Why don't you play video games?

Great replies. It is interesting to see what other people think about playing video games. Of course, I have my own views as well on some of these various points, which I'll touch on in this post.

As for the time commitment needed for games, I do agree there. In fact, even though I may think of myself as a "hardcore gamer" or something like that, there will be times where I may go a few weeks without playing a game. As it is right now, I have several games that I WANT to play, but they all require a decent amount of commitment which I can't really give at the moment. For most of the games, I'll wait until the weekend to play. And I have no job, no wife/kids, and think of video games as one of my hobbies; there's no question about it that it is sometimes difficult to give the proper amount of time to some games.

That said, I don't think ALL games require this. Take sports (including racing and alternative sports) games, some first-person shooter games, fighting games, and others. I could play a quick game of NBA 2K5 with 5 minutes (or less) quarters and be done in 30 minutes or so; if I feel like it, I could just do a quick one-on-one game, or a training session, which takes maybe 5-10 minutes each. Fighting games (Dead or Alive, Tekken, Soul Caliber, Super Smash Brothers) can entertain without requiring hours of play. A FPS game like Halo could be enjoyed online with multiplayer, and depending on the game type, could be ended relatively quick. Puzzle games are good at this as well. Even free-roaming games like Grand Theft Auto or Spiderman 2 can be fun for a short amount of time, although they offer better experiences, IMO, with more time devoted to them. Most of those games also have tournaments, which definitely couldn't happen if the games required THAT much time. And of course, pretty much all handheld games do not require much time to play since that would basically defeat their purpose. For the most part, these games also put you right in the action, not really requiring you to find a key in order to get the jetpack skill or whatever. If you think about it, some of these games also happen to be best-sellers (GTA, Halo, Gran Turismo, Madden, etc.). I guess the way I see it is that if you can spend 30-90 minutes watching a TV show/movie, then you could just as well spend that time playing a game; it isn't like you must spend 4-5 hours at a time playing a game. Of course, if you value TV/movies more, then that's another story.

As for controls, I would definitely like to see an easier control scheme instead of a control pad with 15-20 buttons, even though I'm used to them or could quickly get used to them. That's why I like what Nintendo is doing with the Revolution controller and why I like some of the Eyetoy demos that Sony has shown. On the other hand, a lot of common devices like cell phones, computers, and other gadgets sometimes seem to have a bunch of buttons.

As for cost, while it could be expensive if you want to be extreme gamer that gets everything on day one, gaming can be affordable as well if you want it to be. New games do indeed cost $40-$50 each, and that might even go up; however, lately, I haven't even purchased a game at that price unless I REALLY wanted it. I said this before, but recently I bought 11 used games (9 PS2, 2 PS1) from EBgames.com/Gamestop.com for about $70-$75 (including tax and S&H). I think that comes out to about $6-$7 a game. Don't expect to get that on every game, but with a little bit of luck and preparation, you can play great games at a more than affordable price. That said, I would like to see what would happen if ALL games were priced similarly to say DVD movies.

Obviously, I disagree with the "waste of time" point of view. IMO, it isn't any more of a waste of time than any other hobby. Basically, I guess I waste my time watching the Rockets/Astros/Cowboys, watching Family Guy and other TV, listening to some music, and spending 2 hours at a movie theatre. And as Svpernaut said, there is actually evidence that playing video games is better for you than some of these other forms of entertainment; hehe...I remember attributing heavily text-based games like early Final Fantasy games for helping me to learn how to read. Again, maybe it is more appealing to do something else, but I don't think it is a waste of time.

Some of the points about feeling too old, getting over games for some reason, preferring other forms of entertainment, or just plain missing the old school games are points that are definitely a concern, among some of the other points. There are ways around some of the other points, but I'm not really sure what can happen if you just feel too old for games. You really don't see people saying they're too old for movies, TV or something like that. I guess these are the things that the industry must deal with. Somehow, they'll have to convince you to stop watching TV/movies, going out with friends (maybe playing games with friends instead), and other time consumers. I don't know if just making more unique games or even life-simulators would do that, or if it is just a marketing thing. In my very biased opinion, while I enjoy a good movie, TV show, song, or sporting event (outside of rare, extraordinary events like the Astros 18 inning game or a championship), I think some of the better video games offer far better experiences when you're "done." That's basically what keeps me hooked and staying a gamer. For example, when Square-Enix puts out a Final Fantasy game, I know that I will probably experience a good-to-great story with a fair share of twists and turns, an interesting world with interesting characters, amazing cinematic effects, great music, and just an overall fun time when I'm done. That opinion isn't shared by everyone of course or else this wouldn't be an issue.

Just off the top of my head, I only know of Yourself!Fitness that basically does what you said:
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/558/558041p1.html

It had decent scores, but I don't think it sold unusually well or anything. I don't know the exact sales figures, but considering how the industry is, I imagine we would have seen like 5 games since then that did the exact same thing if it sold well. Like you mentioned, a game like DDR that doesn't really use a controller could help; as I've said, I'm really wondering how the Eyetoy and the Revolution controller will impact the gaming industry. Even with a standard controller, I think the market could expand with these types of life-simulators. The Nintendo DS has already benefited greatly from some of these games (Nintendogs, Brain Training, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Trauma Center, etc.).

I think the problem which some of the developers brought up is that none of the big publishers want to take a chance with these different games; some of the smaller publishers would like to, but they don't have the money to produce a quality game. EA will stick to making their sports games and occasional crappy movie games instead of investing $10-$15 million in making a game that MIGHT expand the market, or may only sell 150K copies (not good). Despite what some people say about wanting unique games, game sales don't always reflect that (plenty of great unique games sell like crap, while the unoriginal, crappy games still sell millions). That has to be fixed somehow, IMO. It could be a marketing thing. For example, for those that don't know, a game called Shadow of the Colossus will be coming out soon for the PS2, and it is probably one of the most intriguing, unique, and fun-looking games I've seen in a while; however, I think I read that it may not even receive TV advertising. It barely even made it to the US (Japanese developed game) since Sony thought it wouldn't be worth the trouble of localizing for North America. Another example is the Sims game, another original game, although it was actually marketed well. From what I was told, the game was marketed in more than just game magazines (EX: women's magazines like Vogue I believe) and I think they even had a deal with L’Oreal. And fortunately, these efforts paid off since the game sold REALLY well (one of the best selling games of all-time I believe). So maybe along with making these games, the industry needs to find different ways of letting people know about them; making a fitness game won't help if you just let gamers know about it.

So I guess to sum it all up, the industry needs to focus on making games that are easier to pick up and play (IE: simple controls/gameplay), but don't require a ton of time to get satisfaction from. Maybe something like a Katamari Damacy or Super Smash Brothers actually. Price these games a little better, and find ways to market them better so that people are willing to spend their valuable time playing them instead of watching 18-inning games and having a good time with friends; maybe even find ways to actually get you to spend time with friends AND play games. Finally, after a few hours of total gameplay, ship a package to the gamer's door that includes $100 and a potion that will make you 15-20 years younger...and has a nice cherry flavor.

As mentioned, Mario Kart is good, as well as a bunch of Mario games, especially something like Super Smash Brothers or maybe the Mario Party games. I'm not for sure if they'd be great for multiple players, but Super Monkey Ball or Katamari Damacy might be simple, fun games as well. There's also DDR, Donkey Konga, or some karoke games, but I haven't really got into those much. These party-type games aren't my specialty.