Who's dumber?: The media, The parents or The gamers

As a general disclaimer.. These blog posts are done remotely with a wifi tablet and no keyboard. I use auto spell and slide my finger around the virtual keyboard.

In the upcoming episode of The Jaded Gamer's show you will see me present a different side and much more PG friendly version of this topic. (Dont worry. The episode after will be back to being rated M.)

The next episode in question was filmed primarily in 2009 a year after Brandon Crisp died. (if you dont know or remember Crisp... You will) If you don't believe me then look at the continuity with my hair, gotee and 1up t-shirt.

Anyways. One thing that affects gamers more and more often is addiction. The consequences of this addiction can be tame like maybe you stood up your date or skipped class or work for a day.  I myself on several occasions  have called in sick for Day 1-Zero Hour releases. (Which means buying the game the day it comes out the moment the store opens) And infamously skipped 88 days of school in my senior year to play EverQuest.  Doesn't it sound like I have at least a mild addiction to games?  Then how did I graduate? How did I go through college? How do I keep paying my bills on time?  It's time for a heart to heart

The average gamer is in their 30's now so for every Daniel Petric (17) there are a million legit responsible gamers who do not act out.  Fox News doesn't talk about www.WhatTheyPlay.com ... NBC and CTV do not report about gamers and developers raising relief for Japan through www.PlayForJapan.org.  But if there is sideboob, Fox calls it pornography when more titty exists in iCarly (google it) and when a kid runs away and falls out of a tree CBC blames the video game industry.

Tell you what media... instead of asking Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft and the ESRB what they can do to keep violent sexy games out of underage gamers hands, why don't you ask the parents?   Would you drop your 15 year old off with a 6 pack of beer at a strip club? 

Parents need to be educated on the subject of video games.  Personally I thought the media would be doing this but they do more harm than good by trying to educate the public.

Here is my point.  The media kinda says "Video games are bad mmkay." But then the parents buy said bad games for their underage kids so they can play it in their room. Don't you parents even care what you just bought for your kid?  9 times out of 10 if I was playing an M rated game, I had a parent  close by. Why? My parents obviously liked me.

OK. So what about gamers? Shouldn't they take some blame? Hell yeah!

Daniel Petric murdered his mother and shot his father after they took away his Halo 3 disc. That kid is messed.  I'm not picking on Blizzard here but they have fans that take pathetic to new levels of sadness. 99.9% of Blizzard's users are probably decent and live normal lives. But because every game is made to be diverse or immersive or engaging, some users  won't stop playing it. And Blizzard couldn't care less (Why should they? They aren't your parents.) Blizzard isnt stupid. They add more to their games to engross the user more. A buddy of mine calls Blizzard products a "completionist nightmare" I agree with him especially with World of Warcraft.  Its a huge gaming space with a lot to do.  There are even special achievements given out. Dozens if not over a hundred of them to collect. Somebody who wants every last one is going to have to pour a lot of time into the game.  But here is the thing.

WoW does have an end game but that doesn't mean you completed it.  In fact I would argue that you're not supposed to get every last thing in a Blizzard game. That's why its a nightmare because some gamers cant grasp that the game is that big because you're supposed to have your own adventure and experience it your own way.  Additionally I would also say getting everything in a Blizzard game is more a tragedy than an accomplishment. 

But here is where I'm going with my Blizzard point. Blizzard makes good games you want to play.  Your body isn't really made to be sitting stationary for long periods of time every day.  After a while musculoskeletal dystrophy starts killing you. Blot clots might form and hit your heart... Boom ... Death.

This isn't exclusive to hardcore Blizzard gamers. This applies to gamers like me who marathon games on the constant. Its just that Blizzard makes games that you can play for hours or days and that may be only one quest or a really tough skirmish in StarCraft. 

So how stupid do you have to be to sit in one place before you realize you're dying or that you are having a heart attack or that your infant stopped crying...  because it died... of starvation... during your 3 day boss fight in FF 11.

How dumb do you have to be to send your teen into the freezing Canadian wilderness and expect nothing to happen? (Comments like this are why WTFIJ insisted I edit the hell out of the next episode and watch my mouth. Grrr)

How ignorant are you to blame an interactive medium for "teaching" kids poor morals when the parents endorse it?

Seriously how pathetic is it that nobody can take responsibility for this? It's always the game's fault right?