A few years ago, I looked at Oprah’s website and read the summary of a show she did on computer games. (I’ve never actually “seen” one of her shows on television, but I’ve read about the shows on her site. Don’t ask… it’s too complicated to explain.) She was asking parents what they felt about their children playing computer games. Did gaming create aggressive or antisocial behaviour? Was there any redeeming behaviour that could be associated with this form of entertainment?

The only part of the show that I remember was a father saying his wife’s attitude of gaming being a complete waste of time, and Oprah and the audience’s somewhat sanctimonious rejection of the possibility that gaming might even encourage communication, was, in his opinion very wrong. He went on to explain that this whole women ritual of sitting down at a table with a nice cup of coffee and chatting about all-and-everything-in-between, might be fine for some, but for a lot of guys it just doesn’t work that way. He went on the recall all the hours he and his sons sat in front of the computer while one of them played a computer game, and how, yes, they would often discuss the strategy and going-ons of the game, but they would just as easily talk about other matters. And, occasionally, he says, they would Really Talk. And that one true pearl of a conversation made all those hours spent in each other’s company talking about the gaming details worth it.

Last week Tammy sent me this text in an email... (more).