Video Games Vs. The World

[Nayru]

What are peoples' opinions of the world's view on video games? I have written a teeny article about my opinion on this subject and I would like to hear your views on this topic as well. Enjoy!

I feel ashamed to live in a society which strives towards advances in technology yet is so backward when it comes to video games as a media. People who say that video games make potential serial killers out of children due to the violent content. If parents are so concerned with their child's wellbeing, they should not let their children play games unsuitable for their age. This is why there are age restrictions - to prevent under-agers buying games with mature content.
I also feel that the concerns with regards to the next generation being too involved in video games to engage in a social life overstated. People who play video games as a hobby are not automatically dubbed bat-like creatures that would vanish the moment sunlight touched their skin. Thanks to the release of the Wii and Xbox 360 Kinect, children and adults alike can engage in their favorite hobby and enjoy a healthy social life as well as engaging in some exercise. Video games, like any other media - books, films, etc. are made as an escape from reality. We engage in these medias in order to stimulate our imaginations, our entertainment and just plain enjoyment. I hope that someday, mankind as a whole will be able to finally accept video games and not used as a scapegoat.

Let me know your views!

 

[Daystar Clarion]

This isn't a new phenomenom.

It happened to TV, particular genres of music, the internet.

We're just the new kids, as soon as a new media appears, we'll be able to join the side ripping them a new one.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Once our generation replaces the old one, all of this will go away.

You gotta remember. Gaming is still a young medium. Even film had it's nay-sayers back in the day.

 

[RatRace123]

This isn't a new phenomenom.

It happened to TV, particular genres of music, the internet.

We're just the new kids, as soon as a new media appears, we'll be able to join the side ripping them a new one.

Whatever the kids like is evil and vile and corrupting the children, we should ban it.
Damn that's gonna be fun.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

This isn't a new phenomenom.

It happened to TV, particular genres of music, the internet.

We're just the new kids, as soon as a new media appears, we'll be able to join the side ripping them a new one.

Whatever the kids like is evil and vile and corrupting the children, we should ban it.
Damn that's gonna be fun.

Gotta' continue the vicious circle somehow right?

 

[Nayru]

This isn't a new phenomenom.

It happened to TV, particular genres of music, the internet.

We're just the new kids, as soon as a new media appears, we'll be able to join the side ripping them a new one.

Whatever the kids like is evil and vile and corrupting the children, we should ban it.
Damn that's gonna be fun.

Gotta' continue the vicious circle somehow right?

Haha! I like you're thinking Thanks for the posts!

 

[Daystar Clarion]

This isn't a new phenomenom.

It happened to TV, particular genres of music, the internet.

We're just the new kids, as soon as a new media appears, we'll be able to join the side ripping them a new one.

Whatever the kids like is evil and vile and corrupting the children, we should ban it.
Damn that's gonna be fun.

Gotta' continue the vicious circle somehow right?

Haha! I like you're thinking Thanks for the posts!

If one thing is certain, is that each generation will treat the generation after it with the same disdain they wished they weren't victim of by the generation before it.

 

[Sixcess]

I also feel that the concerns with regards to the next generation being too involved in video games to engage in a social life overstated. People who play video games as a hobby are not automatically dubbed bat-like creatures that would vanish the moment sunlight touched their skin. Thanks to the release of the Wii and Xbox 360 Kinect, children and adults alike can engage in their favorite hobby and enjoy a healthy social life as well as engaging in some exercise.

This line of reasoning, I feel, buys into and reinforces the basement-dweller stereotype. Consciously or otherwise you are drawing the conclusion that social games = good, single/online games = bad. It's basically stating that the most shallow party game on the Wii is of more value to society than the deepest, most thought provoking rpg, because the former is done with smiling and laughing friends and family in a brightly lit lounge (according to the advertising at least) and the latter is done by some solitary nerd hunched over a computer screen in, yes, his mom's basement.

It's the mentality of the herd, the same line of thinking that teaches people to shun the individual and the loner, because if they're not socialising there's obviously something wrong with them. The same line of reasoning that says it's better to go out and get blitzed with friends in a bar than it is to stay at home and play a video game, or for that matter read a book, or do anything else that involves sitting still in a quiet place, immersed in something good for a few hours.

The problem is not with us. The problem is not with gaming. The problem is with society as a whole clinging onto an outdated and obsolete concept of what is socially acceptable and what is not. One day that will change, I hope.

 

[Karma168]

What are peoples' opinions of the world's view on video games? I have written a teeny article about my opinion on this subject and I would like to hear your views on this topic as well. Enjoy!

I feel ashamed to live in a society which strives towards advances in technology yet is so backward when it comes to video games as a media. People who say that video games make potential serial killers out of children due to the violent content. If parents are so concerned with their child's wellbeing, they should not let their children play games unsuitable for their age. This is why there are age restrictions - to prevent under-agers buying games with mature content.
I also feel that the concerns with regards to the next generation being too involved in video games to engage in a social life overstated.

then we have the panorama style tv shows about gaming addiction. a recent one had 3 stories, 2 of which were about WoW. the show pretty much implied that if your child starts playing wow get a place in rehab booked.

yes some people go off the deep end and will become addicted but the vast majority of gamers know the limits and apart from an occasional 'no-life' session when they get a game they want to sink serious time into will lead a completely normal life. Unfortunately we never hear about these people and only hear of the 'WoW junkies' which makes parents think all gaming is like that.