Culture

Video Games Are Limiting Men’s Potential

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I made a thread over at the RVF a while back giving Canadians a heads up that Future Shop had a promotion that essentially meant free video games. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty excited about the prospect of exchanging old, completed games, for copies of Call of Duty: Ghosts, and Assassins Creed. Having played the predecessors to both games in the past I expected nothing more than to be taken into another world so I could live as a super-soldier or unparalleled assassin for a day or two. I thought to myself this was a no-lose situation; I could get there early, grab as many copies as I possibly could, and sell the ones I wouldn’t use for some quick profit, but then I read a response to my thread by Thomas The Rhymer:

I thought this was gonna be a thread about how the Canadian government is going to hand out free video games to keep men pathetic and docile.

I think I was 10 years old when I got my very own Pokemon Yellow: Pikachu edition gameboy. I like to joke saying that I stopped reading books the day I got my gameboy, but it’s true. I used to read voraciously, but after that Christmas I rarely picked up a book that wasn’t for school. Eventually I got a PS2 and then a PS3. As soon as I cracked the packaging of a new game everything else in my life took a back seat to completing that game. For the most part I grew out of this by the time I hit university. I’d play call of duty every once and a while, but rarely did I have that compelling need to play endlessly.

soma 1

However, for many young men they never grow out of a teenage gamer phase. Why is it that men will often choose the warm glow of a television screen over the soothing embrace of a beautiful woman? Why do men waste so much of their precious life ruthlessly leveling up a bunch of pixels instead of working to reach their true potential?

A pessimist might argue that the ills of our culture leave men no choice but to self-medicate with achievement through technology. After sleep and a job, the only way to escape the doldrums seems to be to plug into another world. The way I see it video games are filling the holes left in many mens’ lives. They provide:

  • A sense of achievement
  • Instant gratification
  • Fulfillment of man’s desire to create
  • The ability to live a thousand different lives
  • Sense of camaraderie and community

Men can get all of this out of a simple video game, but how is it that they never grow despite it all?

Video games are finite. When a man unplugs he returns to his average life where he has no tangible rewards from his spent time. He must continuously play in order to get the same satisfaction, lest the sheer immensity of life crush him. It is far easier to be a new man every day than it is to build one’s current self from rubble. Detached from the facade he realizes that he is 27 and has not achieved anything, he has not created anything, he has not lived his life, and he has no other men to share his successes and failures with. Many men are weak and this is too much. For others it is just the motivation they need to impose their will on the world.

Read Next: Stop Watching Porn

164 thoughts on “Video Games Are Limiting Men’s Potential”

  2. I am 100% in agreement with this post. I can’t speak for any other man, but for me video games were a major form of escapism. I, like you, loved Call of Duty: MW3. For almost 2 years, my weekend pattern was: get off school, go grab a 6 pack, play MW3 till 1am, watch porn till 3am, go to bed, wake at noon, and then spend the whole next day wondering why I couldn’t get anything done.
    I had an epiphany this summer, after realizing how pathetic it was to live my life this way. I gave all my video games to charity, disconnected my internet, and rearranged the furniture in my apartment. I won’t say my life is great now, but I would much rather spend the weekends socializing and living in the real world, than self medicating through fantasy.
    Great post. Modern society has afforded many comforts that are harmful to men in general.

    3. I’m glad you found purpose in your life, truly.. but to generalize that playing games is a form of self medicating isn’t square because that is not why everyone plays games.
      For me, fantasizing is synonymous with both reading and visual entertainment (games and movies). When a hobby becomes obsessive it can become destructive: this is entirely subjective.

  4. I used to play Dota2. A lot. Last time i logged on Steam, it prompted the following message: “Dota2; 2344 hours played”.
    I almost pulled my hair out. I just wonder what could have been accomplished by putting all that time to good use. Inmmediately i uninstalled Steam and fired up my Kindle. Im currently learning heavy programming and stock market trading systems.
    Videogames are cancerous. They will keep you from discovering your true potential. A black hole that swallows all the possibilities you have.

    1. I’m just realizing this lesson now. It’s sad what should have been a fun but occasional hobby turned into an all consuming lifestyle.
      Btw, what’s your reading list. The manosphere should start a book club.

      2. I will chip my recommendations in for this. If I were forced to only have three physical paper-copies of books for the rest of my life, they would be:
        > “King Warrior Magician Lover” by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette
        > “Man and his Symbols” by Dr, Carl G. Jung
        > “The Art of War” (the pocket edition by Shambhala), spoken by Master Sun Tzu, translated by Thomas Cleary
        I could very easily spit out a list of over a hundred books that I personally, in my opinion, believe that every man ought to read at some point in his life. If you’d like to share ideas, I’d love to collaborate on an ROK book club

        2. “Memories, Dreams and Reflections” by Carl Jung is the greatest Alpha auto-biography of I’ve read. If that guy wasn’t the coolest example of an Alpha introvert philosopher mystic the world has ever seen then you’re ‘aving a laugh.
          “The Spy Who Loved Me” by Ian Fleming is a 4 hour read and its fucking fantastic. Its nothing like the Movie of the same name, its written from the perspective of this cute Canadian 23 year old chick, and James Bond doesn’t even make his appearance until the 3rd act, but when he does he just exudes Alpha bauss-ness. Fleming drops a lot of hard truths in that little novella. In fact, when feminists write reviews on this book, they all mention that one quote they’re appalled by: “All women love semi-rape. They love to be taken.It was his sweet brutality against my bruised body that made his act of love so piercingly wonderful.”

      3. same goes for lots of things….smoking pot…. clubbing…. those easily turns into a lifestyle….

