Physiological Effects: How the Human Brain Reacts to Video Games

Video games often times get a bad wrap in the face of the media, as they are consistently being targeted for causing violent and addictive-like behavior in young teens and adults. And now, with the video game industry distributing thousands of titles a year to an enormous sea of gamers, people are playing video games more than ever. In fact, according to an article from Science Daily, "the average young person will have spent some 10,000 hours gaming by the time they are 21." (Douglas Mental Health Institute). Due to this frequent rate of play, the media continually touts the negative effects that video games can have on a developing brain. However, is this really fair? Can you just simply say that playing games will automatically effects a developing brain negatively? Or can video game provide young gamers with a way to positively stimulate their mental abilities?

This is your brain on video games

According to many psychologists today, they believe video games can have a positive effect on young gamers brains, as they require the player to assert some type of mental cognitive skills, in order to traverse through missions and puzzles. Recently, studies have revealed that playing video games can help to stimulate and even improve upon certain mental attributes, such as motor skills and visual abilities. In fact, according to one study done at the Max-Planck Institute of Human Development in Berlin, playing video games can even stimulate overall brain growth in young teens and children. The study revealed that after a subject had been playing the game Super Mario 64 DS for 2 months that, " three areas of the brain had grown- the prefrontal cortex, right hippocampus, and cerebellum- all involved in navigation and fine motor control." (BBC News).

However, positive mental stimulation and development from playing video games isn't just being limited to younger gamers anymore. Now, developers of also using video games as a platform to help relieve the declining mental state of old age. These "brain training" games provide older gamers with a way to stay sharp, by implementing tasks in the game that help to improve memory and attention span skills, which then can be applied to their real world lives (BBC News).

Personally, I agree with the recent studies, which state that video games can have a positive effect on our brains. As a gamer myself, I believe that even when I am engaging in action or first person shooter games I am still using a certain level of mental cognition to even comprehend what tasks to complete. In this sense, I think that even video games that carry a controversial label, like Grand Theft Auto V, can still provide the player the ability to improve their mental abilities. As games continue to become more complex, in terms of graphical presentation and content, the more gamers will find themselves mentally challenged, which will help to develop better brains through games.

TED Talk: Your Brain on Video Games (Video)

References:
Douglas Mental Health University Institute. (2015, May 19). New light on impact of video gaming on the brain. Science Daily. Retrieved December 1, 2015. 

Horizon: How video games can change your brain. (2015, September 16). BBC News. Retrieved December 1, 2015. 

Psychological Effects: Video Game Addiction

The face of Video Game Addiction

When the developers of Pong, the first commercially successful video game, finished creating their digital masterpiece in 1972, they could have never imagined the impact that video games would eventually have on American culture. Video games have become so ingrained into our daily lives, regardless if its on console, computer, or handheld devices. In fact, an estimated 155 million people in the United States play video games on a regular basis (Campbell). However, as video games became more visually complex and included more detail oriented content, regular users of games started to play longer hours, forming deeper connections with their virtual characters. This type of behavior exhibited by gamers began to raise a lot of parental red-flags, as the time spent interacting within the virtual game world rose drastically among children and teens. Eventually, gamers were becoming overly enthralled within the virtual world they were traversing and were labeled as video game addicts.

Pong (1972)

According to a report from Mental & Physical Health, "video game addiction can be defined as excessive and compulsive use of computer of video games that result in social and/or emotional problems; despite these problems the gamer is unable to control this excessive use." (Pallesen). Currently, in the United States alone studies have revealed that roughly 3 million people are addicted to playing video games on a regular basis (McElroy). As video games have become more complex in their featured content and graphical display, it really comes as no surprise that some gamers are exhibiting compulsively addictive behavior stemming from the games they play. Certain video games categories like MMORPG's, such as World of Warcraft, rely on gamers to play long hours in order to complete menial tasks, such as building a virtual house. However, due to the compulsive behavior exhibited by the gamers, they feel the need to grind it out, no matter how menial the task is in their fantastical world. As a result of gamers addictive behavior, they neglect family, friends, work, and school; just as any other addiction works.

Just try & drag them away...

