·
Concerns
such as excess playing time
International studies have
shown that between seven and 11 per cent of gamers show some symptoms
associated with addiction. Some
teens are heavy users of online role-playing games (RPGs) such as World of Warcraft and multiplayer games such as Call of Duty in
which they interact with other players in real time. These teens will often
neglect schoolwork and other aspects of their daily lives when they become
immersed in these games. While it remains unclear whether this can be termed an
“addiction,” the American Medical Association has identified “video game
overuse” as a ‘behaviour’ and may include it in a future edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Source: http://mediasmarts.ca/video-games/concerns-about-video-games
·
Social
isolation
Social isolation can
be an immediate consequence of continuous and ceaseless gaming. People,
especially children, tend to spend lesser time with their friends and others
because they want to get back home/gaming place as fast as possible and
continue playing. This makes them aloof from others and so in the long-run lack
abilities of social communication and develop a kind of anthropophobia (fear of
human company).
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-effects-of-video-games.html
Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-effects-of-video-games.html
·
Cost
While gaming can be a very healthy hobby it may become
problematic if gamers feel the pressure of having all of the newly released
games in their preferred genre. Other factors include the need to purchase the
latest gaming platforms. With such a wide platform choice such as consoles, pc,
hand-held and online games there is increased pressure on the cost of keeping
up with the latest greatest gaming technologies. This may put strain on parents
whose children constantly want the latest releases and want to upgrade their
platforms every year. The costs also include electricity, internet costs and
additional hardware costs required for gamin such as controllers. Online games
also require monthly subscription which can become costly over time. While
gaming can be a very healthy hobby it may become problematic if gamers feel the
pressure of having all of the newly released games in their preferred genre.
Other factors include the need to purchase the latest gaming platforms. With
such a wide platform choice such as consoles, pc, hand-held and online games
there is increased pressure on the cost of keeping up with the latest greatest gaming
technologies. This may put strain on parents whose children constantly want the
latest releases and want to upgrade their platforms every year. The costs also
include electricity, internet costs and additional hardware costs required for
gamin such as controllers. Online games also require monthly subscription which
can become costly over time.
Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/impact-of-computer-games-on-society/
·
Separation
from reality
Some gamers become so engrossed in games that they actually
believe they are part of the virtual world in which the game takes place. This
may be an enjoyable experience for some in the likes of an adventure game but
it can have negative effects. There are examples of violent games that have
made normally passive individuals become violent when they are not playing
games. Other examples are people who have committed murders in the form of
actions seen in games that they had become addicted to. Although these are very
extreme examples the dangers of becoming separated from society and carrying
out actions that you have seen in games because you believe this is the norm,
it has happened. Society should be aware of these cases and measures must be
adopted by gaming companies to stop this happening. This may also tie into
number of hours spent playing games. As gamers become more and more addicted to
a game they forget about life outside of the game and beating the game becomes
the most important thing to them. This has a negative effect on society as
normal day to day activities as working, eating and sleeping are effected as
the gamer becomes more and more involved in the game and removed from reality.
Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/impact-of-computer-games-on-society/
Benefits
(hand-eye coordination, brain training)
Action video gamers tend to be more attune to their
surroundings while performing tasks like driving down a residential street,
where they may be more likely to pick out a child running after a ball than a
non-video gamer. Action game playing might be a useful tool to rehabilitate visually
impaired patients or to train soldiers for combat.
"It is certainly good training for
people in situations where they need to detect things in their visual
environment at any time in any location, like ground troops going through
uncharted territory," - Daphne Bavelier.
Brain skills improved by playing first-person
shooters include more than hand-eye coordination, a long-held assumption:
Studies cited by Scientific American Mind found that gamers who played shooters
often fared better in tests of abilities such as spatial reasoning, spatial
focus, and visual acuity and decision-making.
Sources: http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/30/3932876/research-playing-first-person-shooters-improves-learning-abilities-cognitive-function
; http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0528_030528_videogames.html
·
Thinking and strategy skills
Playing video games
regularly can increase ability to make quick decisions and switch between
tasks, researchers found.
Good news for gamers: a new British study finds that some video games
can help to train the brain to become more agile and improve strategic
thinking.
