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[-PXG-]

If you're enjoying the time that you are wasting then it's not wasted time.

This.

As long as you're having fun, but still maintaining a balanced, healthy and sensible lifestyle, then you got nothing to worry about.

 

[John Rabbit]

It doesn't advance you socially (which has many benefits for careers and relationships)

my current job involves working with people i met in college; we bonded over a common love of video games. i would not have been hired had i not met them.

it doesn't really teach you any useful skills

i learned to read and write because of playing games on the NES. i would look up words i didn't know and even sought out books that had similar plots and themes as my favorite childhood games. some of these books were well beyond my level and as a result, i was top in my classes in reading and language arts.

and it can be fairly expensive.

collecting soda cans can be expensive. playing amateur level sports can be expensive. gaming itself is not an inherently expensive hobby. cost is directly connected to dedication.

There are three sides to a constructive outside-of-work life: academic/athletic/community(volunteering).

this is conjecture based upon a personal belief. there are plenty of people who do not spend their time in all or even any of these arenas who have made for themselves a successful existence.

 

[dsister44]

Are you having fun - yes


is it effecting your relationships/job.education -no



Then it is amazing. I could spend the whole of next week learning a new language instead of watching E3 and playing monster hunter tri. It would be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more productive but not nearly as much fun, so i wont

 

[Monocle]

Depends on your values, priorities and responsibilities. Gaming certainly can suck up an awful lot of free time, which is why I've been doing my best to cut back. Now I read more than I have at any point in my life since I was a kid. It's probably the best thing I've done for myself in years.

For special games I revert back to my old habits. Bayonetta, the Reach Beta and Mass Effect 2 are the most recent examples of games that I felt deserved quality time. Recently I bought BlazBlue because I used to be into GGX2, and now I'm kicking myself because 1) Continuum Shift is coming out soon, and 2) there's no way I'll let myself practice as much as I'd have to to get decent. Damn.

 

[Krowley]

At times in my life, gaming has been a really bad hobby. I've actually exiled myself from it for the last year in an effort to make more time for really important stuff. A new zelda and mario game are on the verge of sucking me back in, but I'm trying to hold off a little longer.

 

[MechaX]

Eh, I'm in the "as long as gaming doesn't overshadow your priorities, you're fine" camp. Personally, college has systematically destroyed any love of reading I've had when I was growing up and post-college schooling probably won't change that fact. I haven't actually had the time to pursue my music playing stuff until getting out of college, but we'll see how that changes now that I'm back home (and I still listen and pay attention to music as much as I surf the 'net). I'll admit, gaming has definitely had the lion's share in my personal hobbies for the past few years.

However, I still enjoy it to this day (even more so after letting go of my younger teenage habit of beating games I didn't even like that much to conform to the Gamerankings/Metacritics worshipers or for e-peen and just playing games for myself). It'll only become a "bad" habit for me if gaming somehow manages to overshadow my intended law career, jobs, volunteer services, or social life (with that said, I still don't regret missing my high school prom to play a Megami Tensei game). In comparison to those things, gaming gets regulated more in the "free time" slot every time.

 

[VGChampion]

Not if you act like me. I barely care about what goes on in the industry and didn't even realize E3 was this week. I think most people take it to an extreme and get all huffy about it when people make fun of them / disrespect even though the same gamers do it to other people who take fashion, movies, music, cars, etc...to an extreme.

Just got to play for fun. Not troll / fight on the net for fun.

 

[fernoca]

They key; as with everything... is balance.