we are the tearjerkers?

Site menu:

Welcome | Images | Photos |

            Blue Sky Blue Sky?

Group Final Blog
Monday, May 21, 2007

The Problem with Video Games

When the world is rife with social ills it becomes almost hopeless for any human to try and fix anything that’s wrong. This is an unfair world, where the rich get richer and the poor gets poorer. Sometimes it is easier to ignore these problems but all that one does is procrastinate these problems for another day, eventually it will come back and bite us in the you-know-what. If the problem or the roots of it still remains, it could potentially build up into an even greater and more damaging problem. That is the ultimate reason why this project/inspection into social ills is trying to change or at least, we hope, to alleviate it.
We chose to work with the problem of video games and how it is affecting our society. Video games are a source of entertainment that has become somewhat of a priority in most households (especially ones with children), Zoom into any household unit and what we would find are children isolated in their rooms attached to a computer screen or staring at the television completely engrossed in it. This is where hours of their lives come to dispose. Those precious hours that they could be spending with family members come to die here. Not to say this is pointing fingers at anyone to be at fault because there are numerous accounts why this has happened over the years. There is a controversy about whether video games are really the bad guys or the good guys. However, this is not a report about that controversy; it has been done several times over. What we are looking at is the social ill of people becoming more and more isolated especially in children because of these consoles that manifests itself in people’s households around the world. Video games comes in different packaging these days, stationary at home through television, through computers, and portable, hand-held consoles like the lights of a PSP or Nintendo DS. Now we even have it on our mobile phones so we are never without it.
In this investigation we will first look at the evidence that allows us to say that this is actually an existing social ill. Through reports on prolonged gaming and its effects, how it is a psychosocial problem, the transition of gaming from multiplayer to single player, and how gamers are less aware of the boundaries between virtual and reality. Secondly, there are information from different countries on their approaches to this gaming-isolation-violence problem. The common approach seems to be banning the sales of these violent and antisocial-tendency games. However we must question these existing approaches whether they are solving the problem at all or barely scratching the surface of it. This leads to some of our approaches from early discussions onwards. We don’t believe in banning laws, it is by far no ends to a mean. It doesn’t solve the problem from the roots of what's really happening which may not be video games in the first place. Therefore we offer some solutions that hopefully will lessen the isolation of people by video games.


The nature of this problem has been studied by many in the forms of surveys, interviews and running live tests in controlled environments. Many others were shown based on actual events that happened in history where game addicts actually get into serious medical conditions, or death, after continuously playing for hours or days. One such example was reported that in S.Korea, August 2005, a 28-year-old man died after playing an online game continuously for more then 50 hours with very little breaks. His addiction to the game deprived him of sleep and proper nutrients and it was suspected that he died from overexhaustion.[1] In another case, a game addict in America, March 2002, shot himself to death and the suspected cause was his addiction to an online game, 'Everquest'. Its said that the gamer "sacrificed everything so he could play for hours, ignoring his family, quitting his job and losing himself in a 3-D virtual world".[2] The mother blames Sony for creating the game that caused her son's death, but is it fair to place all the blame on the game and its makers? We explored further into that.

'Addiction is a primary, chronic, neurobiologic disease, with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is characterized by behaviors that include one or more of the following: impaired control over drug use, compulsive use, continued use despite harm, and craving.'[3] The keyword we want to emphasize here is psychosocial. An article by Neils Clark of Gamasutra states that gaming addiction derives from behavioral addiction. In other words, a person is most susceptible to be addicted by an activity that he/she enjoys. Which also brings to the point of why a person would 'escape' into this virtual realm, isolating themselves in their room away from the people who are physically around them. Neils summerizes, "Some people have had an excessively rough life, and still others have had too easy a life, or are just bored. Specifically culture, economics, social circumstances, personality, and low tolerances for stress are some of the factors that might make one person more susceptible to addiction. You might call particularly vulnerable people “addictive personalities,” simply because they are more at risk."[4]

We looked to the results of game addiction and everything points to isolation. May it be a Online PC game or a PS2 game console, there are more games out there designed to capture you into a world of your own rather then letting you enjoy quality time with the people around you. Even thou Nintendo was known as the Famicom (short for Family Computer)[5] back in the 80's, the amount of modifications made to the console has changed it from a social station to a '1 console per person' machine (e.g. Nintendo DS). Game addicts who suddenly realized what was becoming of them stepped up to confess about their life-draining habits and what damages it has caused. The outcry was made in hopes that more people would take their heads out from that bag of virtual smokescreen and look at what's going on. One such blogger had an interesting conversation with her non-gaming friend and it displayed the confusion that her friend had while trying to relate what was said with reality.[6] In an interview with Dr. Maressa Orzack (a clinical psychologist, founder and coordinator of Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Newton, Mass), she revealed that majority of her patients are family members asking to help their children, boyfriends, spouses and sometimes themselves out of gaming addiction. She believes thats games are inherently addictive, in spite of the possibility that family issues can be a major factor to this result.[7] We are, however, still unsure of whether its the games' addiction that led to deteriorating family ties or is it the poor family bonding that created this need to escape into a different realm. Almost a 'Which came first, the chicken or the egg' question.

