The Bottom Line

Many critics of the gaming culture believe that playing video games causes an individual to be less productive. They argue that people who play video games are lazier and less healthy than those who do not. Well, there is a small truth to their accusations, but I cannot, with good conscience, completely buy their argument.

Stereotypes and generalizations play a large role when describing groups of people no matter how they are divided. Let's face it; gamers don't exactly have a shiny reputation among adults and athletes. Adults believe that gamers lack the work ethic to actually get a job in the RL and athletes believe that gamers are too weak to perform rigorous physical activities.

In our defense, not all gamers fall into the categories created by the opposing side. For example, I enjoy playing all types of games ranging from console to PC and from online to offline. I have over 224 hours played of Call of Duty 2 and will generally play at least 10 hours a week online. Since I started logging the hours I play PC games with Xfire in March of 2004, I have accumulated at least fifty-five days worth of gaming! Yet, I also go running three times a week starting in March and lasting until winter. I enjoy playing soccer, tennis, and archery during the summer; during the winter I like to go snowboarding. To the random onlooker the only thing they could possibly notice that links me to gaming are my gaming themed shirts.

Procrastination is a problem that usually doesn't adhere to a specific type of people. I mean, you could say, "Gamers generally procrastinate more than honor students." Yet, many honor students are gamers! In fact, a lot of the honors students housed in Cambridge Hall love to play video games in one for or another. There are some valid points made, but I believe the argument is less about procrastination and more about setting priorities.

I have a hard time pulling myself away from a video game to sit down and study or read. Generally, I don't have the same problem with writing, but that all depends on the subject. Since gaming takes very little effort to setup and begin, it makes it so much easier to just stop any work you are doing and play. If your favorite hobby is to play tennis and you decide you'd rather do that than study, think about all the effort it takes to deviate from your academics. You would have to get dressed, find someone to play with, and then go to the courts. You would probably play for a few hours to really get a decent game in and then you would spend time walking back. Then, by the time you get back, you would probably get a shower before you even started to think about studying again.

On the other hand, gaming only takes maybe four to five minutes to get started. You can play for as long or as short as you want and just quit the game and get back to studying. Look at how much more convenient gaming is than other hobbies. This is probably also the reason why it's so much easier to get sidetracked with gaming and is probably another reason why other people believe gamers to be lazy.

I would have written more for this article, but I'd rather go play some games. So with that being said, let me leave you all with an inspirational quote from an online staff writer for the TWL, an online competitive gaming league: "Hard work often pays off over time, but laziness and procrastination pays off now." GG.

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