So my brother is 8 years old. For Christmas, he go a Nintendo DS, and a bunch of games. Because I do not live with him, I don't know the inns and outs of the story, however, I understand most of it. He can only play on weekends or weekdays if he does something very good at school. Here is the scary part. Whenever he comes over (mostly on weekends), he desires greatly to play. When he is not allowed (eg. lunch, outside play) he is very grumpy and stubborn. Sometimes he either fake-plays or twitches his fingers in the normal playing motions. When he does play, whenever something intense in happening, his face gets contorted and it twitches in a very weird way. I was wondering if you had any advice for these kinds of problems, or how they can be ameliorated. I'm just really worried for my bro'.

Thank You

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Alex

Dark Comedy Theory. Where c is coffee, s is spew, v is velocity, and w is how much windex used to clean LCD monitor. When I put the sentence through the equation, it unified all 4 forces above. I'm hoping someone here can help me express the precise mathematics into an elegant, simple equation. My next step is to post it in ATM, and then hopefully submit if for refereeing.
-Serenitude

Honestly, it sounds like typical 8 year old behaviour to me, unless he exhibits other signs either in this scenario or in other aspects of life.

At 8 years old, he hasn't developed abstract thinking yet. His though processes are very concrete. "I want to play games NOW", "I can't play games, so I'm mad". The concepts of spannungsbogen, or of playing time in the future, or of other, unpleasant tasks being more important, will be difficult for him to understand at that age.

I'd say keep an eye on him, but don't worry, unless it begins to manifest itself as increased aggression, etc..

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"I have this theory that the Apollo missions were faked when NASA found out that general relativity was wrong because the Earth was expanding due to the Sun's iron core being influenced by magnetic waves from the electric universe after being perturbed by Planet X and thereby causing global warming. Where should I start a thread about this?" ~ ToSeek

"Those are the people that wonder how a thermos knows whether to keep something hot or keep something cold." ~ NeoWatcher

I wish I had the link now, but some artist/photographer (okay so they're the same thing) did a set of portrature of people's faces while they were playing video games. Contorted is not a strong enough word for the expressions on most of their faces.

I garuntee I look rediculous just before screaming an explicative and throwing something across the room (i've gotten good about finding wads of paper or something that won't actually cause destruction, altho my floor is littered with the shrapnel of my last keyboard :whistles: it's not my fault the batteries kept falling out of it while i was playing a game. no more wireless stuff for me )

Funny thing is, i've extreemely passive in everyday life. Just get loud and angry when I play games. Anyway, long story...well, long...I think your bro is fine. Altho it troubles me how many kids prefer to stay inside and play games. If I had the free time and the friends like I did when I was his age, I'd be out playing ball or running through the woods or whatever. Hell, at my age I still would be, if I had the option. :-P

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Theory of Zombie Relativity:
1) Everyone Else is a Zombie relative to You
2) Whether or not it matters is related to the inverse square of the distance between their teeth and your brain
(Quoted from Demigrog)

Would you feel the same way if he were like that about sports or some kind of outdoor activity? Maybe a certain toy he's particular about?

Something especially evil about computers we should know about?

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I'm not completely heartless, the doctor who removed it told me he'd never be able to get it all.

OMG you're angry german kid, aren't you? I won't link it because of explicit language, but it is worth checking out. Foreign, I urge you to check it out, then you would feel better about your brother.

Haha yeah I've seen that video. I think he was playing WoW at the time. Which is funny, 'caus I consider that a relatively calm game. Mine was a victim of Counter-Strike: Source. But it was more a victim of poor design and crossing me after a bad day at work. Oh yeah, and the three or four glasses of wine probably didnt help either. Tee-hee.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Theory of Zombie Relativity:
1) Everyone Else is a Zombie relative to You
2) Whether or not it matters is related to the inverse square of the distance between their teeth and your brain
(Quoted from Demigrog)

Angry German Kid was playing Unreal Tournament. I've seen it a few times with an English translation and just ... wow. When you get killed in a game becasue you have to find where the escape key landed, it might be time to go color or work with yarn or something.

((City of Heroes adict, 2 accounts, 57 characters, just about three years in game at least two hours per day, up to 16 per day on the weekend if the GF is away.)) But I'm not an addict. I've never assaulted my computer, but I've yelled at people that couldn't hear it. I also did a huge guide for new players based mainly on the fact that I wanted to have some place to send them to learn that you don't pull 2 spawns of Trolls with a freaking fireball. ahem

Foreignkid, I'll echo the others here. Chalk it up to "shiny new toy" for now but the biggest tell will be eating habits. If he's not eating, or playing the game at the table, or if he's rushing through meals becasue he was forced to eat, just to go back and play the game, then maybe some sort of rationing is a good idea. If basic survival takes a back seat to the game, somwthing should probably be done.

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A Nerd can figure out how long it will take the original Enterprise traveling at warp 6.5 to travel from Regulus to Antares.
A Geek will think he can use that to pick up a girl in a bar.
A Dork knows he can't pick up the girl with it, but will hang around for hours anyway, just in case she asks.
She might. You never know.

