Wii Warm Up: Gaming tantrums
To what extent do games make you lose your temper? While it may seem silly for an older youth/adult to lose their rag over a game, we recognize that our hobby can still be frustrating.
Do you loudly voice your annoyance, throw controllers about the place, or, like this blogger, mutter dark thoughts under your breath? I'd like to just let it all out in the same way as the kid above, but this sort of behavior is "frowned upon" once you hit 28.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kev888 @ Jan 1st 2009 11:15AM
That kid looks a lot like Spock!
I normally clench my hands and my jaw and vibrate my head when I'm frustrated at a game.
KingKRule @ Jan 1st 2009 11:40AM
I would throw all kinds of fits when i played street fighter 2 back in 92... Hell sometimes I still do, especially after being beat by Vega for the 30th time. I think we all have a right to throw alittle tantrums while playing games, as long as its all in good fun. When your serious about the tantrum then you have a problem
PowerLee @ Jan 1st 2009 12:09PM
Oh wow. I really wish i could backhand slap that kid...
Whenever i get frustrated, I just sigh and squint at the screen.
brbarnhart @ Jan 1st 2009 12:13PM
Even though I love it, no game frustrates me like Mario Kart. The fact that I can do everything right for the whole race, only to be rewarded with an unbelievable combo of attacks drives me out of my mind.
Thankfully I left throwing and breaking controllers behind in my high school (snes/genesis) days. That would be a costly habit now. Now I just mutter and curse. I usually have the mouth of a minister, but get me playing the right game and it will quickly turn in to the mouth of a truck driver
Anonymous @ Jan 1st 2009 1:48PM
Ugh, Mario Kart. I've probably thrown out more swear words and thrown more controllers from MK games than anything else. If I could punch the idiot who made the blue turtle shell, I would.
abandonedgarbage @ Jan 1st 2009 11:35PM
hahahah. that sounds like me!
when i was younger around 94, i would get SO mad and try to break the control. it was with the super nintendo. :D jeeze. i can't believe i did that. now i just say fakk!!! lol
Jacob @ Jan 1st 2009 12:32PM
Wow, the worst thing I've ever done when losing in a game was break the game. I kept on losing on Rainbow Road in Mario Kart DS (mirror mode), so I put my DS under a pillow and banged on it as hard as I could. When I opened my DS pack up, the whole top screen was shattered...But it still kinda worked though.
But later I beat the game with the broken DS and unlocked Rob. :) I still have that DS now, I keep it as a trophy.
Mr Khan @ Jan 1st 2009 12:42PM
Used to be a big problem with me. Horrible, horrible tantrums. I'll still curse a blue streak at the game when i have a mind, but only in moderation, and only when in appropriate company.
Some fights in Sonic Chronicles even in the past week got me going. Game has balancing problems
Influencia @ Jan 1st 2009 12:58PM
I really really got mad during Skate It on the Wii, and that damn Frisco Freakout Megaramp event
it almost got to the point I was about to throw my Wii-mote at the TV javelin style and swing my nunchuck like a chain weilding madman
thankfully I finally won that stupid event
and Mario Kart Wii ticks me off at times
Char6296 @ Jan 1st 2009 1:11PM
That kid is why (most) six-nine year olds disgrace the human population.
I grit my teeth, make an angry face and sigh angrily.
The most extreme cases involve me kicking the ground and swinging my arm as if I'm throwing whatever I'm playing to the floor, but with a tight grip, of course. I haven't ever actually thrown anything. I wouldn't be typing this right now if I had. Especially Tekken when I got demoted.
Roto13 @ Jan 1st 2009 1:21PM
Once when I was like 6 years old, I got really frustrated with a Game Boy game and smashed it against my head, breaking the screen. :( That was the only game system I had at the time, so it was heartbreaking. I learned my lesson.
Nowadays when a game frustrates me, I'll sigh or something when I die, or think to myself "Ok, this isn't fun any more" and turn it off. I don't usually get frustrated at games that are really hard in a fair way. I save my frustration for when games are hard because of poor game design or cheapness. Mega Man 9 doesn't bother me, for example. :P
Bainge @ Jan 1st 2009 1:57PM
Back in the day I broke a Gamecube controller playing Soul Calibur 2, I kicked my PS2 over during FFX and scratched the disk.
More recently, I broke my old TV because I kicked it after a roommate returned a kickoff in Madden and it rocked forward and fell 3 feet to the floor as I turned around. Now the corners are all green and purple. And I broke my PSP throwing it against the metal side of my bed, but it was under warranty so I got a whole brand new one. And there were constant keyboard smashes during DoTA and the Arena in WoW, I broke the back of my old keyboard that way.
