Tetris is the child of EVIL

[PetitPrince]

...and so are all videogames, says Father Raymond J. De Souza (http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=165016).


[via gamepolitics (http://gamepolitics.com/2007/12/13/columnist-games-are-crack-cocaine-of-electronic-world/default.htm)]


To quote Gamepolitics:

GP: With all due respect, how does one condemn an entire form of media based on one’s own problems with time management?


*sigh* Sick (http://no-dmca.ch/index.en.html) sad (http://www.paulkidby.com/news/index.html) world.

[DIGITAL]

My mother, whose principal goal in bringing up her children was not to affirm our self-esteem, was fond of telling us that only unintelligent children got bored. Our house had books and toys and siblings, and we had our imaginations -- my mother thought that more than sufficient for any child to amuse himself.
That sucks.
It's too dangerous. Video games take what is most precious -- time and thought. And they are making kids fat.
For whatever reason, I just thought about the Wii.
Did I mention that far too many video games celebrate graphic violence, multifarious delinquency and borderline pornography? I don't have to. Tetris had none of that, and it was deadly enough.

Oh man, I think I've had more than one too many doses. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_surprised.gif

[Rosti LFC]

If I don't get into Cambridge, I'll blame Tetris http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif

[kotetsu213]

And they are making kids fat.


Stopped reading there, this article fails 10 times over.

[jujube]

My mother, whose principal goal in bringing up her children was not to affirm our self-esteem, was fond of telling us that only unintelligent children got bored. Our house had books and toys and siblings, and we had our imaginations -- my mother thought that more than sufficient for any child to amuse himself.
is that sufficient for keeping you from getting fat? i don't get it.

Video entertainment is by nature passive.
hold on, let's not confuse TV with video games. this is a little ignorant.

No matter how energetically a child works the controls, all the images and scenarios are provided for him. The elaborate imaginary situations children can create for themselves are literally flattened by the avalanche of images coming their way.

this sounds eerily familiar...Kanji (http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=14321&highlight=kanji#14321) anyone?

i don't know much about how imagination works, but i can't imagine it being stifled by images seen on video games. wouldn't a kid that stares at a wall all day have the poorest imagination? and what about always playing with the same games and toys your parents provide for you? sure books force you to visualize for yourself what's happening, but when playing tetris you're imagining all sorts of scenarios that may arise in the near future and making decisions based on that.

[K]

No matter how energetically a child works the controls, all the images and scenarios are provided for him. The elaborate imaginary situations children can create for themselves are literally flattened by the avalanche of images coming their way.
He is a children psychologist as much as me UK Queen...
Imagination (and creation) is an adult behavior. (http://www.bouletcorp.com/blog/index.php?date=20071211)

so Children can't build imagination without experience.

[Phydeaux]

I'm working on a response to him. This is what I have so far:


Father:

Hopefully you won't disregard this entire letter as based on my following, opening statement, but I must say that I'm entirely surprised that any of my religious cohorts are frothing at the mouth in the name of any electronic entertainment, much less titles that have beneficial value.

Perhaps well beyond your casual experience with Tetris, I will readily discuss that I've been playing the game casually for nearly two decades, and within the last couple of years have been in tournaments and have even been classified as a top ten player in a couple of different iterations of the game. I'm also a contributor to a site called http://www.tetrisconcept.com/ (http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/../default.htm) where, if you take a quick look around in the Wiki, you'll realize that there's more to the game than obsessive-compulsive problem solving ala "filling the gaps with geometric shapes". It operates off the properties of puzzle pieces used for a specific purpose, part of strategies, conservation and applicable risk. Unlike the randomness that we experience in life, or physical sports or business, there is a confinement to games like Tetris. There are rules like gravity, rules to how the physics and rotations work, rules to scoring. There is nothing political about it, like business. There is nothing arbitrary about it, like in physical sports where a referee can throw his weight around, and it is not unfair like the perception of life from a Godless existence. Tetris is very much constructed, in a geometric sense, like the Great Beyond where we'll share and spend eternity. Perfection, symmetry, and accomplishing a goal that will last an eternity.

As an aside to the recognizable benefits, here in America, high school students are made to take the ASVAB test, which is a large, all-subjects encompassing test that our military branches use to gauge a student's usefulness to the service, and what their strengths would be. One of these sections is "coding". The ability to take and absorb bursts of information, disseminate it and apply it. I scored 99 percentile. Curious by my score, the administrator returned with the tests a week later and inquired if I had semi-regularly played video games, namely games such as Tetris, Columns or Bejeweled. Apparently it's a trend that they frequently see in testing. Obviously, they solicited me for service for a long time, and this was in a pre-9/11 world.