Ah, was it UT? I think i watched it sans audio it's been a while. Altho I have the distinct memory of his high-pitched psycho voice. Maybe I just couldn't hear the game over that. Was actually quite disturbing to watch.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Theory of Zombie Relativity:
1) Everyone Else is a Zombie relative to You
2) Whether or not it matters is related to the inverse square of the distance between their teeth and your brain
(Quoted from Demigrog)

The translation indicated that some of his rantings said it was UT. My favorite part was when he couldn't do anything until he found the keys scattered across his desk. And yeah, if I ever get like that the GF has standing orders to hit me with the thin end of a shovel and drive me to the bad part of town.

For those who have not seen this video and don't want to, or can't view it. it's a German kid about 12 years old trying to log onto an internet game. He's got an old computer and it loads very slowly. Over the 5 or so minutes it takes to get in he had about 9 tantrums about the speed. At one point he grabs the keyboard with both hands and slams it down on the desk several times. When he finally gets in game, he is defeated almost instantly and loses it again. Then, after he finds the keys and puts them back in the keyboard, he runs around shooting the other players with this evil sounding laugh until someone takes him out again. By the time the video ends, he's hoarse from yelling, he's spit all over the desk, and he's out of breath.

I'd really like to know what kind of keyboard he had though. That thing to a LOT of abuse ans still seemed to work.

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A Nerd can figure out how long it will take the original Enterprise traveling at warp 6.5 to travel from Regulus to Antares.
A Geek will think he can use that to pick up a girl in a bar.
A Dork knows he can't pick up the girl with it, but will hang around for hours anyway, just in case she asks.
She might. You never know.

Your brother != addicted.

Me, who awaits the day for a data jack into the cerebral cortex so I can stop using my hands to play = addicted.

:P

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Ranger Brad: Oh, say... You don't believe those old legends about the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, do you?

Dr. Roger Fleming: Ranger Brad, I'm a scientist, I don't believe in anything.

I think a good test would be to let him play all he wants, any time, all day, every day. He should get bored pretty quickly. If not, then it is a problem. At that age, having it be an off-limits, or regulated thing makes it that much more attractive.

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Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Or do the whole "reverse psychology" thing. Go outside with a buncha friends. Let him sit somewhere where he can see you guys having fun and let him play his game by himself. See if eventually he wanders over to join the fun.

At 8, I'd think there'd still be a lot of "I want to do what my big brother does!" to work with.

or take it one step further and actually use reverse psychology like i began to write about. TELL him to play his games while you guys do whatever. He's sure to want to put down the game and join you then

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Theory of Zombie Relativity:
1) Everyone Else is a Zombie relative to You
2) Whether or not it matters is related to the inverse square of the distance between their teeth and your brain
(Quoted from Demigrog)

I don't think there's much bad with game playing. I grew up a gamer, myself, so I have an inside-that-zone reference. I don't find my social life eroded at all (online RPGs, I know many people in many countries), and I find that it vastly improves my critical thinking capabilities and strategic reasoning.

Strategy games are also a favorite, and human opponents are the only way to go. If you see a person playing chess all the time, most think he's very intelligent. Yet play a strategy game all the time, and people think "You need to get out more."

Meh.

He does do that... he will either finish really fast, or beg (cry) to be handed the game.

He did play for a whole day once, because no one was really "watching him", and unfortunately did not get bored. Granted, he had many games at his disposal, but still...

Tried, no luck.


Now don't get me wrong, I love games. I play them myself. However I can both control myself, am very calm, and in no way does it interfere with my social life. I just don't think that ^ is normal.


P.S.: I laughed REALLY hard at the "Angry German Kid", and no, fortunately my brother is nothing like that.

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Alex

Dark Comedy Theory. Where c is coffee, s is spew, v is velocity, and w is how much windex used to clean LCD monitor. When I put the sentence through the equation, it unified all 4 forces above. I'm hoping someone here can help me express the precise mathematics into an elegant, simple equation. My next step is to post it in ATM, and then hopefully submit if for refereeing.
-Serenitude

I just went and watched that video.

:: stares with jaw hanging open ::

I can't believe I just saw that! foreignkid, I have never met your brother, but I am very glad he's not like that.

It was funny how he kept muttering "I don't need help, I don't need help." I know he's talking about the game, but it was just perfect. And those keys flying at the end when he bangs the keyboard? If I had ever done anything like that to my computer my parents would have kicked my butt and I'd never be allowed to touch the computer again. Sheesh. It was even a no-no to lean on the keyboard tray too much.

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If ever I should meet you again, by land or sea,
I will always remember your kindness to me.

I think it's staged.

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"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right." -- Thomas Paine

Being intelligent is not a felony. But most societies evaluate it as at least a misdemeanor. -- Heinlein

Creationists make it sound as though a "theory" is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night. -- Isaac Asimov

I think so too, but it's still amazing. I can't imagine seeing anyone act like that in real life.

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If ever I should meet you again, by land or sea,
I will always remember your kindness to me.

Oh, I've seen worse...
XBox + Halo 2 + 4 People + One really angry person=

1. One person seriously hurt because the "really crazy person" hitting him with the controller in a fit of rage.
2. Broken XBox

No, these are not my friends, however, I can guarantee that this happened (and it was really scary, since the crazy person was probably passive-aggressive, meaning that he releases all his frustration in one unpredictable moment.)

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Alex

Dark Comedy Theory. Where c is coffee, s is spew, v is velocity, and w is how much windex used to clean LCD monitor. When I put the sentence through the equation, it unified all 4 forces above. I'm hoping someone here can help me express the precise mathematics into an elegant, simple equation. My next step is to post it in ATM, and then hopefully submit if for refereeing.
-Serenitude