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When video games first appeared in the 1970s, not many people thought that they are going to become one of the most important sources of entertainment a decade or two later. Many just thought that computer games were something of a craze that is very likely to die out.
Since the very first video games systems, like Atari or ZX Spectrum, the games industry has rapidly grown and both quality of games consoles and games themselves has improved at an outstanding rate. Nowadays the games consoles allow users to gain access to high quality standard of gameplay and superb sound and graphics. Certain consoles like Sega Dreamcast offer users to access Internet in order to play against other human opponents on the World Wide Web. Sony has already announced plans for producing a hard drive which will enable owners of Playstation 2 to access the Internet for the same purposes.
So, why do games provide such good entertainment for teenagers? Well there are a few reasons:Games
-· Let the player feel a sense of challenge, control and, in time, mastery.
-· Gauge their level of difficulty to the player’s ability.
-· Provide immediate and continual reinforcement.
-· Provide an escape from the complexity and unpredictability of real relationships and interactions
Playing computer games seems a very innocent action but in the past few years the companies who produce video games have faced many criticisms coming from psychologists and the society
These people are confident that certain video games affect the way teenagers behave. We are talking about video games (i.e. 3-D shooters and action/adventure games), which apparently encourage teenagers to act in a violent manner after being influenced by the images portrayed in these games. Researchers warn that violent video games could be more harmful than violent TV or movies because they are interactive, and require the player to identify with the aggressive character
Even though people get more worried about the kind of influence violent video games have on the younger audience, 3-D shooters are still the most popular games out there today, maybe just losing out to sport simulations. One of the most important factors behind the popularity of these games is that the player can control the violence.
Many researches suggest that the video games can be a negative or a positive form of entertainment. Many game developers have been trying to approach the younger audience with games which could actually have a positive effect on them. Many unviolent games like Myst or Moses Prince of Egypt kids entertainment AND try to teach them something which could be useful for them in the future. Many games try to encourage puzzle solving in youngsters and some let them interact with their favourite TV characters and carry out different tasks. These games could fall under the Educational category.
But unfortunately these games just fail to catch the attention of young players. More and more kids just want to play violent games because they are the best form of entertainment for them. The most terrifying thing is that children as young as six prefer playing gory video games and the number of young children preferring gory games to other games is increasing. Strangely enough some psychologists say that violent video games can have a positive effect on children-known as a catharsis effect. That means that by watching violence or being engaged in violent actions in games children get rid of their own aggression.
There have been a number of surveys and studies carried out over the past few years which tried to investigate whether there is any connection between violent behaviour and playing video games. The difficulty is that the results are very different: some do find the connection between the two factors, some of them find that games only affect the behaviour temporarily, and some do not find any connection. However it is interesting to see that the relatively older studies do not find the connection between the factors while more recent ones do. This might be due to the fact that more realistic games have been used in the more recent studies. So, it is not hard to notice that the more realistic the violence, the greater the influence. Therefore the influence of game violence will grow as game technology advances. The recent studies show that:
· The influence seems to be the strongest among children 8-11 years old.
· Violence in video games can make children immune to real violence. So they could behave more aggressively in the future because they will be used to violence.
· Frustration during playing video games can cause aggressive behaviour. It could stimulate violent behaviour in general. In the survey produced by the Dutch psychologist Marcel Kleij three groups of kids played a violent video game Mortal Kombat. One group played the game on the easier difficulty, the other played it on normal difficulty and the third played it on the hardest difficulty. Afterwards the last group was behaving more aggressively than the others because they have been frustrated the most.
It is very interesting to see that most children and parents do not actually feel that violent video games affect their behaviour in any way. Out of all people under 18 who admitted they play violent games 88% think that they are not affected by games. Out of all parents 75% think that their kids are not harmed when they play violent games. Psychologists say that this may be due to the fact that parents do not realise what sort of games their kids play
Despite all these views, it is a given fact that certain games could make the person act in a more aggresive way. But apparently many people are stimulated by the fast pace of action films and games, rather than violent content.
So, is there a way to solve the problem? Sometimes the games are so extremely violent that some people fear for their children’s mental condition after playing them. Lots of people think that the government must take countermeasures. However it is nearly impossible for the government to do something. It could ban certain games from the market but nowadays the illegal market is so extensive that even if a game is prohibited, it is not going to be a problem to get the game. Moreover, if a game is banned in one country, it will still be possible to get the game via the Internet from another country or people could just go to that country and get the game themselves. So if the government wants to prohibit a game, it has to be done before the game is released and the prohibition has to be worldwide. This is virtually impossible due to the fact that some countries may not find the game offensive or violent. Games could also be copied easily and fast due to the development of CD-Rewriters. Infact, the game is only going to get more popular due to the media attention if the government is going to take some action.
