Tim Denning, Stand Down. Video Games Are Far From Meaningless.
Video games are a blessing to the world. Not a curse.
A few years ago, Tim Denning wrote a story on Medium titled No Computer Games For 8 Years, in which he talks about his pivotal decision to quit playing computer games and what he learned from that experience.
I take umbrage with his article, not because he decided to quit playing, but because of the negative picture he painted of video games.
Tim Denning’s story suggests that you’ll never be happy and never find the meaning of life unless you stop playing video games. I’m sorry, but Tim is out of line and a little out of his depth here.
With all due respect, Tim. Stand the fuck down.
Writing a story about being more productive is great, but targeting video games and making them out to be this lifelong friend who means well, but will only drag you down, is another. Video games aren’t a hindrance nor a roadblock to success.
Tim’s story sends the wrong message about a misunderstood hobby that continues to bring joy to millions of people globally.
Tim Denning, you may be the king of Medium and LinkedIn, but when it comes to this shit, I’m the expert.
I’m the Tim Denning of video games.
Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I’m here to tell you that video games are a blessing and not a curse. They’re inherently good, but if you don’t practice restraint, like with everything else with addictive qualities, it can and will consume you.
Video game addiction, also known as gaming disorder, is a serious problem. For those easily seduced and who can’t say no, the time spent playing can feverishly increase; thus, gaming can become detrimental to one’s health.
The World Health Organization, also known as WHO, voted to add gaming disorder to its International Classification of Diseases (ICD) as a behavioural addiction in 2018. This addition was approved in 2019, despite outcries from health officials and video game industry representatives. They protest that there isn’t enough evidence to make this an official mental health disorder.
No matter which side of the debate you’re on, gaming disorder is real, so you need to pay attention if signs of addiction appear.
I don’t know if Tim Denning was trying to communicate that he had a severe addiction to gaming, but it certainly comes across that way in his story.
If Tim did have a gaming disorder, then making the life choice to walk away from gaming was the right thing to do.
In his paragraph about having more time to travel, he says this:
“My life was spent in my bedroom with the curtains down, playing computer games, drinking soda and pissing only when I absolutely needed to.”
Perhaps he was being hyperbolic. But, on the other hand, maybe Tim was literally gaming, drinking, and pissing his life away. Who knows what was transpiring in his life during this time. Some people use video games as a means to self-medicate their depression, so it might have been that he was going through a bad season.
But at the top of the story, he said he played games in his spare time.
Your spare time is your spare time.
Whatever you do in that time, whether it be reading a book, watching Netflix, or building Legos, shouldn’t be discussed as meaningless or a waste of time if that’s what you value. Your spare time should be used to do whatever the fuck you want. Don’t quit your passion or hobby just because of Tim Denning.
Without hobbies, we’re just Hostess Twinkies without the cream filling. Lifeless sponges. Even the Minions from the Despicable Me movies have hobbies.
But if you want to work on your business, side hustle, or invest in yourself personally or professionally, you can do that too. It’s your prerogative.
Just remember that Tim Denning is a bit of a mad man. What type of person deletes all of the podcasts on his phone, leaving only Tim Ferriss’ behind?
I have nothing against Tim Ferriss. I’ve read his 4-Hour Workweek book a few times. It’s just that I find this type of sacrifice extreme. There are lots of great podcasts out there. Why limit yourself to one?
Denning further corroborates his love for Ferriss in the No Computer Games story by stating that he relaxed on a flight by kicking his feet up and listening to the sweet sounds of, guess which podcast?
The Tim Ferriss Podcast.
What are you? A psycho? Stand down, sir.
Tim (Denning) really loves Tim (Ferriss). What’s with this bromance? Is this uncontested love because they’re both named Tim?
Cue music: I Will Always Love You, by Whitney Houston.
Relax, Denning. Listen to music on a plane like a regular person and leave Tim Ferriss alone.
We all love Tim Denning. We want to be him, write like him, have his success, and live some version of his life. Let’s face it. We’re all on Medium and/or other platforms, trying to do our best “Tim Denning” impression.
