Ok, let's try this again. T.T I was poking around on the okcupid forums and I found this post that has absolutely infuriated me. I am extremely indignant about this
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This is a good post! I decided to look at your journal after you posted those pics on the long haired guys group.
I used to love playing video games, whether in the arcade, on a home system, or on a computer. I've seen both sides of the issues addressed here. Back in the 1980s, I saw the games as computer programs, and once I got good enough at a game, wanted to test the limits and examine the "what if" scenarios -- you know -- what would happen if you made these two things happen at the same time, or got too many of something, or got past too many levels.
I started as a math major and ended up doing computer science as well, double majoring for my B.S. degree. I did my M.S. in computer science.
My first video game experiences were in early 1982 during my 8th grade year. It was when Pac Man Fever was a hit song on the radio and other games like Donkey Kong, Defender, Asteroids, Frogger, Tempest, Crazy Climber, and Star Wars were very popular and no arcade would be complete without them. That year, there were lots of video arcades everywhere up until the crash of 1983. Home versions of games were terrible (Atari Video Computer System (2600) systems were popular so most games were ported to it, with its limitations) and the arcade was the place to play games.
The first home system I had was the Nintendo (now referred to as the NES), and Super Mario Brothers was a fascinating game to me when I got one in September 1987. I spent hours and hours playing it and trying all kinds of things to find bugs and limitations in the programming. I still managed to graduate college with a 3.95 GPA, simply because my school work came first.
During my M.S. degree, I played with games a lot (Super Mario 2 and 3 especially), and still managed to work 20 hours a week as a graduate research assistant during graduate school.
More recently, I haven't played games, mainly because I miss the old games, and I'm thinking that 1994 or 1995 were the last years that I played games much. Writing code is enjoyable and doing mathematical experiments are more fun to me, since I have something reusable in return for the time invested. Playing games was fun, but game me nothing to show afterwards except for being able to show others how good I'd gotten at the game over time.
I have seen many people I've known mess themselves up with games. There is one couple who got their kids taken away by the DHR because they played games and didn't take care of the kids. That's an extreme case. There are the ones who sit at work waiting for that moment that they can get home and get on one of those online games. Others eat lunch with their gaming friends and talk about what they do in the virtual world in the game (bizarre conversations if you aren't a part of it).
If a person can play the games and still have a life outside it, it's fine. It is sad to see friends disappear into the gaming world and drop out of all of the social situations in real life as a result. Fortunately, that seems to be happening less often than it did about 5 years ago.
The main reason I don't do games is lack of time, and not because I don't enjoy them.
Anyway, I find your journal interesting and plan to read it. I've bookmarked it on my laptop. I started growing my hair out in April 1991 and it got long by 1993. I've had it trimmed many times, but have left it long. Few people who know me have seen me back in my short-haired days. I'm still young at heart with many of my friends being in their 20s.
I used to love playing video games, whether in the arcade, on a home system, or on a computer. I've seen both sides of the issues addressed here. Back in the 1980s, I saw the games as computer programs, and once I got good enough at a game, wanted to test the limits and examine the "what if" scenarios -- you know -- what would happen if you made these two things happen at the same time, or got too many of something, or got past too many levels.
I started as a math major and ended up doing computer science as well, double majoring for my B.S. degree. I did my M.S. in computer science.
My first video game experiences were in early 1982 during my 8th grade year. It was when Pac Man Fever was a hit song on the radio and other games like Donkey Kong, Defender, Asteroids, Frogger, Tempest, Crazy Climber, and Star Wars were very popular and no arcade would be complete without them. That year, there were lots of video arcades everywhere up until the crash of 1983. Home versions of games were terrible (Atari Video Computer System (2600) systems were popular so most games were ported to it, with its limitations) and the arcade was the place to play games.
The first home system I had was the Nintendo (now referred to as the NES), and Super Mario Brothers was a fascinating game to me when I got one in September 1987. I spent hours and hours playing it and trying all kinds of things to find bugs and limitations in the programming. I still managed to graduate college with a 3.95 GPA, simply because my school work came first.
During my M.S. degree, I played with games a lot (Super Mario 2 and 3 especially), and still managed to work 20 hours a week as a graduate research assistant during graduate school.
More recently, I haven't played games, mainly because I miss the old games, and I'm thinking that 1994 or 1995 were the last years that I played games much. Writing code is enjoyable and doing mathematical experiments are more fun to me, since I have something reusable in return for the time invested. Playing games was fun, but game me nothing to show afterwards except for being able to show others how good I'd gotten at the game over time.
I have seen many people I've known mess themselves up with games. There is one couple who got their kids taken away by the DHR because they played games and didn't take care of the kids. That's an extreme case. There are the ones who sit at work waiting for that moment that they can get home and get on one of those online games. Others eat lunch with their gaming friends and talk about what they do in the virtual world in the game (bizarre conversations if you aren't a part of it).
If a person can play the games and still have a life outside it, it's fine. It is sad to see friends disappear into the gaming world and drop out of all of the social situations in real life as a result. Fortunately, that seems to be happening less often than it did about 5 years ago.
The main reason I don't do games is lack of time, and not because I don't enjoy them.
Anyway, I find your journal interesting and plan to read it. I've bookmarked it on my laptop. I started growing my hair out in April 1991 and it got long by 1993. I've had it trimmed many times, but have left it long. Few people who know me have seen me back in my short-haired days. I'm still young at heart with many of my friends being in their 20s.
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