So, since the government can not do much it is up to the parents to decide whether they want their kids to play games which are violent. The only sensible thing a government can do is to provide the parents with information about the games so they know what their kids are playing. This can be done by warnings on games and age labels.
What do you think? Thanks for reading
Since the very first video games systems, like Atari or ZX Spectrum, the games industry has rapidly grown and both quality of games consoles and games themselves has improved at an outstanding rate. Nowadays the games consoles allow users to gain access to high quality standard of gameplay and superb sound and graphics. Certain consoles like Sega Dreamcast offer users to access Internet in order to play against other human opponents on the World Wide Web. Sony has already announced plans for producing a hard drive which will enable owners of Playstation 2 to access the Internet for the same purposes.
So, why do games provide such good entertainment for teenagers? Well there are a few reasons:Games
-· Let the player feel a sense of challenge, control and, in time, mastery.
-· Gauge their level of difficulty to the player’s ability.
-· Provide immediate and continual reinforcement.
-· Provide an escape from the complexity and unpredictability of real relationships and interactions
Playing computer games seems a very innocent action but in the past few years the companies who produce video games have faced many criticisms coming from psychologists and the society
These people are confident that certain video games affect the way teenagers behave. We are talking about video games (i.e. 3-D shooters and action/adventure games), which apparently encourage teenagers to act in a violent manner after being influenced by the images portrayed in these games. Researchers warn that violent video games could be more harmful than violent TV or movies because they are interactive, and require the player to identify with the aggressive character
Even though people get more worried about the kind of influence violent video games have on the younger audience, 3-D shooters are still the most popular games out there today, maybe just losing out to sport simulations. One of the most important factors behind the popularity of these games is that the player can control the violence.
Many researches suggest that the video games can be a negative or a positive form of entertainment. Many game developers have been trying to approach the younger audience with games which could actually have a positive effect on them. Many unviolent games like Myst or Moses Prince of Egypt kids entertainment AND try to teach them something which could be useful for them in the future. Many games try to encourage puzzle solving in youngsters and some let them interact with their favourite TV characters and carry out different tasks. These games could fall under the Educational category.
But unfortunately these games just fail to catch the attention of young players. More and more kids just want to play violent games because they are the best form of entertainment for them. The most terrifying thing is that children as young as six prefer playing gory video games and the number of young children preferring gory games to other games is increasing. Strangely enough some psychologists say that violent video games can have a positive effect on children-known as a catharsis effect. That means that by watching violence or being engaged in violent actions in games children get rid of their own aggression.
There have been a number of surveys and studies carried out over the past few years which tried to investigate whether there is any connection between violent behaviour and playing video games. The difficulty is that the results are very different: some do find the connection between the two factors, some of them find that games only affect the behaviour temporarily, and some do not find any connection. However it is interesting to see that the relatively older studies do not find the connection between the factors while more recent ones do. This might be due to the fact that more realistic games have been used in the more recent studies. So, it is not hard to notice that the more realistic the violence, the greater the influence. Therefore the influence of game violence will grow as game technology advances. The recent studies show that:
· The influence seems to be the strongest among children 8-11 years old.
· Violence in video games can make children immune to real violence. So they could behave more aggressively in the future because they will be used to violence.
· Frustration during playing video games can cause aggressive behaviour. It could stimulate violent behaviour in general. In the survey produced by the Dutch psychologist Marcel Kleij three groups of kids played a violent video game Mortal Kombat. One group played the game on the easier difficulty, the other played it on normal difficulty and the third played it on the hardest difficulty. Afterwards the last group was behaving more aggressively than the others because they have been frustrated the most.
It is very interesting to see that most children and parents do not actually feel that violent video games affect their behaviour in any way. Out of all people under 18 who admitted they play violent games 88% think that they are not affected by games. Out of all parents 75% think that their kids are not harmed when they play violent games. Psychologists say that this may be due to the fact that parents do not realise what sort of games their kids play
Despite all these views, it is a given fact that certain games could make the person act in a more aggresive way. But apparently many people are stimulated by the fast pace of action films and games, rather than violent content.
