The Effects of Video Games

Found a paper I wrote a little while ago.

The Effects of Video Games

When was the last time you have played a video game? If you have played Mario, Halo, Madden, or Tetris you have been influenced by the music, the graphics, story, and even the graphic design. Interactive media has taken over the entertainment industry. Kids aren’t the only ones playing games today either, adults are too. Due to the media coverage of video games, they are being condemned. People now think, "Are games going to hurt me?" "Are my children affected?” “I've heard they are violent." "I'm really not into video games; none of them really interest me." Being an avid video game player and a video game designer, I know a lot of the answers to these questions and statements. Video games may be looked down upon by the mass media because of many negative effects, but video games have just as many positive effects. 

Most "gamers" (those who play video games) from the turn of the century were eight to fourteen years old according to Michael Brody in his article, "Playing With Death." In a summary of "Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy," Dudley Barlow states that most children in the 8th and 9th grade spend more and more time playing video games. Girls of this age group play around 5 hours per week and boys play around 13 hours per week (Barlow). Around this time of growth for a child, the child has a "transitional space" in which a child finds his or her self or purpose (Brody). In this transitional period children are filling this time with video games (Brody).

Games like Halo, Final Fantasy, Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid, and Call of Duty are all very popular games among children as well as adults. All of these games have astoundingly realistic graphics and unreal fantasy settings. It is hard to picture why anyone would not be attracted to such fantastic wonders. Though these games are popular with children they are all filled with violence, blood, gore, and negative portrayals of women. A study in 1996 that says popular games among children were mostly violent (Barlow). In most games women are rarely the main character, but objects of desire like princesses in castles or seductresses (Brody). In games like Counter Strike, Halo, Gears of War, and other popular shooters, the main objective is to kill.

Violence is in 80 percent of games (Brody). This percentage of video games cause physical and mental symptoms related to aggression (Barlow). According to an article from BBC News, some effects are "auditory hallucinations, repetitive strain injuries and obesity". High blood pressure and aggressiveness (Brody) are others that have been seen for short and extended periods of time (Barlow). Video games cause a lack of charity and a surge of aggression in those who play violent video games (Barlow). Psychologist, Jane Healy, says, "Habits of the mind become structures of the brain," inferring that playing violent video games give the players aggressive tendencies (Brody).

According to a study by Iowa and Kansas State Universities, video games are correlated to aggression, but the study couldn't find if aggression was related to the violence in the games or not (Aggressive Behavior). It was also found that the length of time someone plays a video game does not change the effects (Aggressive Behavior). People who play violent video games aren't necessarily violent either (Economist). When a criminal is known to be a gamer the media goes wild. If half of Americans play games, why is it such a big deal (Economist)? 

In the past rock and roll, movies, comics, and certain books were looked down upon. Just as video games are today, those forms of entertainment were accused of turning people into "devil worshippers" “and "drug addicts" (Economist). Even in 1816, waltzing was labeled as an infectious disease (Economist). In 2005, The Watchmen, a comic book, has made the Times All-Time 100 Novels list. Movies are now used for educational purposes and artistic expression. Now, people who read a lot of books are deemed "smart." If history repeats its self, video games will be just as accepted as books in the future. 

Even though some people view gamers as anti-social, video games teach good team working and social skills. I know from firsthand experience that video games promote team work. When playing Halo 3 online, I know that I have to constantly communicate with my team-mates about our location, enemy location, and strategy. I also know from my friends that play massive multi-player online games, such as World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI, teamwork is required to make it through any raid or mission due to the large groups of people involved. It is surreal hearing friends talking about having to get around language barriers just to finish a dungeon raid. Apparently Japanese speaking people do not like to be in the same party as an English speaking person, because of language and cultural barriers. To get around such an obstacle is a great learning experience on its own.

Will Wright, creator of The Sims, Sim City, and Spore wrote in his article “Dream Machines”, "Through trial and error, players build a model of the underlying game based on empirical evidence collected through play." Problem solving has evolved because of video games (Wright). Such new skills were taught to professionals by video games as kids. Their skills have not been used only on dragons, robots, and aliens, but used in their real lives (Lewis). Those professionals have probably played games that are devoted to problem solving, point and click games. 

George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars movies, founded Lucas Arts in 1982. Back in the 1980's and 1990's, when Lucas Arts did not only make games based on Star Wars, they made point and click adventures. They were one of the best companies at it. They made fun, funny, creative games like Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max, and Grim Fandango. These games were not just “fun and games” they were difficult and they required a lot of problem solving skills. Sierra also made the impossible to beat Kings Quest series. I remember when I played Kings Quest VI, I had to get a bunch of wall flowers (not a bunch of shy people, but shy flowers) to dance so I could capture a hole in the wall (yes a portable hole in the wall) so I could look inside a castle in which a princess was held captive. If those are not some advanced problem solving skills at work, I do not know what could be.