Scientists from Queen Mary University of London and University College
London recruited 72 female volunteers and measured their "cognitive
flexibility," described as a person's ability to adapt and switch between
tasks and think about multiple ideas at a given time to solve problems.
Two groups of subjects were trained to play different versions of a
real-time fast-paced strategy game called "StarCraft" in which
players have to construct and organize armies to battle an enemy. A third of
the group played life simulation video game "The Sims," which does
not require much memory or many tactical skills.
All the volunteers played the video games for 40 hours over six to eight
weeks and were subjected to a variety of psychological tests before and after.
Findings showed that subjects who played "StarCraft" were
quicker and more accurate in performing cognitive flexibility tasks than those
who played "The Sims."
"Previous research has demonstrated that action video games, such
as Halo, can speed up decision making but the current work finds that real-time
strategy games can promote our ability to think on the fly and learn from past
mistakes," said researcher Dr. Brian Glass
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/playing-video-games-boost-strategic-thinking-article-1.1433812
·
Future
impact
Gaming technology constantly evolves and continuous to
set a bench mark for helping people develop skills by allowing them to practice
both theoretical and practical skills in a virtual environment. This will only
continue to evolve as the benefit of games is developed to the extent were
training simulators can allow individuals to become completely proficient in
using high-tech tools in a practice environment before using them in a live
environment. Using games as educational tools is boundless and this could
develop immensely to the extent that learning games could be used to deliver a
non-computer related topic in its entirety. Game hardware and ergonomic design
of consoles and controller devices will be further developed and will continue
to influence the design of hardware devices used outside of the gaming
industry.
Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/impact-of-computer-games-on-society/
·
Impact
on mainstream application development
Early games such as pong helped developed a more
graphical based interface and hardware devices such as joy sticks and
controllers have been developed over time to ensure users could interact with
games more easily. This switch towards a more graphical based operating system
was also inspired by gaming. You can see today’s 3D games user interface design
being modelled by operating systems. Gaming has also helped how users interact
with PCs as controller and wireless communications devices have been
specifically designed with gaming in mind. This has provided many benefits for
the mainstream computing industry and allowed users to more easily interact
with computers.
Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/impact-of-computer-games-on-society/
Psychological factors:
·
Sound
The use of sound in video games does a lot to immerse
the player in the gameplay. Sounds within the game are used to re-enforce the
players’ positive and negative thoughts about their performance in the game.
According to technopedia, “game designers strive to create a complete
environment using audio and visuals”. They state that sounds are embedded into
the game to “match the motion” of the surrounding weather conditions and moving
clouds. Using sounds like this makes the player become more immersed as the
sounds and visuals work together to make the game seem as realistic as
possible. When we look at how the use of sounds in games over time from simple
beeps in early games to provide the player with auditory feedback to today’s
soundtracks and totally immersive sound you can see how much effort has gone
into using sound to make players become more immersed in the gameplay. Sounds
provide a better experience for the gamer and is used to enhance the emotional
experience during gameplay.
Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/psychological-effects-of-computer-gaming-on-individuals-and-society/
High score listings were used in earlier games to make
players feel superior and the best at a particular game. In fact there is a
documentary type movie devoted to the obsession with getting the world record
in the early version of the Donkey Kong Game. The movie called “King of Kong: A
fistful of quarters” shows the emotional struggle of players competing against
each other to beat the record. Some of the behaviour is indeed very strange and
it is apparent that the high score listing makes the player think and act
differently!
Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/psychological-effects-of-computer-gaming-on-individuals-and-society/
·
Competitive games
There are many positives to competitive gaming! With
the advance in technology and MMO games, players now have the opportunity to
play against or with other gamers from all over the world. Gaming in this way
makes it a truly international competition than continually runs 24/7/365.
Communicating with people and cooperating with them can be a highly positive
experience and one that can make friendships with people who may never have
met. Friendly online competition can boost social skills and create a number of
potential associates when people find a common interest whilst taking part in
competitive gaming. The competitive element helps players test each other in
ways that may help them work together in online or offline projects in the
future. Competitive gaming also has a negative impact on some individuals.
Research by the American Psychological Association suggests that a small
percentage of gamers demonstrate aggressive behaviour when taking part in
highly competitive games.
