Smackdown of the has-beens: Gamecube v. Playstation 2

i would have voted gamecube, it's the more kid friendly system in my mind

i want a wii, but they are damn hard to come by, and i'm not an ebay person

I was really swaying towards Gamecube just for the kid friendly aspect of it.

But I looked around and saw that Playstation really has a lot of "E" rated games and I thought Nintendo wasn't likely to release any new games that weren't for Wii.

We'll probably end up with a Wii over the next year or so. Honestly, I think their marketing of the system is so crappy that I have a hard time convincing myself that I'll ever get one. Six months after release they should be able to meet the demand. But anyway, I'll probably hang onto our Gamecube games just because I'm betting we end up with one eventually.

And, you know, Mo is six. And oh man do I ever love him. And I would jump in front of a train to save him.

But to spend hours online shopping for an expensive toy for him when I could be out riding bikes with him?

Well.... a girl has to draw the line somewhere.

Excuse me? I'm not sure I caught that?



Ha!

Missed the thread until now, but we have a PS2. I haven't actually played a game in over a year; we use it now as a DVD player.

The Wii looks like a great console, Nintendo have done brilliantly with it in competition with Microsoft and Sony, I'd definitely recommend it for all ages. With regards to the addiction problem, it's growing big time and video games aren't just crack for kids, adults everywhere are getting addicted too (Maybe you could say it takes a childish mentality but I'm not so sure). Do a google search for "World of Warcraft Addicts". It's a massively multiplayer online game, basically an evolving world that, much like logging into a forum to post, you log in to play, real time, with people across the globe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8hfK3RQs2g

The thing I don't get with this kid^ is why his mother hasn't just banned him from the computer or destroyed the DVD etc. He doesn't look to old to me, I'm not sure what her options are but it seems weird to invite a tv crew into your home, filming him playing it etc. Everyone there knows he has a serious problem, pull the plug right now.

I would never have been allowed to play any game to such an extreme. People need boundaries that they can work within, most can self impose these but some lose all sense of rationality. For instance, most games are, by their very nature, extremely addictive things (and of course, they're designed this way). The general idea is dividing a game up into small chunks that are finished in a small space of time and balancing this with long term goals that are achievable through these mini goals. The most addictive game I've ever played was a sports management simulator which was based upon a succession of individual games (the small chunks) and through games you of course, achieve long term success through winning competitions etc. World of Warcraft is a role playing game which is the classic example of an addictive game basis, completing small quests or "going hunting" for that little bit of experience which takes you up to the next level...oh, oh, but if I just get to that next level I'll be able to get that spell and then I'll be able to complete that quest and...

This is exactly why people play "for just one quick game" and end up playing for hours on end. The thing is though, most gamers are able to realise, with ease, when playing a game is becoming a problem, when they are in danger of spending a little too much time with it. Many gamers avoid World of Warcraft altogether because they know full well that they'll create an addiction. This is exactly why parents need to get tough! I really enjoy games, though I don't many these days, but if I had a child, I'd be very strict on this kind of thing.

http://www.wowdetox.com/

Hi Ashers. I agree with you that the mother in that video has a big problem too! Calling in the media instead of pulling the plug on that kid's computer is crazy. Letting him drop out of school? Crazy, crazy, crazy.

I know exactly what you mean by the "just one more minute.... I can do this...." thing. That's me more than Mo! But it does bear watching and I thank you for the warning.

Yeah, my last post above seems all preachy now (didn't mean it like that), I just know what it's like too, time flies when you're having fun I guess! It just astounds me that games can take over people's lives so easily. I remember reading game design books that talked extensively about how to suck the players in, how not to scare them away but instead, to entice them to keep playing. "Immersion" is a word used over and over again, the more immersive a game is, the more you forget you're playing a game I guess.

Learning curves with new games, replayability too, that's another thing, these kinds of games (like World of Warcraft above) don't have an ending as such, unlike with most other games, films and books, there's no cut off point. It's an interesting medium for entertainment anyway.