Accatone (5173) on 12/29/2006 9:24 AM · edited · Permalink · Report

[Q --start Trixter wrote--]We play MMORPGs to live a more satisfying life than our own, play shooters to release stress... heck, even my wife, who is a casual game player, remarked a long time ago that she plays repetitive games like Tetris and various enhanced versions of Space Invaders because they lend structure and order to her hectic life. [/Q --end Trixter wrote--]

I generally prefer playing repetitive games because I usually feel that something out of that repetition and structure can occur right before my eyes, something "extra"ordinary!! In a way, when you think of it, all computer games have a structure that you cannot deny, whether their gameplay is linear or not. So I find repetitive games more honest!

Andy Voss (1861) on 12/29/2006 2:49 PM · Permalink · Report

I think the U of R psych majors just wanted an excuse to play video games. :)

Reminds me of Norm MacDonald on SNL's Weekend Update way back.. "(some pointless study).. you can read more in the monthly medical journal, 'Duh'" (screen shows magazine with DUH in big letters on top)

Jae Rune (1) on 12/29/2006 5:12 PM · Permalink · Report

I play Day of Defeat because I have trouble organizing time with my friends to hang out in person. So I go in there to jaw an BS and shoot people. It can add stress when everyone in there is grim about winning instead of just BSing and talking. Sometimes I'm just there to kill, sometimes I'm there to socialize.

I think video games do fulfill these needs, which is how they've become an ingrained part of the culture of people born in the 1970's and onward. We need these games, because they don't have any relationship to the real world and often times they're more engaging than a book.