Are video games a waste of time and money??

Precisely why you cannot dictate to others what a waste of time is.


What's wrong with short-term goals? If I decide to achieve the short-term goals of, say, satisfying my hunger or getting sleep when I'm tired, are they a waste of time?

If your position is that short-term goals should also serve long-term ones, you can apply that logic to just about anything.


There is indeed nothing wrong with having a variety of (reasonable) experiences.


But video games provide all sorts of experiences.


Then you do not know what a goal is.


Except they do. ;)

Or rather, they potentially can. Obviously, there are better resources for learning things of a technical nature, living a healthy lifestyle, etc. Pointing out that they are not the optimal method to attain big life goals would be missing the point entirely.

They can also aid in early development of skills and knowledge. Lemme tell ya, I was a heck of a lot more excited learning history from Mario's Time Machine than I was from history classes.

There are even high-paying jobs that seek out gamers because they excel in multitasking under stressful conditions.




It seems to me that what constitutes a waste of time is arbitrary to the point that it's a waste of time to even bother discussing a definition that cannot be agreed upon to begin with.


Not even close. There are innumerable benefits that transcend "a good time and memories."


There is no parallel between that and the glory of gaming.

Still, although I am a much bigger fan of YouTube, there is a wide variety of video content on TikTok that can make it useful, such as tutorials and businesses using it to market themselves.

I told you there are millions of games out there. Just because you did not like what few games you played is not very meaningful in the proper context. Your sample size is not statistically significant. (Plus there are far fewer games available on consoles.) Besides, you are not the arbiter of quality. You may think a game is bad while many others may think it's great.


You did not mention anything about "valid" goals...and if you intend to do that now, that just complicates matters. Or perhaps it's just as simple as before: you don't get to dictate to others which goals are valid for them.


Most of the skills one can get from gaming apply to both single and multiplayer, including multitasking under stress.

@SmugSatoko That video is terrible. Those traits only apply to 0.1% of competitive gamers. Johnny donuts and Joe nobody who is mediocre at league and can't bust top 500 in overwatch can't do that job lol.

@ArabianLuffy I never play Metal Gear soo...

OT: Just console gaming is a waste.

I always feel like the idea of a "waste" of time and money comes from a weird position. Like... What exactly am I meant to be doing? I'm not so obsessed with "the grind" that all I do is work, but I have a full-time job and can pay to house and feed myself. Is it a "waste" to experience joy? Who cares where that comes from? Is it a waste to bond with my friends and family over the internet by playing games? I don't think so.

Plus, for me at least, video games provide a sort of structure to social interactions that I... desperately need, my ability to converse is really bad unless it's "about" something, lol, I'll admit that. It's a lot easier for me to talk lightly and open up when playing games, that's why I own a good number of board games, as well. This is one of the reasons I like anime, as well. Fandom Conversations are a lot more tolerable to some groups than my political opinions, lol.

@Timeline_man i have talked to people who think like this before usually it comes down to "you should be spending most of your free time on something productive" as if people aren't already working all day usually.

As long as you are happy then it shouldn't matter if what you are doing is "unproductive" being more productive isn't going to make you happier and a better person if that's not what you want to be doing.

@RyuRabbit Any time I come across someone obsessed with "productivity" I have to assume they're some sort of middle manager who doesn't do anything at their job and has to justify themselves with metrics and other such BS, mostly because that's what all middle management I've dealt with is like.

@SmugSatoko fair enough. I stand by my thoughts of modern single players on modern console are awful.

@RyuRabbit When people tell you to be productive it's not to shit on them. Its because they wasted time on something that wasn't good for them physically and mentally. Playing Disgaea all night long as kid was bad but I was a kid lol. Doing that as an adult I see the issues when it.

@AmityBlight not the 0.1% but the dedicated. If they in the 0.1 if they can stream or get sponsored they'll do that, they'll say fuck that job. They still made a lot money, people will take thee easier route. Harden stuck gold shitter can do that job if dedicated and grinding enough.

i can't believe there are people who don't like video games...
for me they're mostly used as a distraction and so i can get absorbed in something, so no they're not a waste

Yes and no, but the real problem so far are the AAA industry being a bunch of woke bigots living in their own dystopian fantasy world criticizing consumers like Disney.

Maybe if they made better games while getting out of that bizarro, dystopian mentality, then modern AAA games could sell like hotcakes. Maybe retain their worth as well.

That's why indie games are the future. That dystopia-induced stupidity in modern AAA games like Overwatch, Battlefield 5, MK11, AC as of Odyssey or Valorant will be futile. How stupid do they think we are? Accepting mindless pandering garbage and getting ripped off.

Who's gonna buy your hotcakes exponentially if they taste like shit?

Any hotcakes that AAA makes, AA or indie will do better.

I've been completely disappointed in Square Enix, EA, Actiblizz, Nintendo, Gamefreak, Warner, Sony, Microsoft or Ubishaft ever since they started making games for normies.

In the 2000s, most gamers were normies only wanting to talk about AAA shit and drama.

They are expensive, take way too long, terrible for your eyes, and have spaces that don't even appeal to their overwhelming male audience.

Gacha games only play if you want to fundraiser anime.

Video games are just coping. Definitely do not end up jobless and playing video games all day in your room like many hikimori men in japan

@SpiderMiles3523 Convincing yourself that you enjoy living as a wage salve is the biggest copium in this thread. Life is much too short to live with a doomer mindset. Stop working. Go play.

@SmugMiri biggest flaw in your logic is nerd spaces are safe havens for men. They are not and you want to boost yourself to financing a good life.

Trust me most people would rather wage slave than interact with people online. Especially with awful places like reddit. Maybe engineering or mentally taxing jobs. But low level work is generally good for your body. Also you need money to buy stuff anyways.