Video games tend to be more fun with exploding heads, but honestly... few games would lose their appeal if gore were limited or if it was made fantastic (e.g. green or hippie blood)

i STOPPED playing video games quite a long time ago. l have a fairly long attention span, but when l played many video games, I kept thinking about them when I should have concentrated on something else. I decided to simply delete all installed games and stack all my CDs into a closet. I was able to enjoy myself better after that. But I still play on OCCASION: every several months l play a full game, a bunch of demos, and several hours of multiplayer action :D . That way, games don't interfere with my life. Moral: Some people can easily balance games with life. For others, a careful approach is needed. P.S. It's very bad to have somebody else monitor your playing, because moderation only works when your will is involved.

I will blow your brains out if you take Civilization IV or The Sims away from me. jk. The bad thing about video games is that they are so fun and accessible (despite possibly steep learning curves and frustrating delay of reward) that it is way too easy to seek elation from them, rather from our difficult and punitive lives. Novels, short stories, and an occasional escapist movie should be enough to help us recuperate from pursuing our goals. However, a video game that takes ~10 hours to complete is usually considered ridiculously short, and open-ended games (especially multiplayer) can take up hundreds of hours. My point is, instead of playing 20 hours per week, any one of us could gain relative fluency in a language within a year. Or whatever else you would call an accomplishment.