I always ask myself, what kind of person would I be if virtual games was not my passion? Would I become a delinquent in school and later on flip burgers for the rest of my life, or would I become a star student that had the potential to start at a university from a full-ride scholarship? What if I become a depressed kid that makes the people I care about worry constantly, or what if I become an optimistic individual and make strong connections with my friends and family? It’s questions like these that I keep asking myself everyday. The thought of it envies my life without games, but at the same time frightens me. To tell myself that I could live a better life without video games, which has been my passion ever since an early age, is to ask …show more content…
It gave me a world full of action-pack adventure! There were so many player to socialize with. People who have common interests of playing the game, and some with the goal to be the best. There were challenging dungeons that throws endless amount of epic monsters ranging from hideous goblins to fierce and mighty dragons. And through each room of the dungeon, It gets harder and more difficult as we can’t run face first anymore. I have to come up with strategies, to communicate with each other of who needed what, and assign roles that everyone must follow. Eventually, my friends and I clear through every room, slay the boss, and claim not only our treasure, but the satisfaction of beating the dungeon in the end. Monsters are not the only enemy you have to worry about. Players with the intention to grief the game experience would do so by scamming, bullying, or even killing other players. I have experienced all three and it saddens me so that there are types of people in the world who would do this. But, as I quote my favorite line from Shakespeare 's Macbeth, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair…”. For every bad experience I gain a valuable lesson. I can transition the lessons I learn from the virtual world to the real
Despite criticisms of video games in the media and among much of the general population, video games have many positive aspects. Walton points out that much of mainstream press tries to put forth the opinion that video games are a plague upon young people (and sometimes even adults) today—blaming such diseases as diabetes and mental issues like sociopathic behavior on video games. Rarely are the positive aspects of games shown—increased hand-eye coordination, development of social problem solving skills, increased attention levels, better collaboration with other students and better grades. (2012)
The video game world is full of wonders, fantasy worlds, and even real life scenarios that we see on television. There are games based off of television shows, popular movies, and even comic book universes. In David Perry’s speech and presentation, “Are Video Games Better Than Life?” he brought up a lot of points about gaming both from its humble beginnings to where we are today. However, he made it clear that the discussion was to be about the video game world. Are video games better than reality? This is a hard question with various and diverse answers. It is something that people from just about all walks of life have an opinion about. Through the use of a media presentation, he showed the diverse evolution of games; how since 2008, they started to become more realistic despite the fantasy storylines and worlds. Even in our world, video games have found a way to make things more realistic from the comfort of your home and television. Video games such as, NBA 2K8, The Matrix, Half Life, and Need for Speed: Underground show that reality is merging steadily with the video game universe. It was also a relevant factor that he showed the effect of more realistic games and their evolution on an actual person. It was stunning to see this person, Michael Highland, talk about how he went from an outgoing, energetic child to an almost reclusive person addicted to video games. Still, where does that lead the question of what the effects of video game violence? Is it a therapeutic outlet that gamers use to vent daily frustrations or is it something detrimental that is warping the minds of our youth to commit violent crimes?
They help children find their identity. Michael Evan claims that “A range of issues covered in the research on video games and experience include the development of identity in children and learning; models and model-based thinking in science learning and the control of avatars for interacting with complex systems; the presence of distributed intelligence and cross-functional teams for learning in massive multiplayer online role-playing games; and situated meaning, that is, the ways in which games represent verbal meaning through images, actions, and dialog, not just other words and definitions” (“Youth And Video Games: Exploring Effects On Learning And Engagement,” 2013). Many video games require the player to work in a group and according to Evans, children form their sense of identity when they are placed in a multiplayer game and are required to use their thinking to come up with plans and not only that but they create their own avatar and choose who they want to be which is like a real life situation. You choose who you are going to be in life and video games set them up in that situation early on and helps form a child’s
The future is a mystery that human beings can’t figure out because the mindset ideal of the future. A step to get close to the future has been the revolution of technology. It has changed society individually and mentally for the reality for the future. However, technology has change entertainment in the manner of video games. Development to create games has been a phenomenal. Making beautiful digital graphics, wonderful story-lines, and human graphic characters that can talk to an individual through certain scenarios. Although video games are a great revolution for the future it has brought negative influence upon people of all ages in high problems leading into transition behaviors like addiction, violence, and signs of aggression.
There are several negative stereotypes associated with video games and those who play them; some of these may often hold true. However, there are plenty of learning opportunities in video games. While the direct purpose of some games is to educate or train, other games that do not directly have this purpose can still become a learning experience for the player. As Ntiedo Etuk, president of the educational video game company Tabula Digital said, “The traditional view of video games has been that they are distractions from the task of learning” (Electronic Education Report 1). Video games are an effective tool for learning and retaining skills both inside and outside the classroom environment. The basic cycle of game play--the introduction to the game, game play, collaboration, improvement of these between each round, and evaluation at the end of the game (Klievink and Janssen 159)--are nearly parallel to the traditional classroom learning cycle of reading a textbook or listening to a lecture, taking a quiz, studying, focusing on items missed on the quiz, and taking a test or exam. Within this cycle, there are many opportunities to develop and perfect both educational, life, and occupational skills.
