Video games good or bad???

Well, I saw an interesting article put out by the American Psychological Association talking about how video games are the opposite of depression in terms of neurologically speaking. (I will post the article below).  It talks about how playing video games is a good way to fight depression (or manage it at least).  It talks about how playing video games hyperstimulates the areas of the brain that depression causes to become understimulated (the hippocampus and the reward pathways).  It also mentions that playing games to just escape reality in the long-term is bad because it causes people to not deal with their problems (causing social isolation, etc).

Now, personally, I am a gamer.  I play A LOT of video games.  And I will admit that when I was younger, I DID play with that escapist attitude.  I hated my life back then.  When I was a kid, I was abused at home (phyiscally and emotionally).  There was also neglect (be denied food, toilet paper, showers, etc).  I had been called worthless so many times, I believed it.

Now, my parents were divorced.  So, on the weekends, my dad, would pick us up to go to his house.  We had a NES there, and eventually a SNES.  And I played video games whenever I could there.  It was my escape from reality.  My only time I really cared about anything at all.  Games were a way to get away from everything that was going wrong.  I didn't think about how I would have to go back home... I didn't think about how I was going to have to face the bullies Monday morning... all I thought about was the game on the screen and the controller in my hands.  That was happiness for me back then.

Fast forward to the present.  I still play video games, and I still love doing it. :)  But, the reasoning behind it has changed.  I no longer feel the need to escape my life, because I'm working and living as well.  Video games have settled into the role they are supposed to be... a hobby.

However, there are people who think video games are bad.  Well, with the proper mind set, video games are GOOD, but with the wrong mind set, yes they can be bad.

People claim that video games cause irresponsible and violent behavior in kids.  Again, I must disagree.  Video games in the hands of the young and impressionable are something that DOES need to be moderated.  There are games that shouldn't be played by the young, and there are games that really SHOULDN'T be played AT ALL.  But most games are good games.  For instance:

• Ace Attorney series - These games really boost your logic and deductive reasoning skills.  You find contractions in witness testimonies.
• Any game that requires dodging bullets (Gradius series, Metal Slug series, Contra series to name a few) - These games really emphasize quick reaction times.  Games like this test your ability to think quickly and helps with making split decisions.  Games like this also boost reaction times (meaning you'll slam on the brakes quicker if a deer jumps in front of you).
• Platforming games boost memorization skills (as you remember how you made that jump or got past that area).
• Tetris, Dr. Mario, etc boost spatial reasoning, as you are dealing with falling patterns and must fit them appropriately to keep playing.  You have to recognize what the pattern looks like flipped, etc.
• Brain Age series tests your "executive functions."

With games like this, you'll find that as you play them, you get better and advance farther.  Most games test your memorization skills, and getting better each play through is proof of that.  Dedication and resiliance are tested when you lose and you try again.  (In fact, the more you try to beat a level that is just giving you a tough time, the more determined you prove yourself to be.)  A person is more likely to succeed in life in general with more dedication.

So, it is time to stop blaming video games on violent and irresponsible adolescents.  In today's world, parents spend less time with their kids.  The kids are either on social media, hanging out with the wrong crowds, etc.  Parents are now both working to make ends meet.  And yes, that makes for a very distance relationship between the kids and the parents.  THIS is a huge problem in terms of being a good influence on your kids.  Missed opportunities like this = more violent and irresponsible adolescents.  Parents who make their kids feel hated or worthless, or who aren't there when their kids need someone to talk to, are parents who have kids who begin to act out.  And acting out can include things like commiting suicide, fighting in school, committing crimes, etc.  A lot of it is a cry out for attention (even though it'll never be admitted).

Parents will need to figure out a way to connect with their kids.  Devise some way to ensure that the technology is turned off and there is time for actual communication.  Parents need to be attentive to their kids.  They should be able to figure out that something is wrong if something is different in the way they act or communicate.  Parents should be able to read their kids like a book.  Not in today's age.  In today's age, there is a decent chunk of parents who could admit that they don't really know their kid any more.  That is not a good thing.  If the kids don't know you any more, then who are they going to look up to?

So, video games are a good thing if played for the right reason, but it is important to actually spend time in reality as well.  If you have parents who love you, then put the tech away for a while and actually talk to them.  It would feel good to know that you have people who love you and want the best for you.  They may be annoying, but they are the only parents you'll ever have.  Parents, you need to pay attention to your kids (teens included).  They may be trying to find their independence, but you need to let them know that you have their back, no matter what.  Let them know that you still want to be there for them, and continuously communicate with them.  And yes, life will get in the way, but just don't let it get in the way too much.  Same with games.  Games are good, just don't let them get in the way of life.  Actually spend some time living, game responsibly, and talk to people.  Gaming can be a wonderful hobby to any active lifestyle. :)

Check out this link on this article I mentioned:
How Video Games Can Teach Your Brain to Fight Depression

Going to Work Sick (Restaurant Edition)

This is kind of a touchy topic.  It is hard to even begin to start with this one.  When is going to work sick necessary and when is going to sick not recommended.  This is a topic that just recently hit home with me in a bad way, and thus, I am going to blog about it.