The dying genre of point and click games, does not typically have twitch game play that relies on the players’ hand-eye coordination to progress through the game. People who play fast paced action games not only get better at slaying Grunts in Halo 3, but they form an "increased visual attention capacity" for situations that require concentration (Chatham). This can be related to the lessened attention blink (Chatham). Attention blink is when gamers eyes are opened longer so he or she can keep focus on objects longer. While some skeptics say that hand-eye coordination skills learned in games can only be used in combat, other jobs also require such ability. For instance, surgeons who play games don't make as many mistakes as those who don't play games (Oak).

It is not typical to associate video games with the player becoming more and more creative, but in the gamer community creativity is a huge part of gaming. Will Wright has said, "Games aren't just fantasy worlds to explore; they actually amplify our powers of imagination." This statement especially applies to his game Sim City. Mr. Wright originally made a helicopter game called Raid on Bungling Bay, but he thought that creating little cities for the helicopter to fly around in was more fun than actually flying it. In turn, he made Sim City out of his personal level editor. Sim City is a game where the player can not only sustain a city's economy, but build the city from ground up. This single game has influenced other games like it called "sand box" games. Sand box games are basically games where the player can do what he or she wants to. Some such games are Crayon Physics, Gary's Mod, and Line Rider which leaves the game play up to the gamers' imagination.

Though games have all of these great aspects, the negative media coverage on video games are there for a reason. Most video games are violent and most video games are non-artistic. Jason Fagone from Esquire magazine says, "Game companies have spent so many years trying to make skulls explode complexly and water ripple prettily that they haven't invested any time in learning how to make games that are as emotionally dense as the best novels and films." There are actually a few people trying to make artistic creative games to help shape the way we look at games, one being Jason Rohrer. In his game Passage the player can have an experience driven by emotion like no other. Without giving away any spoilers, the player can learn a lesson about life and death the few minutes it takes to complete the game.

After evaluating all of the positive and negative reasons video games are simply a fun form of escapism. Video games are not passive media, so the interaction that gamers have with games make video games a better alternative to television (Oak). Computer games can be just as stimulating as sports. Research by Mark Griffiths, a professor of gambling studies at Nottingham Trent University, says that video games can distract patients with sickle cell disease who are going through chemotherapy (BBC). While computer games can be a healthy activity, it is best that they are played in moderation.

To conclude, video games may deserve the negative media coverage because of the content and aggression effects, but the same thing has happened to every new form of entertainment. Video games teach players about team work, sociability, problem solving, creativity, and good hand-eye coordination while providing a healthy alternative form of entertainment. There are plenty of video games in stores and for free on the Internet so I would advise you to look up whatever interests you, whether it be problem solving games, shooters, or creative things like Passage. Afterwards, you should look at game reviews to see if the games content best suits you. Lastly, play in moderation and have fun!

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Barlow, Dudly. "Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy." Education Digest. 72.6. Feb. 2007. Academic Search Complete. Ebsco. Sinclair Library. Dayton, OH. 29 April 2009. http://web.ebscohost.com.sinclair.ohionet.org. 

“Computer Game Play ‘Aids health’”. BBC News. 14 July 2005. 1 June 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/4684057.stm.

Brody, Michael. "Playing With Death." Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter, Brown University. November 2000. Academic Search Complete. Ebsco. Sinclair Library. Dayton, OH.  29 April 2009. http://web.ebscohost.com.sinclair.ohionet.org.

Chatham, Chris. “Video Games – Mental Exercise or Merely Brain Candy?”. Developing Intelligence – The Old Version. 10 July 2006. 31 May 2009. http://develinetl.blogspot.com/2006/07/video-games-mental-exercise-or- merely.html.

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Fagone, Jason. "The Video-Game Programmer Saving Our 21st-Century Souls." Esquire. 20 Nov. 2008. 20 May 2009. http://www.esquire.com/features/best-and-brightest- 2008/future-of-video-game-design-1208.

Lewis, George. ”Researchers Tout Positive Effects of Video Games”. MSNBC. 19 May 2005. 29 May 2009. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7912743.

Oak, Manali. “Psitive Effects of Video Games”. Buzzle.com. 27 May 2008. 29 May 2009. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/positive-effects-of-videogames.html.

Wright, Will. ”Dream Machines”. Wired. April 2006. 31 May 2009. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/wright.html.