    2. Good for you. Same situation here but with counter-strike, 344 hours of my life that I will never get back.

    4. I still play, and will probably continue playing military simulations. I’m not obsessed with them, or a “fanboy”. Just enjoy strategizing for an hour and that’s it.

      1. Same here. I am married and have no competition because my wife stays home and I’ve kept her pregnant for 10 years straight now. So I get some sim gaming on. One bullet left off the list was:
        Men enjoy a sense of adventure, and video games provides this in their lives.
        I am also into 3gun and long range practical, but those are expensive hobbies. Playing a mil sim like ARMA3 is a cheap substitute, AND I am actually in the house with my family, maybe even gaming with my son.
        Yet I have seriously considered NO GAMES for 2014. Maybe even NO BLOGS for 2014. I want to get into diesel mechanics more, now that I have two 7.3 Powerstrokes.
        Life of a red pill gen Xer: From power stroking to Powerstroke!

        1. I could hardly relate, since i play mostly turn based strategies, like Field of Glory, or Decisive Operations. That’s by far the best way to simulate battlefield today. Not counting my childhood, the most “mainstream” game i played recently was silent hunter series, with couple of mods to make it more realistic.

    5. I completely agree, and that’s why I stopped playing games too, and also other unproductive activities. But:
      > Why is it that men will often choose the warm glow of a television screen over the soothing embrace of a beautiful woman?
      Because the game is more fun than your average woman! But seriously, it shouldn’t be a choice between games and women. It should be a choice between actually improving yourself and women, and both of them should get a fair share of your time.

      1. Exactly, the average woman won’t be more fun, but the whole life improvement quest is far more exciting than any video game, if you’re willing to put the effort.

      2. The majority of men don’t have the choice to be with a beautiful woman, they have no clue that it’s even possible to learn how. My eyes weren’t opened until I came across Roosh two years ago and that was the result of getting to a point of frustration. Unless American men travel to get exposure to foreign women and realize what they’ve been missing, they’ll be content with what they have, whether it’s video games, porn, weed, sports, etc.

    6. > Videogames are cancerous. They will keep you from discovering your true potential.
      Video games are manipulative — they are DESIGNED to be addictive. Very smart people spend thousands of hours tweaking these games until they have the perfect blend of carrot and stick.
      Top games can easily clear millions of dollars a week in in-game purchases. This creates tremendous motivation to manipulate millions of men into parting with their time and their money.
      A video game is a manipulation framework plus moving pictures. These games are fun the same way drugs, gambling and smoking are fun — you can never take just one hit — like a wardrobe malfunction with fleeting nipple to keep things interesting.
      Like a hottie in the sack, our drive to dominate drives us just a little bit longer. Except, this kind of domination costs time and treasure.

    7. I was lucky my parents were too cheap to upgrade to a Nintendo from my Atari system, and it broke the gaming chain. By the time I was in ninth grade I had written an illustrated novella, was working on two other novels, designed tee-shirts, tried to become a comic book artist (and failed), played sports, band, orchestra. I have no idea how grown adults have the time to play and master video games. Everything in moderation, but video games require lots of practice and training and time for them to be enjoyable at all – like golf, they are a constant frustration if you’re not any good. Now that I mention it, the obsession with golf is much the same as video games.

    8. Heavy programming and stock market trading systems? That’s ugly and boring. If it’s what you need to do to feed and shelter yourself, then there’s no real alternative, but I’d rather live my life experiencing moving beauty, through video games or any other form.
      As far as the article goes, the writer played the wrong games, or just has no affinity for that particular medium. If he only ever read The Da Vinci Code and Fifty Shades of Grey he may decide that literature is an ultimately unfulfilling distraction as well.

  5. at the end of the day, there is only so much time you can spend having sex. there’s nothing like busting your nut, then playing games with friends while she makes u a sandwich. best of both worlds.
    also, as guys who enjoy casual sex, how can we look down on video games? both are just for fun. sex can be incredible, but it’s fleeting. a good video game is better than mediocre sex, all things considered. if my sexual opportunities were worse, there’d come a point where i’d just say “fuck it” and play xbox. i can’t fault any guy who does that.
    frankly i think most betas are already at that point, where they would be better off ignoring women and playing video games instead. it’s just they are blinded by their thirst and western society’s pressures (“be a stud and please women!!!”). here in asia there’s lots of young guys who just don’t give a fuck… they bang the occasional whore and otherwise just do whatever they want. i respect that

    1. What is the purpose of playing vidoegames aside from something to do while you wait around to die?

      2. I play RPGs with my wife, and mil sims with my son. I also tabletop RPG with my son to teach him ethics and have fun while at it.

    2. Thats why Western societies are collapsing, lots of men don’t give a fuck and check out, and feminism and socialism fills the vacuum. These young guys are still paying taxes that feed the state.
      I’ve never had sex that made wish I were playing video games instead, and if someone doesn’t have good sexual prospects that’s a serious issue to be addressed through personal change. Guys who just say fuck it instead of growing shows a terrible fault and weakness that I have no respect for.

      1. “I’ve never had sex that made wish I were playing video games instead”
        If you have 3-5 times sex per week over the course of say 5 years it comes up to 1000 times sex.
        Even if you are the best tantric sex guru in the world and your female partner(s) are all natural 10s with the skills of a porn star the numbers are against you.
        Even if 990 times the sex was just amazing – we are still left with 10 times random, boring sex, where you did wish the whole thing never started in the first place. And that boring shit was better than the BEST game you could possibly play? Really?

        1. It doesn’t sound like you get laid much. I’ve never heard of sex described as “random” and “boring”. Yes, out of 1000 sexual encounters, I’ll bet a handful will be less interesting than the best game you could possibly play. The question is why the fuck would you waste 100s or 1000s of hours on video games instead having sex with hot women or creating an awesome lifestyle of which sex with hot women is a part?

