Post by redonihunter in What do you think about sports games?

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I've always thought that the point of video games is to do things you can't do in real life

What.

Like, war games? We can do that in real life too. It's not about what is possible in real life. That's not what games are about at all.

I kinda get the core idea, but that applies to fiction, not games. Why make fiction about how your neighbors live their life, if you can have fiction about wizards and dragons.

So. What is a game? There are many answers to that question.

Doing things that are impossible in real life, makes the story of a game more interesting and exciting. But you do not need a story to have a game.

The root of games is playing. You play a game. And what is playing? From an evolutionary point of view, children and young animals "play" things that will benefit them in adult life. Better do pretend play with your parents and siblings, than get eaten by a real wolf.

So it is kinda funny to me, that you assume that one plays things that cannot be done in real life, as the actual roots of playing is exactly the opposite ;-)

To answer your question, Why play sports games when you can play sports?, because, well, you are a developer, are you not. You might be familiar with this image here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treachery_of_Images

But why an individual plays a specific (sports) game will always be answerd with: because it's fun. Also, that's not mutually exclusive. You could play a video game about the very sport you do in real life. And some people actually cannot do lots of sports physically. And most people could not compete in professional sports. Or the sport is too expensive. The list could go on for a very long time... ;-)

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Melinda24242 days ago

I understand. I've been trying to figure out why I think that way.

I've come to the conclusion that, in my case, it's more of a moral issue.

It's about how we educate children and the kind of society we are building.

In short, the question isn't whether playing sports games is right or wrong. As you say, playing sports games is always right because it's fun.

But is it right to teach children to stop playing sports so they can play sports video games?

Could that lead to a more sedentary society with poorer health?

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redonihunter1 day ago(+1)

But is it right to teach children to stop playing sports so they can play sports video games?

You seem to assume a swap between a virtual activity and a real one. Exchanging one for the other. Simulating a thing in a video game, so you can avoid the thing in reality.

If you believe this is possible, it should apply to all other activites in video games as well. Including killing people. And that discussion was done ad nauseam. It's just not true. Playing a video game is not the same as doing a thing in real life.

You might construct trivial examples, where it could be so, like playing online poker or chess.

But your concern is the same that's with any non physical activity. Like watching television. Or even reading. You should not focus on that one tiny aspect where coincidentally some kids would play virtual tennis, instead of actual tennis. There is not really a difference from them not playing tennis, because they play virtual tennis, play minecraft, watch netflix or read vampire novels. They're not jumping around in either case.

As you say, playing sports games is always right because it's fun.

I did not say that. I explained the reason why someone would play. And that reason usually boils down to fun. There are other reasons too, but all this is not touching the morality of "wasting time with games, instead of some socially approved recreational activity".

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