Video Games In Society

 Video Games In Society

Video games are talked about all over the media , most of the time the media portrays video games as a bad habit that gives a negative affect on society , games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 were banned in many Asian countries as well as some European countries. However although it is true that video games can affect a persons actions and health, it is also true that video games can help to improve skills such as hand eye coordination, and problem solving ability's.


Separation from Reality

One of the most talked about negative affects which video games give are separation from reality, this is were someone becomes so absorbed into a game they don't take life seriously and basically think as they would if they were in a video game, shockingly this has lead to serious incidents such as theft, assaults, and even murder due to video games influences. one infamous case occurred in America in 2011 where a 17 year old teenage boy, shot and killed his mother due to her confiscating the FPS shooter Call Of Duty, this resulted in the teen killing his mother out of anger. Many incidents like this have been brought to the medias attention in frequent years and have gave influenced society in their negativity against video games.



Excess Playing times and the health affects

The media also have reported the concerns of excess playing times and the health effects it has on gamers, such effects include aggressive behavior caused by video primarily violent games such as the etc. grand theft auto series, and other gangster oriented games. other health problems include muscle pains caused by long periods of gaming, another way video games can affect a gamer is educationally many young gamers are leaving school under achieving due to students spending to much time playing video games rather than revising for school

"Results revealed that time spent playing games was related … to aggression and … to school competence."  In particular, violent games were directly related to attention problems and generally led to a greater decline in academic performance" -Quoted from HealthCentral.com


Most gamers also suffer from physical appearance damages caused by video games, most console gamers sit in hunched positions for long periods of time this can cause displacement and deformity in severe cases, lack of sleep also causes bags under the eyes due to eye strain at electronic displays. Other problems include lack of vitamin D which controls calcium levels which you need to keep bones and teeth healthy gamers fail to get vitamin D because most people get vitamin D from the sun, which most gamers do not see for the majority of the time.




Cost Of Playing Games

There is a price which comes with video games.Many gamers do not realize the effects constant gaming has on society and people you care about, Gamers who spend hours of their days playing games also affect other people such as family and friends, many children today spend most of their time playing video games instead of spending time with their family or going out with friends, this in turn affects them, it causes relationships to become more distant. there are several cases of marriages ending due to video games, 15% of divorces are because of video games. Video games can cause social problems in employment as well some heavy gamers fail to even arrive at work due to video games and their addiction. the cost of gaming comes with a price, literally gaming is financially damaging for some gamers, some gamers who play games such as Counter Strike where you can pay to buy skins and special items, can be damaging as gamers can spend up to hundred of pounds paying for these items. Also with the new consoles entry to the gaming market, company's have increased the price of games on next gen consoles than previous consoles game prices.


Educational
Over recent years there have been evidence which supports that video games do have an educational benefit. Some games in the market are not damaging the minds of players like the media will have you believe. Some games are actually educational, even the violent games can be educational. it has already been proven that people who play video games have better hand eye co-ordination and reflexes. such games as Assassins Creed II a action adventure game, set in Italy during the renaissance, I myself who have played the game have learned things that I had never known before. set in the renaissance era of Italy in the early 1500s, you play as a Assassin who will seek out vengeance to the people who killed his family, during the game you will see historical landmarks such as Giotto's Campanile located in Florence which you can interact with and free climb up. During the game you will also fights the infamous Borgia family of Italy however there is a mystical twist added to the game. This is a prime example of how a violent game can also be educational.



Psychological factor of games
Psychological factors of the game are what effects the player mentally, this can be mean two things. Developers use things such as sound, high scoring, and competitiveness, to affect the player mentally.
Game developers use the sound to give immersive feel and sometimes to even scare the player. the use of sound to affect the player mentally is mostly seen in horror games. most horror games make good use of sound, just like most horror movies use sound to keep the viewer tense and scared. One way sound is used in horror games is with silence, most people who play a horror game know to expect something that will scare them, however when the scene in the game is completely silent and only a few silent sounds are used to keep the player on their feet, silence can also be used as jump scares in game just like in movies, where there is no sound then all of sudden there will be a loud event, such as a door slamming or a scream, sounds affect the player more when the user is wearing headphones. An example of when sound is used to affect the player is in the horror game amnesia, throughout the game it is mostly silent with the only sound being your footsteps and old record disc music, sometimes through the game the music may stop suddenly or quietly fade out, making the player think something is going to happen, in some moments door slams or other foot steps can be heard and then stop when you stand still to listen this gives the player minor paranoia. Another way in which the player can psychologically be affected is by high scoring and competitiveness, this is most often seen in FPS shooters, players often compete against each other for the best weapons and unlocks or for the rank as a status, an example of this is call of duty many players in call of duty strive to reach the highest level possible. this is psychologically affecting as players can play for hours to get to the top level and will feel as though they are more of a worse  player than people who are a high level.

Expectation
Expectation is what society want to see, and hope to see. society and players can expect many things from games such as release dates, the quality of the game, and fixing of bugs. One example of how expectations affected society was with Rockstars Grand Theft Auto 5, after the release of the game. developers promised bank heists by the start of 2014, However this additional add-on which alot of players where excited to play never came. Even now over a year after the release of the game heists are still not out, this has caused alot of GTA players to lose faith in Rockstar, This in turn meant players sought out other games which gave what they promised. Events such as this can be really damaging to a games company, as this new status of rockstars unreliability will stick with them until they redeem themselves.


-Jack S