  6. I quit gaming for a long time, but started to discover a lot of good brain-bending puzzle titles (Portal, Braid, World of Goo, The Swapper, etc.) which I might play for an hour or so a day just to challenge myself a little bit. A lot of games are just time sinks, but there are some that can help you develop abstract thinking and decision-making skills too, and I’m not just saying that as an excuse. I work at a public computer lab so I’m very aware of how addictive and pointless gaming can get.

  7. I think it’s really important to make the distinction of “too much of anything is a bad thing.” Since when has playing video games only been an “escape from reality”? Is it an escape like reading a book or watching a film is an escape? Perhaps some people realize that playing video games is not what they want to do with their time anymore, or they game for negative reasons (escaping reality, filling a social void, etc.) Then there are others who simply ENJOY it. There are those who see video games as an artform, a way to hone skills, and a fully immersed audio visual experience that can be extremely entertaining and even educational.
    I’ve been a gamer since I was a young boy. I grew up with an older brother who is 10 years my senior, so I was introduced to video games very young when he first got Atari and NES in his early teen years. Through my child and into my adulthood, video games have always been a pastime that I have fully enjoyed for all the right reasons. I feel that there are plenty of individuals that share this same healthy passion and admiration. Think of all the men who went on to be creative, successful, and fulfilled by having a life absorbed by gaming. People who started very profitable development studios, game franchises, and even competitive gamers who make hundred of thousands a year and enjoy celebrity status in their respective markets.
    Video games aren’t doing anything to men; they are inanimate objects. Men are squandering their own potential by using things as a crutch. Moderating yourself is where the true beast lies.

    1. Correct, everything in excess is bad. Problem is everyone is susceptible to different things, we all have our own little comfort zone at times and over indulging in it is what leads to a sort of dependency. Some lack the strength to be moderate there for just stopping it all together should be the goal.

      1. Exactly, even if something is a moderated part of our lives, in time with familiarity it becomes all-consuming. I’m sure a subset of the population could live a healthy lifestyle indulging in heroin occasionally, but since most of us couldn’t, we should never try.

      1. To each is their own. spend your time doing what gives happiness and value to your life.

    3. I agree with you. I’ve been playing Skyrim quite a bit recently and it’s made me want to read and own books, cook new meals, explore the local landscape, learn combat skills, etc. Planning on doing a day hike with my buddy over winter break on the Bruce trail from Burlington to Rattlesnake point.

      4. Amazing to hear some share my EXACT sentiments on this game….
        Skyrim has motivated me to improve my cooking, read about business, be more conscious of nature’s beauty…
        The only game that’s done that, though.

    4. I agree with this as well. I think it also depends on what sort of games a guy is playing. A game like Pokemon is what I would consider to be a “time filler” – not very strong in terms of life-lessons or storyline, consisting of a lot of mindless busy-work, and not worth much brain exercise.
      I’ve been gaming for my entire life, and have strong leanings toward platformers and RPGs. I’ve loved reading for most of my life, and when I played my first RPG I immediately recognized it as a playable book. The games fed my imagination with new ideas and concepts that inspired me to start writing my own stories and helped me to develop my own code of ethics and morals. I also began reading even MORE as a result of my imagination compounding, helping me to develop my reading comprehension and writing skills. I also learned to do quick math in my head and learned impulse control (I didn’t have an allowance in real life, but learned how to save up for big pay-offs in games).
      As far as platformers go, there’s a lot of evidence that they help to develop spatial awareness and pattern recognition, not to mention reflexes.
      Anything in excess is bad. Every medium has a version of junk food, be it literature, art, movies, tv, or videogames. Choose wisely.

    5. I played a lot through childhood and early adulthood, but like any child’s toy there comes a time to put it away. The tiny fraction of men who go on to have dynamic, productive lives focused around games are creators/producers, not consumers. Games are not creative uses of time, there’s no game that’s more educational than the average book, outside of specialized software that we aren’t talking about. I can see video games as a small diversion as part of a healthy lifestyle, but this type of moderation is foreign to many.

  8. Disagree. For most men, women are not interested. You can go to the gym, dress nice, be well groomed, well mannered, have a nice haircut, good job and your own place – but unless you are one of those top 5 percent of guys (that really dont need any of the aforementioned shit anyway), face it – attractive women dont even give a shit about you. Yes, you can stoop so low to game, reminds of nig nogs I saw when I worked in the ghetto that basically tried hitting on everything with a hole between its legs. Sure, eventually you might get a bite, if you feel the trade off of your dignity for a piece of ass is worth it. Most of us decent white guys are shit out of luck in this feminazi society, and its very, very depressing. If video games, music, gym any of that shit keeps your mind off worthless pussy, then thats a GOOD thing.

    4. I’ll bite.
      If you’re shunning all forms of self-improvement because you think women will ignore you regardless aren’t you placing a lot of importance on pussy?
      How is submitting to video-games a stand against the ‘feminazi society’ when all you’re doing is bowing your head and hoping they don’t attack you?
      What keeps you going every day if this is the truth?

      1. These guys are the male equivalent of female landwhales that blame their weight on genetics.
        Its kind of easy to be in the top 5% when you have these guys for competition.
        Keep being a mindless zombie, playing your silly videogames and not challenging the status quo. Deal? Good boy!

        1. Keep being a mindless zombie/worker drone, chasing bar sluts and not challenging the status quo. Deal? Good boy!

  9. Hello my name is Atlanta Man and I am gamer ( Gamer Anonoumous Meeting : hello Atlanta) I am a long time XBox and Playstation user. I am ashamed and on step 5.

      1. 12 steps to beat video game addiction, it is a disease. I am on step 5 . I also quit masturbating 5 minutes ago and I am beating my masturbation addiction one minute at a time, I am on step 1.