And since we are talking about the behavioral psychology on games, researchers have studied the brain activity of gamers while they are engaged in violent games. The results suggest that violent games stimulates gamers' brain for aggression. A study made by Michigan State University using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) system showed that 11 out of 13 test subjects 'exhibited "large observed effects" characteristic of aggressive thoughts. The researchers said the pattern of brain activity can be considered to be caused by virtual violence.'[8] Yet another article related their research with the Columbine High School massacre Colorado, April 1999 where one of the two killers "had actually modified a version of the game Doom and placed it on his Website. In his version there were two shooters, extra weapons, and the other people in the game couldn't shoot back."[9] How far will gamers go in defining what's real and what's virtual? Do games plant violent ideas into their heads? We turned to look for games that encourages violence and "GTA: Grand Theft Auto" came up. Hijacking people of their vehicles, running police over, transporting drugs and money across town is basically the rough description to the gameplay.[10] Although some may argue that this form of gameplay lets people live and vent their angers off the streets, how are we to say that real-life crimes aren't sparked by them in the first place.

There are always two sides to a coin and fortunately games do have their plus points too. A research was conducted by Thaddeus Griebel to study the use of the Sims to help improve psychological studies.[11] Allowing patients to re-create scenarios and living conditions helps psychologist understand their patients' problems more accurately. Games can not only help cure people, but also educate through the well known form of educational CD-ROMs. Most people tend to absorb better when given a piece of interactive media that they can play and manipulate rather than reading cold, hard text.[12]



[1] - BBC News (2005, August). S Korean dies after games session. Retrieved May 09, 2007, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm.

[2] - JS Online (2002, March). Death of a game addict. Retrieved May 09, 2007, from http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=31536.

[3] - American Pain Society (2001, Feburary). Advocacy. Retrieved May 09, 2007, from http://www.ampainsoc.org/advocacy/opioids2.htm&usg=AFrqEzeTsFcQYwikdBetl2amC_l5kGODdA

[4] - Gamasutra (2006, Feburary). Are Games Addictive? The State of the Science. Retrieved May 09, 2007, from http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060228/clark_01.shtml

[5] - Nintendo Land (1997-2004). The History of the Nintendo Entertainment Systemor Famicom . Retrieved May 09, 2007, from http://www.nintendoland.com/home2.htm?nes/history.htm

[6] - Side of Sauce (2007, March). Confessions of a Gamer Grrl. Retrieved May 09, 2007, from http://sideofsauce.com/gaming/confessions-of-a-gamer-grrl/

[7] - Rob Wright, TwitchGuru (2006, August). mmORPGs And Game Addiction. Retrieved May 09, 2007, from http://www.twitchguru.com/2006/08/08/world_of_warcraft_players_addicted/

[8] - CNET News.com (2001, Feburary). Advocacy. Retrieved May 09, 2007, from
http://news.com.com/Violence+in+games+stimulates+brain+for+aggression/2100-1043_3-5893930.html

[9] - Mental Health (2005, November). Violent Video Games Produce Violent Behavior. Retrieved May 09, 2007, from http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/familyresources/a/vidgameviolence.htm

[10] - Wikipedia (2007). Grand Theft Auto(series). Retrieved May 09, 2007, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_(series)

[11] - Thaddeus Griebel, Game Studies (2006, December). Self-Portrayal in a Simulated Life: Projecting Personality and Values in The Sims 2. Retrieved May 09, 2007, from http://gamestudies.org/0601/articles/griebel

[12] - Hans Christian Arnseth, Game Studies (2006, December). Learning to Play or Playing to Learn - A Critical Account of the Models of Communication Informing Educational Research on Computer Gameplay. Retrieved May 09, 2007, from
http://gamestudies.org/0601/articles/arnseth

When we talked about video games at the very beginning, we thought about both the negative and positive effects caused by gaming. Although there are many articles that place a great deal of negative weight on this subject, we however, as people who love video games, decided to consider the benefits rather than negative aspects.
(April.23.2007, Jen, advantages-of-videogames)
(May.13.2007, Hoa, some research by lazicat ^^ )