Well, since I was a little boy, I have always loved video games. There was something about it that made me feel great. While I didn’t know what it was back then, I believe I have an answer now. It’s about the journey, the adventure of playing a video game. When you pick up a controller or log on to a PC game, you are entering a world of vast possibilities and endless adventures. I’ve had so much fun jumping into the world of a video game.The experience of doing so is unlike anything else. I also play video games for the connection that I get when playing with others. Whether it’s with friends or complete strangers, it can be a lot of fun to interact with others in a virtual world, competing or cooperating with them. It’s also about that first time experience playing a video game. It’s unlike anything else I have ever done in my life. Let’s take Destiny again for example. Destiny’s raids, the quests that I mentioned earlier, not only require a tremendous amount of teamwork and patience but also require a fair amount of skill, as these activities are some of the most difficult activities a player can attempt. Allow me to clarify even more. In Destiny’s raids, there is a boss battle at the end, a final showdown that will prove that our team can conquer anything. They also boast a ton of great loot to obtain at the end. So when our team has been attempting a boss encounter for hours to no avail, it
I have been playing video games for as long as I remember. I started by playing the original Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System with my older brother and sister. I’ve stayed up way past my bedtime in elementary school playing Pokemon on my Gameboy. I continue to play video games even today, from the Wii to the Xbox and even on my computer. Being this avid and long-time gamer, I became curious about the effects that video games have on people like me. And so, I did some research
Video games have been around about 50 years and they contribute a big part of the U.S. economy. People interact with video games every day throughout different ways, such as cell phone devices, computers, consoles or whatever which has a screen on it. In fact, it has always affected people’s lives. However, not so many people understand the benefits of video games. With video games, people can not only relieve themselves from stress and suffering, but it also improves people’s social experiences while they are exchanging and absorbing knowledge with other people; more than that, people can learn many other things from video games which can help them to achieve great things in lives.
In society’s current era of technological advancement, video games have gone a long way since they were first created. Video games in the twenty-first century are no longer just toys or junk in the lifestyles of the youth. They have become innovative inventions that not only entertain its users, but also help aid the people in both the academic field and in jobs. The influences that video games bring about in the culture of the youth today are, in fact, not the negative influences that most people think. Video games are actually this generation’s new medium for educating the youth. The information they learn are also mostly positive and useful things that they may apply in their future lives (Prensky 4). In a generation that revolves around technology and connectivity, developers and educators have already been able to produce fun and interesting games that can teach and train people. Video game developers and educators should continue to collaborate in order to create more positive, educational, and appealing games.
American educational philosopher John Dewey once said, “ Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” Education is the foundation of a permanent lifestyle. Parents should desire for their children to have educational stability to build upon. Any concerned parent should want nothing but the best for their child as they are well aware of the new forms of child entertainment. Since the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, children in the United States have become subject to a new type of entertainment: video gaming (Nickson, 2010). Video games have become a big part of the average American household. Parents have begun to wonder how video games are affecting their children’s lifestyles.
Video Games have been accused of making youth violent and aggressive, making people isolate themselves from society, and for lowering the attention span and the ability to concentrate in youth. These claims have yet to be supported by several well organized studies and have never been more than a correlation to any of these claims, and in fact have been disproven on several occasions. Adam Eichenbaum (2014), author contributing to the American Journal of Play, concluded a discussion on the research on video games say that “Today’s video games are much more than entertainment. They are also weapons in the fight against declining mental capacities in old age. They promote job-related skills. And they are a model of how to teach children complex and difficult tasks and abilities. As with any technology, video games are neither intrinsically good nor intrinsically bad.” (pg. 67) Video games are not the waste of time that they are accused of being, nor are they damping the development of today’s youth. If anything is to be said about video games is that in them lays a great potential for good; that video games serve as tools for people who want to make a change in society, whether the changes are positive or negative lie in the hands of those that choose to use video games as tools. These are not unrealistic or histrionic claims; video games, after all, are more than just
The experience of game play can be described as an activity in which the player is virtually embodied in the game world. Anyone who has experienced the world of gaming knows how the engaging experience can manifest itself with “sweaty palms and chills down the spine” (http://www.eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos/article/viewArticle/80/147) when coming face-to-face with alien creatures; or with the adrenaline rush we get when racing a high speed automobile head-to-head with a friend. Gaming is an excellent source of entertainment. It provides an opportunity for social growth, provides a meaningful form of exploring expression, and provides heightened sensitivity.
Games have long been besmirched by the idea that playing them makes a person socially undesirable, nerdy, fat, and lazy. The number of negative adjectives conjured up by gamings detractors to describe gamers is staggering. Even in the wake of the Columbine Massacre the media went to great lengths to correlate the gunmen’s horrible actions with the game Doom.(cite needed) When games are not being linked to violent actions they have generally been regarded as an “escapist waste of time” by those who don’t really enjoy playing them.(McGonigal) Indeed a prevalent and sweeping assessment amongst closed minded individuals is that games offer nothing to the individuals playing them. This negative assessment that paints games and the individuals that play them in a negative light could not be further from the truth.
Video game have been claimed as addictive, a waste of time, and a distraction. While this does apply to some people, others have found the benefits to playing video games. These benefits include simulating working environments, helping people escape working environments, and giving great experiences. Although these benefits seems to be beneficial, it still stands that video games are a waste of time in which other things can be more productive.
The advantage of playing online game is that it allows people to communicate to numerous numbers of others from different cultural backgrounds and countries. In the game, a gamer may want to exchange his item with someone. Therefore, he/she has to negotiate with others. Repetition of this negotiation can develop a gamer’s social skills. The disadvantage of online gaming is that spending most of free time in front of a monitor wills remove teenagers from their friends and society. Online games are not for entertainment purpose only.