The Sims: A Simulated Life
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
I've been reading up research materials done by Thaddeus Griebel found at Game Studies and I think this would helps bring some good into our social ill.
Firstly, I've never really played the Sims before and by saying that, I mean the one where you take control of a simulated person. I've never tried it maybe because I had too many other games to entertain me at that time and I felt that The Sims was a really boring and monotonous game. I did try once thou to keep my friend's Sim from going to the loo and it eventually died from some disease, maybe due to the fact that I've build a wall around it, making it stand on its pee all day long. Yes.. it was torturous and evil, but thats what this research was looking for. Human characteristics. In fact, Thaddeus Griebel is trying to use the Sims in a way to improve psychological studies. But why the Sims?
the media have suggested that not only do people’s experiences influence their perceptions of their Sims, but that people actually project aspects of their own lives into their creations as well. Wright asserts, “You can look at somebody's [Sim] house and get a good sense of their personality … What a lot of people do right off the bat is they'll put themselves, their family, their house and their neighbors in the game" (Breznican, 2004).
I think that it's an interesting approach to have future psychologists make their clients play the Sims as a form of personality assessment. They can see a clearer picture of what the client has been going through and would come up with a better approach to 'heal' them.
This isn't about how video games have affected our society, but rather its showing the possibilities that can be taken by using games to achieve a motive. Another article entitled "Learning to Play or Playing to Learn" talks about how games has been proven to increase an individual's ability to absorb information while improving other aspects such as reaction time, visual alertness and hand-eye coordination. Gamers tend to study components of the games willingly as they want to be able to play. Certain games have been known to inherit certain, if not, full similiarity to the real life. Games like Counterstrike or Splinter cell provides players with weapons and equipment that are actually used in the military, giving them knowledge of things they may never come in contact with in their lives.
Growing up as a kid, I remember playing this science computer game which we had to put different parts of a device together to operate a door that will lead to the next stage. Every level had a different puzzle and the rewards were some sort of animation. As lame as it may sound, I was actually into the whole game and it got me interested in how things around me work.
To sum it up, games do have their benefits over our society and we are constantly exploring different methods to use this addictive media to enhance our way of learning. All of the above are however the positive effects of games taken in moderation. This section is just to highlight that in the midst of all the evil addiction of games and the isolation they bring, there are some good to them if we exercise control over them.
I have a random idea for our solution. Propose a game that will require people to not only play it at home on a computer, but also to come out to meeting points around the city areas to meet up and well buy and sell items. Imagine this, like Final Fantasy, this game will be an online game where players all over the world can interact and play. At certain times of the month, the game company will close areas of the game and open actual booths in a city central to that reigon. It will be a full out event where players can come in and buy special items, trade items, meet online friends and dress up like their characters! Hahaha .. Cosplay Gaming!! Just to make it a family thing, every member of the family can log on to one household account to play. Instant family bonding! I don't know. We only need to propose right? :p
posted by reH @ 7:20:00 PM,
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our thoughts...
Monday, May 7, 2007
hi =)
this is an old one..
im sorry to put here late.
we thought about solutions and we all said that we need more discussion for this issue.
we just discussed a mat not consoles for playing with whole family, but the mat games placed already in the market. so it's not really a 'solution'..
i hope we all discuss again tmr!
Seeeeee ya =)
posted by Jen @ 9:03:00 PM,
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A flash to the past
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Been bringing back alot of past memories lately and I think I can share a portion of it that can be seen as a good side to our topic I guess.
I guess as much as we've seen that games are harmful when they turn into an obsession, games also has its benefits when it comes to team building and peer bonding. I remember back in my poly days where my friends and I constantly had something in common. We played the same game and we were always covering each other's backs in it. Especially in a country where we don't have much attractions, we find our own little entertainment via the computers in a LAN shop. It wasn't much but we bonded in someway. A good waste of time some said, but hey it was good fun. I don't know much about improving your hand-eye coordination, because most of us still had problems hitting the target with a real weapon in the army.
I guess like everything else in this world, moderation is always the best. Turning anything into an obsession is naturally unhealthy. Thats all I have to say.
posted by reH @ 9:02:00 PM,
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