Games Are Something, Mostly Male, Play

But what is the motivation for buying and playing games? How can the increasingly-high popularity of video games be explained? The most predictable and basic answer is because it is fun. Empirical evidence (Griffiths and Hunt, 1995) suggest that ‘fun’ is cited for more than 75% of times as the main reason for playing games. But if we look on a deeper, psychological level, it is not fun that attracts most players, but reasons far more complex. Similarly to slot machines, video gaming provides the thrill, the adrenaline, and the excitement or anxiety, from the process (gaming), and from the ultimate result (winning or losing). It can thus be attractive for people who seek to experience new feelings in their life or do not experience them enough in their real life. Griffiths and Davies (2005) pointed out

Content analyses show that 89% of video games have some violent content. Half of the video games on the market have extreme violent actions toward other characters. Games, today, are allowing players to not only connect with the game physically, but also emotionally and psychologically. In essence, the player becomes the character. According to Nielson Media Research, at least 45 million households in the United States have at least one video game console (Markey & Charlotte, 2010). The average age of video game players has increased to age 34, and 60% of Americans play interactive games on a regular basis. However, researchers believe that younger children are more susceptible to the negative effects of playing violent video games compared to older teenagers and adults. Furthermore, games that include violence have raised serious concerns among

Games have been proven create a safe environment for players to release anger causing a decrease in real-world aggression. A study published in Journal of Adolescent Health found that young people, especially boys use games as a way to manage emotions. “61.9% of boys played to ‘help me relax,’ 47.8% because ‘it helps me forget my problems,’ and 45.4% because ‘it helps me get my anger out,” the article reports. The games have become a kind of stress-ball with a storyline. The game creates a “safe” environment by allowing the player to have violent interactions within a false, non-harmful medium. No real-world is performed keeping everyone safe. Also as more games include violence, more kids learn to use it as a coping mechanism.

According to several sources around 42% of the American population plays video games, and around 1.2 billion people worldwide play video games today. Gaming has become an increasingly more popular hobby since its creation. As such the medium has obviously attracted a multitude of different people and groups, all consisting of diverse backgrounds, body types, sexes, races, nationalities and the like. However, contrary to the numerous demographics video games have come to attract, it is very evident the vast majority of them do not seem to be marketed toward many of them via game characters, and their importance, if any, in a game. Video games show an overwhelming amount of white male characters, despite the many demographics they reach. Of the characters that are not white, or male, that are represented, are often represented poorly. For example, many black characters represented in video games are often characterized as vulgar, and violent. Women represented in games are often characterized as support characters, or objects of sexual desire. Considering forms of sexism, racism, and other such types of prejudices are still prominent in modern society, and these representations obviously do not help how people see these marginalized groups. Ultimately, these representations, or lack thereof, affect people in society in a number of ways, by perpetuating prejudice and harmful stereotypes.

Due to this “possibility space,” people can not only imagine different scenarios, but they can be involved in and create them. Gamers expand their people skills learning “creativity, community, self-esteem, and problem-solving” because they are able to “create and interact with elaborately simulated worlds, characters, and story lines.” Thus, video games have become a vehicle for self-expression. Moreover, in the near future, these games will adjust themselves in accord with who the players are and what they like. “And more than ever, games will be visible, external amplification of the human imagination” (279-283).

It is difficult to find a video game that does not depict females as a damsel in distress or a sex object. The target audience for video games has been males, and video game companies are marketing to males with stereotypes of females in video games. A surprising finding is that around 150 million Americans, or almost half of women play video games (Kelleher, 2015). Yet video games continue to depict females as old-fashioned stereotypes that leave a lasting affect on a female’s health.

Violent video games have been being created since the first console. Yet only recently have we been blaming them for aggression in the player. We as humans have a tendency to blame our violent behavior on other things rather thin ourselves. Now aggression is being defined in many ways in this situation but mainly people point to the anger that’s brought out in the real world after the game or maybe it’s the gamers’ tendency to have outburst will playing the game. Both these thing show anger but do they really show that the game is what caused it. This same situation could be put in the place of me eating a potato and getting angry right after is it really the potatoes fault no.