For any of those who have followed me in the past, they would know that I also have a second blog titled "Gastroparesis Theories."  This blog was posted because I was diagnosed with Gastroparesis in March of 2012.  One of the potential causes of gastroparesis is viral infection (like a very bad norovirus or food poisoning).  My gastroparesis results in me having a slower than normal rate of digestion, ergo the food sits in my stomach about 3 times longer than in a normal person.  This results in more bloating with me and a few other annoying effects.  I, however, have managed to keep the condition managed pretty well by keeping tabs on my digestive health (as well as avoiding other people's digestive ailments to the best of my ability).  This brings me to recent.

I went to a buffet restaurant on 06/08/15.  I sat in a booth, drank my drinks, and proceeded to eat the food.  No big deal.  Towards the end of my visit there, I happened to see a woman busting tables and refilling drinks.  She proceeded to hold her gut looking very flushed and then ran off.  She had put my drink on the table.  Now, naturally as paranoid as I am about stuff like that, I had asked the manager if she was sick (to which he acknowledged that she was having stomach issues).  I immediately requested he take my drink back and get me a new drink.  However... the damage was done.

Foward to two days later.  I spend the whole entire day with diarrhea followed by a large episode of vomiting.  Every belch the whole entire day was sour.  (Sour stomach is a BAD sign for me, because the bacteria is already at full capacity at that point).  So, from the get-go, I knew I was in trouble.  My fiance had previously speculated that the woman was pregnant, but after the event of getting sick to my stomach, I ended up dismissing that notion.  She went to work sick.  And got me sick as a result.

Now, I understand that in this day and age, we need to work more than ever.  Some people can not afford to miss a day of work.  I am one of those people that prefer to not miss work due to illness, but I also understand that if the roles were reversed, I WOULD NOT WANT ANYONE SICK WORKING AROUND ME!!!  So, understandably, it would seem like an expectation that if someone is sick, they do not go to work.  (But call me slightly paranoid about that).

The problem is this.  In a food service industry, going to work IS NOT sanitary.  It is not healthy.  If you are sick to your stomach, you should NOT be working in an industry that exposes countless numbers of people to your illness.  Someone like me, who has this life-affecting condition, can not afford to be exposed to digestive issues like that due to risk of it throwing my maintained gastroparesis out of whack.  I can not afford to get sick, so why bring your illness to my table?  (Or to the tables of all of the people you served that day).   In fact, serving people at their table with a contagious illness IS a health code violation.  Health code states that if a waitress or a worker is sick, they must either be sent home or put on jobs that do not allow them to touch prepared foods (or beverages). If I were a health inspector and I saw that, the restaurant would have been FINED or shut down.  But no, I was a patron who caught on too late that the server around me was sick.

And after this spell of running off holding her gut, she was back to work and even handed us our fortune cookies.  I, obviously, refused to touch the accursed things and gave a very poor tip.

The moral of the story.  Restaurant owners:  if you have a sick employee DO NOT LET THEM NEAR THE FOOD OR THE GUESTS.  Patrons of this restaurants:  If you notice that your waitress or waiter is sick, notify the manager.  Let the manager know that by continuing to let them work, they are committing a health code violation and politely request a different waiter (or just pay for the meal and leave in disgust).

Wax In, Wax Out

Ear irrigation...  More like ear irritation.  For some reason, I've always had an issue with ear wax.  Most of the time, I had been able to get the wax out no problem and be just fine.  This time... not so lucky.  I ended up getting a cerumen impaction.  Yes.  I clogged my ear with ear wax... beautiful.

This meant being almost deaf in one ear.

So, after suffering a whole night of work with the inability to hear out of one ear, and the pressure building up in that ear, I did something I had never had to do in the past.

I got my ear irrigated.

Let's describe this process.  I went into the doctor's office and he took his oroscope (ear camera) and looked in both ears.  Ordered an irrigation for BOTH ears.  I only thought I needed the one.  Ended up getting both.  Now, I was slightly nervous.

So, now, the nurse comes back in with this huge metal looking syringe.  I asked, "Is this going to hurt?" (having never experienced the process before).  Her answer, "I hope not."  -{NOT VERY REASSURING!!!!}-

She got some really warm water and sucked a huge amount of water into this syringe and started shooting.

Let us pause for a minute to implant this image into your head.  This is what the actual process entails.  Go to an automatic car wash.  Sit inside of your car with the automated car wash going.  See the water shooting the side windows?  See that?  That is being done in the inside of your ear.  What it felt like???  Imagine a shower with enough power to sheer the skin off of your body.  Not dial it back a couple of notches, so it is just achy and painful but the skin still remains.  This is what it felt like.

