Are gaming consoles, portals?

[Edy]

Ive been a gaming addict for 30 years.
My real life came crashing down and now I’ve turned to Christianity.

With a Catholic perspective, I look back on my life and see the Devil pulling my strings, and I feel like my existence in other worlds gave him easy access to destroying my family.

I wonder, what is the Catholic opinion on gaming consoles?
A hardcore gamer like I was, can become so immersed in a game world that they forget to eat, drink or sleep for days.

Each game has its own laws of physics.
Gravity is different, laws of light changes, these are entirely separate universes.

The best example is the game “No Mans Sky” which is litarally another universe with 18 Quintillion planets.
Each planet has over 200 unique life forms.
Amazingly it only took 12 people to create, using clever coding tricks to create for them. (And they say one God can’t create ours)

With online gaming, people can enter these realms together.
Do Catholics think of computer games as demonic realms or is it just me?

 

[veritatisstella]

To my knowledge most Catholics do not regard games as demonic realms. I’ve heard of a few people who have issues with fantasy, but they’re a bit over the top. Fantasy is only a problem if it is causing you to sin. Of itself it can be fun, relaxing and entirely good to enjoy a nice gaming session. Stick to moderation, and limit the gaming if it is causing problems in your life or you are putting it ahead of other responsibilities. There’s nothing demonic about games unless the creators specifically make them to be demonic. If your games aren’t specifically demonic, then you have nothing to worry about. Enjoy!

 

[Cruciferi]

Ive been a gaming addict for 30 years.
My real life came crashing down and now I’ve turned to Christianity.

Are seeking professional help?

Do Catholics think of computer games as demonic realms or is it just me?

Your problem with video games doesn’t mean that they’re demonic. People can be addicted to ANYTHING.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Your problem with video games doesn’t mean that they’re demonic. People can be addicted to ANYTHING.

^^This.
While we believe that the devil is real, the fact that the devil can use something that’s basically neutral or even good in and of itself to carry out his work doesn’t make the neutral or good thing that the devil is using “demonic”.

Many people can just play a video game and enjoy it, have fun with it and not become a gaming addict. Games in and of themselves are neutral/ good, assuming that the game doesn’t contain pornography or blasphemy or other very sinful content.
The Devil doesn’t come through video games, or the internet, or the television screen, etc. These are entertainment media. They aren’t like a Ouija board where the main purpose is to summon up occult spirits.

Addiction probably has a physical component, so you may well have a tendency to get addicted to something and if it hadn’t been video games, it would have been something else.

If you have not gotten help for your addiction, I would recommend that you do so, in order to better understand and cope with your problem.

 

[Edy]

I also had the virtual reality headset for PS4.
Falling from great heights makes your tummy rise as if your falling for real.

Other devices are being developed to fool our sense of touch and smell.
Certainly, there is the illusion of being in another realm.

A Pastor I spoke to said that the ouiji board is a way of contacting evil spirits and also the board game Dungeons and Dragons is demonic.
The first big game I became addicted to was World of Warcraft which is a lot like Dungeons and Dragons, only virtual.
Hence this thread.

 

[angel12]

Do Catholics think of computer games as demonic realms

I’ve never heard that, but I expect that some do. Doesn’t make it true. Addictions have many causes.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Virtual reality is nothing new. 40 years ago they had the technique for going to movies in “Sensurround” where you would watch a movie of flying over cliffs or going on a roller coaster and feel like you were actually doing it. I saw people walk out of those movies because they got motion sickness from the feelings of going up and down on the roller coaster.

Our senses are simply physical mechanisms and they can be fooled. This doesn’t mean the devil is in the Sensurround movie because people’s senses were fooled and some of them got sick.

Calling a game or a record “demonic” is a cop-out because it doesn’t recognize that the actual issue is with the person playing the game, not the game itself. Unless the game is primarily divination like calling up the dead. That is why a Ouija board or a crystal ball might be demonic but other games aren’t.

 

[ZMystiCat]

I’d answer, but my GOG backlog isn’t going to play itself!

also the board game Dungeons and Dragons is demonic.

I think this is due to some people being incapable of separating reality and fantasy or just never playing the game and going off hearsay. To my knowledge, most people won’t take this seriously.

The first big game I became addicted to was World of Warcraft

I think it’s worth noting that games like World of Warcraft have often been accused for being little more than virtual skinner boxes, which have often been criticized for exploiting well-known psychological tendencies to get people hooked on games without giving them anything “truly engaging” in return. While Blizzard may not have done that intentionally when they made the game, since it wasn’t as well-known as something to be wary of in video games at the time, it’s certainly sparked some discussions on ethical game design in the last decade or so.