Is this wierd or not?
 

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=2389



Over fifteen THOUSAND people say video games are the basis of what they are today....

Is this good, or very very wrong?

It's neither. People just exaggerate lots. Videogames have certainly been a big part of my interests in life, but they really haven't shaped my personality for th better or the worse. I disbelieve anyone who says otherwise.

Moving to General Video Gaming.

I really doubt that the poll is accurate, but I certainly hope that mobs of people aren't being that influenced by videogames.

"Oh my! That game totally changed my life. Now, I have this unresistable urge to fight monsters and become a hero!"


Minor influences I can believe, but I'm really curious about this:

I hope that those voters are either lying, or they just mean that they spent most of their lives playing games. ;)

That graph should look more like this:
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But alas, it is the opposite.

I'm not too surprised by this actually. Aside from the fact that the poll options are a bit vague, and thus enabling more people to vote for the more affirmative options, there is also the fact that there really are a large number of people who are driven by game-related things, whether it is in their social interactions (WoW, Xbox Live), career pursuits (programming, computer engineering, marine, jet pilot), or just their own thought development (I'm at a loss for examples here).
In addition, I guarantee that there are a bunch of people who have been seriously affected by ADD.

Also, I vote to get the title of this thread changed to
"Is this weird or not?"

It's an opportunity for the voters to attempt to legitimize their hobby. Of course they are going to jump on that option, and may even convince themselves it's true.

Hey, I voted on that.

My response: Not really, they haven't impacted me either way

I find the statistic a little surprising although I think it shows how much videogames has become its own culture. I'm sure we woulnt think it would be strange to see the similar graph for sports instead. In addition, such a poll at a website devoted to videogames will of course be biased.

I'd like to know in just what way these people have had their lives shaped by video games. Did the ability to press buttons really quickly or elevate their avatar to a level 64 Lizard-Cock-Beast help them through hard times or help them become better people?

I just followed the I before E rule, but either spelling of that word always looks weird to me.

well for someone that will study in 3D animation for video games I say yes they influence of what I want to do later but not exactly the way I think, everyone has they own personnality

God forbid people spending most of their days reading books or movies or playing sports right?

I agree with the poll and I'll say that yeah, video games have shaped me who I am today. Without them, I'm sure I'd be a different person. And they didn't shape me in a way similiar to 'OMG I can get 2 lvl50 in 1hr!', rather it was just more in what I want to do with my life and what I like to do as a hobby, and career.

It's a GameFAQs poll. Don't read too much into it.

Gaming has provided me with a source of entertainment. Would I be a different person today were there not video games? I don't think that I would be fundamentally different, so much as I would have another interest that I use to entertain myself with, such as reading, watching {more} television, or perhaps following more sports closely than just baseball. I think I would be the same person I am today without games. Also my shelves and entertainment center area would look a lot different, what with the absence of games and consoles. I would probably have bought tons of DVDs and DVD boxsets instead.

It's GameFAQs, so don't read too much into it.

But yes, I voted in that poll, and I said "they made me what I am today." And I think I'm perfectly justified in saying that. I didn't take it to imply that they're the SOLE thing that shaped my life. That would be stupid. Of course my experiences, family, and so on were much greater influences than games. But stacked up against other media like books, TV, movies, etc? They can have at least as much effect as some of the books I read, and they still contributed quite a bit.

It's also less the games themselves than what happened because of them. Yes, there's the hours I spent playing video games from a young age. Even barring the fact that I can credit text adventure games for honing my typing skills early on and generally getting me computer-literate, there's more to it than the games themselves. Writing and roleplaying are two things that I got into full-swing because of video games; it might be indirect, but the former has been absolutely essential (say, for writing papers for school), so I give video games a few points for helping that along in the first place way back when. And the friendships I've forged through common interest in video games has led me to some of my dearest friends. Indirect? Maybe. But it was still ultimately sparked over video games, so I think it counts.

Look deeper, guys. I'd like to think that most of the people who voted for that option in the poll are also thinking of the bigger picture, not tallying how many hours they've spent playing Counterstrike and trying to justify it as a life skill in itself.

Though incidentally, I doubt anyone would be going "OMG LOSERS!!" if it was a poll about whether books have influenced people's lives. Just sayin'.

The question isn't that clear and can be easily misinterpreted. It practically asks gamers indirectly whether they like games or not.

Would you mind not being infuriating?

How many people do you reckon would vote "No, if anything, they've been a negative" to the question "Do you think Books have been a positive influence on your life?"


Anyway, yes, GameFAQs is fanboy central, don't forget. A bulleted list of watershed moments in a fanboys life genuinely reads as the line-up of release dates for major titles on their favourite corporations system. And 9 years ago most of them reset their Gregorian calenders to a new era tagged "After FFVII".

If you think people won't argue that books have been negative influences....oh, think again.

In any case, my point was that a lot of people seem to be automatically dismissing video games as something that shouldn't have any influence on people's lives. Just because they're video games, apparently. Of course they shouldn't be the MAIN influence in your life. But a positive influence? Or at the very least, a catalyst for OTHER positive influences? Sure. Though you wouldn't know it from people's reactions.

"Do you think books have been a positive influence on your life?"

"Do you think movies have been a positive influence on your life?"

"Do you think TV shows have been a positive influence on your life?"

"Do you think sports have been a positive influence on your life?"

"Do you think music has been a positive influence on your life?"

"Do you think comics have been a positive influence on your life?"

Nope, still not feeling the same animosity the the video game question seems to be getting.

But again, yes, it's a GameFAQs poll. Not exactly a bastion of statistical integrity, even when their poll questions AREN'T vague as hell. Which this one most definitely is.

I don't think anyone can take singular examples of books and apply that to books as a concept.

I guess that's where I went wrong with your first post though; I was looking at books in a broader Vaults-Of-All-Human-Knowledge sense, rather than the throwaway yarn, or whatever it is that's making you put them on the same comparitive level as video games and comic books. Carry on.

I don't see anything right or wrong with it. Doesn't have to be one or the other. It's just a hobby for the majority of people that enjoy this sort of entertainment.

Video games particularly Halo influenced my life a lot. My friends and I which in cluded Kairyu trained almost daily for a Philly tournament. And since we live in Hawaii you cna only imagine how much the trip cost us.

But ever since then, video games have been really minor and just not a big or even medium part of my life anymore.

Are you saying that you find a reason to look down on people who write FAQs?