• @Shadowq8@lemmy.world
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    07 months ago

    My 2 cents on this.

    Stay off your phone.

    Gaming consoles offer a better experience than the low-quality entertainment on phones and tablets.

    Spending time on toxic social media is like feeding your brain junk food.

    It’s all designed to quickly exploit you.

    I’d prefer my kids use a gaming console like the Switch instead of an iPad.

    • @OpenStars@discuss.online
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      07 months ago

      It’s how you use the tools that count, and I think both types need (self-)restrictions placed upon them to be maximally effective and fun. Even a gun has a use, within certain bounds e.g. Ukraine can put them to great use.

    • @whoreticulture@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      7 months ago

      idk I use my phone to play chess, wingspan, Root, all kinds of games. There are a lot of really cool text adventures on mobile, plus Pokemon Go is mobile only. You can even play Minecraft on your phone …

      On Instagram I usually just see pictures about my friends lives, news, local events. The most well informed people I know are all active on social media. If all your kids are doing is playing console video games, they’ll be disconnected. The most cutting edge news is on social media, and has been for years now. My phone is just a more comfortable way to do things. I could play chess and read the news on my laptop, but I don’t want to.

      This just reads like moral panic over tech you don’t like … you know, people used to fear-monger about books being too addictive and bad for you.

      • @rtxn@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Doomscrolling on reddit, imgur, and twatter destroyed my mental health over a ~4-year period. I went cold turkey on all three about a year ago and there is a remarkable difference. They caused a great deal of anxiety, I just didn’t realise it at the time.

        It was also a near-addiction when I could just flick the mouse wheel and more content would show up, and oh my, suddenly it’s 4am and I have work in 4 hours. r/ouchmyballs and r/watchpeopledieinside were particularly problematic.

    • @grue@lemmy.world
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      07 months ago

      Gaming consoles just mean you’ve already bought into their walled garden. They don’t need to use the same tactics the mobile games use; you’re already trapped. Hell, you’re probably already paying a monthly subscription for online play, and then there’s still nothing stopping individual game publishers from further enshittifying on top of that!

      No, what you should really be doing is gaming on PC (Linux), ideally with games bought DRM-free (e.g. from GoG) or even by only playing Free Software games. I personally compromise enough to accept Steam, but that really is at the absolute limits of acceptability (and only then because of factoring goodwill from all their work on Linux compatibility for games).

      • @john89@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        Emulation, baby.

        Use your brains before your wallets.

        Also don’t pay for things you can get for free.

    • maegul (he/they)
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      07 months ago

      Yea wow. As a 90s kid I’d never thought of comparing smart phones to consoles. Great point. Gaming together on the couch or a truly fun and social activity and way more wholesome than doom scrolling