For decades people have
used the media as a scapegoat when it comes to finding reasons for misbehavior in
teenagers and children. While it is true that some games (such as Grand Theft
Auto V) exist solely for entertainment purposes and are extremely violent in
content and nature, these types of games are not meant for people under
seventeen anyways and most of the blame lies with the parents for blatantly
ignoring the video game rating system (games rated M for mature should never be purchased for anyone under seventeen years of age).
Yet, due to ignorance, misinformation and misconceptions, the video games
themselves are unnecessarily demonized. The truth
however is that, while not all video games necessarily fall under this category,
many video games—including some of the more violent ones—can be and are
beneficial in many differing ways.
One of the most popular genres of video games is the
First Person Shooter (FPS). FPS games, as the name implies, present the player
with a camera angle from the perception of the character they are controlling,
thus creating a more realistic scenario. The player has more limited visibility
compared to that of third-person games where the camera floats behind the
character the player is controlling and they can see more around them. This
requires the player’s cognitive reflexes to be utilized more often. FPS games
require a more heightened level of alertness due to the limited field of
vision. Players must be able to focus on their surroundings so as not to become
an easy target for enemies that may be lurking nearby. The player can only
really see what is in front of them and therefore has to use their peripheral
to pay attention to events happening in other areas of the game. This leads to
a higher spatial resolution in visual processing, a more accurate attention
allocation and enhanced mental rotation abilities. Due to games like this,
gamers are able to utilize their neural resources more efficiently, which
basically means that their brains don’t have to work as hard at problem solving
as those of non-gamers.
When it comes to video games, there’s no shortage of
puzzles. It’s actually very commonplace in today’s video games for developers
to place some kind of brain teasing dilemma in the player’s path. Even action oriented
games such as God of War contain
sections that require the player to overcome some form of mind bending obstacle
using a complex mixture of levels, movable blocks, falling platforms, rotating
blades, balance beams and more. While sometimes the puzzles can be as simple as
a sliding puzzle or memory matching, often times they are more complex and
require high levels of logic and/or math. Some games were designed specifically
for cognitive reasons; as Daphne Bavelier and Richard J. Davidson note in their
article Games to do you good:
Because gaming is clearly here to
stay, some scientists are asking how to channel people’s love of screen time
towards positive effects on the brain and behaviour [sic] by designing video
games specifically intended to train particular aspects of behavior and brain
function. One game, for example, aims to treat depression by introducing
cognitive behavioural [sic] therapy while users fight off negative thoughts in
a fantasy world. (Daphne Bavelier and Richard J. Davidson 425).
Many games will present
the player with difficult puzzles during intense situations (such as with a
time limit or while being shot at). This forces the player to use quick puzzle
solving skills under pressure and can be very beneficial for when faced with
equally tasking obstacles in real life situations. There are also many games
where the core gameplay is mainly focused around puzzle solving. A lot of the “point
and click” Nancy Drew type adventure games usual have a plot revolving around a
crime or murder mystery that challenges plays with both puzzles and problem solving skills.
Believe it or not, video games can bring out our
emotional side. Many games these days are well written and could very well be mistaken
for an interactive movie at times. A lot of naysayers will attempt to sully
this concept by insisting that showing emotion towards, or caring for a bunch
of zeroes and ones is folly. However, this is far from the case. Video game
developers hire writers with movie-script level writing expertise to ensure
their games have stories that are deep, intriguing, complex and engaging, with characters
that are memorable, interesting, easily to get emotionally attached to and feel
almost real, not like they’re just some robot in a fantasy world. On this same
note, a lot of developers have included in their games, a feature that leaves
much of the story in the player’s hands. In certain games players are faced
with situations where they must make a choice, and most of the time this is not
an easy choice to make. They are often choices that are morally difficult and
have extreme consequences one way or the other. While it’s highly unlikely that
the player will ever be faced with a situation where they have to choose
whether or not to let their close friend sacrifice themselves to save a whole
species, these simulated experiences can help prepare players for difficult
decision making situations when faced with them in real life by giving them
experience with difficult decision making.
