What career field are you in?
Unemployed at high school, intention of joining the US Army.
What is your definition of a Video Game?
The Wikipedia definition: “A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device.” Wikipedia has good definitions.
Do you think there are controversies with Video Games? If yes, what are they?
Oh, there are controversies. Some people think that they encourage people to be violent, etc or that they hurt your eyes. Personally, I think this is all hogwash. I am highly doubtful of the idea that they make people more violent, and there is absolutely no reason to believe that they hurt your eyes.
Do you think video games change people over time?
Perhaps they could make people more anti-social, not that this is always a bad thing. They can teach you certain skills like reflexes, strategy, critical decision-making, and computer skills.
Would you describe what the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) does, in your own words?
They rate video games for how age-appropriate they are, as well as other minor regulatory stuff. The ratings aren’t always very good in my opinion. Just because the rating says “17+” doesn’t mean that 16 year olds cannot ever play it while 17 year olds can play without any problems. The ratings should be used as guidelines, not actual rules. And the age recommendations are usually about 3-5 years too high.
Which genre of Video Game would you say is in high demand in today’s market?
All of them.
Do you think Video Games affect/effect different cultures differently?
Good question. I think the main issue is age, as older people don’t accept video games as much. In general, cultures that are very technologically advanced, and very secular, tend to have the most tolerance and appreciation for video games (Japan), while highly religious and technologically limited countries (Iran) don’t have as much of that.
What do you think parents, should do to make sure their child has a healthy use of Video Games?
Meh, they can’t really do anything. I would say encourage the kids to not become total hermits. And instead of saying “don’t play games so much,” say “why don’t you do this instead…” It’s a much better strategy. While I really doubt that there are many “destructive” games, I do think there are games that are a bit more constructive than others, like Minecraft and Icebreaker. On the other end of the spectrum are dumb games that don’t make you think, like Plants versus Zombies, or Halo. Parents shouldn’t restrict their kids from playing certain types of games, but they should probably encourage greater usage of games that require higher levels of thinking.
A note on “violent” video games–most people probably think that seeing lots of blood and gore “desensitizes” you to violence. Well that doesn’t make sense for me. I’ve seen violent movies and played violent games, and can see some things that would make many people flinch without batting an eyelid. Is this bad?
No. Morally I still know that violence is bad and should be avoided. Video games will never blunt my sense of morality and ethics. And I personally am more offended by games that “whitewash” violence and turn the gritty human aspect into fairy-tale adventure. Let’s say you have two reasonably mature kids, and show one of them the Narnia and the Lord of the Rings movies, while showing the other Saving Private Ryan and Letters from Iwo Jima. Which one will grow up having a balanced understanding of what fighting is actually like? The difference is more poignant in movies than in video games, but still, it’s worth noting.
Lastly, if someone is getting run over by a car or getting shot at or whatever, someone like me who has “seen it already” would have a better ability to stay calm and do what needs to be done in such a critical situation. Whereas pacifistic, anti-violence folks would be stunned and useless and panicking and laying awake at night for a week afterwards.
I don’t think violent video games are better, but they’re not necessarily worse.
Quoted for truth.
My favorite games are Minecraft, World of Tanks, and Team Fortress 2 (hence the username etc). Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord, Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator and Fleet Command were good too. The good classic games of yesteryear were Zoo Tycoon and Sim City 3000 Unlimited.