  10. This can be applied to other vices, alcohol dependency, drug-use, gambling addiction, basically these are very harsh times for men in their 20’s. So much bad influences around us, I have friends that don’t leave their house for days on end because of video games. Smoking weed downing a 6 pack at 3:00 pm on a Tuesday. Life is way too damn short,and time is money.

    1. Bad influences and even worse a very bad environment simply being male. It’s difficult to get motivated in the real world when one is perceived by society as a piece of shit and no access to sex with normal and healthy females.

  11. Ironically, one of my guys in our community works on the assassin’s creed project and he goes out to pull chicks and work out everytime he’s free. Hell, he even gamed the HR chick. He makes sure that he never gets addicted to the stuff he makes. Sort of how a drug dealing hustler never does his own drugs.

  12. because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do because today there is fucking nothing to do
    It’s useless that we kid ourselves. Videogames are hyper reality. Videogames are amazing.
    The alternative can be doing sports etc. Or having sex etc.
    But not every young man has the possibilities to have the fantastic player lifestyle that it’s used to sell books and spin the manosphere marketing.
    And btw. Even when you are getting sex regularly, you get bored and you want more. Got a hot girlfriend? You get bored after 2 months, you need to get sex from new hotties. Think it’s easy? lol, let’s not fuck kid ourselves again. Getting laid is a fucking job. All the flirting, all the fucking boredom with all the things just to bust a fucking nut..
    I personally don’t give a shit about videogames anymore because I have fun at my job (I’m a surgeon). But ffs, it’s useless to repropose the old shit “videogames are bad”, honestly that fucking sounds pretty much feminist / beta male maker. Just do what the fuck you want without feeling guilty that “you are not improving yourself” lol, ultimate illusion made to get money from losers..

    1. If it was not for video games would you have done the two year fellowship and become a plastic surgeon ? Video games are a drug, and just like any drug it’s abuse can kill you ! I have died 1,000,000 times and that is just on Halo! Just say no to games! You only went to college, medical school, residency while playing video games, do you not see how they held you back from a successful career! Join my 12 step gamers anonymous group!

    2. So you’d rather sit alone getting vexed that you were outperformed by a ten year old in a simulated environment than being around other humans?

    3. BRING ME MORE WRETCHED EXCESSES YOU TROLLS
      I DEMAND MORE FAVA BEANS AND A NICER CHIANTI
      *camps out waiting for more ten-year-old n00bs to invite to dinner*
      *blam blam blam*
      AHAHAHAHA YESSS I FEAST ON YER BONES, I AM DAVY JONES
      *noms on the bones of Ritalin-soaked n00bs*

    4. Don’t waste space if you have nothing useful to say. “Just do what you want without feeling guilty…” Sounds like boilerplate, progressive, narcissist propaganda.

  13. @ guest
    Dude, I got laid weighing 130 kgs and drinking like a fish.
    My brother too…
    What you wrote is defeatist nonsense.

    1. Well, unless i misread, he mentioned getting laid by reasonably attractive women. Heck I’m sure you can bed landwhales even if you are an umkempt piece of human waste, but the point is to bed decent chicks..right?

      1. More than reasonably attractive.
        Then again, I have read 3000-5000 books or so and can quote the most random shit.
        Play to your strenghts, if you dont have strenghts, why dont you?

        1. Would like to add that you do not want to get too fat though, because you cannot fuck like you are meant to.
          I dont recommend it, just saying that it can be done.
          You have the advantage though that shittests come at you like a tidal wave, can be missed,,,,,
          She is like Really? REALLY!!! REALLY !!!!!
          And you are like, Ya REALLY!!!!
          If you have the balls it is easier in some ways, no kidding…..

    2. Were the women attractive, how tall are you, do you have a handsome face (no homo), are you a white guy in Asia?
      Also, there are exceptions to rules. Maybe you are exceptions, but people will generally not be exceptional, so to suggest for people to follow your standards and get laid is akin to madness.

      1. I am 5 10, just about average.
        Yes, i got some things going for me, the bad boy vibe being one of them, but still.
        That whole IT IS IMPOSSIBLE, IMPOSSIBLE!!!!
        No.
        PS: They were pretty good, yes.

  14. I used to be consumed with video games as well. It used to be so bad that I would spend hours playing instead of studying or doing even any basic form of exercise. The years I’ve been addicted games has been the lowest point of my life. I just refused to face the world and kept on playing, no matter how frustrating and unsatisfying it made my life feel. I only went cold turkey about a year ago after being a gamer for almost two decades since the Nintendo times. Life feels dull and empty now, but I know I’m on the right track to rediscover the world and myself.
    There’s all these new research that show that video games actually improve your cognitive ability and how it’s beneficial in sharpening your brain, but it’s only beneficial if you limit yourself to playing short periods of time and you do absolutely nothing else with your life. There are far better ways of improving your cognitive ability like playing sports or musical instruments.
    I know there are many people who lead normal and successful lives while still playing video games. I guess it’s sort of like alcohol in that its effects depend on the person’s temperament. But the way I see it, video games are the closest thing in real life to the Matrix. Can you really say you took the red pill when you’re still spending hours every day living in a fake world?

  15. “Why is it that men will often choose the warm glow of a television screen over the painful rejection from a beautiful woman? ”
    Fixed that for ya

    1. About this: when Jezebel did their empty expose of Roosh, lots of readers commented “this guy must have been rejected somewhere in his past”. Really? Probably ALL of us have been rejected on our way, it is part of being a man today. If you haven´t been rejected lots of times, you are not even trying. The incredible thing is, some of these women have NEVER been rejected (wait until they hit their walls). Incredible, how would be life without being rejected, never, ever? Now I get why they say some of the things they say. From 15 to 30, lots of them are really like rockstars.

