03T21:46:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-hell-for-kids-heck-what-about-adults/117259/1 "2002-07-03T21:46:58Z")
There is a concern and a recent thread about video games being bad for kids. Active play versus entertainment/passive and all that. Hell, forget the kids, what about adults? If I could have that time back playing computer games, AS AN ADULT, think of what I could have achieved! MBA, yes, with time to spare! I could know more about my current career and maybe be much further along. Instead, I’m planning on playing Europa Universalis II tonight for a couple of hours. Is this really bad or would I just have replaced it with some other useless activity? I can see both sides here but have a real hard time considering computer games in any positive light…for adults as well as kids. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-hell-for-kids-heck-what-about-adults/117259/2 "2002-07-03T21:58:35Z")
Confessed “Sims”-a-holic here… I think that they are ok in the sense that I have time in my day where I am productive and other time where I want to relax and unwind. Video games provide that for me. I could just as easily go to blockbuster and rent a video or watch “who wants to be a millionare”. All of them are technically a waste of time. The fact is though that I am a firm believer that if you don’t punch holes in your schedule for this type of activity, your work eventually suffers and you have ne release from stress. Thats what video games do for me 🙂 YMMV ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-hell-for-kids-heck-what-about-adults/117259/3 "2002-07-03T22:00:23Z")
\*uh, **no** release from stress, that is \* ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-hell-for-kids-heck-what-about-adults/117259/4 "2002-07-03T22:07:03Z")
Yes, I’ve used that argument myself, but is it really valid or self justification? ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-hell-for-kids-heck-what-about-adults/117259/5 "2002-07-03T22:09:12Z")
I’m sorry, I’ve always felt that I should be playing all day, and the justification that was necessary was for productivity. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-hell-for-kids-heck-what-about-adults/117259/6 "2002-07-04T00:25:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BlinkingDuck \* > Hell, forget the kids, what about adults? If I could have that time back playing computer games, AS AN ADULT, think of what I could have achieved! MBA, yes, with time to spare! I could know more about my current career and maybe be much further along. > \*\* Well…I have an MBA and I play a lot of videogames. It’s like any other recreational activity. You need something to do in your spare time that doesn’t involve work. Besides, it’s not like most people would be out curing cancer instead of playing X-Box or golfing or doing whatever they do for fun.