It's that time of year again: a large publication has had decided that kids play too many games, and this time it's a COVID-flavoured special, courtesy of the New York Times, designed to make parents feel guilty for letting their energy-filled children play video games after being cooped up all day doing online school?

I won't pretend that video games are actually perfect, although it's tempting to go on the defence, here.

There are a lot of predatory practices in games, like microtransactions and gambling mechanics that can easily seduce kids into getting addicted.

It's not much of a hyperbolic statement when I say that video games have kept me sane during all this.

Playing games all day and not going outside makes me gain weight.

Streaming games helps me feel less alone in a pandemic where I'm separated from almost all of my friends.

Now, I've never murdered any of these friends on a spaceship in real life, so take this with a pinch of salt, but when we're playing games together, it feels a lot like hanging out.

We also play Dungeons and Dragons together, watch Bridgerton together, and goof around on co-op games like Animal Crossing and PHOGS!, when we can find the time.

I don't feel like I'm trapped in a house, on the other side of the sea, unable to go outside - I feel like I have a rich (albeit virtual) life.

My partner and I spend most of our evenings in front of a screen.

But when we lived apart for the first few months of the pandemic, we would play Minecraft for hours together.

That time wasn't any less high-quality than the time we spend screen-free.

Wouldn't you want to play games at the end of that, too.

Video games aren't scary.

The family dog died on New Year’s Eve and James said that playing games with his friends helped him to not think about the loss?

He will probably still play games to connect with friends, and to handle his emotions.

I just hope this kid finds a wife to whom he can say, "I'm going to play Xbox", and she'll understand.

So much to play, so much time to waste.

I wouldn't recommend gaming all the time, but like everything else it's good in moderation!

It's just as important to do "useless" things as it is to do work, exercise, socialising, whatever you're doing!

I think the world would be much safer and saner if people spent more time playing games and less time consuming news media.

Having been unable to work for nearly six years due to chronic illness, I think I'd have gone mad if I didn't have video games to keep me occupied.

I can't typically play too much anyway, as it takes a toll, but it definitely keeps me sane.

I have anxiety and ADHD, and video games are a blessing for when I'm stressed.

I know playing games a lot isn't the healthiest thing, but without it during winter or pandemic, I would struggle.

I've NEVER understood why if I tell my colleagues I spent the weekend gaming they act like I'm a weirdo who lives in a dungeon, yet someone else can say they binge watched the latest trendy Netflix show all weekend and that's socially acceptable?.

If anything gaming is more healthy than TV as at least you're nurturing your brain power more and other skills like creativity, reflexes etc instead of just passively consuming something.

@Clyde_Radcliffe Because TV is "normal." It's never really about health or emotional stability or personal growth, it's about adhering to a strict set of expected norms.

Those are the people who become journalists for publications like the Times.

When I have kids, I’d rather them escape reality through video games and not drugs/alcohol?

@Kriven Technically reporters don't want to cover crap like that, but it's what brings in the money so we have to.

Its not quite the same, but we just got done reading a soap box piece criticizing a NYT post that we all know is absolute dribble that's been disproven time and time again.

As someone who spends waaaaay too much time gaming, I went several months without playing any games back in 2019.

Hey if I want to play Zelda taking a pooh pooh (lol) then I will!

These are probably the same people who are like "lol I love binge watching my favorite shows!!".

These are the same people watching entire seasons of shows in one night.

Also the media: "why is everyone just hanging out at home all day playing video games.

Hike up subscription fees (I don't know, a gaming tax if you will) and / or restrict play time.

I’ll just say it: kids in the 90’s had it better, there’s no way we spent the hours on a single game back then like games facilitate nowadays.

I probably could have spent a much longer time trying to beat Ecco the dolphin, but like a lot of games back then the difficulty ramped up so much I’d just shut it off.

I just beat Hades (which takes A LONG time) and was in the middle of Ori 2 and I was just like "you know what, I need a time out from this." I'm also not watching the YouTube videos because so many of them just repeat the information here on Nintendolife or they speculate things they have no basis or knowledge if they are happening.