I strongly, full-heartedly mean no offense, but I think the aspect of your article that focuses on your Tetris heyday and your view of it being a dangerous diversion, actually stems from a trouble or problem you have with addiction. That's normal, people can become addicted to cigarettes, drinking, pornography, eating or in the most bizarre cases I've seen, Scripture, but it mostly all stems from moderation of your activity. Paul wrote, "Everyone that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things" (I Cor. 9:25) and "Let your moderation be known unto all men". Anything in excess, even reading God's Word in lieu of tending His sheep can be as sinful as the most debaucherous behaviour. I think your article, while it would've gotten less hits on a website, would've better served the people who would've read it if it actually attacked the core of the matter; gluttony and the lack of moderation as a society.

You go on further as an aside and say that videogames are making kids fat; I couldn't argue farther from the case. The Nintendo Wii, which has now sold 10 million units worldwide, is an extremely active machine, strongly encouraging movement and repetitive action that goes beyond that of an aerobics class, and I've never seen people walk out of Jazzercize with the smile I see beaming from their face after a round of Tennis or Boxing on the Wii. Even before the Wii, which came out a year ago, it can be counted in the tens of millions of how many Dance Dance Revolution, Karaoke Revolution and even Donkey Konga titles that were sold which emphasize strongly on rhythm, movement and exercise, including titles such as Dance Praise which are rhythm games that promote all the above and go so far as to include past Christian classics and contemporary praise into it's musical ensemble, I'll go so far as to say that when people play this game and "make a joyful noise" they are indeed giving praise to God and are absorbing the effects of the Holy Spirit. Much more encouraging than the living dead I encounter weekly in the pews.

You also mention "Did I mention that far too many video games celebrate graphic violence, multifarious delinquency and borderline pornography?", which makes me wonder what is your feelings on with David slaughtering his enemies and bringing Saul back their foreskins (1 Samuel 18:25-27)? What about the absolute entirety of Song of Solomon, which may be part allegory, may be a play-by-play of sexual activity, but is irregardless absolutely packed with sexual situations?

How is Samson, a man chosen by God, fallen from grace and redeemed through sacrifice and along the way slays THOUSANDS (check out Judges 15:15-16) any different than Master Chief from Halo, Nathan Hale from Resistance: Fall of Man or Gordon Freeman from Half-Life? Other than Samson was real, and killed real people? Yet this is glorified and Samson is painted as one of the ultimate Manly-Men servants of God, yet those whose stories told in a medium so that the immersion allows for greater appreciation of Samson's story, epics inspired almost directly from Biblical heroes of old, are written off by you as time-wasters, when they can be used to enrich a well-rounded Biblical understanding and ultimately a love for God.

Let's not kid ourselves. The very foundation and cornerstone of our faiths, God's Word, is wrought with violence, sex and destruction. Some of it is glorified, some of it is not. Ultimately it all has a place in the journey that Man will take to return to the fold. We gain absolutely nothing from over-protecting our children; akin to never letting a mule leave the barn, when the reality is that they need to be out in the world, and blinders to be applied. The goal is that with the training, blinders aren't needed and they are able to transverse this world because we are indeed in it, and not of it. But we should not remove ourselves from society because of our fears. There are many great Christians in the gaming industry and they make headway, or add touches to things that keep us all in the bigger picture, and keep the industry from degenerating into the cess pool that is Hollywood.

I know you've probably received at least a hundred letters in scale and scope of this one, and hopefully you'll actually read them and take something from them, rather than bind them and bind their anointing and hold it above your head and articulate into another column about how you have been "attacked" and how these letters will merely strengthen your resolve. I think it would do you some great good to step out of the abbey, find a youth center or some such that has video games among their arsenal, and just observe.

Like human beings, video games are meant to be a social phenomenon. They are meant to be a generator of fellowship, and I have met great men and women through gaming. Through the tone of your article, I gather that your observations are limited to perhaps watching individuals or siblings playing alone, by themselves. I have seen mass gatherings of Christians, in the hundreds, to play games such as Super Smash Bros. Melee, and there's not an observer among them, even the most staunch critic of the inclusion of video games in ministry, that can say that no one is the better for it.

