Video games
A video game is an electronic game, which is played on a device such as a computer or a dedicated console. Video games can be used to spin complex narratives, or offer the player a new experience.
Violent video games are depicted as particularly addictive and harmful for teenage boys and young men. This, however, has little scientific support.
Contents
Nature of video games
Video games vary greatly in type and complexity, but all games are alike in that they translate player input (from a controller, mouse, keyboard, or motion sensor) into onscreen actions. Games are often stored on some sort of digital media - ROM cartridge, CD, DVD, flash memory chip, or even cassette tape for early computer games. Older or less expensive games sometimes used dedicated chips which were pre-programmed to play certain games only. In recent years, game developers have moved to digital distribution, allowing customers to purchase game licenses online, and download over the internet.This is often done through marketplaces such as Valve's Steam service, or Electronic Arts' Origin service, while consoles have their own digital distribution services.
Home consoles are classified by generation to indicate their relative power and date of release. The current major consoles (XBox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch) are considered the eighth generation. Handheld consoles are not generally put into generations due to their more irregular release schedules.
Various genres
Video games in the course of their existence have grown from the simple arcade-style games, and have become more detailed and separated from one another. Genres can now include first person shooters, racing, simulation, role-playing, sports, action, strategy, massively multiplayer online (MMO), puzzle, Sport simulation, and many others.[1][2] Even then, games can combine genres, such as Mass Effect (Role Playing and Third Person Shooting). The most popular genres tend to be shooters, action, and roleplaying games. Some video games are based on preexisting licenses, such as "Star Wars"
Popularity & Controversy
Games have risen in popularity over the years, as is shown in the rise of video games sales from the 1980s until today. This has brought with it a various amount of controversy as the video game industry continues to grow with its original player base.
Some claim that 2/3rds of videogamers are over 18 years old, but far more people are over that age and a much higher percentage of minors are videogamers.Only a third of videogamers are under 18</ref> Certain genres of games are becoming increasingly violent and offensive, attracting the attention of legislators in many states to protect the exploitation of children by them. Games such as Grand Theft Auto are very violent, sexually explicit, and feature criminal behavior. These games are rated "M 17+" for "Mature," but courts have stricken down laws preventing retailers from selling them to children, under an interpretation that the First Amendment protects offensive video games even for children.[3]
However, in 2011, the Supreme Court denied a ban on the sale of violent video games in California, claiming they were protected as they "qualify for First Amendment Protection" and pointing out that there has historically been no shortage of violent imagery in children's fairytales, classical literature, and comics. Writing for the majority, Justice Scalia pointed out that "disgust is not a valid basis for restricting expression", and continued that any effects of violent video games on children "are both small and indistinguishable from effects produced by other media".[4]
It has also been suggested that it is the role of parents to regulate what their children play, and that laws restricting video game vendors are an effort to replace parents' decisions with the government's decisions.[5][6]
Arguments against video game usage
Video games have been accused of being linked to murders by young people and other violence, stress-induced health problems (including unexpected heart attacks),[7] , obesity,[8] and sexual immorality. Video games has also been used as "murder simulators" by the American army, in order to desensitize young man, thus allowing soldiers to kill enemies more efficiently. [9]
Video game usage and excess weight
See also: Video game usage and excess weight and Obesity
Due to the sedentary lifestyle of many who abuse video games or play them for extremely long amounts of time, there is an absence of exercise - meaning addiction to video games can cause an increase in weight to unhealthy proportions.
The National Obesity Forum indicates:
“ | The figures highlighted by the "F as in Fat" annual report [Trust for America's Health 2007 Annual Report] were retrieved from the Data Resource Center on Child and Adolescent Health website. The analysis of these figures reveals a strong positive correlation between hours spent on TV/Video game play and the percentage of children classed as overweight per state. The state of Utah was acclaimed with the lowest percentage of children overweight, and was found to have the second lowest proportion of children spending 2 or more hours on TV/Video game play. The District of Columbia, found to have the highest percentage of overweight children, also had the highest percentage nationwide of children spending an incredible 4 hours plus in front of a screen.[11] | ” |
Slate reported in 2012:
“ | The American Academy of Pediatrics tells parents that children’s total entertainment media time should not exceed two hours daily. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, average kids watch at least twice that much television. They also spend more than an hour per day online and another hour on video games. These activities, collectively called “screen time,” are widely blamed for the tripling of obesity rates in children since the 1980s.[12] | ” |
The University of Texas at Austin declares:
“ | A study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin suggests that watching television is not associated with children’s weight, but playing electronic games may be—especially for girls.