The end result:  Clean ears, followed by a day or two of swelling inside the ear canals.  I could hear just fine again, but there was still some discomfort from pressure resulting from the high pressure wash.

Oh.  And the caveat of all of this.  I had to hold a white tray for the ear flush to fall into.  The nurse actually showed me the ear wax in the trays.  "I don't even know if this will go down the drain," she said.  Yeah...  the wax was BIG.  I would admit, even I, was a little grossed out by my own wax.

But I more enjoyed the fact I could hear again.

Now, would I do this again?  Despite the discomfort of the procedure, it may be a possibility.  It was a low cost procedure that did give a good result.  There may be a little pressure remaining in the ears after the procedure, but being blasted at high velocity would cause anyone some prolonged discomfort following the procedure.  I would not do it again unless it was a major necessity (affecting hearing, etc).  The method may seem primitive, but sometimes primitive is the best.

Stop Doping, Ya Dopehead!!! The Decline of Professional Sports

Over the last decade or so, there has been one recurring story sweeping the sports world.  Doping.  The taking of illegal, performance-enhancing substances, to give a person "the edge."  This is a problem that has (in my opinion) set forth the decline of the world of sports in the long run.

I just recently saw a news article about a whole Olympics Relay team that had their medals stripped due to doping.  Just recently before that Tom Brady got suspended for 5 games of the next NFL season (and fined) for the "deflategate" (as it is being dubbed).

Sports celebrities that people wanted to emulate and look up to, were testifying before a congressional hearing back in 2005.  The greats of baseball at the time, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Jose Conseco, Rafael Palmeiro, etc testified and denied use of steroids.  All 4 tested positive and/or admitted to using it.

Steroid use is now ingrained in essentially every sport.  People are just so determined to win, they will destroy themselves for that.  This as also spread into female sports as well.

What these people forgot is the fun.  Sports were always meant to be fun.  A bunch of athletes getting together and playing a sport for sport.  People didn't need to cheat, because it was about just having fun and having a good time.  Now, sports celebrities are overpaid and jaded.  Sports celebrities have completely forgotten the purpose of playing a sport.  It isn't the endorsements.  It isn't the big vehicles and the agents.  It isn't for the money, it isn't for the show.  Playing sports is supposed to be about having fun.

Now, we have people who would cheat to win.  Losing isn't an option.  Honestly, if people were just playing for fun, win or lose, they are still happy.  Maybe, slightly disappointed at the loss, but happy just to have gotten to play a sport they loved playing.

We as fans, used to watch athletes compete and have fun.  We enjoyed the sport because they enjoyed the sport.

Now, honestly, with the doping, etc, sports have not become about fun.  Sports are no longer about the sport.  Sports just aren't fun any more.  And when a sports start is caught doping, what happens?  They get suspended from playing the game, and fined.  Honestly, a drop in the hat.  It is a slap in the wrist.

And at the current trend, people will become disgusted by sports in general.  People will recognize that professional athletics is not a good thing.  People will recognize that something needs to be done.

Well, I have an idea.

Sports leagues should disband.  Professional sports should come to an end.

Just think about it.  Professional sports comes to an end.  People no longer will try to do anything and everything possible to win.  People will not cut corners to try to achieve fame in sports.  Those who do not enjoy the sport will be fished out.  They will quit the sport completely, phasing out those who are just in it for the money.  The people who play the sports for the money and the fame, they are the ones who are willing to cheat to get to the top.  The people who are truly passionate about the game and care about having fun along the way, are the ones who will rebuild professional sports in a new image.  Less people will dope just because there isn't the pressure to perform.  People will play for the fun of the game again.  That is what we need.  We need people who will play for the fun of the game, and not for the fame that comes with it.

Game Off - Where is gaming headed?

This is a blog post a long time coming.  I would consider myself a gamer, so when Mortal Kombat X hit digital download for the PC, I was excited.  I do not own a PS4, or an XboxOne, because of the way gaming has changed.   I do have a gaming computer, however, and I thought, this would be great.  I was... disappointed.

Not saying that the game is completely unplayable.  The game is playable, and that's about it.  There are graphical glitches, reported issues with online play, a faulty Faction system, inappropriate amounts of netcode, etc.  These issues have plagued the PC release of the game since the beginning, and the question I have to ask is why?

On May 5th, a patch was released to fix all of these problems.  Within a few hours of the patch's release, it was pulled due to a lot of gamers reporting that their save game files have been deleted by it.  Great.  If you spent hours and hours of your life searching through the Krypt unlocking everything to have it all gone, then congratulations on wasting your time.  (Luckily, I did not patch the game as I took a brief break from playing it).  I found it quite coincidental, however, that in the store, a person could play $19.99 to buy all of the content in the Krypt and have it unlocked for you.  Yeah, we'll wipe your data, and THEN make you pay $19.99 to get it all back again (without the sense of achievement, of course).

