PopCap Titles Life-Savers 41
GameSetWatch has a humorous look at a recent press package they received from PopCap Games. From the article: "'Earlier this summer I had a terrifying situation where an unexpected interaction of two new prescription medicines sent me into a panic attack so severe it made me attempt suicide. When I got home from the hospital that night, I sat there playing the endless version of Bejeweled 2 for most of the night, while the last of the overdose I had taken worked its way out of my system.' This, kind readers, is why casual games are actually pretty hardcore."
Re:Tetris (Score:2, Interesting)
Wow, what a non-statement. Of course Tetris affected the US's GNP. Some people were less productive at work because of Tetris. Some people probably came up with ideas that improved efficiency at work. People playing Tetris drove demand for purchasing computers or game machines. People having their computer on to play tetris used electricity, and so caused higher sales for energy and oil companies. Some video games were purchased less because people's game time was spent playing Tetris. Some video games were purchased more because people got hooked into video games by playing Tetris.
An INTERESTING fact or even rumour would say that "Tetris significantly (Where minimum significe is statistically defined) increased the GNP in the year that it came out." Then examining the major sinks and sources for capital provided by the existance of the video game Tetris. Otherwise I could just come out and say "bottled water affects your lifespan" in which case I'm not helping anyone by imparting that information. Could be that bottled water encourages people to drink more water, which leads to better hydration which leads to better health which leads to a longer life span. Could be that certain minerals found primarilly in bottled water slow down aging processes or prevent cancer. Could be that bottled water contains toxins that shorten your lifespan. Could be that the stress of living a lifestyle which allows bottled water to be regularilly purchased will shorten your lifespan. Could be that.. whatever. The phrase "bottled water affects your lifespan" is a non-statement, as well as the phrase "[Tetris] affected the GNP of the US the year it came out."
Re:Games are no cure all (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Not a serious attempt. (Score:5, Interesting)
When we got home it took half an hour to get her inside and into bed because she couldn't understand how to walk. After a few hours she shat herself, and we called the ambulance again. They could not believe that the hospital sent her home, and they drove her to the same hospital. The nurses on that shift took one look at her and said "Oh yeah, that's a HUGE stroke. We're surprised she survived."
While walking outside to get a breath of fresh air I noticed a billboard on the wall of the ER. On it was a graph on a huge poster proudly showing that the amount of time patients spent at the emergency room was well below quota. As if this was a good thing.
This was a hospital in Wichita, Kansas, USA. From personal experience, it doesn't matter if you're having a cough or an obvious life threatening stroke, if they can find even the slightest reason to send you home then they will. In my mother's case, the tests said nothing was wrong even though something was visibly wrong.
This story is entirely plausible.
Re:Addicting games (Score:1, Interesting)
I played casually against the computer (jago and gnugo) for quite some time. Hell, I still can't beat gnugo on a 19x19 even giving the computer a 6 stone handicap. I can beat it regularly with a 7 stone handicap, though.
In the past couple of weeks, it's become frighteningly addicting. I can't go a day without playing five or more games, sometimes on yahoo games (I'm still provisional there), but mostly against gnugo (yahoo games people can be rude).
I find myself daydreaming about Go, Go problems, etc. Watching law and order, I imagine a game of go where the criminals are one player and the law enforcement the other. Each move either of them makes I correspond to a move in my head..
I find Go situations popping into my head when I try to sleep, when I'm driving, or during lectures.
All that said, it's a serious mental exercise. It does to good in that it increases pattern recognition and problem solving. It's not just a placating device.
It is kind of sad how it's taken over my life. Compared to my last addiction however (WoW and alcohol), I'd say it's a step up.