Of course, not all gamers can be categorized as video game addicts. Many gamers only interact with their gaming platforms for several hours a week and sometimes they don't even use it for gaming, but streaming and other applications being offered, as well. Instead, addictive behavior is most often displayed in the more "hardcore" gamer. Hardcore gamers, typically prefer games that offer them a sense of complexity and depth to the story, which helps to completely transport them into a virtual world of fantasy. Most often times, hardcore gamers are playing games for hours at time in order to combat their real world issues, like low self-esteem or extreme loneliness. In this sense, hardcore gamers use video games as a platform to escape from their issues, which is considered to be a trait of other addictions like gambling. As a result of displaying traits similar to other addictive behaviors, hardcore gamers are the most in danger of developing strong addictions to the games they play.

the prototypical Hardcore Gamer

Although video game addiction hasn't been officially recognized as a psychological disorder by the American Medical Association, I personally believe that millions of Americans suffer from video game addiction in our current virtually-obsessed culture. Many children, teens, and even adult gamers form deep dependencies on video games. Partly due to the fact that it affords gamers the ability to escape from reality into a world of virtual reality. As a result, these types of more hardcore gamers will feel the need to grind and grind on certain missions or tasks until the early hours of the morning everyday. However, as with all type of entertainment, especially virtual entertainment, the amount of time one spends playing video games needs to be balanced with other non-virtual activities. If more hardcore gamers were to balance their intake of gaming, hopefully we can start to see a reduction in gamers exhibiting addictive-like behaviors. And eventually, start to feel more comfortable being involved in the real world versus a realm of fantasy.

Get Yourself Tested!


Ted Talk: Escaping Video Game Addiction (Video)

References:
Video Game Addiction. (n.d.) Retrieved November 27, 2015, from http://www.video-game-addiction.org

Campbell, C. (2015, April 14). Here's How Many People Are Playing Games in America. Retrieved November 27, 2015, from http://www.polygon.com/2015/4/14/8415611/gaming-stats-2015

McElroy, G. (2009, April 20). 8.5 Percent on U.S. Youth Addicted to Video Games, Study Finds. Retrieved November 27, 2015, from http://edgadget.com

Pallesen, S., Meen Lorvik, I., Hellandsjo Bu, E., & Molde, H. (2015). An Exploratory Story Investigating the Effects of a Treatment Manual for Video Game Addiction. Psychological Reports, 117(2), 490-495. dos:10.2466/02.PRO.11c14z9

Educational Effects: Video Games in Classrooms Good or Bad?

Video Games and Education: Good or Bad?

Over the past decade, technologically based learning systems have infiltrated our K-12 school systems throughout the United States. In fact, nearly fifty-five percent of teachers use video games in the classroom to help teach students (Meyer). Many of these learning systems use a video game based platform to help teach young students a variety of fundamental skills, like problem-solving and creative solutions. Incorporating educationally based video games into the regular curriculum has become an effective tool for helping to motivate students to cognitively become better learners. Some of the more popular educational video game programs, like Khan Academy, are played using a computer, however, many other handheld devices are starting to come out with educational video games, like My Word Coach, which was released for both Wii and Nintendo DS.           

Oregon Trail (1985)

Although educational video game programs, like those featured in Khan Academy, have become more popular in school systems in the recent years, learning skills through a video game isn’t a new educational phenomenon. In reality educational based video games have been featured in the United States since the 1980’s, which helped to introduce students to learning fundamental skills, like math, history, typing, and problem-solving, through video games (Heick). One of the most popular early educational video games was a survival based game called Oregon Trail, which was released in 1985. Even though, the educational content and graphics were limited, due to the technologies of the time, games, like Oregon Trail, helped to expose the true value video games can have in the classroom. As technology continued to advance, so did the educational video game into the realm of the 21^st century. Although educational based video games have undeniably received a facelift thanks to the rapid development of modern day video game technology, has the educational content of these games or can it be considered only as an aesthetical change?

Engaging Students with Video Games

Today, video games are being incorporated into the classroom like never before, as not only educationally based video games are featured, but more entertainment based massive multiplayer games have started to be introduced to students, as well. Video games are also being offered to students not as a learning tool, but as a motivational reward. According to a statement from a middle school teacher at Wheatley Educational Campus in Washington D.C., “It motivates the students to continue to move forward with mastering concepts, because its all about content and mastery.” (Meyer).

MinecraftEdu

Currently, one of the most popular video games being adopted into learning environments throughout the U.S. is Minecraft. Due to Minecrafts rapid adoption rate into standardized curriculums, developers of the game even created a more educational based version under the title, MinecraftEdu. MinecraftEdu releases the students into a blocky three dimensional online world, in which allows them to use a variety of fundamental skills, like math and science, in order to help them build and explore their surrounding in the world. Video games, like Minecraft, which were developed initially for entertainment are most certainly changing the look of the what is considered to be an educational game, but many of the fundamental skills the students learn from the games have largely remained the same. Simply incorporating skills, like problem-solving and simple arithmetic, because they have proven to be necessary skills every student needs to learn. So, due to the educational video games lack of incorporating new skills into their user interface, do video games offer any real educational merit or are they a waste of time because they just teach a base level of the same old fundamentals?

