Video Games And The Video Game

Video games have become as pervasive an aspect of our society as television, with many people spending more time playing video games than watching television. There are many perspectives with which to gauge videos games’ effect on society, from a functionalist, conflict or interactionist perspective. (Schaefer, 2011) Each of these sociological theories can provide a different view of video games, how they affect society and the subcultures that develop around them.

If you are a parent during this time of information and technology, chances are you have a child who has played, is playing, or will be playing video games. The video game industry is a rapidly growing market that went from being worth $100 million in 1985 to $4 billion in 1990 (Gartner, 2013). Prior to the 1980’s, there were rudimentary computer games, commercially sold coin-operated games, and home consoles. Shortly after the North-American Video Game Crash of 1983 the industry took a big hit until the Nintendo Entertainment System induced a resurgence in popularity that has only continued to grow (Cesarone, 2014). In the years since, the gaming world has expanded and divided into numerous categories. There are casual, serious and educational games in mediums ranging from console games to online RPG’s also known as role playing games to the most recent and flourishing market of mobile games. In 2013, the worldwide value of the industry totaled $93 billion (Metrics 2.0, 2007).

“In today’s society computer and video games are fulfilling genuine human needs that the real world is currently unable to satisfy. Games are providing rewards that reality is not. They are teaching and inspiring and engaging us in ways that reality is not. They are bringing us together in ways that reality is not. And unless something dramatic happens to reverse the resulting exodus, we are fast on

Though gaming has its drawbacks, it also has many benefits to cover them. If controlled, gaming is extremely useful and with the amount of gamers in the world today, it proves that it is not just for children or for teenagers. There are millions of adult gamers that understand the importance of gaming in the under the existing circumstances of the world. Individuals that have studied gamers believe that gaming in today’s

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 people have been able to make their “American Dream” come true with hard work, being focused and on task, and, most importantly, taking their work seriously. Only the hard working people can make their dreams come true when they do what they are supposed to do and set goals that will surely help them achieve their goals. Unfortunately, the majority of people who don’t make their “American Dream” is the children and teenagers who play video games with every waking second of the day. The ESA (Entertainment Software Association) performed studies that show how “more than 150 million Americans play video games” (www.theesa.com); but they will never achieve their “American Dream” by playing video games every chance that they are in front of

From the past till now, video game never loses its popularity, from Gameboy to Wii, and from NDS to LOL, millions and billions of people are obsessed with this imaginary world. Some of the video games are created for educational purpose, however, most are created for the people who wants to escape from reality. “In a national Harris Poll survey of 1,178 American youths (ages 8-18), ISU Assistant Professor of Psychology Douglas Gentile found nearly one in 10 of the gamers (8.5 percent) to be pathological players.” ("Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) ") Not only the statistic shows the high rate of addiction towards video games, terrible consequences of the addictions are more than enough to be served. For example, an extreme case of an Chinese kid called Xioyi suicide because he lose in one of his game on December 27, 2004; where he left a note that said he wanted “to join the heroes of the game he worshiped.” Video game has the potential to ruin a person’s life, as well as their family, or even the

In recent years there have been plenty of cases of music, people, games, etc, being used as scapegoats so authorities can jump to conclusions about violent events and blame these as the main reason for such an event to take place. To give people an answer that may not even have any supporting evidence. Nowadays violence in video games is up to the level of killing people as the norm with many popular titles having this apart of the game. In many games that is the one of the main features that add together to create the game. Some game titles that include violence and killing are ‘Call of Duty,’ ‘Halo,’ ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ ‘Mass Effect,’ ‘Battlefield,’ ‘Counterstrike: Global Offensive,’ and ‘Doom.’ All of these games main storylines include the need to attack and kill to progress forward (Mainly with guns). But does this create a bad effect on people? Is this making people more likely to be violent? Even kill in real life? This is the particular ethical issue that violence in video games is having. The argument to prove if video games are really a cause of anger and if they cause a more aggressive and again violent person just by playing. In the world there are over 1.2 billion people that play video games, which is about 44% of the online population (comScore data cited by Spil Games). With majority of games including some form of violence, ranging from being very gentle lego fights to full on gore and guts in 18+

According to several studies, women are now making up a significant portion of the gaming demographic, but the industry hasn’t done much to make them feel welcome. During the last decade, the mainstream video game industry has seemed to operate under the same apparent assumptions: girls don’t play big action games, boys like the sexualization of girls in video games and won’t play as a female character unless she is heavily sexualized, and that girls play video games for the attention of boys. These assumptions are what allows the gaming industry to continue to focus on their male players, particularly young men, despite the fact that the number of women playing games today may someday soon rival the number of men.

The term “gamer” tends to be synonymous with “geek” in many people’s minds. They see gaming as a device that absorbs the majority of the time of the user, leaving them as mindless empty, pale husks with no ambitions other than beating that next boss or shooting the enemy in the face. However, few gamers waste their life away. On the contrary, many of these so-called geeks tend to be more social than the average person, and farther down the technological curve than most. For the truth is that gaming is a rather useful and beneficial hobby. It gives people an outlet to focus on, and can connect them with many others worldwide. It can teach and entertain at the same time, and can be a useful distraction at other times. In this essay then,

The 1980’s is when the video game industry began to take off in earnest. In 1977 came the Atari 2600. Intellivision came next, introduced by Mattel in 1980. Intellivision, which featured better graphics compared to the older Atari 2600, became very popular. The ColecoVision, the most powerful console to date, appeared in 1982. Like the others, its sales also grew. However, having three major consoles on the market, a

Before the video game industry conquered the entertainment market, and before the gaming masterpieces of the modern day we know, video games earned their place in entertainment at public arcades. For classic games such as Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Mortal Kombat, and Galaga, the local arcade was the perfect foundation for the game industry to build upon, as arcades provided a cheap public source to play games. These low cost game corners drew in a community, the community that would become the first gamers, warranting the attention of game creators and their respective companies. Taking note of arcade games and their initial success, game developers began to place their focus on the newest form of entertainment. Companies such as Nintendo, Sega, and Sony learned from the success of arcade entertainment and set their sights on creating home gaming consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega

An epidemic is beginning to sweep this nation. In this modern society, a majority of children, teens, and some adults are showing signs of what some experts refer to as video game addiction. Many professionals have differing opinions on the addictive nature of video games, but it does not take an expert to see that children are no longer playing outside, toddlers have learned how to operate pieces of technology that are challenging to some adults and cry when they are taken away from them, and some adults jeopardize their health every year by risking malnutrition and heart disease all in the attempts to play video games.

Gaming has a special place in the hearts of many because the games use can vary from user to user, it could be a be a form entertainment, to stress relief or even becoming a professional gamer. Today the gaming world has hit an astronomical at 1.8 billion players worldwide and is continually growing. Many have argued that gaming has influenced negative behavior, however, through the abundant amount benefits gaming provides and the constant stream of fresh innovations gaming has proven to have a positive impact on society.

Video games have been known as a key factor in consumption in the past ten years. A valid argument can be made that more people spend their money on video games than films and music. In today’s generation, video games have become a part of our American culture. Some of the most precious memories kids have upon their childhood are the video games they played when they were young. For example, I grew up playing Pokemon, Guitar Hero, Kingdom Hearts, Mario Kart, and list goes on and on. My friends grew up playing Call of Duty, Super Smash Brothers, and several different types of sports games. Adults may have spent time in the arcade when they were young playing Pacman, Donkey Kong, and Pong. For the most part, video games have had a positive