So, is there a way to solve the problem? Sometimes the games are so extremely violent that some people fear for their children’s mental condition after playing them. Lots of people think that the government must take countermeasures. However it is nearly impossible for the government to do something. It could ban certain games from the market but nowadays the illegal market is so extensive that even if a game is prohibited, it is not going to be a problem to get the game. Moreover, if a game is banned in one country, it will still be possible to get the game via the Internet from another country or people could just go to that country and get the game themselves. So if the government wants to prohibit a game, it has to be done before the game is released and the prohibition has to be worldwide. This is virtually impossible due to the fact that some countries may not find the game offensive or violent. Games could also be copied easily and fast due to the development of CD-Rewriters. Infact, the game is only going to get more popular due to the media attention if the government is going to take some action.
So, since the government can not do much it is up to the parents to decide whether they want their kids to play games which are violent. The only sensible thing a government can do is to provide the parents with information about the games so they know what their kids are playing. This can be done by warnings on games and age labels.
What do you think? Thanks for reading
Page:
good post :p.
when i play GTA3 i never think about nicking my brothers car and going on a kill frenzy because the conseqeunces are very different, you dont just walk out the police station after killing 100s of people.
Games in the Future will have to be like state of emergency style if they will ever want to bring out violent games, you cant have a Virtual Reality Grand Theft Auto because once you stopped playing normal life would be boring.
So if the video games get more graphically inhanced then that means the violence will get less and less made
Aiii
when i play GTA3 i never think about nicking my brothers car and going on a kill frenzy because the conseqeunces are very different, you dont just walk out the police station after killing 100s of people.
Games in the Future will have to be like state of emergency style if they will ever want to bring out violent games, you cant have a Virtual Reality Grand Theft Auto because once you stopped playing normal life would be boring.
So if the video games get more graphically inhanced then that means the violence will get less and less made
Aiii
Samos wrote:
> ermmmm*right click, copy and paste. aaah that was easy*
How the hell can you judge someones posting like that? You posted the reply 3 minutes after I posted the topic. It took me a while to wriote this and I am not going to be insulted by the likes of you....
On the other hand Desert Beetle, I totally agree with you. People are just looking for excuses to blame game developers for "ruining" their children and just being a bad influence. If you dont want your kids playing these games, DONT LET THEM. Parents should talk to their kids more and at least know what they are getting up to in their spare time...
> ermmmm*right click, copy and paste. aaah that was easy*
How the hell can you judge someones posting like that? You posted the reply 3 minutes after I posted the topic. It took me a while to wriote this and I am not going to be insulted by the likes of you....
On the other hand Desert Beetle, I totally agree with you. People are just looking for excuses to blame game developers for "ruining" their children and just being a bad influence. If you dont want your kids playing these games, DONT LET THEM. Parents should talk to their kids more and at least know what they are getting up to in their spare time...
Samos wrote:
> ermmmm*right click, copy and paste. aaah that was easy*
HA HA oh read my topic PS2 Crew adventures, yeh what you got to say about that.
> ermmmm*right click, copy and paste. aaah that was easy*
HA HA oh read my topic PS2 Crew adventures, yeh what you got to say about that.
A nice topic, I must say. I think that if someone goes on a killing spree and has been influenced by a game, then it's his own fault, and it's damn annoying to see people shifting the blame over to games, just to win an easy court case or avoid prosecution. Games don't create these psychos - they have to have the mentality when they turn on the console and make kebabs out of the entire village (a la GTA 3). It's all true and well to blame the films and or the games, but it's a) escapism in a form and b) immoral. If you owned a worldwide sport of some sort and someone tried it at home and killed someone, would you like it if the person tried to blame you, and even go as far as saying that you literally killed the person? No. People like that are hypocrits, and it's normally down to the parents, who coax their children into blaming the gaming industry, making the perpetrator look innocent, and the gaming world guilty. It's a screw up world we live in people, and I can't see it getting any better as the days pass.
ermmmm*right click, copy and paste. aaah that was easy*
When video games first appeared in the 1970s, not many people thought that they are going to become one of the most important sources of entertainment a decade or two later. Many just thought that computer games were something of a craze that is very likely to die out.
Since the very first video games systems, like Atari or ZX Spectrum, the games industry has rapidly grown and both quality of games consoles and games themselves has improved at an outstanding rate. Nowadays the games consoles allow users to gain access to high quality standard of gameplay and superb sound and graphics. Certain consoles like Sega Dreamcast offer users to access Internet in order to play against other human opponents on the World Wide Web. Sony has already announced plans for producing a hard drive which will enable owners of Playstation 2 to access the Internet for the same purposes.
So, why do games provide such good entertainment for teenagers? Well there are a few reasons:Games
-· Let the player feel a sense of challenge, control and, in time, mastery.