I went down the "Smash Bros Cringe Compilation" YouTube rabbit hole this past weekend, and based on the physical appearance of both the competitors and those in the crowd, I would have to say yes, playing video games too much is bad for you.

@TheLightSpirit Problem is: the majority of people take what institutions like the Times say seriously and will temper their interactions with other people around those opinions and articles.

Which means that you can't exactly be ignorant of it, or you won't know why suddenly Aunt Sally is complaining about video games like it's 1992.

When I think back to "playing video games a lot" as a kid, I'm thinking of renting an SNES/N64 game on a Friday night, binge playing it for 8-10hrs and returning it Sunday before 6pm.

Outside of that, the rest of the week I didn't really play anything.

Now there are kids playing online games 4hrs+ each day.

Some people develop unhealthy behaviours in response to this, but the must be a certain type of person to start with.

This isn't limited to just video games.

Video games, TV, computers, even fitness.

I can play 2 hours of a game and it becomes "all day".

I've even heard that I spent too much time at the gym.

I spend too much time eating?

I spend too much time sleeping.

I spend too much time at work, in the shower, or the bathroom.

They don't understand it so they think it's a waste of time.

I had an interest in reading, writing, video games, fitness, and other pursuits.

They bought me books, a typewriter (and later a computer), video games, and when I expressed an interest in weight lifting my mom would take me to the local gym after school.

Outside of my parents though, other family members and friends were more critical of the time I spent doing these things.

The idea you can spend too much time reading or exercising is astounding to me but it wasn't uncommon to hear it.

games on it and I spent about 200 dollars on them and when I realized how much I had bought, I made the comment that I "really have a problem" and nervously laughed at myself.

The older man said that it's better to spend your time and money on something you enjoy that isn't hurting you or anyone else.

No one should dictate how you spend your time but you.

It's been proven time and time again video games help more than they hinder in various ways.

Anyone trying to vilify games in a world with much worse things like alcohol abuse and drug addiction need to screw off.

Obviously it's not healthy in every case but I'd argue generally a lot of games are a better option than books or TV since they teach problem solving skills and team work skills as well as communication.

Almost exactly like they talk about video games now.

They stopped warning everyone about too much TV and started cautioning us about video games - with exactly the same warnings of dire consequences that would befall our children if they played too much Fortnite or Animal Crossing

This has already started happening with video games

Give it another decade or so, no one will care about kids playing video games and they will all be worried about the new dream chips or something else

I've known lots of people whose idea of a good time was partying way too much, something I was never into

Like you, I've been into fitness, along with video games

It was the kind of thing that, like many other things, took a lot of time and practice if the goal was to get good

What's important is whether it's hurting anyone else or dominating your life to the point where it is hurting you

....I’m not gonna read what the New York Times said about video games....I will say however it depends upon how they projected video game playing

As some have mentioned....binge watching Netflix or Cable TV is a good thing, and playing an hour or two video games (which has good effects by some studies) is bad?

I guess I just listed a double standard right there

But it just sounds like a case of the NYT taking itself too seriously

I spent several hours a day, in the dark, letting her sit on my lap which was terrible for my back pain to maximize the time we had and to comfort her

It's not that I didn't think or feel anything, but there's no need to wallow in it or dwell on it either

It was just a way of coping for a while and feeling something good

With that said, I think there is something to the playing too much with some games

I've also noticed that large, open-world, 3D games feel to me like it takes a lot more time to feel like I've accomplished something as opposed to older games where I can feel more satisfaction playing through a few defined levels(modern save states make it so easy to be able to play in small chunks and pick up where I left off)

That's just me and I'm not crusading against the existence of these big, open games people like now, but I do think there might be some link between the scope and longer play sessions simply because 20 minutes is nothing in games designed to take several dozen hours or 100+

Soapbox: I Wasn't Going To Play Monster Hunter Rise, But The Game Art Is Too Cute