11 November 2009

Dr. Laura: Dr Jekyll and Mr. Video Gamer

Dr. Laura has a video blog about a man who plays video games for his down time:


Now, I actually enjoy reading most Dr. Laura articles. Her common-sense approach to most family psychology issues provides both entertainment and self-reflection.

However, sometimes she's just a little too old-fashioned for me. She seems to come off in this video as entirely anti-video-game. I'll grant that the guy mentioned in the video is acting like a complete idiot, but not all video games are bad. Consoles like the Wii consistently encourage family gameplay.

Maybe it's just because I'm in the video game industry, but if a guy wants to play video games for his downtime, that seems fine. Of course, you have to look at your priorities. Personally, family comes first. Always. I will usually sit down to play games after the rest of my family has turned in for the night. If the rest of the family is napping, occasionally my son and I will enjoy LEGO Star Wars or some other innocuous game.

Everything in moderation, but please don't demonize all video games because some idiot guy can't put down the controller and spend time with his family.