        1. There are different degrees of rejection.
          Rejection on the street can stop stinging after a variety of different rejections. It depends on the person and how long it takes for him to realize that those rejections were no big deal in the grand scheme of things.
          However, rejection from a long term relationship is different. The less it stings, the less you may be able to enjoy such a relationship. Counter-intuitive? I know. Just like a lot of things when it comes to girls.
          Common advice now is to avoid long term relationships but that, I believe, is a band aid answer. However, I still don’t know a better one yet.

    4. Hush, I’m irradiating my prefrontal cortex with that television — after all, I am a media professional …

  17. The last century’s science fiction writers and futurists got a whole lot of things wrong about life in the 21st Century, but at least they showed guys who got off their butts to do impressive stuff in the real world, like building skyscraper cities, flying cars, Mars colonies and such. They generally didn’t anticipate that a lot of young men would stare at screens most of their waking hours to watch porn or play video games.

    1. I hope Buckminster Fuller will remember …
      A Beta man don’t need ‘im around anyhow …
      Sweeeeeet home Betatopia!
      Where the skies are so grey!
      Sweeeeeet home Betatopia!
      There’ll be games I’m comin’ home to play!
      (the rest of you, gimme three steps.)

  18. Ok, so video games aren’t the most self-improving of hobbies and wolnt help you get laid.
    Still, they are fun and a hell of a lot better/ more masculine than television or the movies.
    I would like to see a Return of Kings for video games. Maybe even with Western Cancer as an editor.
    Have you ever seen Joystiq? Or Kotaku? Even Gamespot? These websites are more feminist/ Mangina than anything and balance is needed.
    For example a recurring post there is that some omega or feminist will complain that ‘girls in games shouldn’t have sex appeal,’. And then there will be a huge flame war over this.
    Trolling these types of threads is right up the alley of RoK.

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  20. I think that for some men, sex and money just aren’t as important as they are to others. I believe that game can do a lot for a man, hell, it’s done a lot for me, but there are limits to how far it can take you. No less a luminary than Roissy has said that if you’re a lesser beta, the most you’re going to get are a few bangs a year with 4s and 5s. So if that’s where you’re at, is it really worth putting in the effort to learn game? Game is hard. You have to do a lot of work. You have to go against years of social programming. When you’re starting, you’ll get shut down again and again. So is it worth it? It is if sex with the most attractive women you can get is important to you. But if it isn’t? Why not spend your time playing video games and slacking off?

    1. Agreed, and it is a bitter pill to swallow to admit that you are a loser that cannot win. I’d say that in that case, it is better to play vidya than to try to learn game if all that you’re going to get is fat chicks.
      On the other hand, that was my life for most of my life until I decided to hit the gym. For some, potential probably doesn’t exist, but for others, there is potential if they improve their looks within their abilities, change their location, or change/limit certain behaviors. If they so desire, that is.

    2. I agree that most men won’t be able to fuck too high out of their league, but when you’re older are you going to cherish the time you got a nuke in CoD or the few months you spent with the girl of your dreams?
      Oxytocin is a far superior drug than any video game. Learning what it takes to have sex with women, reading the greats, pursuing everything you set your mind to with intensity gives you far more freedom than a videogame.
      after playing videogames for 8 hours you’re back at square one. after approaching, or lifting, or reading, or learning a skill for 8 hours you’re one step ahead of your former self and one step closer to freedom.

  21. You might want to add “Rivalry” to your list. All those MMORPGs are about achievment and rivalry.

  22. Finally someone said it.
    I ditched video games a while back and have never regretted it. Frankly, if you are 21+ and still get excited about a console release, it’s time to grow the fuck up.

        1. I don’t believe that 100% of your day is productive. I don’t believe this because you are posting comments on the internet. Since you are killing time already, what difference does it make how you kill time.

        2. Explain to me how a brief comment from my phone compares to hours on a console.
          One is a one minute task I can accomplish virtually anywhere. Another is an asocial activity that merely isolates you from the rest of the planet under the guise of connecting you with the rest of the planet.

        3. How is sticking your nose in the phone all that much different, why aren’t you talking to those around you?

        4. You are struggling with the concept of time it seems. I could be responding to a comment when I’ve just woken up, or when nobody is in the office or when I’ve just left the bathroom. It’s that instant reactionary aspect that makes my use of this site take nothing away from the idea of productivity.
          It’s not even comparable to losing track of time in front of a screen, gaming avidly, which only serves to frustrate or otherwise satisfy a need for achievement which you have failed to execute elsewhere.

    2. That’s right bitches. Dan Bilzerian and I quit playing Skyrim and learned to master poker. We made millions and now have mansions in LA packed with bitches. I spent two years learning cantonese and mandarin and now own a casino in Macao. I’m currently learning portuguese from some spanish bitches.
      Our little hijinks caught the attention of a couple risk managers at Goldman Sachs, so we had to pay off one and bury the other. We are also into the triads here for a few million and our best friend was killed and I was shot in the leg. But it’s healed now and his family didn’t care about him anyway.
      Anyway, just wanted to say GREAT ARTICLE stop playing games and start playing real life. Unplug and don’t go to jail. Kill all snitches. America FUCK YEAH

  23. “Why is it that men will often choose the warm glow of a television screen over the soothing embrace of a beautiful woman?”
    It’s because they can’t get a beautiful woman. However,t heir “avatar” in the video game world can be a hero.
    This is still a great article though. I used to spend hours on video games just a few years ago. I had to tell my buddies that I’m abandoning that lifestyle, which they constantly try to pressure me to get back into. I might still create something from time to time though…

  24. It’s when the unwashed Betas become totally and utterly obsessed that the problems arise. Personally I don’t care much for video games, mainly because I have, in all seriousness, yet to play a game that has entertained me as much as Goldeneye 007 or Perfect Dark did on my N64 many years ago, we’re talking 1998-2001. The controller was beautiful as well, so ergonomic. I will admit, at times I could play those two games for hours on end as a teenager, however I’d still do other shit, like go outside and play football (soccer as you call it in the States) with my friends.
    Nowadays though, some of these out of shape and fetid losers are so obsessed by their gaming that, I kid you not, there have been reports of them pissing in a used water bottle rather than expend about five calories in actually pausing their console, getting up and taking a piss, flushing and then washing their hands.

