What If All Video Games Were Banned.

What If All Video Games Were Banned.

you bought yourself a new game that was on sale on monday and can't wait to try it out as soon as the clock strikes 5 pm you're out of the office and heading straight home while walking down the street you check the feet on your smartphone and something attracts your attention breaking news the headline says video games proven to be dangerous and the rest of the article's name is hidden but you shrug it off as another hype-seeking tabloid you come home take a shower and make a quick dinner then you turn on your pc and double click the new games icon in anticipation nothing happens a couple of minutes pass with no sign of the game launching so you double click it again still nothing okay seems like you'll have to reinstall it you open the launcher and that's where the news catches up with you on the familiar gray and black background there's a huge banner saying please read game ban in effect you click on the banner and find out that this week very disturbing study results have been confirmed and video games have been proven dangerous for public health with this in mind gaming services worldwide have been put on hold until further notice any already installed games won't launch since they require connection with the cloud services in short no video games are allowed for an indefinite amount of time with nothing left to do you go to bed early in a grumpy mood two months later the video game ban has taken quite a toll on millions of people around the world the first to feel its effects were obviously game developers and publishers within the first month most of them closed and thousands of people lost their jobs some got new ones since other spheres of i.t and design needed their talents while others weren't so lucky and had to change their profile entirely pc and game console manufacturers didn't take the ban lightly either gaming was a flourishing business bringing them billions of dollars every year the hardest hit was perhaps on the graphics cards manufacturers for years they've been upgrading their devices to suit the gamers needs and now their only customers were graphics and video designers game console developers were huge consortiums anyways so despite losing a sizable part of their businesses they stayed afloat one major japanese company for example returned to its roots and began making profit from card and board games once again next to go down were streamers and youtube content creators many of them were monetizing their streams and playthroughs and without even older games to play they had to shut down their channels cyber athletes and tournament organizers suddenly found themselves without the thing they did best the most resourceful ones though found other niches for themselves some began making movie and tv show reviews while others went into beauty vlogging crazy life hacks or simply found more regular jobs offline and finally there were simple gamers people like you and me who just wanted to enjoy a little playtime when they had a free hour or two modders had to abandon their favorite hobby and find something new to indulge in philanthropy or stamp collecting for example has experienced a boom unheard of since the 1980s thanks to the influx of bored former gamers board games were at their all-time high and tabletop rpgs enjoyed attention they'd never had before also people soon found out that oldies but goodies weren't banned either things like solitaire minesweeper or battleship were still allowed no surprise that in less than a month they gained renewed popularity and official tournaments started being held and broadcast both offline and online there were shadier deals too although the notorious study proved that all video games were harmful and called to ban them many people realized their older game consoles could be put to use now those who had their own ones blew dust from their cds and cartridges and enjoyed nostalgic times for the rest underground retro gaming became a thing quick-witted entrepreneurs opened up half-legal gaming clubs and invited people to play older consoles and arcade machines in cellars and deep within downtown alleys cds and cartridges as well as retro consoles themselves became a much sought-after rarity official stores obviously stopped selling them much earlier in favor of new ones but after the ban second-hand sales skyrocketed before only avid collectors were eager to cough up hefty sums for some rare game or console edition now even ordinary people longing for their favorite pastime were ready to pay twice or even three times the money those things really cost at first even big digital markets like ebay allowed anyone to buy and sell gaming goods but soon such trading was banned too and people went to smaller more discreet platforms all this time however the news was flying crazy around the topic there were wild speculations about the origins and methods of the study heated discussions were held both at night shows and in the prime time on tv and the internet some experts argued that the ban was a hasty decision that required thorough examination others were firm believers that games should have been banned long ago lots of parents of teenagers rejoiced when their kids were forced to stop playing online games their joy didn't last long though only about half the teenagers left without gaming turned to books and studying the other half unfortunately resorted to less civilized activities as a result parents of those kids signed a petition to lift the ban which gained huge popularity very quickly tensions were rising and after another month it became obvious that the world wouldn't ever be the same anymore clandestine gaming club network was growing giving trouble to the police who couldn't find and close them all state-of-the-art computer parts rapidly fell in price and newest game consoles were hastily repurposed and sold for a fraction of their cost as media stations experts were starting to talk about another great economic crisis but then a news flash appeared it said that a small team of developers made a game that was actually beneficial for health it was soon recognized worldwide and a new round of discussions began a novel approach was born and it was literally a game changer it gave rise to a new era of video gaming and after another half year companies both small and large started opening again things began looking up once more until year 2022 it's friday at last and you can't wait to go home and play that new game your favorite developer has finally launched you go out of the office and on your way home you scroll the feed on your smartphone a piece of news grabs your attention almost immediately breaking news it says action movies prove deteriorating for health and you think a moment of opening the article but then decide not to after all your new game is waiting for you at home and that's what matters to you now.

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