It's time yet again for another scientific study that may or may not prove videogames are detrimental to your health! The mainstream media is lapping up a brand new report that suggests videogame playing can cause physical pain to children, hurting their hands after just an hour a day.
"Around 170 children aged seven to twelve filled out questionnaires about their video game habits. Among the results: The younger the player the more significant the pain," writes ABC. "Also, those playing an hour or longer a day were more likely to have achy hands.
"Study details are being presented at the American College Of Rheumatology's annual meeting. It adds to a growing body of research showing video games, PDAs and cell phones can lead to repetitive stress and nerve compression injuries."
So there you have it. Videogames will make your hands fall off, as well as make your kids gamble, make your kids into killers, make your kids not want to play real guitars, make your kids fat and make them watch filthy sex scenes. Society as we know it is over, baby!
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
2:00 AM on 10.20.2009
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::Gets out the ice for hands::
I feel better already, lets just hope my hands dont fall off :-(
Wait till you all get old and your crafty game reflexes fail ya and your eyesight starts to go. And bedtime at 6pm sounds like a good idea most nights.
Where am I?
youtube.com/watch?v=hUyMNyrOHJQ
Also, what's up with BBcode help?
Of course there's pain there's pain when you exercise too.
Could it be that with the rise of the Wii, it's not the fit of the controller that's important but the lack of tactile response in waggling that would naturally prevent over-exertion?
Same thing with guitar. I've seen people play guitar till their fingers bled. Never seen that happen with a game controller.
The thing is the older you get the more likely you are to release your "squeeze" on the controller during the cutscenes / menus etc.
The young kids though, I've seen them, they grip that controller like it's trying to escape! Squeeze the bastard harder as the game get's more tense.
But, nevertheless, this stinks of sneaky Natal "you don't need to injure yourself on a controller, just wave your arms around and IMAGINE you've got a steering wheel" Marketing.
AND THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!
I suppose taking responsibility for your little snowflakes and given them the means to partake in a variety of healthy pursuits in moderation is just too much to ask?
carpal tunnel is just a side effect of victory!
Normal controllers? Not so much,
Most repetitive things done with the hands can fuck them over, least of all ergonomic controllers, the 360 controller is a great for long gaming sessions. Sometimes I get insane spazy pain in my left hand when playing PC games, but that's mostly about posture. I pump my hands during loading screens subconciously for the win.
And I'm guessing that kid will be fucked up because he was allowed to play games too much during a time in his life when his hands were developing.
Because thats sure to be accurate in representing all children. Scientific Questionnaire of 170 = ALL OF THEM POSSIBLE IN UNIVERSE
I actually tend to find it's the game rather than the controller, that sets my hands off. I used to game hours on end on Unreal Tournament on PC with no problem at all, but 30mins into a Quake3 session and my mouse hand really ached. All down to the controls - for some reason, my middle finger behaved differently in 'jump' mode than it did in 'alt-fire' mode :s
To this day, some games have given me problems on 360 too where most haven't, where my hands lean forwards, pointing closer to the floor.
As for the Wii relieving this problem... not for me. I find swinging my arms about in bowling to be very straining, as you've got no weight to prevent you swinging fast and hard whil not actually using much bicep muscle. The result? The blood rushes to my hands much more than in real bowling, and actually hurts unless I defiantly slow it down.
Guitaring not only fucks your hands up but it's expected. There are no "alternatives." Your teacher will tell you straight up "This is gonna hurt like a bitch. Deal with it pussy." I've never had pains playing GH or RB but I know people who do. Occasionally I get pains drumming but I just do what I do in real life and adjust my hands.
Meanwhile gaming will not kill your hands. Trust me. And the younger you are the worse it is? Dude I've been gaming since before I could do basic math. That's just bull.
And old people hands are gross Jim. No more old people hands headers.
Was anyone unsure about that?
Good thing I'm all grown up, my adult hands don't even shiver at the sight of a controller.
EXCEPT the guitar hero controllers. I got Rock Band a while back and pretty much played it every night for a week on expert level songs, and I had such bad hand cramps I could hardly hold a pencil. After playing all those instruments, it was a fake plastic one that finally did my poor hand in.
I've never had problems with the later gen's controllers, which tend to be better formed, though I still find the duelshock a little small for my hands. The Gamecube and 360 controller have been the most comfortable for me so far. My NES controller just hurts now.
Clearly the fact that younger children have a lower threshold of pain can't explain this phenomenon!
Look at the Wiimote. They had to release that contoured condom because they chose design aesthetics over ergonomics.
Look at the 360 controller. Microsoft did learn from their mistakes with the original Xbox controller and improved the design and ergonomics, but they still dropped the ball on the d-pad, which is universally considered to be a POS.
Granted, we've come a long way from those horrible membrane pads in the Intellivision, or the iconic Atari joystick, but we're not where we should be. Society needs to stop thinking of gaming systems as toys. They're part of our lives now.
I know the media is out to get video games sometimes, but these is really just that obvious.
On a serious note. I was thinking about this the other day and I think there is more too it than just the blame game. If you take a stereotypical mother, she basically abhors anything that would result in danger to your life, injury, slight discomfort or simple inconvenience. There are a large number of people who believe having a really boring and long life is better than having an awesome short life.
in other news, playing soccer a lot can give you shin splints. physical pain by soccer!? BAN THIS FILTH