Video Games & Mongolian Beef Noodles

Hey kids,

I had a student tell me recently about how after a number of nasty things happened to her, she disappeared into video games, and how I’d probably think it was silly but she just couldn’t handle her circumstances at the time.

I told her, “Well first, lemme say how great it is to know I’m talking to a fellow gamer.”

And I told her about what I’ve been playing recently, how I’ve actually found a couple online communities that enjoy what I do, and how even when we fail in a given run, we laugh, have a great time, and bond over it.

It was great.

And it got me thinking about video games in general.

I’ve written about them before.

It’s not just a great hobby, but a great form of stress relief, socializing, and creative problem solving.

It’s also a unique art form in that you directly interact with it. It’s not like watching a TV show or a movie, or even appreciating a painting. There’s your interpretation of those things, yes, and in that way it’s an interaction, but you as the consumer in those art mediums have no say in the art form itself; you don’t drive the story, you don’t get to solve the various problems, you don’t get to make decisions that impact the final outcome.

In video games, you do. Some more than others, but generally you do.

But even in games where no matter what you do, the ending is the same, you get to decide how you get there.

Take the classic Super Mario Bros. that came out 40 years ago. There’s only one ending to the game, but how you get there, how you problem solve your way through it, how you figure out what works for you is all up to you.

And how you do so is a fun, interactive way to express yourself.

My student seemed to feel a lot of shame in spending so much time in games. While that’s always possible, it’s no worse than spending too much time reading books, or too much time binge-watching TV series, or movies, or anything else.

I personally don’t get NASCAR, but hey man, you watch all the NASCAR you want, you consume all the NASCAR analysis you want, you listen to all the NASCAR podcasts you want. It’s not for me, but I don’t care; I want you to enjoy it if that’s your thing.

But book-reading, TV-watching, and NASCAR (or any sports for that matter) don’t get the shaming that video games get, even though games are bigger than the goddamn film industry.

I can’t tell you how many times I see people on the right express the sentiment, “If you’re a man and you play video games, you’re not a man, you’re a child,” and I’m like Jesus Christ, guys, you really need to pump the brakes on this video game shaming, because a hell of a lot of young men and middle-aged men on your side love the Call of Duty series (I don’t, but hey, like NASCAR, you blow that shit up in Call of Duty, you king).

It feels mostly like a right-leaning thing for me, because I’ve seen so much moralizing over it on the right that I haven’t seen from the left.

Anyway, I wanted to convey to my student that video games are fine. There’s the creative problem solving, there’s the social aspect to it, there’s the stress relief, and there’s the fun. You can arguably get all of this by joining a recreational softball league, but then someone like me thinks, “Yeah, but that means going outside and getting fresh air (pollen overdose), and beating demons to death in Elden Ring co-op would just be so much more fun.”

Of course there’s always the over-indulgence.

“Yeah, he just plays video games all day.”

“Yeah, he just watches TV all day.”

“Yeah, he just drinks whiskey all day.”

Of course that happens, but no one begrudges anyone for sitting down with a glass of wine at night and watching a movie, or watching a couple episodes of a show.

Same should be true of games.

Then again, games are no different from other mediums in that sense. Eventually the generational change of the guard will happen, and no one will think twice about anyone playing a game as an adult.

There will always be some people who don’t catch on, and no worries, man.

“I don’t play video games.”

“I don’t watch sports.”

“I don’t have sex on the first date.”

All of these sentiments are fine. Not everything works for everyone.

I think, generally, you should consume what media and art forms you want, and shouldn’t be shamed for it, and if anyone does shame you for it, you can dismiss their opinion.

Besides, I think all this video game shaming that I see is feel-good moralism; I look down on people who enjoy this thing that I don’t understand, therefore I am better.

What other kind of moralism is there, kids?

Anyway, all this talk of consuming media has made me hungry, and I’m about to consume a metric ton of Mongolian Beef Noodles.

Here’s how you make them.

Ingredients:
-1/2 pound spaghetti
-1 pound ground beef (lean is fine)
-all the garlic, all the ginger
-2 tablespoons of brown sugar
-1/4 low-sodium soy sauce
-tomato paste (use your own judgment)
-1/2 to 3/4 cup broth of your choice
-1 tablespoon vinegar (your choice of the type)
-1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed in 2 tablespoons water
-1 green onion, chopped up
-layu to your desire (chili oil to your desire)

Method:
-start boiling water for spaghetti, boil spaghetti as appropriate, drain (you do this while doing everything else that follows)
-cook beef
-add garlic and ginger and everything else (except green onion) to beef
-throw spaghetti into beef mix
-stir until spaghetti has observed as much as it will of beef sauce mix
-add fresh green onion at the end
-add anything else you might want, like parmesan or shredded cheese, who cares, this is your Mongolian Beef Noodles, kids