-· Gauge their level of difficulty to the player’s ability.
-· Provide immediate and continual reinforcement.
-· Provide an escape from the complexity and unpredictability of real relationships and interactions
Playing computer games seems a very innocent action but in the past few years the companies who produce video games have faced many criticisms coming from psychologists and the society
These people are confident that certain video games affect the way teenagers behave. We are talking about video games (i.e. 3-D shooters and action/adventure games), which apparently encourage teenagers to act in a violent manner after being influenced by the images portrayed in these games. Researchers warn that violent video games could be more harmful than violent TV or movies because they are interactive, and require the player to identify with the aggressive character
Even though people get more worried about the kind of influence violent video games have on the younger audience, 3-D shooters are still the most popular games out there today, maybe just losing out to sport simulations. One of the most important factors behind the popularity of these games is that the player can control the violence.
Many researches suggest that the video games can be a negative or a positive form of entertainment. Many game developers have been trying to approach the younger audience with games which could actually have a positive effect on them. Many unviolent games like Myst or Moses Prince of Egypt kids entertainment AND try to teach them something which could be useful for them in the future. Many games try to encourage puzzle solving in youngsters and some let them interact with their favourite TV characters and carry out different tasks. These games could fall under the Educational category.
But unfortunately these games just fail to catch the attention of young players. More and more kids just want to play violent games because they are the best form of entertainment for them. The most terrifying thing is that children as young as six prefer playing gory video games and the number of young children preferring gory games to other games is increasing. Strangely enough some psychologists say that violent video games can have a positive effect on children-known as a catharsis effect. That means that by watching violence or being engaged in violent actions in games children get rid of their own aggression.
There have been a number of surveys and studies carried out over the past few years which tried to investigate whether there is any connection between violent behaviour and playing video games. The difficulty is that the results are very different: some do find the connection between the two factors, some of them find that games only affect the behaviour temporarily, and some do not find any connection. However it is interesting to see that the relatively older studies do not find the connection between the factors while more recent ones do. This might be due to the fact that more realistic games have been used in the more recent studies. So, it is not hard to notice that the more realistic the violence, the greater the influence. Therefore the influence of game violence will grow as game technology advances. The recent studies show that:
· The influence seems to be the strongest among children 8-11 years old.
· Violence in video games can make children immune to real violence. So they could behave more aggressively in the future because they will be used to violence.
· Frustration during playing video games can cause aggressive behaviour. It could stimulate violent behaviour in general. In the survey produced by the Dutch psychologist Marcel Kleij three groups of kids played a violent video game Mortal Kombat. One group played the game on the easier difficulty, the other played it on normal difficulty and the third played it on the hardest difficulty. Afterwards the last group was behaving more aggressively than the others because they have been frustrated the most.
It is very interesting to see that most children and parents do not actually feel that violent video games affect their behaviour in any way. Out of all people under 18 who admitted they play violent games 88% think that they are not affected by games. Out of all parents 75% think that their kids are not harmed when they play violent games. Psychologists say that this may be due to the fact that parents do not realise what sort of games their kids play
Despite all these views, it is a given fact that certain games could make the person act in a more aggresive way. But apparently many people are stimulated by the fast pace of action films and games, rather than violent content.
So, is there a way to solve the problem? Sometimes the games are so extremely violent that some people fear for their children’s mental condition after playing them. Lots of people think that the government must take countermeasures. However it is nearly impossible for the government to do something. It could ban certain games from the market but nowadays the illegal market is so extensive that even if a game is prohibited, it is not going to be a problem to get the game. Moreover, if a game is banned in one country, it will still be possible to get the game via the Internet from another country or people could just go to that country and get the game themselves. So if the government wants to prohibit a game, it has to be done before the game is released and the prohibition has to be worldwide. This is virtually impossible due to the fact that some countries may not find the game offensive or violent. Games could also be copied easily and fast due to the development of CD-Rewriters. Infact, the game is only going to get more popular due to the media attention if the government is going to take some action.
So, since the government can not do much it is up to the parents to decide whether they want their kids to play games which are violent. The only sensible thing a government can do is to provide the parents with information about the games so they know what their kids are playing. This can be done by warnings on games and age labels.
What do you think? Thanks for reading
Since the very first video games systems, like Atari or ZX Spectrum, the games industry has rapidly grown and both quality of games consoles and games themselves has improved at an outstanding rate. Nowadays the games consoles allow users to gain access to high quality standard of gameplay and superb sound and graphics. Certain consoles like Sega Dreamcast offer users to access Internet in order to play against other human opponents on the World Wide Web. Sony has already announced plans for producing a hard drive which will enable owners of Playstation 2 to access the Internet for the same purposes.