“Children with higher weight status spent moderate amounts of time playing electronic games, while children with lower weight status spent either a little or a lot of time playing electronic games,” said Dr. Elizabeth A. Vandewater, who led the study published in the February issue of the Journal of Adolescence. Although the greater weight/video game link was found in this study with girls, she noted that future studies may reveal similar findings for boys. Either way, the findings could be significant considering how many American children play electronic games.[13] |
” |
The Pittsburg Gazette reports: "A 2010 study from the Eastern Ontario Research Institute found video games to blame, chiefly because children, boys especially, tend to eat more when they're playing them."[14]
Irreligion, video game usage and obesity
See also: Irreligion, video game usage and obesity and Atheism and obesity
Relevant Magazine reported about the journal article in The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion entitled No Other Gods Before Mario?: Game Preferences Among Atheistic and Religious Individuals:
“ | A new study of 228 college students found that while just about everyone prefers video games to regular board games (duh), those who claim no religion vastly prefer video games compared to the religious peers. It's a small study, but the director, Chris Burris, has an interesting hypothesis about why atheists prefer video games. Burris believes that atheists tend to be less good at "generating emotionally evocative internal simulations of experience." Simply put, he believes that religious people tend to be more imaginative, and are able to craft their own sense of play around simple games, while non-religious people tend to prefer the concrete rules afforded by video games.[15] | ” |
As far as the relationship between irreligion and obesity, please examine the articles below:
Exergaming
As far as "exergaming" (Video games which prompt the users to engage in physical activity), Slate reports:
“ | After three months, “there was no evidence that children receiving the active video games were more active in general or at any time,” the authors wrote. (The year before, a similar study in New Zealand had shown only minor improvement with active games; kids weighed just a pound less after six months of "exergaming".)[16] | ” |
Violence
Most of the controversy comes from the rising trend toward violence in video games, as pioneered by Doom, Quake, "Spring", and the Grand Theft Auto series.
Some people point out that violent video games cause violent behavior in children, which is untrue. The effects of violent video games on the developing psyches of children and adolescents vary greatly and of course depend on the mental stability of the subject in question.
Some claim that kids who don't play video games at all seem to show more violent tendencies. Of course, as expected, those who played violent video games for large amounts of time also showed violent tendencies; the study, however, claims that this is a "risk marker", not an actual cause.[17]
Multiple studies have shown a correlation between violent video games and increased levels of aggression, caused by playing some of the aforementioned video games.[18][19]
Arguments for video game usage
Video games have been suspected of giving otherwise liberal people some virtual conservative viewpoints.[20] They have also been shown to help people to become more attuned to their surroundings and increase coordination, and in the future may be used to treat people with visual problems and to train soldiers.[21]
While evidence is somewhat conflicting, some also say that video games keep the participants engaged and more mentally active than alternative entertainment, such as watching television.
Video Games & Society
As video games become more popular, their impact on society becomes ever more present. A prime example of this is the massive ad campaigns for the Halo series, as well as Grand Theft Auto. Advertising, merchandising, and even social pressures have changed in the ever-growing influence of video gaming.
See also
References
- ↑ https://www.idtech.com/blog/different-types-of-video-game-genres
- ↑ https://thoughtcatalog.com/jane-hurst/2015/02/12-types-of-computer-games-every-gamer-should-know-about/
- ↑ http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/148962.html
- ↑ BROWN, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA, ET AL. v. ENTERTAINMENT MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION ET AL.
- ↑ https://www.deseretnews.com/article/700150989/Violent-games-2-Its-parents-responsibility-to-monitor-what-kids-play.html
- ↑ https://segmentnext.com/2018/03/09/dear-parents-take-responsibility-kids-stop-blaming-video-games/
- ↑ Teenager dies from a video game addiction
- ↑ Childhood Obesity Department of Health and Human Services, retrieved Sept 18th 2011
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ TV Video Games and obesity
- ↑ TV Video Games and obesity
- ↑ Are TV and Video Games Making Kids Fat?
- ↑ Video games rather than TV may be linked to childhood obesity, University of Texas at Austin news
- ↑ TV, video games linked to obesity, Pittsburg Gazette
- ↑ Why Do Atheists Like Video Games More Than Religious People Do?, Relevant Magazine
- ↑ Are TV and Video Games Making Kids Fat?
- ↑ http://wii.qj.net/New-research-reveals-kids-who-don-t-play-videogames-at-all-are-more-at-risk-of-violent-tendencies/pg/49/aid/118505 New research reveals kids who don't play video games at all are more at risk of violent tendencies
- ↑ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/014616702237649
- ↑ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140197103000976
- ↑ http://kotaku.com/5764327/5764327/are-video-games-turning-liberals-into-virtual-conservatives
- ↑ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0528_030528_videogames.html
External links
- What They Play - the parent's guide to video games
- Left Behind Games - a Christian, family-friendly video game company
- Chapter Fourteen: Popular Culture–A Decadent Indulgence, The Epoch Times (from How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World).