  25. I fell out of gaming for a variety of reasons, and I am so goddamned thankful. Quitting gaming is not something I really decided to do at any point, so I can’t talk about it like an accomplishment. But goddmamn, I always feel like I’m way better than the guys I talk to who go on and on about how hooked they are on this or that game that just came out. What a waste of time and life and potential. Fuck video games.

  26. Ridiculous article.
    Videogames are neurologically stimulating and entertaining. They’re pleasurable. They are one of the greatest thing about being alive in this age. 🙂
    Your whole article is based on an awful strawman: “Why is it that men will often choose the warm glow of a television screen over the soothing embrace of a beautiful woman?”
    Absurd. What man does this?
    That said, videogames CAN be harmful if they’re pursued at the EXPENSE of things you really desire (like better income, better job, women) but are too lazy to work for, so you fall back on the easy gratification of a videogame instead of doing the hard work required to go after what you really want. That’s a trap that should certainly be avoided, but it’s one thing to point out the existence of the trap and another thing to dismiss videogames and their charms entirely. 🙂

    1. You’re better off by earning your pleasure through real effort, doing things that have real consequences, not having pleasure handed to you for meaningless shit you do in a virtual world. Video games hijack your pleasure centers and enslave you. If you break out of that, you start doing real things in the real world and getting pleasure that’s actually earned.

      1. What an arbitrary delineation between “earned” and “unearned” pleasure. There’s not much pleasure in putting 40 hours a week in some soul crushing, dull job where you’re replaceable. You guys are romantic: You believe every male, by mere exertion of will, can escape the need to be a wage slave. Well the truth is most men don’t have a choice — they either haven’t got the talent or the means to withstand catastrophic business setbacks. The pleasures of gaming are as meaningless as those of watching good television or reading good books, or listening to good music: It’s neurologically stimulating and pleasurable. Yes, there may not be much in it beyond the mere pleasure itself, but shit man, you can say that about sex itself too.

  27. Check this video out. It kinds gos along with the last article about virtual sex.

    Oculus Rift could be an interesting technology, but a lot of guys are going to be using it to live out their hentai fantasies it seems.

  28. Hey guys, what are you doing wasting time on the internet? You should be climbing mountains like real men and experiencing real pleasure!

  30. video games are probably the cheapest hobby you can have if you calculate cost of the game per hour played. I’ve spent a large portion of my free time playing them and probably will continue to do so. I don’t have any regrets i’ve had fun exploring some truly creative worlds, even if they are only virtual .I’d consider guys who spend every weekend spending decent amounts of money on trying to pick up bar sluts as having wasted more of their life time. But somehow that is considered a socially acceptable use of ones time.

    1. Don’t hobbies usually produce useful knowledge or skill? I can’t imagine ever bringing up playing video games as a hobby to anyone. They are guilty pleasures, like watching hours of TV. And how are they cheap? Hundreds of dollars for the consoles and games and the most valuable resource wasted is your time! I’ve come to recognize time as my most valuable commodity.
      Believe me, any European capital is more interesting than any virtual world if you’ve never been there. It doesn’t sound like you’ve picked up many girls at bars or elsewhere if they are just “bar sluts”. Drop the games and use your free time to get better as a man, the satisfaction will be better than anything else.

  31. I’m shocked at the amount of men on a red pill site that are defending video games. I think it is fucking ridiculous that a grown man would sit on his ass for hours and play fucking games like a 10 yr old unsupervised child.
    It is like another practice I find pathetic. Which is when a grown man worships ghetto trash just because it can dunk a basketball or catch a pass. What kind of normal white guy wears the football jersey of some guy with a 75IQ? In music that guy would be a groupie.
    It is no wonder men are so weak and child like if video games are this popular among adults.

    1. “What kind of normal white guy wears the football jersey of some guy with a 75IQ?”
      Answer: A coward afraid to realize the reality of politics and his worth and his looming danger. The masses run on glorified cowardice: usually big god or big gov. Got to vent his masciline nature somehow, for tribes taht don’t matter.

  33. This site has had too much moral faggotry on it during the past few days. What ever happened to being a rebel without a cause, being a guy who just doesn’t give a shit?
    You guys just need to MAN UP and stop playing video games. Wow, where have I heard that line before?
    Can we please stop running articles with such moralfaggotry?

    1. O PLZ MORAL LOLCAT YOU PLAY ONE-HANDED JOYSTICK GAMES, ADMIT IT AND CAT UP
      chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer chase the laser pointer …

    2. You are 100 % right. If playing video games is what you really like and want then fucking do it. I play them because they are really fun, I enjoy a good challenge so my favorites are the old school NES Nintendo hard games and even romhacks.
      What however isn’t cool at all is being a mmorpg jobless parasite whore that only has WoW in life. There are people out there that nolife games like there was no tomorrow.
      Games are good as long as you keep yourself healthy and they aren’t your reason to live.

