Saturday, November 25, 2006

I Want My WiiTV?

I suppose it's just another option, but the new Nintendo Wii gaming console allows players to surf the internet as they play the latest verison of Legend of Zelda. This article in the Washington Post tells us more.

What it doesn't really go into is the 'why'. Why would that be something you'd want to do? What game would you be playing that would give you the time or need to be also...checking news? sports scores? watching Youtube? I have no idea...

Gaming is something I know a little about from watching my son play, but isn't really a thing I do. But this does cause me some concern. Kids today are assaulted by so much more information and media than when we were children, do we really need to give them the ability to access even more?

8 comments:

ME said...

I went to the movies Friday and the first ten minute of commercials was almost all for games or gaming systems. I dunno, maybe it's a young guy thing, but I just don't see the appeal of the gaming. I'd rather watch a movie or a tv show or read. Does that make me old? Am I in the minority?

Scott Stambler said...

well, if you talk to my wife who has done some research on this - she'd tell you it's a product that hurts young minds because the games keep the brain in a hyperstimulated state (the reptillian part of the brain - the fight or flight part) creating adreniline flow which has no outlet. further it doesn't stimulate imaginative play or real (eye to eye) human connection.

me, if i had a ps whatever i would probably get hooked. i think there may be some cool hand eye talent and reactive technique, but likely i would play it too much. thus i prefer sports like tennis or ping pong. or watching tv. or napping.

Diane Kristine Wild said...

I don't think you have to surf while playing a game. It's a way to get Internet through your TV, though, which is kinda cool. Except I could do without the gaming part.

My brother and his friends really want one and he's 38, so it's not just a young guy thing. If parents are worried about what it'll do to their kids, well, that's what parents are for, isn't it? To say no.

Good Dog said...

I'm not buying one until the machine can do cheese toasties as well as play the game and show me the world!

Not to sound like an old grinch, but the trouble with kids being saturated with videogames and other in-their-face entertainment is that they have little or no imagination.

Entertainment for me growing up was reading a book and conjuring the whole world up in my head.

Should I start queuing for my pension now?

wcdixon said...

I'm with you Good Dog. I know its the times we live in but I find it a little distressing how much time our kids spend in front of a screen instead of with others or playing or using imagination...

ME said...

Will, says us who are yakking it blogland. Pot, kettle. Hallo.

I'm with you guys, just, there is some irony here, isn't there?

Good Dog said...

Caroline,

Oh absolutely. And when I get back home I'll probably fire up a game of Perfect Dark on the Nintendo or what a new episode of Battlestar Galactica.

But I still read a good fair bit. And pay attention to the real world around me. Little bits of everything in moderation.

And I only really use the internet for writing, reference and -- Ooooh, pictures of another talent-free starlet without her winter undies on!!!!!

wcdixon said...

Okay Caroline wins - we should all hang our heads in shame...wait a sec, more shots from the Victoria Secret show! I'll be back shortly.