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We’re Losing a Whole Generation of Young Men to Video Games
New York Post ^ | July 8, 2017 | Kyle Smith

Posted on 07/08/2017 1:07:52 PM PDT by nickcarraway

One night in the mid-1990s I tried out a computer game called “Civilization.” You started with a screen that was completely black, except for one square of land. As you pushed outward from this base, you’d make discoveries about the land around you and its inhabitants. You’d start to build a society, first primitive stuff like granaries, then advancing to roads and weapons.

Trade-offs would arise: Should I build a library or a cannon? As your world advanced, you’d run into other civilizations. It was disconcerting to discover somebody else had a battleship while you were working with catapults. As I was journeyed through all of these fascinating challenges, I discovered to my surprise that the sun had come up. Something had gone haywire with time. It was already 7 a.m.

If you had asked me at any point in my relationship to “Civilization” whether I was happy, I would have said no. I was ecstatic.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Hobbies; Society
KEYWORDS: civilization
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To: nickcarraway

“Men aged 21 to 30 worked 12 percent fewer hours in 2015 than in 2000.”

Hmmm...changes to health care laws making it more expensive to hire full time workers?


41 posted on 07/08/2017 2:42:39 PM PDT by Mr Rogers
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To: Dr. Pritchett
I can barely tell the difference between the young men and the young women anymore anyway. The young men are happier, because they don't have to play the BS rat-race game anymore. Video game beats rat-race game anytime. But the young women are getting mad because they can't use the men as ATM's anymore.
42 posted on 07/08/2017 2:43:27 PM PDT by R7 Rocket (Freee Helicopter Rides!!!1!!!11!1!!1!)
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To: thulldud

Only to mock, and I didn’t click through so they made no money.


43 posted on 07/08/2017 2:45:40 PM PDT by discostu (You are what you is, and that's all it is, you ain't what you're not, so see what you got.)
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To: nickcarraway

Video games are games. People have been playing games since the emerged from caves.

Some people might get obsessed, but even that has degrees. Obsessed during a slow month? Obsessed as a young teen where there isn’t that much to do? If you show up for school work, sports practice, who cares if your spare time is spent playing.

I’m not worried. My three sons all love to play and some of them are expert and one works in the field. My youngest boy, with special needs, got thrown out of Toontown (Disney multiplayer game for kids) at 7 years old for hacking the game and telling other kids how. I was very proud. Sorry. Lol.

He also hacked club Penguin and he was very good at Minecraft. Now he is soldering electronics components. He can’t speak but he can kick ass in his own way!


44 posted on 07/08/2017 2:48:50 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: bicyclerepair

FO4 is very good, not as good as 3 but better then New Vegas which was also good. Exploring is really reworded.


45 posted on 07/08/2017 2:55:26 PM PDT by gibsonguy
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To: Ciaphas Cain; bicyclerepair

I kept extensive notes on inventory at different hideouts and even organized supplies, food, clothes, and weapons by locker, closet, and refrigerator. That’s when I knew it was getting out of hand.


46 posted on 07/08/2017 2:59:23 PM PDT by Malcolm Reynolds
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To: nickcarraway

TV - “America was stolen, your g-grandparents were smallpox blanket distributors...”

University - “You’re a potential rapist. Oh! And deep down, you’re gay. Did we mention your ancestors were BRIGANDS..?”

Movies - “Whites stole everything they’re credited for, their culture is a huge hoax. If you’re black, you’re the super hacker who can shut down the ticking time-bomb in a nick of time, and every honky and asian chick yearns for you..”

Workplace - “Watch yourself, if you hint you like something a woman is wearing then it’s RAPE and you’re FIRED...”

NFL - Pink Day is fantastic, here’s the latest GAY player. Check out the new rules, no violence allowed and no victory displays.”

VIDEO GAMES ARE A LAST RESORT.

It’s friggin obvious.


47 posted on 07/08/2017 3:11:08 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: nickcarraway

My weaknesses have been Harpoon and The Operational Art of War. I was a beta tester on the former.


48 posted on 07/08/2017 3:11:37 PM PDT by Fred Hayek (The Democratic Party is now the operational arm of the CPUSA)
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To: nickcarraway

My son was/is a die hard gamer. Has placed at large regional tournaments and is considered the very best player of one character in one of the fighting games in the US.

He says the Koreans are insane. They are pros, with sponsors, and train AS TEAMS in facilities that have dorms, cafeterias, etc. Someone studied their hand movements vs. Americans and its about 4 times faster.

He has a solid job, just got married, but still likes to game on the weekend. I tried to get him to become a history prof-—he has real writing talent-—but didn’t want to put in the work and didn’t like history that much.