Personally, I believe the use of video games in classrooms can be an effective tool for helping young students to learn certain skills, like math and problem solving. I also believe that by engaging students in a reward based system can be extremely beneficial for helping the students become more productive, in terms of the material they need to learn in order to play the games. Exposing students, especially the younger K-8 students, to video games in the classroom can also be a valuable resource for helping students to become more accustomed with the modern technologies of today. Although the video games being adopted into the curriculums certainly carry some semblance of educational merit, not every game can be put into the same category and certainly have no place in the classroom. Although entertainment based games, like Call of Duty and GTA V, still need the player to exhibit similar skills featured in their educational labeled counterparts, the violent and controversial thematic content featured in such games display no educational merit what so ever. Nonetheless, I believe that educational video games in schools are here to stay just as long as they present students with learning a variety of fundamental skills, which are necessary to every student’s education.

Try Some out for yourself!!

Funbrain: Blast-Off
Funbrain: Stay Afloat
ABCya: PaintGo


References:
Carson, E. (2014, September 16) MinecraftEdu: From the Gameroom to the Classroom. Tech Republic. Retrieved November 26, 2015. 

Heick, T. (2012, September 12). A Brief History of Video Games In Education. Teach Thought. Retrieved November 26, 2015. 

Meyer, L. (2015). 4 Innovative Ways to Teach With Video Games. The Journal, 42(5), 20-24.

Behavioral Effects: Do Violent Video Games Create Violent Kids?

GTA V

In 1971, the public was introduced to the first arcade-style video game cabinet console. At the time, this futuristic-looking arcade console housed an immense amount of electronic components alongside a 13-inch black and white television display monitor. The video games that were typically played and enjoyed by the public during this period of infancy for the console were often simple objective based games, like Pong or Pac-Man. However, as time wore on game developers continued to press into new territories, merging the realm of video games into the world of realism and eventually controversy. And in 1993 with the release of Mortal Kombat, the first realistically life-like video game to incorporate violence, the video game would forever become synonymous with violent behavior in children and teens.

Mortal Kombat

Video game violence has also become a controversial issue constantly in the thoughts of public consciousness due to the rise in tragic events, like school shootings. In each case, from Columbine in 1999 to Sandy Hook in 2012, it seems that each of the shooter's had some connection to violent video games, such as Doom. This seemingly obvious correlation between the people who engage in violent games and these unspeakable acts of violence has brought many politicians and parents to criticize developers for incorporating such violent themes and elements into their games. Thankfully, these acts of extreme violence are not common occurrences, however, a majority of gamer play violent video games. So, is it fair to denounce the violence in video games as being a primary culprit in promoting violence or aggressive behavior among the youth of today? Or do violent video games actually influence certain types of aggressive acts in children and teens?

Although the predominant viewpoint of violent video game being held by a majority of society is resoundingly negative, I don't agree with this assumption being put forth that the violent themes portrayed in video games leads to more aggressive behavior in children or teens. In fact, I don't even believe that the violent content is even the one to blame for promoting aggressive behavior in youth. Instead, I think the aggressive behavior being displayed by avid players of such games stems from a sense of competitiveness. 

Political cartoon exposing the link between violence and video games

In a recent study, they discovered that youth aggression was due more likely to the overall competitive nature of the game, suggesting that acts of aggression being displayed outside of games can be traced back to certain competitive actions that have been largely accepted by society (Adachi & Willoughby). For example, the game Mario Kart is suppose to be a simple racing game, in which features everyone's favorite Nintendo characters from past to present. However, due to the competitive nature of the game, players have grown accustomed to performing acts of aggression, like shooting, smashing, and crashing into other players, in order to "take them out." This sense of aggression emanates from the players developed attitude towards competitive activities, which is: "Win by any means necessary!" When a player is in this competitive state of mind, I believe is when their behavior becomes most altered into a  state of aggression. As their willingness to win takes over any civil instincts to simply play the game without the urge to commit violent acts to feel like their, competitively, the best. 

The Competitive Outlook of Rick Bobby and many Others

In reality, aggressive nature is an innate quality in everyone, whether we choose to actively show it off or not. And there are certain activities, like sports and video games, which tend to transform this innate nature into aggressive behavior. However, I don't believe that exposing players to violent content in video games automatically results in aggressive behavioral issues in every gamer. In fact, studies have revealed that even in this day and age of extreme video game violence, youth violence has decreased cross-nationally, not risen (Ferguson). Instead, the players sense of aggression from their internal competitive nature, which arises more frequently when interacting with exceptionally competitive games. Therefore, I believe society should stop the complete condemnation  of violent content as the only aspect of video games to cause children or teens act out violently, and instead begin to focus on the competitive nature of gamers in general as a primary suspect leading to such behavioral issues in youth. 


References:
A Timeline of Video Game Controversies. (2010, October 31). Retrieved November 13, 2015, from http://ncac.org/resource/a-timeline-of-video-game-controversies/

Ferguson, C.J. (2014). Is Video Game Violence Bad?. Psychologist, 27(5), 324-327.

