In the 21st century, society is noticing a drastic change in the new generation. Going outside has become a thing of the past for some and many parents struggle to get their children to stop playing video games. Submersed in the world of violent video games, society has started to scorn the idea of them. Though video games seem to have a lot of drawbacks, other parts of society encourage the development of video games. While many believe that video games are detrimental to society they actually hold many benefits for all age ranges.
William Higinbotham, a nuclear physicist lobbied for nuclear nonproliferation as the first chair of the Federation of American Scientists, created the first video game Tennis for Two. At Brookhaven's lab's annual visitors' day on October 18, 1958 Tennis for Two was first introduced to the public. Tennis for Two, a two player game that consisted of "separate controllers that were connected to an analog computer" and the use of an "oscilloscope for a screen" ("The First Video Game?"). Nine years later, Ralph Baer, a German-born television engineer, and his coworkers designed the first video game console the Brown Box that worked on a standard television ("A History of Video Game Consoles"). In the past the purpose of video games was not to make a profit, but to offer people a way to have fun in a new way.
In 2014, more people are taking advantage of the virtual communication aspects of video games as they become more advanced. Brain researcher Jay Pratt, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto stated, "playing [action] video games changes the ability to learn, to finding and integrating new information" (Trudeau, 2010). According to neuroscientist Laura Sergio's fMRI studies "non-gamers pre...
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Johnson, Daniel. "The Brain Gain: Why Video Games Can Make People Happy." The Sydney Morning Herald 9 Oct. 2013: n. pag. EBSCOhost. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
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Martin, Michel. "What Can We Learn From Video Games?" NPR. 18 Apr. 2012. Television.
"Reasons for Kids to Play Video Games." Kanata Kourier Standard 20 Feb. 2014: n. pag. EBSCOhost. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
"Study Finds Video Games Help Seniors' Balance." ABC Premium News. 4 June 2012. Television.
Trudeau, Michelle. "Video Games Boost Brain Power, Multitasking Skills." NPR. 20 Dec. 2010. Television.
Vedantam, Shankar. "Mental-Health Benefits of Video Games Studied." The Hamiliton Spectator 23 Aug. 2009: n. pag. EBSCOhost. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
Although many people believe video games have negative effects on both the mind and body, there is actually many evidence and research that shows that video games can have positive effects and be beneficial for one 's health. Video games secretly are filled with a lot of education. Isabela Granic, Adam Lobel, and Rutger C.M.E. Engels, provide strong evidence and research that shows how by just playing one shooter game, you can gain skills that usually someone would never realize they have and by playing a video game, those skills come to life. Granic, Lobel, and Engels did an experiment that showed how playing shooter games could improve cognitive abilities. Granic, Lobel, and Rutger claim that, “Compared to control participants,
McClellan’s (2005) article reports that according to Johnson’s study, computer games are essentially brain exercises that improve the psychological fitness holistically because they require continuous focus, strategic decision-making, and creative thinking. Video games, another form of screen technology, have also been found to improve these aspects which are important as children often find gaming fun and this must be utilised productively to aid the development of cognition / mental acumen. An example of this would be Assassin’s Creed, alternate versions of history role playing game, which develops spatial skills, strategic thinking, and executive
Vessey, J. A., & Lee, J. E. (2000, November). Video games affecting our children. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FSZ/is_6_26/ai_n18610997/pg_2/
There has been an abundance amount of research and statistics on how video games impact the brain. One statistic states that, for the average boy, approximately thirteen hours per week were allotted for video game play (Carnagey and Anderson 2005). However, this number surely varies based on gender and individual interests. It i...
“Psychologists and neuroscientists conducting well-designed studies are beginning to shed light on the actual effects of video games. These studies show a clear trend: Games have many consequences in the brain, and most are not obvious—they happen at a level that overt behaviors do not immediately reflect. Because the effects are subtle, many people think video games are simply benign entertainment.”
Educational and action video games have proven to increase cognitive thought, raise reaction time, and have taught people to become better thinkers .Videogames are not simply for entertainment purposes, or a waste of time, they are beneficial to people. With several productive reasons for playing games, and with proven results, there is no reason for people to discourage others from playing them. We should continue to educate people that games are excellent teaching resources, and not ignore the positive influences we gain from playing.
Nowadays, childhood is not the same that 30 years ago, entertainment and social activities on children were so do different than now. Video games have become a fundamental part of children’s lives, creating a new generation where video games is part of the culture and the video games that you used to play might help you to become the person that you are now. That is how we see it now, something that common that everyone have used at least once, something that we can say is number one topic on youth’s conversations. All these without mention the increment that video games have had in market; becoming a phenomenon that have stabilized sales records and catching the attention of big companies to invert on it. However, video games have aroused a number of doubts all around the world about if this factor can change or somehow influence on children’s behavior; considering that most of the popular games are violent
One article points out that video games have a big impact on children’s lives and that many of the games played are violent. Researchers have found that “nearly all children spend time playing video games” and studies have found that “8th graders spent an average of 17 hours per week playing video games” (Tamborini 336). Moreover, 68% of the most popular video games contain violence (Tamborini 336). So it is clear that many children have access to violent video games and they have a big impact on their lives simply because of the amount of time spent playing them.
By far the largest concern of technology today is video games. There have been so many experiments and studies to try and figure out if video games have a negative or positive effect on our children. A growing body of research is linking violent video game play to aggressive cognitive, attitudes and behaviors (D.A. Gentile, 2004). Video games can obviously be dangerous for our children causing aggression, bad performances in school and obesity. Although we cant blame all of these problems on the use of video game...
Video games first appeared in the early 1970's. It all started with a simple white ball bouncing back and forth on the screen. In 1986, Nintendo introduced its first line of home video game consoles. With the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) on the market, the home video gaming industry surged and immediately became popular among children. Since then, not only have video games increased in popularity, but there have been vast improvements in graphics, game play, and forms of gaming.
In a society driven by technology, video games are becoming more popular each and everyday. People of all ages enjoy video games in their free time; these games allow the player to become an athlete, a soldier, or a professional fighter at the tip of their fingers. The biggest problem with these video games is that they are becoming too violent. In today’s society, children often brag about the new video game they bought, and the number of people they have managed to kill while playing these games. Video games have become realistic, causing them to intrigue a larger amount of children. Many of these violent video games encourage killing and fighting of enemies, or strangers in the game. Each year a new game system, and hundreds of video games are released, and millions of kids go out and buy them and spend hours playing. Video games have a large effect on school performance and time spent with family. Children would prefer to play their games than sit down and talk with their parents (Saleem, 2012).
"Video game play may provide learning, health, social benefits." American Psychological Association. February 2014, Vol 45, No. 2
One of the very first video games to have been developed was a simple graphical computer application used to resemble virtual Tic-Tac-Toe (Bellis). Although the game was simple in nature and basic in control, it was one of the first few innovative designs that would eventually lead to establishment of other well known video games (Bellis).... ... middle of paper ... ...
“Video games change your brain,” according to University of Wisconsin psychologist C. Shawn Green. Playing video games alters the brain’s physical structure the same way as learning to read or playing a musical instrument does. Just like how exercising can build muscle, the combination of concentration and surges of dopamine, which plays a major role in reward based behavior, builds and strengthens neuron pathways to make the brain stronger. According to Marc Palaus, author of the study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, it is widely accepted in the scientific community that playing video games changes not only how the brain operates, but also its structure. Video games improve fine motor skills, spatial skills, and hand-eye coordination.
There are many medical and health benefits to playing video games in areas such as; rehabilitation, teaching self-care skills, safe sex practices, and child cancer patients. A videogame that focused on motivation to