On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 06:02:05PM -0400, Nick Sabalausky wrote: [...] > I'd tend to agree. I've always been huge on videogames (for whatever > definition of "videogame" ;) ), but after all the mental work of code > all day even I'm usually more inclined to just veg out with something > passive. Just don't want to have to "do" any more. > > 'Course, this suggests it may depend on occupation. A day of route > manual labor, or anything tedious I'd probably be itching to do > something involving thought (but maybe that's just me). > > I have noticed that programming and videogames both scratch the same > mental itch, at least for me. If I've been doing a lot of one, I'm > less motivated to do the other.
I wonder if this is why I enjoy retro games more -- they require less concentration and lots of fun can be had for not too much effort. I find that a lot of modern games seem to require a lot of concentration -- keeping track of a convoluted storyline, keeping track of one's 3D surroundings, being on one's toes to react quickly at surprise enemy attacks, etc.. After a full day's worth of coding, that's the last thing I want to be doing. Much better to relax with something that can be played in a more relaxed/casual way. Maybe that's why casual games are such a big thing nowadays. OTOH, though, I find that sometimes I wish to get away from the pain of having to deal with some really stupid code, and I'd escape for a few minutes with some very mentally-challenging games (like block-shuffling puzzles, which according to one analysis[1] are PSPACE-complete, that is, possibly harder than NP-complete problems!). I guess maybe it tickles the same mental itch as coding. :) [1] http://www.antiquark.com/2004/12/complexity-of-sliding-block-puzzles.html T -- If creativity is stifled by rigid discipline, then it is not true creativity.