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Not a Game (2020)

Review by zeno-zokalj

Not a Game

10/10

Best gaming documentary I have seen so far!

High Score was fun. Part because I'm a gamer and part because I've met some of those gamedev in my career.

But this is something else. This is a true scientific and educational documentary that explains phenomena of video games, esports and gaming culture. It will help parents understand today's world and help them find a way to communicate with their children.

As a gaming dad, I knew most of these things but here it's all laid out in simple language so people who are not in gaming can understand it better, at least for the sake of their kids.

Video games don't cause violence, people do. Just as you don't kill people after hearing a death metal song, just as you don't blow up a building with C4 because you saw John McLane do it in Die Hard.

If anything, games offer people who are frustrated (often in dysfunctional families as a source) a way to get rid of that frustration and to run away from all the things they have to put up with during the day. Maybe bullied at school, maybe having abusive parents, being introverted, gay or something else that might get them undeserved hate or mocking.

But seeing all those people who were saved by gaming was so emotional and I hope it will help people understand all the benefits of gaming. And as they say in the trailer. You don't want your kid to play games 12 hours a day, but you don't want them to watch TV, climb trees or read for 12 hours straight.

Boundaries are important, but boundaries should be set with at least basic knowledge of the subject we're restricting in one way or another.

Today people are finally getting the difference between watching hours of movies and series and hours of gaming. Gaming has many benefits that movies and series do not have. Eye hand coordination, reflexes, connecting to people online worldwide, creating bonds and friendships with those people while TV is totally devoid of that and you are just fed with often meaningless content with no interaction on your part. And that makes us less healthy in the long run. Mentally and physically.

I often hear how parents limit their child's gaming sessions to 30 minutes per day. I would like to ask them if they do that themselves. Do they stop a movie after 30 minutes and continue next evening for another 30 minutes? Because it's similar. Not the same, because the time their kid spends building their city in Minecraft is doing miracles for developing their imagination, while the time spent in front of the TV doesn't have any health benefits.

Watch it and try to understand it.

I don't know who is review bombing this movie, but it's comical at best.

Especially the 1 star review which said: "Thousand languages in one documentary.my brain got burned down.after one point gave up reading subtitles then stopped watching altogether."

That's exactly what too much television does to you.
  • zeno-zokalj
  • Apr 14, 2021

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