As soon as the video game world pressed the start button on their business, they never stopped playing. Like any video game, they hit major checkpoints and beat levels. From Pac-Man with joysticks to Angry Birds on iPads, the video game industry has a consistent history of success. Today, everyone knows someone who plays or has played a video game. New games and gaming consoles are constantly being advertised and released. They are even an entertaining method of keeping people up with the growth of technology. According to Melissa Terlecki, a psychology professor, “Involvement and experience with current computerized technologies…is important to provide both men and women…Because computer video games are a seamless lead-in to the

Many pundits believe video games that exhibit crude violence, blood and gore, strong language, use of alcohol and drugs and so forth, will influence young adults physical magnetism to deploy this ideal charisma in the real world. For example, in the news article Violent video games do not cause people to be violent in real life by Brian Sweeney, an argument was made, “Violent video games tend to raise more interest to other players to try out and experience things that normally people wouldn't do in real life, whether it be stealing cars and causing destruction to people and property in games like Grand Theft Auto or progressing through the story while killing nightmarish creatures using guns or knives like in Resident Evil or Dead Rising.” Though graphics are vividly improving each and every year, and explicit content seemingly encourages contributors to produce similar actions in tangible means, this statement is absolutely bogus and completely eschew in a sense of disputable genteelism. Violent video games does not really affect one's psychology, rather creates a virtual perception of freedom and reverie of diluted tension. The foregoing article introduces Jacqueline Huppuch, a senior is also a gamer who plays violent video games. She plays because it helps relieve her stress, for instance, “In

All people of all colors, ages and gender are represented in a similar way within the games, or do anyone stands out in all this? Someone is under-represented? How important to be represented in the media?

Video games have long been known as a male dominated media, when it comes to the market audience, player base, and character representation in game. Research concerning gender representation in video games often focuses on a few key points of how men and women are viewed differently, things like physical abilities, role in the game, and physical attributes are just a few to point out (Zorrilla, 2011). Something that is used a lot in video games is the sexualized depiction of female characters, the overwhelming masculinity of the implied game player, and the recurring structure of male heroes or characters

Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill is the first game in the Nancy Drew game series by Her Interactive. This game was released in 1998 (“#01 Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill”). It centers on the detective Nancy Drew attempting to solve the mystery of who murdered Jake Rodgers (“#01 Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill”). Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy is the nineteenth game in the series and was released, ten years later than the first, in 2008 by Her Interactive(“#19 Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy”). This game centers on Nancy’s quest to find her friend’s fiancé who has gone missing shortly before their wedding (“#19 Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy”). These games are important as they give a place for the female self to be the hero through Nancy. Nancy is never presented on screen as a character; instead she is merely presented as a silhouette and voice that allows one to put their selves entirely in her shoes. This is powerful; however there are still some problems with gender in these games, particularly in supporting characters. In comparing these two games, it becomes clear that the game from the earlier time period, 1998, although focusing on the same protagonist explicitly reinforces oppressive gender and cultural roles while the newer game implicitly reinforces these similar roles. This highlights the idea that even though games are attempting to progress towards being more open and empowering of both genders,

When discussing the role of women in video games, it is important to establish what an acceptable female character is. An acceptable female character has her own motivations that are not dependent on a male character, is not overtly sexualized, and has a multi-dimensional personality.

Ever since the video game was invented many years ago, violent, bloody games have existed also. Some include killing zombies, shooting people, and fighting that ends in either someone dying or being hurt. The outcome remains the same, and a select few continue to live out these games throughout their daily life. These games can sometimes cause people to become angry. Although, some video games may have a negative effect on some people’s lives, other reasons such as their home life can be a factor in these people’s behavior.

Video games in today’s society have become very popular. Every new game that comes out to be played and conquered by the average gamer has its own category. There are several other types of genres of games that people play but because of big hit titles and the new popular game systems like the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, people become more interested in a game that is well known than a game they have never even heard of before. Every game has its own storyline and own way of how it unfolds and where the game ends according to game play. Some of the biggest reasons people sway to certain genres of games is because of the game titles released under them and the demand of people who want a good game under that category. The top three most