? Sony Play Station 3 for Personal Development

[Alex2007]

Hi guys I have just purchased a Sony PS3 (Sony PlayStation 3) and I am not sure if this system can be a part in my personal transformation and enlightenment process.

Yesterday I was trying to play the game “Little Big Planet” on PS3 but at the end I was feeling emotionally numb and that I had just wasted my time. I was feeling that I could spend that wasted time to something more productive.

I want to ask for opinions. Is it any game or any other way that I can use a PlayStation3 towards my Enlightenment and personal development target?

Thanks
A.

[Beuford]

You're allowed to have fun. Play a fun game.

[Jthorn]

I find that a good game can refresh the feeling of being in flow.

[toasterwater]

I doubt many people here will tell you not to play games, and for good reason. It's admirable to strive for enlightenment, and productivity. An important part of that is to enjoy life.

I recently quit playing video games. While I enjoy playing them, I tend to go overboard. Up until about a month and a half ago I was spending MANY hours per day playing a particular game and was in fact neglecting other, more important aspects of my life. In this extreme example, it is obvious that that was a bad thing.

While part of me misses playing that game (it was fun), the other part of me is very much enjoying the things I do in it's absence. I've found that in addition to spending more adequate amounts of time studying, being clean and organized and social, and even pursuing my hobby playing the guitar (and quite enjoying all of these things), I actually find it very -if not entertaining, at least very rewarding- focusing on personal development.

So to extract something useful for your personal situation, I would advise that if you honestly question whether you *should* be playing that game, consider the following. Think about your life, and the things you do/have done/have thought about doing/would like to do. Now spend some time and try very honestly to decide on a thing or a few things that you enjoy... maybe more than other things. You may come up with any variety of things here whether it's socializing, playing games or sports, solving problems, cooking, studying, painting, etc (the list goes on infinitely in general, but very specifically for you). When you come up with something (or most likely several things) that you enjoy about life, you can start to manifest some sort of goals for yourself. These goals may just be to do those things that you love. They may or may not involve getting better and/or more involved in those things. Try to keep in mind the importance of enjoying (or at least getting a rewarding/accomplished feeling from doing) the things you do during your life. You really do only live once, and for a finite (and unknown) amount of time. Now take a broad look at your life and decide if playing PS3 is important enough for you to spend some amount of time with it.

It's very possible that you enjoy playing it, and theres nothing wrong with that. HAVE FUN! If you really have a feeling of wasted time afterward, maybe consider trying something else.

Either way... Good luck!

[EddieT]

As much as I personally love video games I have to admit most are not going to be a productive use of time. Not that there's anything wrong with just relaxing and enjoying being non productive occasionally.

While most games are not really going to add any value to your life besides giving you a bit of entertainment there are some games I believe can be a good tool for personal development.

For example games like Singstar, Guitar Hero, Rock Band etc. are great games that can be played with a number of people and can be a very social sort of activity.

Then there are games like Trivial Pursuit, Buzz and a few other quiz games that can also be just as social and also increase your general knowledge.

[Matt Willard]

Video games aren't productive, but do like I do and play 'em after doing 6-7 hours of solid work first. After my "workday", I let myself have fun. It's up to you, but if you like playing them, you don't HAVE to quit.

[alekseykravtsun]

Computer games (including video games) worked always good for me, as helped to recharge, have fun with others also helps with my strategic thinking. I never was really absessed by games. When I used to play Halo, Mortal Combat 3 and other like that, this develop my positive agression as I had a lot of vistories for short time, then when I used to play War Craft, Heroes of Might and Magic 2,3,4, Duna and so on, this developed my strategic thinking. I suggest you have your games in certain time frames you set up for yourself, have fun, and my be learn smth new.