Videogames-Good or bad? You can find video games everywhere nowadays; they are in nearly every child's home in one way or another, you can find them on mobiles, arcades, Digital TV, portable games consoles and of course normal games consoles. So, is this a good thing or not? The history of video games dates back to the 1970's, where a man named Nolan Bushnell developed an arcade video game called 'Computer Space'. It had many technological innovations, but the game play was confusing and the game didn't hit big in the market audience. However, from the profit he made on it, he left his previous company, Nutting Associates and formed Atari Inc. Here he developed a game along with Alan Alcorn, which became the most revolutionary game in gaming history. The game was called 'Pong' and it involved two vertical lines on opposite sides of a net that could bounce back a moving dot. As simple as it was, the game became an instant success when it was placed in a local gas station. As a matter of fact, the arcade machine seized to operate due to the great load of money inside it! Throughout the years many more games were developed, but it wasn't until 1981, that Nintendo became a competitor. Nintendo's first game was 'Donkey Kong' and was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, "One of the greatest game creators in gaming history". The object of this game was to control a 'jump' man character that had to rescue a girl from a giant ape. Later on, the 'jump' man was to be named Mario, the most successful and famous game character ever invented! Bad Points Video games can affect many different skills. E.g. sports, music and art. Performance in school can be affected if homework and reading are neglected. If played constantly, video games can stop important social interactions between
family and friends. The only reason they may want to talk to friends is to find out about 'Secret passage ways' and about levels. This may result in lack of skills in speech which can lead to nervousness/shyness in later life. Some children may be liable to have epileptic fits. Although this can be overcome by simply wearing an eye patch over one eye. Good Points Many computer games encourage hand-eye co-ordination. They are a healthy way to release stress and anger accumulated over the day. They set problems to which children have to find solutions - this is training ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
family and friends. The only reason they may want to talk to friends is to find out about 'Secret passage ways' and about levels. This may result in lack of skills in speech which can lead to nervousness/shyness in later life. Some children may be liable to have epileptic fits. Although this can be overcome by simply wearing an eye patch over one eye. Good Points Many computer games encourage hand-eye co-ordination. They are a healthy way to release stress and anger accumulated over the day. They set problems to which children have to find solutions - this is training for later life. They're JUST GAMES! Games vs. TV Video games promote attention to details, (such as clues, memorising, sequencing and using strategies. They improve visual perception (spatial awareness) They are interactive, so children feel more in control. Many children today own video games such as Playstation 2's and Xbox's, and play on them regularly. This can lead to such things as bad school grades and marks, lack of social skills and bad behaviour. Also, reading and writing skills can also be affected in a negative way. It can also lead to a serious medical problem (Epilepsy - in recent years many teens have died as a result of photosensitive epilepsy. Recent studies show that 10-15% of girls are at risk). Children often play on their consoles all their spare time, although some have time restrictions, many children stop going out with friends etc. to play computer games, resulting in lack of social competence. Children end up with bad speaking skills and language skills. Game manufacturers say that this is simply not true and that it is a proven fact that people who play games are more likely to play with friends and family than by themselves. Some say that their kids often get addicted and get restless if they go for a long time without playing video games - some even get restless after short breaks from playing! This addictive factor of video games has earned them the name 'Kiddy Cocaine,' Children can spend up to 25+hours a week playing video games - resulting in bad grades and late, often untidy homework. This reflects on later life as bad test results result in meagre job conditions. Video game manufacturers say that this problem can be solved by 'stricter parenting' and parents should set limits such as 'only one hour per day' or 'only after homework is completed' etc. They also say that video games should not be the only thing blamed because of bad work, as after school activities such as basketball and other clubs can be blamed. After all, over-dedicating time to anything can lead to bad grades similar to over-dedicating time to video games, if not worse. But some psychologists say that video games are a good thing as they improve hand eye co-ordination. The idea of increase in violence attached with the rise in popularity in Video games is also suggested. Many people think that video games are a hazard to children nowadays. Rise in violence and aggression in video games are often linked due to the fact that most video games are "shoot 'em up's" or FSP's (First Person Shooters), where you have to blow aliens apart in a far off planet, or defend England from Nazi's etc. you don't find too many games with butterfly's and pretty white rabbits. 'Prolonged exposure can result to aggressiveness' - this is what parents say, along with psychologists. They say that video games have 'great potential' if they can be used to teach. They back up the hypothesis that games are linked with violence by referring to the Columbine High School incident in America, where two teenagers shot many teachers, pupils and finally committing suicide, the killers' favourite hobby? Playing 'Doom', an aggressive FSP, in which the objective is to kill aliens, on their PC's. Game manufacturer's retaliated to this comment by saying that video games are a safe way to release one's anger and stress, they also say that 'Violent people buy violent games!' - which is true, someone who is violent by nature is likely to buy a violent video game such as 'Dead Or Alive' - an aggressive 'beat' em up', whereas someone who is generally calm would not - they'd rather pick up 'platform games' such as 'Spyro' - in which the main character is a purple/pink dragon. Game manufacturers have now started putting on ratings such as 3+, 11+, 15+ and 18+, but these ratings are rarely followed by shop assistants. So, many younger children can buy 15 and 18 rated games, also, parents tend to buy games for their children so they can override the ratings, suggesting violence is due to lack of care from parents buying video games. Even though there is a presence of violence in video games, studies have comparatively shown that video games can prove to have positive outcomes and effects. One benefit and use that of physical rehabilitation, such as the patients recovering from hand treatment. More commonly though proponents of video games suggest that video games could be a friendly way to introduce children to computers, improving hand-eye co-ordination and attention to detail. This benefits them as they become detailed thinkers and puzzle solvers. This benefit has also been taken advantage of successfully in the armed forces; the armed forces want their soldiers to pay more attention to details and have found that video games offer this benefit in a unique way - they actually involve the soldiers, rather than watching videos - they are interactive. Peer pressure is also an effect of video games, people that have video games often talk to friends about the game, and the few friends that don't have the game feel left out and have to ask their parents for the game. The price of video games is also a major issue, parents nowadays have to cough up around £150 for a games console - and that's without any games, and the games alone can cost up to £40 - pretty pricey for a toy! Apart from violence, parents believe that racism and sexism are also promoted. For example, in many games, the 'baddies' or villains are always black or brown (sometimes green!). They say that this promotes racist behaviour as it connects black/brown people to villains/'baddies'. Also, a recent game (HITMAN 2) has a level where you have to shoot up Gurdwara - a Sikh place of worship. Game manufacturers say that this is not true and that the only reason that villains are black/brown/(green) is that they stand out and allows players to differentiate from allies. Parents and Teachers say that sexism is an issue in games because female characters portray women as damsels in distress or frail princesses in need of rescue, giving boys the image that girls are weak and can only be housewives etc. Rarely are there female heroines is what they say, but creators reply and say that there are plenty of female heroines e.g. Buffy, Metroid, Dark Angel, Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider. But parents say that these games characters are 'thin and beautiful', causing low self-esteem, girls will try to be skinny, in serious causes, leading to anorexia. Video games will of course continue to change as the years are added on, but the effects of Video games stand clear and untouched. The future holds much potential in store for this great leisure-type technology such as online gaming (You can play anyone in the world at any time) and downloadable content (extra levels and characters), and whether or not the good and bad of video games is addressed later is a controversial issue. Although we'll just have to see what the future holds in store. . .