I have a confession to make. I only discovered who Tim Denning was a few months ago. I’ve been on Medium for years, but somehow his valuable stories never showed up in my feed. So I had no idea who this skinny Aussie blogger with 500M+ views was. But when I had finally read one of his stories (not his story about video games), it was very apparent that he was a fan and follower of Tony Robbins.
Anybody who talks and writes about being in a peak state has participated in a Tony Robbins event. Being in a peak state, a condition where your mind and body are functioning at an optimal level, drew me to Tim Denning because I’ve also participated in a Tony Robbins event like him.
Tim and I are peak state brothers, but his gaming story about making better use of your time could’ve taken a more positive stance. He didn’t need to drag his hobby through the mud to make a point about better time management.
Video games have meaning. They have value. To say otherwise is a slap in the face to billions of people.
Tim Denning, I say this with the utmost respect.
Rewrite your story.
If you want to write about time management, then have at it. If you’re going to bolster your story by talking about quitting a hobby, that’s also fine. Just don’t shit on the hobby itself. There’s no need for that.
Why are you targeting video games, Tim?
40% of the population, roughly 3.2 billion people, play video games. It’s a billion-dollar industry that employs over a quarter-million people. So video games are a big deal.
My fellow Canadian, and video game spokesperson, Geoff Keighley, would back me on this. Geoff is like the Great and Powerful Oz, but for video games. He’s the host and producer of The Game Awards, the (often) three-hour-long video game award show stacked with celebrities, musical performances, and video game world premiere reveals.
Geoff works tirelessly every year to manifest a super-bowl-sized event that commemorates the best and brightest games for fans and industry insiders. It’s a year-end ceremony for games and one that comes with bragging rights, as its viewership keeps trumping the more widely recognized award shows.
Ask Geoff if he thinks that video games are a waste of time.
In 2020, when the pandemic forced us to remain indoors, video game activity sky-rocketed 75% globally. But unfortunately, the Nintendo Company’s latest (and charmingly colourful) iteration of the Wii-U, the Nintendo Switch, was absent from store shelves due to high demand and supply chain issues.
Serious gamers who already had their gaming setups gleefully smirked as they knew what the lockdown would mean. It would mean more time for gaming and streaming.
Gamers who played far less had no choice but to dust off their games pads (or keyboards), crack their knuckles and get reacquainted with a lapsed hobby due to the surplus of time.
But gaming isn’t always just something to combat time. Being isolated for so long left many people in dire straights. This isolation must have felt like a life sentence for a crime they didn’t commit. Something had to be prescribed for the fear, depression, and loneliness of it all.
This is where video games can–and did– help!
Video games helped liberate us in a dreary time of isolation and uncertainty.
Maybe you see it, and maybe you don’t, but video games, and the talented people who make them, demand way more fucking respect.
Tim Denning writes excellent stuff. There’s no denying that.
He writes about quitting your insufferable day job, being your own boss, achieving financial freedom, and taking your destiny into your hands.
As aspiring writers and entrepreneurs, we would be crazy not to read his stories and extract helpful tidbits from them.
I have more than a few Tim Denning stories saved in my Reading lists on Medium, including this one about gaming. It’s not one of my favourite stories, but I felt it deserved a response.
My response might seem brash, but I’m ok with that.
Too many people, politicians, and now this one blogger have the wrong idea about video games. This pastime has incredible benefits, and I want to help create this awareness.
I also want to debunk these ideas that Tim has.
Tim’s quotes are nonsensical, starting with this one.
“Giving up computer games allowed me to travel the world […]”
If you want to travel, then travel. And who told Tim that he couldn’t do both? You don’t need to give up one for the other. It’s a video game. So put it down and plan your much-needed trip.
Next quote.
“Computer games were always a lonely adventure.”
Um, what?!
I’m not even going to touch this.
Ok, maybe I will because this needs to be said.
Online multiplayer games exist. You can play with anybody via the internet: your family members, friends, and random gamers via matchmaking. Then you have local multiplayer games, often referred to as couch co-op games.
The fun and adorable multiplayer game, It Takes Two, won Game of the Year at The Game Awards last year. This game won the hearts and minds of gamers who played it and got to experience its charming art style, fun-loving puzzles, and exceptional gameplay. It Takes Two winning the GOTY award solidifies its place among the best games, and I strongly recommend that you play it with your spouse or significant other.
