Final Fantasy XII

WARNING!!! THIS POSTING CONTAINS A RANT!

I was reading the paper yesterday and someone was badmouthing video games and said that they were mindless and stupid and kids were better off not playing them at all. I agree that kids need balance of social play, physical play with lots of work thrown in, but really I couldn't help but think that the person making the comment had never played a video game, or had played and lost badly! I've been playing video games off and on for about 7 or 8 years and I really enjoy it. Right now I'm playing FF XII and it is anything but mindless. It has a very complicated battle system that takes a lot of strategy and you really need patience and perseverence to win even one battle. I've joined an online forum of other people who play the game to ask for advice and even given some advice if I could. It is a social community, based on only one thing, but it does use my communication skills. I've seen people be very kind to others they don't even know and to offer advice on writing skills if the question wasn't clearly stated. It is a moderated forum and very civil in content.

I'm not saying that all video games are created equal or that all games are for kids. I am going to say that people who are writing laws and giving opinions should specify which game they find stupid and mindless and they should speak with some personal experience if they are going to offer opinions. {end of rant}