Adachi P., Willoughby T. Demolishing the Competition: The Longitudinal Link Between Competitive Video Games, Competitive Gambling, and Aggression. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. July 2013; 42(7):1090:1104. Available from: Academic Search Complete

Economic Effects: Rise of the Digital Marketplace

This past Thursday night, thousands of serious gamers across the United States waited in anticipation for the midnight release of one of the most successful game franchises in recent memory: Call of Duty. As the clock struck midnight, thousands of fans rushed into video game stores across the nation seeking a physical copy of the latest installment in the series, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. While waiting in line till midnight for a video game may seem foolish to some, the massive culture of gamers have come to embrace such events with open arms. Midnight releases, allows for gamers to start playing before the more recreational gamer even wakes up the next morning.

GameStop Midnight Release

Although the most popular game franchises, like Call of Duty and Halo, still have the ability to generate a massive turnout for midnight releases, the recent rise of digital marketplaces offering the same options to their customers have started to cause a declining trend in the amount of midnight releases being done each year. This is due to the digital marketplaces popular means of content distribution, which affords its customers the ability to download the latest titles directly to their system in the comfort of their own home. As the distribution of content through digital marketplaces continues to evolve, what is the future of the physical game medium? Will gaming culture come to abandon this older means of content playability? Or will the physical game continue its predominance over the the gaming marketplace, as it always has?

Xbox Live Marketplace

Microsoft was the first console developer to launch a digital marketplace through their Xbox platform called Xbox live in 2002. Initially, the game content being distributed over online marketplaces was restricted due to lack of connection speeds and size limitations stemming from the consoles internal memory card. However, now due to modern technology, the digital marketplace has been developed to include a wide array of content for distribution, such as music, movies, television shows, and video games. As the infrastructures continue to improve gamers access to a variety of content in the digital marketplace, the more serious gamers are relying on them to purchase content digitally versus physically from retail stores. According to a report from Super Data Research Inc., in North America alone last year, digital game marketplaces took in $11.8 billion dollars in revenue (Hawkins). 

As revenue figures continue to increase year over year, so does the amount of serious gamers converting to buying digital games every month. "Most growth in space came from existing players buying more full games digitally, as average monthly full game spending jumped 39% to $132.46 million" (Hawkins). I believe this trend in monthly revenue growth from digital marketplaces stems from the accessibility of content afforded to every gamer with an internet connection. This makes it easier to access any title the customer wants, whenever and wherever they are. Faster internet connection speeds has also been a contributing factor causing a rise in popularity among digital games, due to its ability to download games at extremely high rates of speed. Due to these affordances provided by the digital marketplace, gamers can stay at home, avoid long lines at midnight releases, simply press download and relax, wait for a short period of time and play. 

Playstation Network Store

So then, with the digital marketplace providing so many affordances to gamers, does the physical game even have chance? According to an article on Business Finance News, "physical software sales have been facing hindrances in seeing growth return. October showed that the growth had declined to -3%, while the quarter ending in October coming at -4.9%," (Pritchard). And with numbers projects to be even worse by the end of 2016, it seems like the physical format of video games has started its decline. Eventually, its possible that the physical game form will no longer exist and video ames will be solely distributed in the form of digital content. However, for now I believe the physical game is here to stay. Problems with internal memory hardware in consoles still provide restrictions on the amount of content one can download and store. And switching between hard drives is really the same task as switching physical game discs. Also, if game developers were to completely move to a digital platform, they would be excluding a major portion of their customer base, which would in turn hurt their immense streams of revenue. Game developers would need to provide some sort of universal system of access to the content available on the marketplace, in order not to exclude any patrons from their intended purchase. However, a viable system to do such a task just hasn't been developed yet. Therefore, although the digital marketplace continues to grow in popularity and accessibility, the physical and digital game will continue to co-exist side-by-side, at least for right now. 

References:
Hawkins, Z. (2015, November 3). An Increasing Number of Gamers Buying Full Games Digitally. Retrieved November 7, 2015. 

Hello, Gaming World!

Throughout history games have cemented themselves as a popular means of social

Ancient Chinese Boardgames

entertainment, in which friends and family could gather and engage in friendly competitions  with one another. Due to their societal popularity, games have continued to evolve to reflect the current technologies and trends of the time, which now thrives in the realm of digitization. In our current digital landscape, even many of the more popular board games, like Monopoly, are transitioning into a new state: video games. In this state, the video game is the current pinnacle of gaming, which is being afforded by the current technologies or society possesses. However, as more complex video games develop over time, will video games have greater impact on the user's interacting within the digital medium? And how will this impact affect certain perceptions of reality of those within the culture of gaming?

Popeye Video Game

The information provided on this blog will be tailored to show the affects that video game culture has on both the individual and society as a whole. I will be covering both the positive and negative affects that video games can have on individuals established in a video game culture. While also focusing on certain societal impacts of trends that have come to light through the culture of video games.