THE EFFECTS OF VIDEO GAME PLAYING

Since they first appeared, video games have become one of the most popular leisure activities among young and not so young- people. As they gained popularity, video games about different topics have been produced and distributed all over the world. Along with this popularity, controversy also came. While some games are friendly and didactic, others contain explicit violence, which has brought videogames into an intense debate. Most people, especially parents, state that they cause violent behaviour and limit the childrens social skills, whereas video game supporters argue that they can serve as a therapy to prevent violent behaviour and even improve certain skills such as attention and visual skills. Video games as we know them came out in the late 50s and early 60s. They had first been conceived as missile defense systems in the late 40s. After the Second World War, those computer programs evolved, resulting in primitive games. This time their purpose was completely different; they had been made for entertaining. As time passed and technology improved, these games became more complex and video game developers designed and built the first consoles, introducing them into the market. The first commercially viable video game was Computer Space in 1971, which laid the foundation for a new entertainment industry in the late 1970s within the United States, Japan and Europe1. Once video game production became massive, its prices became more accessible to the average person, thus increasing their popularity. In addition to this, game developers started to create games that met the interests of wider audiences: there were games for children, for the whole family, for adolescents and for adults. Modern technology has allowed video games to continue growing to the point that they have reached the status of one of the biggest entertainment industries along with cinema and music. It has been said that videogames have negative effects on gamers, especially on children and adolescents. Many people claim playing video games severely affects the behaviour and social skills of children. Some video games such as the Grand Theft Auto franchise are well known for the explicit violence they show. The hyperrealism of this kind of games is a matter of concern for many people, due to the resemblance they have to real life. According to some, children may want to imitate the behaviour of their favourite game characters. Many studies support the thesis that there seems to be a connection between violent video games and aggressive behaviour. Anderson and Dill (2000) demonstrated a link between playing violent video games and laboratory aggression in college students2. The realistic graphics in games may mislead children to believe that their actions in the real world will
1

History of video games. (2011). Unpublished raw data, Princeton University, New Jersey, Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/History_of_video_games.html 2 Anderson, C. A., & Dill, K. E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

not have major consequences as it happens in video games, causing them to commit illegal acts, such as street violence among other crimes. In addition to these behavioural issues, there is also a social problematic. Being a frequent player can result in children with limited social skills, causing them to have difficulties in interacting with other people. Video games are certainly designed to be addictive. Game designers are always looking for ways to make their product more interesting and thereby increase the amount of time people will spend playing3. An addicted gamer can easily spend over 10 hours a day playing, which can cause the person to isolate from society. In fact, research shows that 8.5% of gamers demonstrate pathological play4. In the long term, these playing patterns may have permanent effects on the players ability to create relationships with people. As a consequence of spending too much time playing, the persons social skills will result limited due to the lack of interaction with people in social contexts, such as casual meetings, family reunions or parties. Besides being a multimedia resource created with the purpose of entertainment, video games may serve as an anger management therapy as well. As any other audiovisual media, (e.g. movies or music videos) video games are considered as pieces of art and can evoke emotions. Users may feel sympathy for their favourite video game characters or despise the villains, but most importantly, they are able to release negative emotions such as rage and anger just by playing. For many people, the world of video games is a perfect break from a reality filled with deadlines, stress and responsibilities5. In this sense, video games constitute a therapeutic alternative to relieve the stress from school, university or from work, preventing the user from behaving aggressively. Another positive aspect of video games is that they are said to improve a variety of visual and attentional skills. In a recent study, Green and Bavelier (2003) provided evidence that video game playing can improve performance on a number of attentional and perceptual tasks6. For this purpose, the participants of the study played Medal of Honor, a first person shooter game. This game is perceptually demanding due to the fact that it requires the players to react very quickly, since they have to kill enemies who can appear from anywhere on the screen and avoid being killed at the same time. According to the results, the participants showed enhanced attentional and visual skills when performing a series of laboratory tasks designed by Green and Bavelier. These skills improvements were shown both by regular gamers as well as by non-gamers, thus validating the thesis of the study.

Mulligan, C. CYBER ADDICTION RECOVERY CENTER, (n.d.). Internet and video game addiction in middle and high school students a resource guide for educators. Los Angeles, CA 4 National Institute on Media and the Family, (2007).Mediawise network parent guide to video game addiction. Retrieved from MediaWise website: http://www.frontline4youth.com/_data/resource/VideoGameaddiction.pdf 5 Davis, J. D. (2005, July 10). Video games an escape from reality?. The Real Truth, Retrieved from http://realtruth.org/articles/346-vgaefr.html 6 R. Boot, W. (2008). The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta Psychologica, Retrieved from www.elsevier.com/ locate/actpsy

As a conclusion, the video game controversy seems to be destined to remain unresolved due to the solid arguments that both its opposers and supporters present. As long as violent video games continue to be designed, produced and distributed worldwide and they continue to be as popular as they are nowadays, this controversy will not come to an end. Both sides of the controversy will constantly debate about whether video games can lead to violent behaviour and limit the childrens social skills or serve as a healthy stress -relief therapy and improve visual and attentional skills.

REFERENCES History of video games. (2011). Unpublished raw data, Princeton University, New Jersey, Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/History_of_video_games.html Anderson, C. A., & Dill, K. E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Mulligan, C. CYBER ADDICTION RECOVERY CENTER, (n.d.). Internet and video game addiction in middle and high school students a resource guide for educators. Los Angeles, CA National Institute on Media and the Family, (2007).Mediawise network parent guide to video game addiction. Retrieved from MediaWise website: http://www.frontline4youth.com/_data/resource/VideoGameaddiction.pdf Davis, J. D. (2005, July 10). Video games an escape from reality?. The Real Truth, Retrieved from http://realtruth.org/articles/346-vgaefr.html R. Boot, W. (2008). The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta Psychologica, Retrieved from www.elsevier.com/ locate/actpsy Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2003). Action video game modifies visual selective attention. Nature, 423, 534537.