Of all the things to be addicted to, video games can't be classified as the worst. They can, however, become incredible time sinks for people who just can't get enough of the gaming phenomena, whether it's online or offline. My younger son (Jon) is a video game addict and he calls himself a "gamer", wearing the title like a badge of honor. As a non-gamer, I guess I just don't get it.

Video Games at Home

While online gaming can take place at home, it's more prevalent in the US than here. Nevertheless, Jon would love nothing more than sharing my Internet connection so that he can play something called "DOTA" with other people online. If I had a high speed, low drag broadband connection like I had when I lived in the US, it wouldn't bother me to share it. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I don't.

There are a lot of multi-player games that only require multiple controllers. Jon has enough friends that he sometimes has them over at the house playing (whatever) multi-player games in his bedroom. Usually, however, he'll play at someone else's house. That is, when he's not in school.

My wife (Josie) lived with her cousin (Hilda) in the US until just a couple of months ago. Hilda bought a Nintendo Wii console a few months before that. It came with some games, but I think Hilda had to buy the Wii fit games to go with it. Josie played a few of those games with some of her younger relatives and really enjoyed it. She said it was a good workout. She even suggested she should buy a console, some of the same games and other Wii Fit accessories to bring with her from the US. I'm glad she forgot about it because the last thing I need is another video game addict living with me and attempting to drive me insane.

Video Games Not at Home

In places where Internet cafes are popular attractions (like here), a large percentage of the people spend their time gaming online. Jon, along with his friends and classmates, spends time after school at a couple of places that I've never heard of. I think they're playing something called "Defender of the Ancients" these days. At least, that's what I think DOTA stands for. I believe they gave up on World of Warcraft a long time ago.

It's amazing how many people use the Internet cafes for online gaming. I'm not one of them. I've only gone to Internet cafes to get online when I've been without an Internet connection for a sustained length of time and it wasn't for any kind of gaming. I just don't believe in investing time, something that becomes more precious as I get older, doing something I don't consider productive. I lose enough time watching TV or movies, but at least it isn't a daily affair for me.

I'm NOT a Gamer Hater

I don't want people thinking that I have anything against video games because I don't. I just find video game addicts extremely annoying because video games seem to be the only thing they want to talk about and only when they're not actually playing video games.

I will occasionally play video games with Jon, but it's a rare occasion when I do. I sometimes play other PC games (on my own) that people would classify as video games, but they're not like the MMORPG games the younger people seem to be fond of. One of them is a chess game I practice with so I can stomp my other relatives when I play chess with them. The other is a collection of video games from yesteryear, like Frogger and Pac-Man. It's been months since I even opened the game application, so I wouldn't call it a video game addiction in any sense of the phrase.

I just think that there are more productive uses of time than spending 16 hours a day with a video game console controlling your life. Jon has a PlayStation 2, a PlayStation Portable and keeps talking about other gaming machines he'd like to have (like a cheap Nintendo DS). Umm… since I'm the one that makes the money around here, I don't think so. I like the PlayStation Portable, but not for gaming. I think it's an excellent device for watching videos, provided you have some good ear buds or earphones since the speaker volume is too low.

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