Why have game developers started nickel and diming people?  Why are they releasing games that aren't properly tested?  I feel the big name developers have... gotten lazy.  And the gaming industry will suffer as a result.

For those not in the know, back in 1983, there was an event referred to as "The Video Game Crash."  Atari had inferior games (like "E.T. The Extraterrestrial"), and underpaid programmers who branched away and started their own company.  An over-saturation of the market with floods of low-quality games that no one ever (or wanted to) play, and too many consoles resulted in the crash.  People stopped buying video games and Atari went under.  And then in 1985, The Nintendo Entertainment System came to the United States (dubbed as a "entertainment system" instead of a "video game console" due to people being apprehensive as a result of the crash).  Eventually the crash game to an end, and gaming thrived.  (At least for a while).

Going over that brief history lesson, one thing can be gathered.  History seems to be repeating itself.  Games are being rushed out the door with no obvious play testing.  The quality of games have been going down hill.  Add on to the fact that game developers are nickel and diming their customers with ridiculous amounts of DLC, and we must start to wonder, is another crash imminent?  Obviously, that is where we seem to be headed.

Back when I was a young gamer, one person could take a game and make it last a long time.  For instance, Super C.  I played that game repeatedly as a kid.  And it was a HARD game.  One hit, you are dead.  And I managed to beat it, eventually.  But that is what made the game awesome.  Challenge.  It set up a degree of determination in me.  I WANTED to beat that game, and each time I played it, I got better and better at it, until eventually, I DID beat it (without help from Game Genie).  There was a sense of accomplishment in it.  I've beaten "Battletoads" another extremely hard game, and I did it without the genie or level warps.  I took pride in progress.

Finding Easter Eggs and cheat codes in video games always added something fun to the game as well.  The well-known Konami code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, Start) as well as variations of that code helped make people feel that they were doing something amazing in a game.  Something secret, that they only knew about (despite the fact that anyone with an Internet connection could find the code on sites like gamefaqs or "World of Nintendo").  Games were about making people feel a sense of accomplishment by doing something in the game, whether it was finding a code or finally beating that level that plagued your dreams for months.

Nowadays, accomplishments are being replaced by money.  It is too hard??? Give me $20 and I'll do the work for you.  Secret modes in games??? Not any more.  You buy them.   If the game is too hard, I'm sure there are games where you can BUY an easier mode.  "Mortal Kombat X" removed half of its core lineup, and are rumored to make appearances as DLC.  The game industry has become a nickel and dime industry.

Video games are a luxury item.  They are not required by any means, and the success of the video game industry hinges on the economy as a whole.  As people are more strapped for cash, people will start to hold on to their money more.  Video games will be the first to be given up to ensure needs are being met.  Mortal Kombat X is a game that costs $60 almost for the base game.  This does NOT include the $20 you have to spend to get the Kombat Pack with 4 fighters and the Samarai skin pack.  YOU HAVE TO PAY TO HAVE GORO!!!  Goro, a character that appeared in the very FIRST Mortal Kombat game back in 1992, is actually DLC now.  (Or a pre-order bonus).  This is absurd.  They are even nickel-and-diming people for the base characters from the original game.  All of this for a game that is glitchy and buggy.

And this isn't the only game with problems like that.  This is just one from personal experience.  The quality of games used to be a lot better.  They rewarded people for achieving something in game, and people loved that feeling.  Now, as long as you have cash in the wallet, you can buy something that leaves a sour taste in your mouth and a slightly emptier pocketbook.

However, it seems that indie games might bring hope to a seemingly dire situation.  The big game developers are about money and profits and they do not care about quality or even the customer.  Games like Minecraft, however, are HUGE.  Indie game developers are just trying to get into the market, and so they will not cut corners to get a game out there without properly debugging it.  Games like "Shovel Knight" remind gamers like what got me into gaming in the first place.

So, back to the original question at hand.  Is a video game crash imminent?  In my opinion, no.  (Not that I'm an expert at the markets).  People are still buying the games.  Plain and simple.  There is enough people still buying the games so that the big name developers can actually afford to cut corners to get game released faster.  I would NOT be surprised, however, if the video game industry did suffer another recession.  I would not go as far to say that it will completely crash, not with indie developers bringing some decent quality games into the mix, but frustrated gamers will start to become more hesitant to buy from certain game developers due to their history of cutting corners and releasing poor quality games.  Times have changed since the 1980s when video gaming wasn't as established as it is now, and enough precautions have been put into place to avoid a complete crash, but the nickel-and-dime tactics need to stop.  Games need to be tested.  Games need to make people feel good when playing them, and not regretful of the choices they made to pay the extra cash.