Now I tend to just throw my controllers at a couch or hit the wall or something, it is a lot better on the budget.
Mr Khan @ Jan 2nd 2009 12:27PM
Broke a GameCube controller internally, or literally split it apart? Because it took me quite some time to dismantle a GC controller that had a busted analogue, and i was using a hammer
Bainge @ Jan 4th 2009 2:23PM
Internally, the A button just stopped working and I was quite dismayed after the fact cause it was the only controller I had that my dog hadn't chewed some part of. (The dog didn't last long in my house)
samfish @ Jan 1st 2009 2:01PM
Until I was about 15 or 16, I used to get pissed at games. Then I just sorta...stopped. It seemed pointless.
And then I bought a 360 this year and Dead Rising. I haven't swore at a game like that in over a decade! Most of my swearing was directed at the incredible stupid AI people, though, which often resulted in their deaths.
Mr Khan @ Jan 2nd 2009 12:31PM
Pretty much what happened to me. Maturity just sort of kicked in all at once, and then it stopped being as big of a problem. Still swearing time when it gets under my skin, but never as bad as it used to be
hvnlysoldr @ Jan 1st 2009 2:08PM
Only long ago when I was playing Nintendo hard games on the NES. And some early Genesis games. I would scream and stamp and drop the controller. Then I would try again or go to the bathroom first.
Papytendo @ Jan 1st 2009 2:44PM
And that's why losers invented the phrase "Don't hate the player, hate the game.".
Lucky @ Jan 1st 2009 2:57PM
The bite marks on my Gamecube and SNES controllers kind of suggest that I might lose my temper every now and then.
xodus666 @ Jan 1st 2009 3:05PM
i give up and never play the game again. i usually then sell it. The Metroid series is a good example.
Brandon @ Jan 1st 2009 3:28PM
i know someone who crys and tosses his controller across the room when he loses and hes 11, while im 12 and when i lose i just try again not cr y and toss things across the room.
PSIJunkie @ Jan 1st 2009 3:32PM
I throw out an occasional F-bomb here and there. But when the game gets too tedious and frusrating, I yell at the TV screen and often say "F*** the guy who thought running zombies in REmake would be a good idea!".
PSIJunkie @ Jan 1st 2009 3:34PM
Correction, the comment was meant to contain the word "things like" between say and ".
Jtenma @ Jan 1st 2009 3:34PM
Yeah, nowadays I always end up saying to myself I need to invest in a punching bag...it'll save money in the long-run.
Back in the days though I didn't know anything about "cheap Ai" or "poor game design" and things of that nature...So I would get really mad, but
igorponweed @ Jan 1st 2009 3:42PM
When I play Mega Man (Insert number here), I throw the controllere on to couch, nearly cuch it with my body weight, and then jump up and down, hitting my head against the couch.
halongw77 @ Jan 1st 2009 5:29PM
I agree PowerLee. I wish I could just smack that kid.
lol everybody commenting seems to be able to relate to this kid. wow lol
otis @ Jan 1st 2009 6:05PM
yea, that kid could definitely use a smack.
mega man pisses me off pretty good at times, but i think mario kart was the roughest to get through without throwing a controller. but with the wiimote jacket, you can give em a good throw without worrying about it breaking.
i take my gaming semi seriously but never end up getting mad enough to go beyond yelling at the tv. just makes me laugh at how mad i get at a game. then i feel that much better when i finally get past it.
Zacka537 @ Jan 1st 2009 6:39PM
When I'm playing Megaman, I usually find something to chew on before I play XD. Nah, I don't yell but I have those little grumbles.
Spike @ Jan 1st 2009 6:45PM
i broke one of my gamecube controllers during shadow the hedgehog, horrible game, it was a 3rd party controller, so it wasn't missed
herpman @ Jan 1st 2009 7:52PM
I love the "high and mighty" people who will say things like "I've never gotten mad in my entire life." or "I just squint." or "I just say damn, and move on."
I believe all that is such bullshit.
Gastrodon @ Jan 1st 2009 7:59PM
NINTENDO SIXTY-FOOOUUUR!!!
Red Confession @ Jan 1st 2009 8:43PM
I curse and growl when I get stuck, but I don't throw a tantrum or anything. If I'm really stuck I put it down and go back to it. I did almost break the TV once playing the original Kingdom Hearts. I must have done the second Riku fight 500 times, and I memorized that damn cut scene I couldn't skip by heart. Just when I was about to figure it out... My dad's friend's 5 year old kid beat it for me. I'm still humiliated to this day.
