It's tempting to demonstrate the value of playful activity within the framework of the very system that disapproves of such activity. In other words, I could leverage the values of the puritan work ethic system to prove that play and fun ultimately help make us more productive, which translates into the transcendent goal: more money.

Here's what that would look like: Games are good because they make learning fun. Being an engaged learner motivates me to learn more. Learning more makes me smarter. Being smarter makes me more capable; being more capable makes me more productive; being more productive makes me more valuable; being more valuable makes me more money.

Or another take: Games simulate cognitive processes such as identifying patterns, understanding complex systems, and chunking large amounts of information. Playing games enhances these cognitive abilities; enhanced cognition makes me a more capable learner. Learning more makes me smarter. Being smarter makes me more capable. See above.

I'm not suggesting these arguments are invalid; only that their validity relies on a set of desired outcomes driven by values that games should bear no responsibility to uphold. Maybe games can make us smarter and more productive, but games don't require such outcomes for validation. In fact, many of the best games provoke all sorts of wonderful, but decidedly unproductive, self-indulgent, and inefficient behaviors. Such games are like toys in the best, most delightful sense of that word.

There are some aspects of 'game shame' that I probably won't ever get over, and I can't imagine waxing rhapsodic to most of my fellow graduate students about my favorite titles or 'that time in such-and-such game when ...'. But I'll still look forward to the times when I do get to wax philosophic and the hour or two every night I get to escape into unabashed, unproductive, and totally self-indulgent play.

No more game shame [The Brainy Gamer]

School days were a waiting game, ticking the seconds off until we could dash home and play, our bags bulging with the triple prongs of spare Nintendo 64 controllers. Lunch breaks were spent reliving past conquests and planning for future marathon sessions. Our passion for Mario Kart 64 spawned a mythology. Rules and codes developed, seemingly arcane in their source, unwritten, but loudly voiced:

"YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT!"

And it's true. I wasn't. My elation at discovering a neat glitch on the expansive Wario Stadium track quickly turned into disappointment as my less nimble-thumbed friends informed me that, as long as they couldn't use a shortcut, I wouldn't be able to.

Sociologists already look at in-game behavior and norms, and I have no doubt anthropologists will someday be looking at how people gamed and why. It's an interesting part of games in general, not just video games.

You're Not Allowed To Do That. [The Escapist]

Lionhead Studios head and current Microserf Peter Molyneux is a smart man. Just take a look at his games: Populous, Black & White, Theme Park and The Movies. Don't they sound so smart?

Well, Peter wasn't always so clever. He used to be a dummy. And everyone used to call him a doofus, undermining the lad's self confidence—even to this day! Take a gander at what he tells Gamasutra:

I was always a failure. When I was at school, I was just an idiot. And everyone thought I was an idiot, and everyone would always say that I would never do anything or get anywhere. And because of that, I feel I've yet to do that game which really makes a difference—that really is the landmark game.

That means that I do push myself—I can look you in the eye and truly say that I'm trying to make Fable 2 the greatest game I will ever build. If you write that, it will get me in an enormous amount of trouble, but that is what I truly believe.

Peter Molyneux, former idiot makes good. Brian Ashcraft

Fable 2 Is Gonna Be Great, Says Pete [Gamasutra]

One time I had Ashcraft in a headlock and Florian was creeping up behind him with the screwdriver ( think this was when Reggie got promoted), and suddenly we hear the New Post alarm and Crecente swaggers in looking all fat and sassy. That scrubby bastard thinks he owns ALL the posts.

These are some old drawngs I did from about 4th grade when I was 10 years old. The story was for a class project and I was in a rush to make something so i threw that together fairly last minute. I'm still a procrastinator to this day haha. The Earthworm Jim and Sonic ones I did when I was 13. The rest I did when was was about 14 and discovered prismacolor pencils.

Well you know what, Crecente? You don't. You just don't.

I am king of the bashful pride associated with the great deeds of childhood. Blush, sweet readers, and send me your adorable legacy. I will put them up on the Kotaku fridge.

Wait! That's it!Eliza Gauger

Old Video Game Drawings by Aaron [Flickr]

Previously on Kotaku Fridgu:
Childhoods Spent Indoors: SJ Edition
Eric's Diary
Ben's Donkey Kong-Riddled Diary

Scott Jon Siegel here, from your pals over at Joystiq. Thought I'd contribute to the ol' nostalgia game. I am most definitely not above public humiliation for the sake of gamer pride: http://flickr.com/photos/testiclesgo/211938002/

To quote myself: "I had one of my parents take this after I beat Super Metroid for the first time (with 93% completion! I thought I was so awesome). I'm probably ten years old in this polaroid. Remember when strategy guides were cool?"

- Anyway, someone should create a Flickr group for these pics, or at least a new tag. As of right now, this photo is the only image on flickr tagged "nerdin it up." Think about that.

Thanks, SJ! And yes, that photo is probably the most archetypical portrayal of "nerd" I have ever seen.

We should probably start thinking about compiling these into a book of retrospectives about being raised by consoles and computers. Taking ideas for the title as of now. Empty NES Syndrome springs instantly to mind. Eliza Gauger

SJ, full size version [Flickr]

I was serious when I asked for more artifacts from your childhoods wasted on games, but only reader Eric answered the call:

I saw the story you posted about Ben's awesome second grade journal and it reminded me of my own journal from when I was 7. I'm sure when you said to send you more stuff like that, you didn't mean _exactly_ like it, but I couldn't resist sharing.

I don't envy today's 7 year olds. Back when I was a kid, games were easy to draw. Heck, I'm still proud of that very reasonable facsimile of Lolo. I don't know what I would've done if I had to illustrate "Today I played Splinter Cell," when I was 7.

At least, that was the only email I received. Sometimes stuff gets buried in tips or caught in spamtraps. Keep sending! As I told Eric by way of reply: sometimes it's easy for me to forget, among all the LOL and the "sony sux omg" that there are actual human beings reading Kotaku. Eliza Gauger

Eric's Diary [Flickr]

I love it when readers send me more substative stuff than links and lols. Ben C made a really good share today by sending it his childhood diary, replete with adorable scrawls of Donkey Kong and Moon Patrol. More people should send me stuff like this.

You won't believe me, but I stumbled across this a day or two before Ashcraft's 10-year-old-Wii-drawing-how-old-are-you-love-in post. It's terribly apropos. I was digging through a stash of old papers and drawings from when I was a kid and found my 2nd grade class journal. The first entry reads:

9-14-83
Today is Wednesday. We are in San Rafael, California. My birthday is in January. Does bob want to play today. I am very happy. I am good at swimming.

It's probably worth noting that my birthday is in June and I didn't know anyone named Bob, but the reason I sent this along was because of some of the drawings I discovered in the journal. Much to my mother's despair, I've had games on the brain for a long time. I was 7 years old when I drew this stuff. Now I'm 30.

Please note images of Moon Patrol and Donkey Kong, which I drew on the back cover with markers. I'm pretty sure I first saw these games at the local Chuck E. Cheese, back when Chuck knew from an arcade. There's also a shot of the front cover of the journal, a shot of that first entry, and Super Pickle, which isn't all that relevant, but it is Super Pickle.

It is indeed, Ben. Thank you.

My favorite parts are the princess saying "help" on the Kong image, and the mysterious Super Pickle caption that reads, "I'm going to make a pickle puncher." Eliza Gauger

Ben's Diary [Flickr]