The Love of God is timeless, but the methods of getting people there to be in the midst of it are not. I don't know how much damage control other progressive carriers of the torch of faith will have to do in order to defend you from the onslaught who cannot understand your position due to the points I've laid above, but it's obvious from the comments I've read at GamePolitics and Joystiq alone that you've done some irreparable damage to the faith that will take years to work through.

Anyway, thanks if you read this letter, and I would hope that in the future you'd consider the things Jesus has said rather than unfounded claims that you want others to hear.

w00f w00f indeed,
"Phydeaux" - fido - faith, I do
Jonathon Warden
Universal Life Reverend, Liberal Quaker




Not yet finished, absolutely so much bullshit to address. I'm going to enjoy pointing out the violence in the Bible that was condoned by the writers or smiled upon by God yet in other Good vs. Evil epics he can't grant, say, Master Chief, Hale or Gordon Freeman, the same leeway.


The man needs to play some Portal.

[Rosti LFC]

Fighting religion with religion http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

Go Phy

[caffeine]

http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/../colin.jpg

[DIGITAL]

Holy...that is some lyrical use of language Phydeaux. You hit all the right spots with what you've written so far.

[colour_thief]

http://www.hvideos.com/videos/TV/South_park_WOW

[DIGITAL]

http://www.hvideos.com/videos/TV/South_park_WOW

"How do you kill that which has no life?"

[Phydeaux]

I think I finished it. Let me know if I have any glaring mistakes, since I'm typing this inbetween doing things at work.


Also, the irony is not lost on me that within the same month I pounded out this piece of great literature:


http://gtfoutsider.com/main/?p=64


Perhaps I'm bipolar.

[tepples]

Good job.


Also, the irony is not lost on me that within the same month I pounded out this piece of great literature:

http://gtfoutsider.com/main/?p=64
which links to Smash Bros. Dojo: Wi-Fi (http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/gamemode/wi-fi/wi-fi03.html):
Please exchange these numbers with your friends. Write a note, do it over the phone, or send it by e-mail – just share your numbers with each other.

Could this be the first we've heard out of Nintendo about officially-sanctioned ways of sharing friend codes? Back when Nintendo.com forums were in operation, it was an offense to post your friend code or ask for others'.

[kotetsu213]

, not on a forum where thousands of people will see it, I think that's what they meant.


For whatever reason, Brawl Worldwide mode can't get anymore anonymous than it is now.

[jujube]

Phydeaux, i thinks it's clear you're more well-rounded in knowledge and experience than Father De Souza http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif it's obvious you've spent some time on this response, so let's hope your points are considered carefully.


Anything in excess, even reading God's Word in lieu of tending His sheep can be as sinful as the most debaucherous behaviour.

yes http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_exclaim.gif

[cyberguile]

A pitty you have spent so much time to write such strong and fair arguments for someone that has clearly less than half your cleverness and probably won't even understand what is your point.

The real problem in this world is that people listen to stupid guys like this de souza much more that they listen to people like you because people like you are the minority.

[colour_thief]

http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news1099/pokemon.html


A hilarious read... it cracks me up every time.


The sounds clips out there with live preachers raving on this topic frightens the shit out of me though. Talk about out of touch with reality.

[Rosti LFC]

http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news1099/pokemon.html

A hilarious read... it cracks me up every time.

The sounds clips out there with live preachers raving on this topic frightens the shit out of me though. Talk about out of touch with reality.


Aren't they satire too?

[colour_thief]

That one is, but I remember tons of completely serious stuff like that circa 1999.

[caffeine]

totally hypocritical "i ain't readin all that shit" post coming up:



after the snes days, my parents never bought me another videogame-related item again. not for christmas, not ever. i think it made me want them more. the reasoning is that it didn't teach me moderation because i simply had nothing to moderate in the first place. so when i did earn money for something or got to play something new at a friends house, i'd splurge. i'd simply play the thing to an unhealthy level. now there's an upside to this, too. because i worked hard for these games and systems, i learned to research into what game i wanted and deliberate them very carefully. if i bought a lousy game that wasn't fun, i had just worked outside in the sun for eight or more hours for nothing, depending on how expensive the game was (i remember working all christmas break for loz oot when i was twelve, but that one was way worth it). not only did i learn about making sure to choose quality products, i'd allocate my time to playing a few games on a higher level--rather than playing a lot of games and just brushing the surface. this is a trend i see with people these days. they'll buy a game, beat it, and then move on to another game. this is why i put so much stock into time/score attack. win/lose should apply to multiplayer, not single player. this type of system preserves ongoing depth. so anyway, basically i'm saying the best way would be to teach your kids moderation and then do "meet you half way" kind of stuff so that they learn the value of what they choose to spend their time investing into.


