Well I’ll be damned. I just saw an ad by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) that begs gamers to “Give your thumbs a rest. Play for real.”
It’s uproarious as the ad (at right), clearly intended to be a game screenshot, portrays the CDC’s interpretation of what “gamers” look and act like. The players are so fat they’re busting at the seams. Their clothes are ratty and stained, and they’re laying all over the place just in a daze of sorts. Oh yeah, the one in the back right is taking a piss on the wall.
Now I’m not going to deny that sometimes back in the day, on summer break, I would sit inside for hours/days/weeks playing the newest RPG or blowing the shit out of something in a FPS, but that shouldn’t suggest that I don’t get up from my cozy futon to get exercise, shower, and change my clothes. I also do not urinate anywhere in the vicinity of where I play games, for the record.
I know the gaming community has caught a bad rap recently for dumb shit like the San Andreas “Hot Coffee” mod or news reports showing that games are like drugs, but we’re not all “addicts” and, in most cases do not “forget about friends, ignore their schoolwork, and become impulsive and hot tempered.”
Yes, I play games. Yes, I exercise. Yes, my GPA is a 3.5. Yes, I have a social life. How do I fit into your demographic, CDC? How do I fit into this:
Results indicated that while television use was not related to children’s weight status, video game use was. Children with higher weight status played moderate amounts of electronic games, while children with lower weight status played either very little or a lot of electronic games.
You want your kids to get exercise? Buy them Dance, Dance Revolution and let them get funky. Not only will they stay in shape, but they’ll be great dancers later on in life.
“That’s my 10 cents, my 2 cents is free.”
So little to say and so much time… Here goes something….
My name is Andrew to everyone who knows me and nothing to the people who don’t. I rarely feel inclined to write about myself and this small text blurb is no exception. I’m a film maker, of sorts. A designer, of sorts. A musician, of sorts. A photographer, of sorts. An armada of etceteras march behind these four generals.
The point I’m trying to make is that I enjoy art in all of it’s forms, and try my best to creatively express myself in every medium I take a liking towards. As always, things like life get in the way of being a non-stop idea factory, but that life is something that I’m thoroughly enjoying at the moment.
It consists of my beautiful girlfriend who I am very much in love with, a job that pays me well to do work that I would otherwise be doing for free, and a family and friends that I wouldn’t trade the world for. It’s safe to assume that I’m walking on air/over water/atop mountain peaks (pick one… hell, pick all three).