Second life

After we decided on researching the positive effects of video games, we discussed the possibility of video games as a form of a 'second life'. As a result of the research, we found out that millions of people live their second life in the cyber world. Among the virtual reality games, one of the famous games is the Second life. According to Philip Rosedale who is the CEO of Linden Lab, more than 230 million people soaked themselves into this game (2006, P Rosedale, www.secondlife.com). This means millions of people live and enjoy their second life in cyber space. Even though we tried to find the benefits of video games, we could not disregard the negative side effects such as game addiction and isolation caused by it.
Related pictures
The Sims. A similar issue to Second Life


Isolation

Thereafter, we concluded that isolation may be the main problem to video games. When kids get into a gaming frenzy and have no interest in anything else. Gaming went from off time to all-the-friggin-time. One underlying cause could be the lack of family life and parents not spending enough time with their kids which links to the fact that workloads are getting more and more (April.27.2007, Alisa, class discussion). In addition, we found and read some articles about how video games are making children social inept at a conversational level as well as creating a supposed violent generation (May.5.2007, Tripletsis95, the MX article), and about pro-video games for adolescents such as

a) "Don't Bother me Mom-I'm learning!" Marc Prensky
b)"Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences" Peter Vordere, Jennings Bryant
c) "Video Games & Interactive Media: A glimpse at New Digital Entertainment" Stephane Natkin
(May.7.2007, Alisa, readings).

A video on isolation
Case studies

5. Solution

As a group we have gone through various stages of proposed solutions for our social problem video games. In the earlier stages our aim was to find ways in which we could get children to limit time that they spent playing video games. By trying to get parents to see the bad effects of the overuse of video games through advertisement campaigns. The aim was to put advertisements that were similar to the shock campaigns used by the cigarette and alcohol campaigns but after revision we realised the chances of that being successful were very slim especially based on the fact that many of the smokers overlooked the images on their packets and how many drivers still get caught drink driving.

We then tried out the typical thought of if you can get children to be outdoors more then that would solve the weight and antisocial problems that we often associated with the new era of video games and personal game stations. This seemed to be an obvious area to look into but this too soon become a little too predictable a move as every time the lack of activity in children comes up the first thing to be recommended is to get them outside and active which doesn’t necessarily always work or apply to certain families.

From there we progressed onto the idea that the primary problem with video games was not the inactivity of children but the growth in antisocial behaviour and isolation that these games endorse, our solution was giving the children an alternative forms of entertainment that could incorporate the entire family such as board games. The types of board games that we had thought of were either family oriented that deal with the specific history of the family so would demand the interaction of child with parent. Other ideas were interactive board games such as a combination of charades or active games and typical board games that way getting the family to interact on a fun level rather than only on serious matters.

We continued on the path of family interaction moving away from board games and embracing the video game but again being something that can not be done alone. We came up with idea of a Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) type game with a mat that interacts with the video game consoles but instead of being a a dance game we had discussed the idea of sports games such as soccer or basketball where your footsteps navigate the game for example specific foot movements kicked the ball in the soccer games, or the jumps for shooting in basketball. Another idea was an interactive game that you travel overseas via of video game but instead of being controller based it like a video camera where you can interact with the locals, answer questions that you have the option of getting translated into the native tongue so you have the chance to hear yourself conversing in another language. It was supposed to be like your going on a family holiday, doing native family games in which you converse with your family in a unique way. Another Idea that we thought would have great success was a amusement park game that involved 3D glasses so that you would feel as though you were in the amusement park and their would be a lounge seat cover that was linked to the game that would create the movements and vibrations of the different rides that you could go on again you would be able to interact with the game as a unit.

From that idea we progressed onto a game that requires people to not only limit their play to within their own home or computer, but also to have meeting points around the city areas where you meet up with others to buy and sell items. A Final Fantasy type game, the game will most probably be based online where players from all over the world can interact and play creating international friendships and bonds. It could involve having certain times of the month, when the game company will close certain areas of the game and open real life booths in a city central to that region. It will be a complete event where players can come to and buy special items relevant to the game, trade items, meet online friends that they would otherwise never actually have known or met and they could also dress up like their characters! ala Star Wars and Star Trek!!!! To make it a family orientated even, every member of the family can log in to the one household account to play. A way of combing fun and family bonding.

Although we are aware that we are not expected to have solved the problem, as if it was as easy as that these problems would have been eradicated years ago. We are very happy with the progressions we have made through our proposed ideas to the final outcome that we feel will not only stop the progression of isolation and antisocial behaviour in our children but also bring families together in a format where the don't have to deal with serious everyday issues which is often the only or main interaction between children and parents in tis day an age. We are wanting to bring families back even be it for one day an week where you can have fun without life intruding.



My conclusion..sort of..but feels like i'm opening another can of worms!!