Gaming doesn’t have to be a lonely adventure.
The next quote.
“Computer games have never helped me make money and have mostly
robbed me of it.”
Twitch, the Amazon-owned live-streaming platform which allows you, as a creator, to broadcast yourself playing video games (or doing anything else), and monetize your audience, was around in 2011.
If my math is correct, this is when Tim Denning quit playing games. But if he truly wanted to, he could’ve become one of the first popular Twitch streamers to make money on that platform. Likely, Tim didn’t know about Twitch, but he had YouTube. So many creators were making money playing games there.
So, Tim, you had options.
I want to reiterate two things:
- Gaming disorder is a serious health issue.
Now, be careful before you go diagnosing everyone. Just because a person plays games abundantly doesn’t mean that they have a disorder. But, when severe damage to a person’s life ensues because of their gaming addiction, there’s a problem. - Playing video games to remedy depression is not healthy.
If you’re suffering from depression or any mental health issue, you need to seek professional help. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with using games or other hobbies to cope, but video games are not, and should not, be your only solution.
I said at the top that I don’t know if Tim Denning was trying to communicate that he had a severe gaming disorder, but here’s what he said in his paragraph about making social connections:
“Through meeting people, I destroyed my mental illness […]”
Tim Denning was going through some challenges, and I believe that video games were a way for him to escape. But unfortunately, though it may have been fun for a while, gaming was not, nor was it ever going to be enough to remedy his mental health issues.
Tim Denning also seemed to have a deficit with other personal goals, so he needed to abandon this hobby to find new meaning in his life.
Video games are cool.
They’re more than that. They’re the most immersive and inspiring form of art and entertainment, emerging right in front of you, but most of you choose not to take them seriously.
If you can gain satisfaction from a good novel, a movie, or a TV series on HBO, then there’s no reason that you can’t achieve the same from a medium that’s 1000 times more engaging.
Tim Denning was going down a road that he didn’t like. It seemed as if the addiction got the best of him. And when you add his mental health issue on top of that, you end up with a recipe for disaster.
But his circumstances are not your circumstances, and his choices don’t have to be your choices. Your hobbies are precious commodities. They’re a part of you, so hang on to them dearly. And if you’re looking for something new and exciting, try a video game. Experience it through a fun and artistic lens.
Don’t try it for a few minutes; get frustrated and give up. Instead, you need to commit and give this an honest try. I need you to jump down the rabbit hole so that you can see what I see.
Games on your phone or tablet don’t count. You need to pick up a controller and let the magic happen.
Mobile games can be fun, but they’re watered-down versions of video games. Please avoid them for now. There’s no culture behind mobile games. They’re digital, bite-sized distractions that reign upon us from greedy publishers and super-saturated app stores.
Thanks, Apple and Google.
The love movement with the exciting culture is happening with video games. My meaning in life is to lead you toward this wonderland of fun, exciting challenges, zero stress (unless it’s a Soulsborne game), and socialization.
Despite popular opinion, video games aren’t the enemy. Yes, there are things to watch out for with certain types of games, but with a little bit of knowledge and guidance, you can avoid the traps and welcome this entertaining art form into your daily routine in no time.
If you stick with me, I’ll show you true adventure and wonder in Pixar-quality-like games such as Kena: Bridge of Spirits and Ratchet and Clank. Or, if you prefer a much darker and more gritty experience, I’ll chauffeur you around the dreary roads of despair in The Last of Us.
Maybe you’re craving a team-based culinary excursion. Have you heard of a little game called Overcooked? It’s a five-star experience that will have you laughing and wanting to strangle one another. I got my entire family hooked on this four-player couch co-op game. They had no idea what it would do to their dopamine levels, but I did.
The world’s great video games are masterpieces created by esteemed artists, auteurs, and visionaries. Some of these games are story-driven with profound and political messages, while other games exist to tickle your brain for fun and be nothing more than a good distraction.
Video games are a respectable art form.
You can play games and still kick ass in life.
Tim Denning, you stand corrected.
Disclaimer: I did not interview Tim Denning for this story. My thoughts and opinions about him are based on nothing other than my analysis of his story, No Computer Games For 8 Years.
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