49 posted on 07/08/2017 3:13:59 PM PDT by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: gibsonguy

I confess too. I love WC III and have a separate gaming computer for the older “Panzer General” and “Age of Rifles.”
I also love “Megapolis” on my iPad.

At times I play a LOT.

Yet I managed to write three books in the last two years, move to Arizona, speak all over the country. I find it a way to do meaningless stuff as I process ideas. I even write in my head while I’m playing.


50 posted on 07/08/2017 3:15:50 PM PDT by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: nickcarraway

And no jobs for 8 years under Obama.


51 posted on 07/08/2017 3:21:44 PM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: momincombatboots
momincombatboots said: "... a way to avoid marrying a woman who will never put family first and never make self sacrifices."

The other side of this coin is the possibility that you will never have grandchildren.

One of my wife's friends has four kids ranging in age from about 39 to 46. None of them are married and none has children. The eldest has decided to go back to school to earn an engineering degree. He is hampered by his lack of algebra skills. The other three have good jobs but little prospect of starting families.

52 posted on 07/08/2017 3:23:50 PM PDT by William Tell
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I recently bought Skyline:Cities after doing research on a new Sim City, since I haven’t played that since the 90s. Totally addicting and time consuming game. I haven’t played a computer game in years and refused to buy console games like Xbox or Playstation. I remember spending a lot of time in late 90s early 2000s on the Age of Empires series and then I cut myself off. After playing Skyline:Cities I am cutting myself off again.


53 posted on 07/08/2017 3:24:20 PM PDT by Blue Highway
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To: alternatives?
alternatives? said: "Which one is morally superior?"

I claim no special expertise in "morality". However, there is something to be said for passing on wholesome values to the next generation. It's difficult to do that if you don't have kids.

At one point in time it looked like the Chinese were going to overpopulate the earth all by themselves. Apparently even they recognized that that would not be a good thing.

Few on FreeRepublic but too many in the U.S. are content to let our values die out and be replaced by whatever values are held by the masses of refugees being created in the world. I can't imagine a bigger failure in life than deciding that somebody besides oneself should get to decide what the world's future will be.

54 posted on 07/08/2017 3:37:45 PM PDT by William Tell
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To: nickcarraway

“We’re Losing a Whole Generation of Young Men to Video Games”

How ‘bout us middle-age guys? Anybody worried about losing us? All kidding aside, the author seems to want a simple answer instead of the right answer to what he perceives as the decline of the young male, perhaps because the right answer or answers are too hard or politically incorrect.

Video games can be addicting for certain people, just like alcohol, eating, watching TV, MyFace (my pet name for FaceBook), etc. It doesn’t mean they will be an addiction for everyone. I’m in my forties, I have a full time job and a family and I often play video games in my spare time of an evening. I have other hobbies, but this something I can do when circumstances aren’t conducive for doing the others. Compared to some other hobbies, video gaming (especially on consoles) can be relatively cheap when one figures dollars spent per hour of participation.


55 posted on 07/08/2017 3:46:15 PM PDT by ThomasSawyer (Democratic Underground: Proof that anyone can figure out how to use a computer.)
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To: Ciaphas Cain

I must agree. Bioshock was a masterpiece, to call it just a game is to trivialize it. They just re-mastered it for higher definition. It will
Hook you on V-games


56 posted on 07/08/2017 4:00:32 PM PDT by gibsonguy
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To: R7 Rocket

“The young men are happier, because they don’t have to play the BS rat-race game anymore. But the young women are getting mad because they can’t use the men as ATM’s anymore. “

Well, that’s ONE WAY to tell them apart!!! :)

I had all but given up.


57 posted on 07/08/2017 4:12:09 PM PDT by Dr. Pritchett
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To: nickcarraway
Heh Heh....Yeah..... It is actually kind of embarrassing how much I have played Civilization III and Civilization V in my life.

i'm hip. and STEEL PANTHERS

58 posted on 07/08/2017 4:37:22 PM PDT by bravo whiskey (Never bring a liberal gun law to a gun fight.)
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To: nickcarraway

The video-game boys make themselves useful such as when they go #WeaponizedAutism on the lefties. Most of the boys who are ready to unleash doxx hell on cnn honed their strategic skills and competitive spirit on video games.


59 posted on 07/08/2017 4:43:46 PM PDT by Vision Thing (You see the depths of our hearts, and You love us the same...)
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To: nickcarraway

I need to find my super mario 2 & 3 cartridges. I’ve been wanting to play for the last few weeks.


60 posted on 07/08/2017 5:16:56 PM PDT by Trillian
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