but this guy is really just criticizing videogames because he says kids waste precious time and productivity, what a moron. use videogames to teach them about competitiveness and how effort leads to improvement. you'll have a say in what your kids play, so choose multiplayer games they'll need someone to interact and compete with, either their friends or their family. that's the most fun way to play anyway. if it's single player, make sure the game focuses more on skill and less on just time-invested (use ct's test: the more disappointed you are if you lose your game data, the worse the game).


on a semi-related note, i was thinking about something alexey was saying in one of his interviews about pure puzzles. the difference to me between tetris and hexic is similar to the difference between an impulse purchase and a prudent purchase. impulse marketing is more about speed and efficiency, and it is becoming more and more important in today's economy. think mcdonalds, atms, etc. may seem like tetris is bad, but it's definitely more relevant to today's reality.


/end random accumulated thoughts

[tepples]

if it's single player, make sure the game focuses more on skill and less on just time-invested (use ct's test: the more disappointed you are if you lose your game data, the worse the game).

Then The New Tetris sucks (fast skins take hundreds of thousands of accumulated "lines" to unlock), and so does Animal Crossing. Worse yet, so does the metagame of video game development; imagine if I lost the source code to Lockjaw.

[caffeine]

what's a meta-game for game development?

[colour_thief]

(use ct's test: the more disappointed you are if you lose your game data, the worse the game)


Aww, someone remembered. I like that test. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif The only time it's failed me so far was when my beatmania USA save got corrupted and I had to unlock all the songs again. It's like an hour of tedious boredom before the real fun can start again.


Let that be a lesson to future game designers: making everything an unlockable is a retarded idea.

[tepples]

what's a meta-game for game development?

First see Meta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta) and Metadata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metadata) on Wikipedia, as well as Meta in (http://catb.org/jargon/html/M/meta.html). If metadata means data about data, then a "metagame" might mean a game whose objective is to develop computer game software.


LOCKJAW: The Project

Objective: Develop an engine for computer ochimono games.

Save file: Source code of game engine.

Scoring: Number of users who praise the software.

Players: Anyone with a compiler, or anyone who makes skins (including myself, Lardarse, cdsboy, Rich Nagel).

NPCs: The rest of y'all http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

So c_t, is there a condition under which you would like a social sim game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_simulation_game) or an MMO game?

[cdsboy]

to be fair i should be taken off that list xD. Its been quite a while since i've compiled lockjaw, and don't even have a mac to do so now.

[colour_thief]

Sure, I'd play a social games with friends. When I shared a house with 3 friends, we also shared a full town in Animal Crossing on gamecube. But, in such cases, it's great friends more than great gameplay that makes the experience worthwile. And likewise, losing save data isn't the end of the world, because you still have your friends and your memories. The better games of these types realise that's it's the users provifing the content above all else, and try to build a medium for interaction with others more than building any sort of "game" with objectives.

[Rich Nagel]

after the snes days, my parents never bought me another videogame-related item again. not for christmas, not ever.

Hehe, my folks never bought me a videogame... 'course, that was before their time. In my youth, presents consisted of things such as "Silly Sand" and "Lite Brite", anyone here old enough to remember those <LOL>? P.S. My first videogame (excluding handhelds, which my first was the original Mattel Football) was an Intellivision http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/Intellivision/ (http://tang.cmoo.com/~snor/weeds/Intellivision/default.htm) -:)


[Players: Anyone with a compiler, or anyone who makes skins (including myself, Lardarse, cdsboy, Rich Nagel).


Hehe, just an FYI @All, I actually *DO* play the game quite a bit as well <G> -:)

[jujube]

Don't play video games. Don't own them. And for the sake of all that is good and holy, don't buy them for your children.


WARNING:

For the sake of all that is good and holy, do not buy this game (http://www.amazon.com/Crave-Entertainment-GASVGG-650008899085-Bible/dp/B000A87T4W/ref=sr_1_37?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1197899920&sr=8-37)! Especially not for your children!!