  34. The way I see it, video games is a way of entertainment. If you think that’s a waste, then certianly watching TV, spectating events, or doing anything that doesn’t get you laid is a waste of time right? The way I see it there’s nothing wrong with spending a few hours a week playing a game.
    Besides, personally when I’m not working, I’d rather play games for a couple hours, chill at the bar with a couple friends, read a book outside when it’s nice, and do random things, trips that will make me a more culturally man in life than waste a whole day scouting for girls. You might get a bang every now and then, but at the end of the day who is better, the paper alpha that gets all his knowlege from manosphere bullshit, or the man that’s more knowledgable and experienced from living life? Personally I’m not undoing all of my interests just to fuck more.

  35. This reminds me of that Liberty Mutual commercial where it goes “Humans. One day we are discovering the theory of relativity the next day we are cutting trees down on top of the neighbors car.” And my retort to this is something along the lines of, what makes you think its the same person.
    How do you know video games are limiting a person’s potential rather than revealing people of limited potential?
    The other issue I have is, most people aren’t designed to be productive all the time, particularly when their productivity is geared toward manual labor.

  37. RoK regulars using shaming to try to get men to do what they want them to do. Nothing ironic about that at all.

  39. How do we measure a life? When we talk about achievement and leaving a legacy behind. about creating something meaningful – what exactly do we mean? Even if you design a building that stands for a thousand years eventually everything returns to dust. How you spend your time on this earth is a deeply personal choice… and while I agree that VG can keep men complacent and zoned out if it’s an activity they enjoy who am I to tell them that sky diving or deep sea fishing is objectively better? Or reading a novel or going for a hike? Just because those things are more socially “cool” doesn’t necessarily mean my subjective experience is better. There are some games out there that are the equals of great literature, the experience can be used to enrich your life and give you something to contemplate.

    1. Near as I can tell 100% of your time has to be spent maintaining your health, earning money to live and provide for your family, and improving yourself. To that end skydiving improves your life story, where beating Assassins Creed does not. Same goes with great works of literature apparently.
      However, its hard to take any of the anti-video game people seriously because telling strangers on the internet that “video games are for losers” in no way improves their life story.

    2. I agree, the games today are pretty amazing like watching a movie in which you play an active role.

    1. The Tony Hawks games were what got me into rock music in the first place. Those were good times.

  41. It is very simple and straightforward: as normal, healthy life diminishes,
    artificial life increases to fill the void, or at least to fill the hole in the space-time continuum caused by the lack of said normal life. As noted elsewhere, video games are just like drugs or golf or gambling. The problem is in the pathology of the rest of life, not the thing that ends up replacing the previous life.

    1. I would have such a problem with golf if golf courses would pull double duty. Sooner or later every green space in every city is going to be a golf course or a cemetery. I propose we merge the two by using only flat headstones.

  42. Video games, movies, books, etc., are not the enemy. I enjoy playing a quick game with my friends or son every once in a while. Video games are a great pastime. The enemy is the inability to focus productive energy into things that, in my opinion, matters more.
    There are so many things that exists that practically make men fucking void of critical thought and allergic to self-development. Video games and porn are just two examples, once the addiction sets in.
    If a man spends more time playing video games than working out, that’s a problem. If he spends more time watching porn, than having sex with actual women (or a woman) then that’s a problem.

    1. Correct. It’s about achieving a healthy balance. If video games are causing people to falter in other areas of their life then they should readjust their priorities.

  43. If it wasn’t for video games, i would of never known the sexiest woman in existence, SARAH KERRIGAN

  44. I normally agree with a lot of articles on this site, but with this I am inclined to disagree and the reason is this.
    Most arguments that support giving up gaming use extremes and shaming to get the message across. I do not agree with this way of going about it because it shares too many similarities with how feminist go about achieving their goals. I play games in my free time, and don’t see any harm in them. They are a pleasant activity when they are not abused.
    I am not terribly interested in what is socially mainstream, because I prefer to live my life how I want to. Workout, save my money, hang out socially with friends, strike up conversations with strangers, learn to cook good food, read from time to time, play video games, watch movies, try to be better each day. One problem with how people view games is that they assume everyone who plays them is an idiot that can’t logically reason that too much may hurt them. Not everyone is trying to fill a void; some people genuinely enjoy playing games of all kinds. (I also enjoy Chess a lot)
    Instead of a ‘You’re a loser you should grow up by doing what I am suggesting you do’ mentality, I encourage people to show others how their hobbies can be incorporated into their lives better. Encourage men to have balance, and avoid social pitfalls. Just don’t act like an elitist and shame men for enjoying games. It overshoots a very good message for a lot of men that could have used as some solid advice.

      1. Or maybe we can actually educate men in a positive way instead of stooping to ad hom attacks and shaming that does nothing more than stroke the egos of people who can’t seem to fathom someone liking something they don’t.

    2. i have the same attitude as you, I play games because I genuinely enjoy them.
      But the sad things is there is a LOT of gamers that give a bad rep to gamers. You know the omega male nerd archetype? The guy who lives for his mmorpgs and has no life whatsoever? There are a lot of guys like that.

  46. Of all artforms, computer games have been among the most inspirational in my life. I’ve always loved being able to actually live and participate in a fictional world.
    It’s an artform that combines gameplay with visual art, music, voice acting.
    I’ve gotten as much inspiration from playing games as I have from books.
    When I was a teenager stuck going to school year after year with nothing to look forward to and no control over my life anyway, I look back fondly on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons that I spent playing my way through these book worlds on my computer.
    As an adult who now has control over his life, computer games are a social activity I can do with friends 1000 miles away. We can be chatting on the mic as our combined armies crush the enemy. Every game we play we’re actively working on improving our execution and strategy. It encourages critical thinking and planning abilities that help me in real life.
    There are of course addicts out there, or those who only play empty 1st person shooters or pointless MMOs. But these are such a tiny piece of what games have to offer.

