Why Video Games Matter: An Article on the Feelings Evoked by Video Games

Tom Bissell, in his essay, “Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter” has described video games and how they are unique and different from movies, books, or even interactive films. Bissell says “I came to accept that games were incompetent with almost every aspect of what I would call traditional narrative.” This is showing the readers that even though there is a plot and story line, as characters can control and alter the story line or outcome by what you do or see throughout the 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.

Using persuasive writing, Wright begins to influence his audience that game play is a beneficial source of entertainment not a wasteful one. Playing video games increases creatively, self esteem and improve problem solving skills of the players. Video games are becoming test runs that appear or feel close to the real thing. Where you can control everything with added effects like magic or future technology. Games have the potential to exceed almost all other forms of entertainment media. They tell stories, play music, challenge us, allow us to instantly communicate and interact with others. Encourage us to create things, connect us to new communities, and let us play with people across the world. Unlike most other forms of media, games are inherently tangible. According to Wright young children spend their days in imaginary worlds, substituting toys and make believe into the real world that they are just beginning to explore and understand. Wright states that games are the result of imagination and that they consist of rules and goals. Generation of teenagers has grown up with different set of games. Teenagers use the scientific method rather than reading the manual first. Games today maybe a person’s only place to express a high-level of creativity and growth. Older generations have a lot of criticisms for games, the games can help a person learn to think on his or her own.

Tom Bissell’s, a teacher at Portland State University, main idea was to indicate to his audience why video games matter to him by using various argumentative appeals. One must ask themselves, can this author be worthy of respect? Can he give his readers enough facts to get his argument across? Will he try to give us a soft story to buy his way into in his argument? Throughout most of Bissell’s book, he uses the logical appeal by describing, in great detail, Fallout 3. Sadly he lacks the Emotional appeal to complete this argument and he loses my credibility throughout the article.

Video games have been around since 1950s and have gone a long way from what they are today. They are in no doubt a big part of our society and with doing so they have been criticized by many. Video games come in different categories which include: action, racing, adventure, role-playing, simulation, strategy, and sports. The purpose of these games can be casual, serious, art, Christian, and educational. You can play these games on different types of platforms as well to make it the gamers preference. In today’s society, it is common for one to play video games. Some people play causally and some play professional to make money. Even though, video games are now mainstream, they are still being stigmatized and it has been like that since the creation of them. Some people see video games as a waste of time and that they are unproductive, but after being studied thoroughly by researchers that is not true; video games are known to have benefits. It can help children with development and it can help adults perform better at their job. It can also help people with different disorders. Video games should not be stigmatized because of the advantages ranging from cognitive to social benefits for children, people with disabilities, and adults.

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

Shouldn’t this generation be required to play Pac-Man, Asteroids, Galaga, Centipede Pit Fall or Frogger before they get to play Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto or Halo? The games these days have real life graphics and by some can be considered offensive and too graphic, having an (EC) early childhood to (AO) an adult only rating (Entertainment Software Rating Board). Games went from being a nice hobby to a young kid to the average gamer now being an average age of 34 years old. The popularity of game usage is detrimental to the American society, changing our nation to

Wright is not so much attempting to convince his audience by weighing the positive aspects of video games on society against the detriments, as he is presenting them a vision of the possibilities of video games. Wright presents an intriguing claim and an effective argument through his own credibility, friendly tone, choice of words, and use of analogies and emotionally potent imagery, causing readers to ponder the positive impact of video games on society. Summary

In Trigger Happy, the author Steven Poole elaborates on the many aspects of video games, ultimately revealing them as complex. Poole covers in this book his explanations on the purpose of video games, past influences, art and icons, and a number of other fascinating details, along with his own opinions on video games. Besides revealing the reason for playing, Poole’s details on games ultimately serve to show the author’s positive opinion on the subject, along with his argument against the negative viewpoint of critics, who regard them being a waste of time and being detrimental for one’s mental health. One important point that Poole continues to stress is the importance of engagement between the game and the player;

He uses a fictional experience in order to support his non-fictional argument that games are not detrimental to future generations. This method allows the audience to be transported to a parallel universe that widens their mind to a controversial topic. "In this parallel universe, kids have been playing games for centuries-and then these page-bound texts come along and suddenly they're all the rage"(Johnson 483). The reason this works so well is that it explains that a major reason adults despise video games is not the game itself, but rather the fact that they came about so abruptly like a force of nature. This imagery and paradox proves that adults that grew up in a different time when books were up and coming simply chose to dislike video games without any thought of ever thinking of them

Anderson begins by telling his audience that with the creation of the popular and first Nintendo GameBoy game Tetris, a new tradition begins that he calls “stupid games”. Continuing his critical analyst he pointed out how technology has evolved a lot since Tetris was created and with so did video games leaving our world of today surrounded by what he calls “stupid games”. He talks about how Game-studies scholars have noticed a trend, that video games are often made during a time where they would be socially needed. Examples given by Anderson were, “Monopoly, for

A really nihilistic game, O'Neil hopes gamers walk away with a confirmation that, "it's probably already too late. And that even some kind of unforeseen technological miracle that brings us back from the brink of all ecological, economic and political chaos will only end up being owned by a bunch of assholes who will use it to grind us into dust and get even richer." (citation). To O'Neil, the effect this direction is having on his generation is alarming.

Too often the theory emotions focus on the real world, and not on how emotions are elicited through personal forms of entertainment. This is idea is how our emotions can be elicited through the means of fictional/make belief video games. Moreover, how video games cause emotions in the player, though they are perceived as perceptual illusion. Nonetheless, this form of entertainment causes certain emotion, however Gabriele Taylor would argue those emotional responses/feelings are wrong. This is because the player is often entertained through the means of causing violence. Therefore, this essay will first focus on how these emotions are rational (insofar that they are not recalcitrant), and argue that our emotional responses caused from video

“A game is an opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism, at something we’re good at (or getting better at) and enjoy. In other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression.”

“The reason why people find it so enjoyable is that games are usually the right degree of challenging and the player takes an active role (unlike watching television) so there is an incentive to achieve” (Gee). Ever since video games were invented there was an immediate attachment and an unwillingness to release them. They present chances to accomplish things one may not be able to do in their life, and provides an escape from reality. Video games also imprint and teach new skills to the gamers who play repeatedly; these skills are very useful in later life and can be applied to nearly every situation in life. However, there are those who have differing opinions and, unfortunately, society and media have constantly berated video games, always painting them in a negative light, brainwashing people to believe that video gaming only harms them...this is incorrect, as video games are neither good nor bad and possess positives and negatives to them.