Head Space Daily Words...

Every generation is separated from the generation following and the one that has gone before, by some sort of change or progress in society. For me, this is computer games. I have never been into Nintendos, Playstations, or those hand held, double screen things that people used to have. I did enjoy Mini Munchman when I was a kid but that is about as far as it went. When I was in my late teens, I remember going around to a friend's aunt's house, where his two young cousins - a couple of girls aged around 8 and 10 at the time, were playing Sonic The Hedgehog.  I can recall thinking, even at that point, and this is well before the advent of mobile phones and the internet, that it was a real shame that these girls weren't outside having fun with their mates. Sitting in your bedroom pushing buttons, becoming frustrated when you lost, seemed a bit futile and reclusive. Of course, nowadays, that is all kids want to do - getting my boys off the PS3 can be an effort - but it goes beyond kids. I was recently speaking to a friend who was openly enthusiastic that he did very little with his life other than play FIFA on PS3. As I say, I've never been bitten by the bug, but I can't help but think it is a real shame. There is so much going on out there. Last year I was researching a company, who had produced some gaming Apps for mobile phones and I downloaded one of their games, to which I became hooked within a matter of days. I found myself becoming obsessed with beating my highest score and was wasting hours of valuable time doing something that is ultimately pointless. Relaxing, winding down and letting yourself go is good but mindless obsession is not how I want to do it. I think that the reason I am not into computer games, PS3s and so on, is because when I was in my late teens, early twenties, they weren't the done thing, because they didn't really exist in the mass commercial sense they do now. It was all about the music and going to bars and clubs for me. My social life hinged on socialising. If I had gone to Sheffield poly, or Sheffield Hallam University as it became known, a few years later than I did, there is a good chance that it would have become part of my day to day. No one that I knew at Sheffield Hallam owned a computer console and to be honest I am extremely glad of that fact. Today, consoles and computer games are a fact of life, my kids can even play games remotely against their mates, which blows me away. They love playing FIFA and I'm glad but when there is the opportunity to get outside, particularly when the weather is good, I will always encourage them to do so. They may become console obsessives, but glued to the sofa they will never be. I'll make sure of it...