  48. Video games have their proper place, as an idle amusement. We can’t kick ass 24/7/365, sometimes we need to kick back and blow off some steam with something mindless, which preferably doesn’t involve drunk blondes. I don’t even really like video games, but I can definitely see why some people find them appealing.
    HOWEVER, the problem is, they are often misused, and many guys have a tendency to use them as a substitute for real life. They can be a massive time-suck if one isn’t careful. It’s one thing to spend a couple of hours one Saturday morning playing some COD, it’s quite another to play video games on a daily basis, for hours at a time. With only 24 hours in the day, if you spend 8 of it sleeping, 8 of it working, and a couple of hours eating and dealing with the logistics of that, it leaves little time to get anything else done -and a 5 hour session in front of the TV cuts that precious time down to almost nothing.
    I never watch TV, or play video games, and I still don’t have enough time to get done half of what I want to. I don’t know how the hell people manage to get anything done at all when they are sacrificing hours to the gods of WoW, or Call of Duty, or HBO.

  49. Games stunted me. I became addicted as a teenager and stop learning or progressing in anything else beyond the very basic nonsense you learn in public school. In my early college days I bombed out of my classes and became deeply ingrained in games, I couldn’t focus on anything else and skip, not just classes, but invitations from my roommates and dormmates to go out.
    Frankly, all of that “fun” I was having was in reality destroying me. What good was it for me to spend thousands of hours gaming at the expense of literally everything else? I knew it was destroying me but I couldn’t make myself stop. It wasn’t until I flunked out of college that I was forced to face the man in the mirror. Did I want to continue on with small joys shooting random strangers online? Did I want to spend my “best years” leveling up some character? I made myself change incrementally and my life has gotten nothing but better ever since.
    Another thing I should note is that when you spend a lot of time gaming you tend not to remember much from those days. I remember playing games, sure, but I can’t honestly remember much else about my life from those times. I had fun playing games, but I developed ZERO skills. I don’t give a fuck about games supposedly improving reflexes, timing, spatial understanding, or whatever. I played games for hours and hours and they never helped me to focus better on anything else except more games. Honestly, the “it makes your brain operate better” argument is the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard concerning games. Games made me a dumbfuck with no social skills, no material skills, no marketable skills, and no hope of a better life. Everything that has made my life better has come from putting down the controller, uninstalling the game, and picking up books, watching lectures, working on my business, working at my career, and everything else. I love to be productive now and have wasted little time trying to make up for all of my game addiction in the past.
    Now, of course some guys can handle games and legitimately enjoy an hour or two a week and still get stuff done. But, anyone who has known the sting of forcing yourself to stay up all night in order to beat some trash talking strangers on an online game knows how important it is to cut it out entirely. I wish the best of luck to anyone still addicted to kick the habit, and I would leave this post by encouraging them that it is possible. I flunked myself out of college because of games and accrued tons of debt with nothing to show for it but I’ve still managed to turn my life around, you can too.

    1. It all depends on what you want.
      For many people a 9-5 job, a nice house that belongs to the bank, a nice car that belongs to the other bank and a wife with kids is what they wish for. Sex once a month is fine and a birthday BJ every 10 years is what gives their lives a meaning.
      Others would rather die, than live a life like that.
      You changed your life to the “Joe-average-template of a hard working taxpayer” (TM) because you run out of money – not because it is so much better.
      The real question is: If you had enough passive income (like interest) to live a modest life without ever having to work a job – what would you do?
      Have fun with games, watch movies, enjoy life, drinks, women and be a general happy person, or work on your “career”? Be honest with yourself.

  50. Similar to “stop watching porn” and ‘stop paying escorts,’ this article falsely assumes that the benfits of video games can realistically be obtained somewhere else. For many if not most men, this is simply untrue. Men’s alternatives have dried up, and their opportunities systematically eliminated. The only way to be a hero any more is to play one in a video game.

  51. Stop enjoying life, work for pussy paradise…Only you have to become everything women want…No thanks, I’ll stick to games,.

  52. Its not just video games. Let me tell you.
    For 15 years I’ve been a huge fan of D&D and Warhammer. I can’t say exactly how long I’ve toiled away working at these things. But just getting ready to play these games can take hours.
    Writing a D&D adventure can take 2 hours, a typical D&D game meeting can last 6-8 hours. Not so bad if it’s only once or twice per month.
    Warhammer is the worst though. Not only are the models wicked expensive, but painting one kit can take 6-8 hours, and you’ll need roughly 4 kits just to play the smallest of games. That’s not a hobby, that’s a second job you have to pay for.

  54. I think there is a difference between playing 3 hours a day vs 10 house for the week.
    I could say the same thing about getting drunk the night before and spending the next day hungover.

    1. Wow man I would say playing 3 hours is till way too much. There’s so much time to do so many more productive things.

      1. I’d wager at least one of the ‘productive things’ you’re thinking about is only worth jack shit in someone else’s opinion.
        Give me an hour slaying dragons over an hour spent just moving my arms up and down.
        Then again, I know plenty guys who manage both. Shocking? No. Just fucking common sense.

  55. Video games are not limiting mens potential, video games are great. If you don’t have the willpower to stop playing thats YOUR problem.

  56. Sorry to resurrect an oldie:
    “Why do men waste so much of their precious life ruthlessly leveling up a bunch of pixels instead of working to reach their true potential?”
    It’s a matter of being a Consumer versus being a Creator. I enjoy and partake in both. I could argue the pros and cons but I’m sure those reading this well understand the sentiment I’m expressing.

  57. Videogames provide escapism. Can be fun to relax, but most people take it to an extreme. Playing more than two hours a day isn’t healthy. Because there are so many other things in life you better could do instead. I however like some games from my younger years: grim fandango, resident evil, money island, unreal tournament, tomb raider, metroid. But haven’t bought a new console after the Gamecube. Now I’m 30 I think it’s a waste of money and time.

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