On a personal level I feel that video games has come a long way to becoming a vital past time entertainment favorite. It has its benefits as well as its drawbacks, but most things in life is a double edged sword. It all comes down to how each person can cope and learn to manage these things so that the sharp edge doesn’t end up hurting them. As the more tragic cases presented earlier, some aren’t equipped with the tools in life to deal with with a particular object or idea. Take the latest occurrence of the Virginia Tech shootings in the United States, the shooter obviously wasn’t able to deal with his own troubles and had to resort to killing people. This is the same as Charles Darwin’s theory of ‘natural selection’ which lead to Herbert Spencer to coined the phrase “survival of the fittest”. For some, it really is a fight to stay alive.
With the case of children, I think the problem is a learnt behavior which directly stems from their family life. Some kids grow up with tv, with games, anything at their beckon call and some don’t have the same luxury so they have to be creative to make their own entertainment. That is not to say which kid will grow up to be a better person but it may relate directly to how they may be able to handle things later on in life. If parents start early to emphasize the importance of family time and have better connection with their own children, the children may not have the tendency to depend so much on such objects.
In many ways I see this social problem as congruent and supplementary of the series shown in class called “Decadence”. When there is an abundance of everything there is inevitably an excess. We have adopted this culture of addiction; especially on material things. Perhaps growth and wealth isn’t always good things, when there is loss of religion, values, and family ties. I believe we have truly lost our way. The bright lights are alluring; we head towards it without question. Now it is doing us harm, so it is our job again to try and reverse it.


My personal conclusion on this entire research supports the idea of moderation. It is clear that games are built and designed to entertain, teach and sometimes 'escape' life, but obsession has proven itself fatal. Its just like the saying that 'fire is a good servant but a bad master'. When used to achieve a certain purpose and under a controlled environment, games too can be beneficial to mankind. Although I do agree to a certain degree that game violence can be influential, it still boils down to self control. One must be clear enough to tell the difference between what's right and wrong, what's real and virtual. And if an individual is unable to differentiate that, its the duty of the parent or guardian to educate them. Games are tools and should never be given the reins to our lives.


“Video games” is a social problem that our group decided to discover forward. It seems to be most of people could be easily addicted if they played games. During research, I found out many disadvantages as well as advantages of playing video games. The boundary between them is hard to define. However, the most important thing is offline and online violent games both bring bad behaviors to our children. Playing and selling video games in some countries are banned but the law is not strong enough. There is not an actual solution to ban or put people in prison. The key is parent better give more time and taking care of their children. Better relationship, better life!

At the very beginning of this project, I was very confused and did not know where to start thinking. By reading, researching, discussing, and blogging within my group, (especially with a game expert), I found it was getting better. I thought let’s dig deeper and you would found the solution. Finishing the project, I actually develop my group work and researching skills. I’m happy with my group and my final solution.


There were many social problems that we, human beings, have to consider. We chose an isolation of video games as a topic. When I researched this topic, it had more disadvantages than advantages so it was not easy to find good effects and solutions of an isolation of video games. Finally, we discussed family games such as DDR, soccer, board, racing games on the screen, but without consoles, with a real mat for playing games with whole family members. I personally think there is no particular solutions of this topic, but I found at least improve the solution in a researching process. I found the most important thing that we all wanted to find through this project was to expanding times with others such as family and friends, because everybody is faced with this ‘isolation’ problem in this society whatever anyone wanted to or not. I think that is why this project name was a ‘Social problem’. Also through this course, I learned how to communicate, criticise and review by teamwork discussion and it really helps me to develop my ideas deeply and when I could not get a good idea that I wanted, I did blogging and read some articles from anywhere to find different opinions and to see others’ thinking, not googling.

As a older sibling to video addicted younger brothers I had a personal interest in this problem and had my own personal test cases to draw from and share with my group. Our progression throughout was sympathetic to the issue and I feel that with ourfinal solution we have at least taken a few steps in the right direction to not stopping video games but embracing them and transitioning them into a family tool to help interactions between children and their parents. By getting families together to bond themselves over something that is not about serious day to day challenges but about having fun and discussing exciting parts of the game which may then lead on to much more serious channels of communication being opened.

-Sorry guys. Did some editing to the main report. Hope you don't mind cos I've touched up on most parts but not changing the meanings to what you've written. By the way, great job!! :) [reh]-

posted by tripletsis95 @ 9:56:00 PM, ,

Web This Blog

Tear Jerkers |

Previous Posts

• Group Final Blog
• Research in process! buzzzz buzzzz~~
• Finalize ideas for Report
• Just Some Case Studies
• some research by lazicat ^^
• The Sims: A Simulated Life
• our thoughts...
• A flash to the past
• Interesting Article
• just my opinion ;)

Archives

• 15 April 2007
• 22 April 2007
• 29 April 2007
• 06 May 2007
• 13 May 2007
• 20 May 2007
• Current Posts

Powered By