VideogamesBy Annie Howell

Pecha Kucha

I personally, don't play a huge amount of videogames but I have now and then picked up my playstation 2 controller and spent endless hours trying to complete levels and finish the whole game itself. My playstation 2 may not be that impressive but for someone like me, investing in one of the new consoles would be a waste of my money. A personal favourite of mine is SSX, a snowboarding game that has many different editions, SSX Tricky, SSX on Tour, and more.

Just the fact that I'm good at this game unlike most others makes me enjoy it the most, but I guess practice makes this possible. Even for an older game like this, the graphics are still amazing and it blows my mind that people out there are creating these virtual figures and fantasy worlds.

I believe that the significance of videogames today are basically just to entertain those who need entertaining and have a lot of time on their hands. But I also believe it is an amazing creation and development that should carry on to become better and better. I found a video on youtube that gives a brief on 5 different videogames and the impact they have had on the world…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yhj5_Z9oP4

There are videos all over youtube of people discussing video games or giving tutorials on how to complete levels or just basically showing off the skills they have developed. Endless amounts of posts are all over the website, and I bet there isn't one game that hasn't got at least one youtube video uploaded about it. The one I have posted focuses on more modern videogames, such as GTA and Call Of Duty, games that are still currently being developed and always have new editions being released. The new GTA 5 has been the biggest craze recently, where the graphics are better than ever.

The problem with GTA is that it very much focuses on violence and general bad and antisocial behaviour. Content that your mother wouldn't want you to be interacting with at a young age. As well as GTA, Call Of Duty also acts upon the violent content. Is gaming getting to the point where someone always has to die or have pain thrown upon them? Maybe this is what the younger generation want these days... which is a bit worrying if I do say so myself.

Seeing how videogames have developed though is absolutely incredible. Going from games like this...

…

To this…

…is quite a huge difference. The graphics that have now been developed is magnificent, and who thought we would be able to put together virtual worlds that are this detailed. The facial features and body movements are so realistic, but for a game like GTA, I think this has a negative effect on the younger generation and the way they see society, or the way they may pick up on these actions and think that it'd be 'cool' to act this way. If you're old enough and have learn right from wrong, then I don't really see the big harm in them, as I myself have played these and I have no urge to go out committing crimes and causing trouble. But maybe for those that have not quite matured and are still learning about who they are and the way they should act within society, could get the wrong end of the stick. But who knows what kind of affect these games are having on people.

I don't like the way some people revolve their lives around their videogames, and spend all day every day obsessing over completing the next level or putting their stats up. There is a world outside of videogames that needs to be explored, and I think this can have a negative affect on young players who may not have the interest in playing with friends in the actual outside world, but sit inside their bedrooms like zombies looking into their television screens. Will this change or will there just be an increase in zombie like children as videogames continue to develop?

Can we learn from videogames?

Not all videogames are about shooting, killing, and committing crimes. Some people believe that videogames keep their minds active, and maybe this is true.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21116544

Here’s a report on what Hilda Knott thinks about videogames and how they keep her mentally active.

Hearing it from that point of view, I can understand how videogames can help the mind, but in a way where we have already learnt about life and experienced it like these old people have. I stick by my view towards the way young children shouldn’t be drawn into videogames too quickly and rapidly before they have been given the chance to explore the outside world, rather than the virtual.

Children and Videogames

Even though I say that videogames are bad for younger children, which I can’t prove myself is actually true, a new study says that children who play videogames are more creative than those who don’t. As I read this I kind of think it sounds a little ridiculous, and I don’t believe that this is the case, but that’s just my opinion I suppose.

Small Games

It doesn’t just have to be the high market, most popular, and best graphic games that are always played. Candy Crush, is a game that has been successful to many people I know. This is a game played on ones mobile phone, without the violence, without the cars, without the races, and without the controls. Even the smallest of games can get people almost obsessed in a way, just like GTA can grab its audiences attention. Small puzzle games are strangely popular even with teenagers. We don’t expect young people to be so drawn into games like these, but it definitely does happen.

People are going crazy for games like Candy Crush, where there are endless levels on constant crushing of candy to ‘remove the jelly’ and to ‘get the ingredients to the bottom’. I play this myself and I still wonder why it is so good and so addictive. I think the constant want to complete something you’ve started is a lot stronger than the game itself.

There are SO many ways to play videogames now. From computer games, arcade games, console games, hand held games, and PC games. The possibilities are becoming endless in our generation today, but what is it that people love so much that makes the videogame industry never ending and so popular?

All of my points made put together show a number of reasons for this. A way of staying mentally active, a way of being entertained, a sense of achievement, a sometimes social activity, and the standard they are now being made. People cannot get enough of videogames. If they weren’t worth it, there wouldn’t be gamers all over the world. The variety of people playing online is incredible, which takes me onto this…

Online

On games such as Call of Duty, players can now play online, where they can use their headset and their online account to play other gamers from right across the other side of the world. This enables them to work as a team from miles and miles away from each other and actually chat over microphone. This kind of technology has developed to a whole new level, bringing different cultures together. Yes we could argue that this makes it a social thing, but we still can’t talk face to face with these people. But for a bit of fun every now and then, I think this is a great thing and an amazing development within videogames and technology.