Anti-Villian @ Jan 1st 2009 10:30PM
Back in the day me and my sister would fight because my sister used this trick to winning which involved pushing me over. 8 year olds should be supervised on crash team racing xD
If I get frustrated at a game I turn it off and do something else, Herpman is so ignorant xD
J rod @ Jan 1st 2009 11:39PM
Funny this blog entry should be posted. I did this related video and posted it just 2 days ago...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUo9T1In2r4
Shadow @ Jan 1st 2009 11:56PM
Hmmm, my expression of frustration depends on the game really. Back in the days of street fighter II '92 i used to get so mad id almost snap the SNES controller in half. Recently, with smash bros, when I lose i once got so mad I punched the ground at full force, I couldnt play for a while after that... With Gears of war and COD4(I know they arent Nintendo), My Profanity level goes OVER 9000!!! The loudness and amount of profanity at my house is so bad its funny/not funny. Megaman, brought a similar emotion.
Moojuice @ Jan 2nd 2009 12:34AM
wow lol, that video was redeemed by the slowmo.
My buddy likes to launch the controller when he gets frustrated with games, and I have definitely wanted to sometimes, but I usually try to keep my cool. I will curse like a sailor if I feel taken advantage of by glitches or crappy game design, or if my ass is handed to me several times in a row (system link halo). If I get way too frustrated, I just turn it off.
I do remember playing Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine on my ex-gf's laptop one time, and I was learning how to play and trying to beat the computer. I kept on making stupid moves and losing, so I just started to sigh and show some signs of frustration. At that point my ex was like "Geez, settle down, it's only a game, blah blah blah." Of course, I wasn't really getting that pissed off at the game so I felt that her comment was unwarranted. I still resent her attitude, and by that I mean that I don't think it is a bad thing to get emotionally invested in a game as long as you restrain yourself if you get too pissed.
And then I dumped her. :)
Darkness=Fun @ Jan 2nd 2009 7:05AM
I usually just grip really tightly on the Wiimote or chew on anything REALLY hard. I used to actually throw things (but never the system I was playing with :P)
@herpman:
I agree, I can guarantee that EVERYONE that's posted here has had a "tantrum" while playing video games.
MRB1G @ Jan 2nd 2009 9:10AM
When I was younger I broke my N64 rumble pack by throwing the controller on the floor whenever i made the wrong jump in rainbow cruise in mario 64. that was my biggest rage. since then, 10 years on I have learned to calm down and just punch a pillow or squeeze the controller :-) - mind u i do throw my wiimote on the floor sometimes as it has a protective jacket :-P
Halifirien @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:29AM
I'll mutter a curse or two, but I don't do the tantrum thing. I had two buddies in high school who used to scream and throw controller, so having their unpleasant behavior as an example was enough to teach me to stay calm.
Having said that, I sometimes smile and raise my middle finger at the television when I kill a particularly difficult boss or clear a rough area.
Thanatos @ Jan 2nd 2009 10:33AM
Usually i grit my teeth or grip the controller really hard. there was one time when i almost threw the controller into the tv, Original Smash Brothers trying to get JigglyPuffs Smash the Targets so i could get 100% on everything. Still pisses me off and i still hate JigglyPuff for it.
Cleveland @ Jan 2nd 2009 11:44AM
I drop the F-bomb and scream about how bad the design is loud enough so my roommates hear hoping they come and look at how awesome I am at games.
SaraAB87 @ Jan 2nd 2009 1:08PM
Wow, that kid needs to be smacked, wonder what game he was playing. So much for trying to keep your kids quiet by giving them a gameboy.
Also I don't break my controllers because if I did I would have to pay for a new one myself, thats how it is when you get to be an adult. Paying for a new controller would hurt more than getting frustrated at some stupid game. When you pay for your own stuff you treat it like gold.
Pill @ Jan 2nd 2009 4:12PM
If I get frustrated I'll probably swear and then laugh at myself immediately afterwards. Why play a game if you are getting upset over it?
The sad thing is, my 24 year old brother still throws hissy fits like this when he plays video games, it easily the most childish thing I have ever seen. I literally have to scold him just to make sure he doesn't start snapping any of my wiimotes.
Danny @ Jan 2nd 2009 4:23PM
Kid needs to chill, it's a gameboy.
Tomato @ Jan 3rd 2009 9:43AM
I'll admit that I'll get pretty annoyed if I lose in brawl, mostly due to the fact that when I play with my friends they think its a fun idea to gang up on me. Don't even get me started on Soul Calibur.
Basil St. Cecil @ Jan 11th 2009 7:12PM
I got very angry at the DS "game" "Brain Age 2" last week, after it registered my answer to "5+4" as "0", at which point I sarcastically yelled at my DS that "Yeah, I REALLY thought that 5+4=0".
I'm sure there's something ironic about being reduced to a raving idiot whilst trying to make myself smarter.
B St. C