So, why do games provide such good entertainment for teenagers? Well there are a few reasons:Games
-· Let the player feel a sense of challenge, control and, in time, mastery.
-· Gauge their level of difficulty to the player’s ability.
-· Provide immediate and continual reinforcement.
-· Provide an escape from the complexity and unpredictability of real relationships and interactions
Playing computer games seems a very innocent action but in the past few years the companies who produce video games have faced many criticisms coming from psychologists and the society
These people are confident that certain video games affect the way teenagers behave. We are talking about video games (i.e. 3-D shooters and action/adventure games), which apparently encourage teenagers to act in a violent manner after being influenced by the images portrayed in these games. Researchers warn that violent video games could be more harmful than violent TV or movies because they are interactive, and require the player to identify with the aggressive character
Even though people get more worried about the kind of influence violent video games have on the younger audience, 3-D shooters are still the most popular games out there today, maybe just losing out to sport simulations. One of the most important factors behind the popularity of these games is that the player can control the violence.
Many researches suggest that the video games can be a negative or a positive form of entertainment. Many game developers have been trying to approach the younger audience with games which could actually have a positive effect on them. Many unviolent games like Myst or Moses Prince of Egypt kids entertainment AND try to teach them something which could be useful for them in the future. Many games try to encourage puzzle solving in youngsters and some let them interact with their favourite TV characters and carry out different tasks. These games could fall under the Educational category.
But unfortunately these games just fail to catch the attention of young players. More and more kids just want to play violent games because they are the best form of entertainment for them. The most terrifying thing is that children as young as six prefer playing gory video games and the number of young children preferring gory games to other games is increasing. Strangely enough some psychologists say that violent video games can have a positive effect on children-known as a catharsis effect. That means that by watching violence or being engaged in violent actions in games children get rid of their own aggression.
There have been a number of surveys and studies carried out over the past few years which tried to investigate whether there is any connection between violent behaviour and playing video games. The difficulty is that the results are very different: some do find the connection between the two factors, some of them find that games only affect the behaviour temporarily, and some do not find any connection. However it is interesting to see that the relatively older studies do not find the connection between the factors while more recent ones do. This might be due to the fact that more realistic games have been used in the more recent studies. So, it is not hard to notice that the more realistic the violence, the greater the influence. Therefore the influence of game violence will grow as game technology advances. The recent studies show that:
· The influence seems to be the strongest among children 8-11 years old.
· Violence in video games can make children immune to real violence. So they could behave more aggressively in the future because they will be used to violence.
· Frustration during playing video games can cause aggressive behaviour. It could stimulate violent behaviour in general. In the survey produced by the Dutch psychologist Marcel Kleij three groups of kids played a violent video game Mortal Kombat. One group played the game on the easier difficulty, the other played it on normal difficulty and the third played it on the hardest difficulty. Afterwards the last group was behaving more aggressively than the others because they have been frustrated the most.
It is very interesting to see that most children and parents do not actually feel that violent video games affect their behaviour in any way. Out of all people under 18 who admitted they play violent games 88% think that they are not affected by games. Out of all parents 75% think that their kids are not harmed when they play violent games. Psychologists say that this may be due to the fact that parents do not realise what sort of games their kids play
Despite all these views, it is a given fact that certain games could make the person act in a more aggresive way. But apparently many people are stimulated by the fast pace of action films and games, rather than violent content.
So, is there a way to solve the problem? Sometimes the games are so extremely violent that some people fear for their children’s mental condition after playing them. Lots of people think that the government must take countermeasures. However it is nearly impossible for the government to do something. It could ban certain games from the market but nowadays the illegal market is so extensive that even if a game is prohibited, it is not going to be a problem to get the game. Moreover, if a game is banned in one country, it will still be possible to get the game via the Internet from another country or people could just go to that country and get the game themselves. So if the government wants to prohibit a game, it has to be done before the game is released and the prohibition has to be worldwide. This is virtually impossible due to the fact that some countries may not find the game offensive or violent. Games could also be copied easily and fast due to the development of CD-Rewriters. Infact, the game is only going to get more popular due to the media attention if the government is going to take some action.
So, since the government can not do much it is up to the parents to decide whether they want their kids to play games which are violent. The only sensible thing a government can do is to provide the parents with information about the games so they know what their kids are playing. This can be done by warnings on games and age labels.
What do you think? Thanks for reading
Page: