Video Games

The correct perception of the internet is as a tool, and everything that comes from computers/internet and technology are tools as well.  Consequently, video games are tools and can they be used as tools. Video games can be used for early education, and many other positive effects. Besides entertainment, video games can be used for kids with social anxiety, and people who can not develop stable social relationships on the real world.  

We listen to a Ted Talk by Jane M. who gave us some interesting facts to think about. We have spent almost six million years playing World Craft. Another data is that in US, the hours spent by children by the age of 21 playing video games is the same as the time they have spent in school, with perfect attendance. She said that gamers are super empowered hopeful individuals, that believe they can change the world, but not the real one, only the virtual one. She explained how the first game, in Lithia, came to life, where the population was suffering because of femur, and they played dices to escape from the real life. They would eat one day, and then play the entire next one. That way they would be distracted from the pain they were going through, and today we have the same reasons to play: to avoid real world life.

Another very important thing she explained was the fact that there are so many games that evoke help from people, where the future real life conditions will be, and then people must find solutions. We avoid real life issues, and if they are in the games we play, we will think about them because we have the necessity to win. Games are simulations of situations; those can be either real or not. Usually, in my opinion, the ones that are not real are more interesting to people, because it’s not something we can do in real life. So I think the fact that there are people that create games that simulate the future of our planet, is a great way to stimulate our brains and make us realize how real those issues are/can be.

Another Ted Talk by Anita S., called the Mirror. Problem solving, teamwork, and many other are great advantages of video games. But there are also so many negatives. She was the target of a massive negative and violent movement. Many males got violent and destroyed all of her pages on the web (Facebook, Wikipedia, and so on). They were trying to protect the video games zone to only males and not females. What she wanted to do is a feminist movement through video games. Cyber harassment is not a game, and is not just boys being boys, so we can’t ignore it, and men cannot be let harass without doing anything.