While it’s true that video games are almost always based
entirely in fantasy, a lot of them use historically accurate people, places,
and events within the fantasy. There’s a dash of non-fiction mixed in with the
fiction. Take Assassin’s Creed for
example. The main plot of the franchise is that you’re a man named Desmond
Miles who has been kidnapped by this company named Abstergo. They force you
into this machine known as the Animus which is basically an extremely advanced
virtual reality machine that lets you relive the memories of your ancestors as
if you were actually there. All of Desmond’s ancestors are assassins, a group
of skilled and stealthy hit men whose sole purpose is to defeat the Templars
and protect the freedoms of the innocent civilians. During the franchise you
travel to varying time periods such as renascence Italy or colonial America and
you meet famous historic figures such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Blackbeard, King
Richard III and Cesare Borgia. In one of the games you take part in the Boston
Tea Party and the Battle of Bunker Hill. Other games have also had their fair
share of historically accurate events. Medal
of Honor, much like the movie Saving
Private Ryan opens with the boats approaching the beach during the invasion
of Normandy on June 6th, 1944. Many of the Call of Duty games take place during World War II. This is not to
say that gamers should gain all of their knowledge from video games, they are
after all fiction. However, players can take away certain aspects of the
history and education presented in these games and may even find that they
learned something.
On November 19th, 2006 Nintendo
released the Wii. It was an interesting concept for its time. Mainly because it
was the first system to really push motion controls. A lot of people wanted
nothing to do with it. The main purpose of video games is to help people unwind
and no one was looking forward to coming home from a long day of work or school
and flailing their arms about like an air traffic control man covered in
spiders. Well, regardless of all the initial hate and skepticism, the Wii
actually was very successful, and thus began a new era of exercise games and
motion control peripherals. Nintendo started pushing out games like WiiFit and Sports Resort to help encourage kids to stand up and move around
while playing video games in order to get exercise. Even games as simple as Zelda were better played while standing
as the player had to swing their arm around to swing Link’s sword. Years down
the road PlayStation introduced the PlayStation Move controller. It was
essentially a much improved Wiimote with more accurate 1:1 tracking technology
and 3D realistic movement. As another stab at Nintendo, PlayStation also
released their own sports game and started making the Move compatible with
other games such as High Velocity Bowling.
Games like Just Dance soon
followed and now PlayStation and Nintendo fans alike were getting off their
rears and being active (at least, some of us were). Xbox soon followed suit and
tried to one-up both competitors by releasing a motion control device without a controller. Thus, the Kinect
was born. Nothing more than a simple multi-lens camera, the Kinect allowed
players to control games with nothing more than movements and voice commands.
Players would also be able to control their entire Xbox 360 and pretend they’re
in Minority Report. Much like the
other two, Kinect also received sports games, party games, and games and
applications meant for exercise. “There is some evidence that people who regularly
play active video games can improve different components of their fitness,
particularly cardiovascular fitness.” (Mark, Rachel, and Ryan E. Rhodes 2). The
stereotype that video games make kids fat and lazy can be safely squashed.
There are plenty of ways to play video games and stay active, it’s all a matter
of taking initiative.
There will never be a shortage of people quick to place
the blame on inanimate objects every time something bad happens. The likes of
FOX News and certain religious organizations will always find ways to take
something good and attempt to make it look bad instead of focusing on the real issues. When a child acts out, or a
student commits a school setting, TV, movies and video games are not the first things people should look
at, rather they should be looking at factors such as mental health, upbringing,
and environment. While it’s true that children are impressionable, at certain
ages they should not have access to these things anyways. Twelve year old children
should not be playing Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto. There are ratings and guidelines for a reason. A
parent would not take their pre-teen to an R rated movie and therefore should
not buy them an M rated game. The problem is not the video games themselves, as
we’ve seen here they are more beneficial than anything, the problem is
ignorance and lack of caring. Parents either don’t know what the ratings mean
or do but don’t care because video games make a good babysitter for them. Video
games are technology, and it’s amazing to see how far we have come since the
days of Pong and Pac-Man. Rather than fearing the unknown, we should be embracing
the progression of society and the things we are capable of creating. Many
people, some young, some old, make a living off creating, playing, drawing,
selling, marketing, and even talking about the wide array of entertainment
known as video games. Sure, it’s not for everyone, but the people with a lack
of interest in it should at the very least be supportive of those whom enjoy it
and not pass harsh judgment for reasons that are clearly based on falsified
information.
Works
Cited
Bavelier, Daphne, and
Richard J. Davidson. "Brain Training: Games To Do You Good." Nature 494.7438 (2013): 425-426. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 May
2014.
Mark, Rachel, and Ryan
E. Rhodes. "Active Video Games: A Good Way To Exercise?." Wellspring 20.4 (2009): 1-4. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 May
2014.
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