The competitive element does impact on individuals and
may psychologically affect them in terms of becoming aggressive based on their
gaming experience. The frustration of not completing certain challenges or
being outdone by other gamers might be too much for some and lead people to
lose their temper. This shows the negative psychological effects of competitive
gaming. Gamers playing competitive games also showed increased heart rate
during and after gameplay. This shows that they are effected by the game and it
effects them both psychologically and physically. Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/psychological-effects-of-computer-gaming-on-individuals-and-society/
·
Peer pressure
Peer pressure is something that is very relevant in the
world of teenage gamers whose need to have the latest and greatest platforms
and titles drives sales in the games industry. Games console designers normally
release around Christmas to ensure they maximise sales around the period when
people have most money to spend. The pressure to have the latest console is
driven by peer pressure and puts pressure on parents to buy the latest gaming
equipment and games. Intelligent advertising campaigns are used by games
companies to target people of all ages to see the latest games development as a
must have. Similarly gamification is used in products to make people
accountable for their actions.
Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/psychological-effects-of-computer-gaming-on-individuals-and-society/
·
Fun
Most casual gamers play for fun. This is a plain and simple
fact! The enjoyment achieved by playing games helps players escape reality and
become immersed in a fantasy world where they can act out the life of the main
character of the game.
Game designers do consider the emotions of gamers when
designing the game and one of the key emotions to target is player fun. No
matter how much bad press gaming gets in terms of promoting negative emotions
it is very clear that one of the key psychological factors that drive gamers is
to experience fun!
Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/psychological-effects-of-computer-gaming-on-individuals-and-society/
·
Educational value
“Videogames have
great positive potential in addition to their entertainment value and there has
been considerable success when games are designed to address a specific problem
or to teach a certain skill.” - Mark Griffiths from
the Nottingham Trent University.
The research shows that video games have helped players
increase their language skills, basic Maths skills, basic reading skills as
well as their social skills. Video games have been used to train children who
were severely handicapped to communicate successfully. Video games have also
been used to train children with attention deficit disorder to improve their
thinking skills. This research shows that although some may say that games have
a negative effect on young people’s education they can also have positive
impacts and educational value if used correctly. The impact on society will
only change over time as games are used more and more for educational purposes.
You can see that gamification is becoming more widely used across a range of
application types to increase the level of interest and engage users more with
software applications. Gamification has also been added to software tutorials when
learning how to use new products. The impact on education can definitely be a
positive one when games are used in the correct way!
Source:
http://www.contentedwriter.com/psychological-effects-of-computer-gaming-on-individuals-and-society/
·
Expectations
When playing games, gamers have certain expectations
from the platforms that they play on and the titles that they play. As
technology has improved and games have developed into a more realistic 3D
experience gamers expectations have also increased. If we compare a games
series like FIFA the expectations of gamers has increased with the release of
every new title in terms of graphics and audio quality as well as playability.
Gamers expect immediate feedback during gameplay.
Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/psychological-effects-of-computer-gaming-on-individuals-and-society/
·
Levelling
Levelling up in games is a smart move from games
designers. Players are more immersed in gameplay when they have short and long
term challenges and are awarded accordingly when achieving these during
gameplay.
“In order to bring all these characters and stats into being in the
present moment, RPGs give you certain stats bonuses for certain actions. It’s
for this reason that we happily spend hours beating random beasts just to watch
our stats go up.” - GamePlayerReviews.com article on “Character
creation and levelling”
This shows that players spend more time playing
games due to the reward system that is embedded in the gameplay. Mechanics like
these award systems and constant levelling up within a game engross players in
a game and take them on an endless journey were they want to improve
continuously within the game. This makes the player think and feel that they
are part of the game and they take on the role of the main character.
Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/psychological-effects-of-computer-gaming-on-individuals-and-society/
3D Isometric Sprites: 3D isometric sprites are 2D sprites that give
the impression of depth, posed in 3D. For example, World of Warcraft of The
Sims, where you can rotate the camera and see you character in a 3 dimensional
perspective, these games use 3D Isometric Sprites. They are used to add depth.
This is like the face of the game.
It’s the art of the game cover, the game’s poster, game’s website and overall
the theme in which the game is portrayed. This impacts the number of sales –
the better the game cover the more copies you’re going to sell for example. It
also makes the audience get into the game even more.
