Thoughts From Gamers

After writing that last post, I decided that I wanted to know some of what other people thought about video games. I sent out a questionnaire to some friends of mine, asking basic questions about how games affect them, both through violence and other areas. The answers that I have decided to share with you come from a variety of different gamer-types. There are both male and female respondents, some of which play very consistently, while others hardly play at all anymore. Everyone who answered does have a fair amount of gaming experience. My thoughts are scattered throughout the questionnaire. Enjoy!

How old are you?

Respondent A: 18

Respondent B: 55

Respondent C: 20

Respondent D: 19 years old

Respondent E: 19

How long have you been playing video games?

Respondent A: 6 years

Respondent B: 37 years

Respondent C: Since age 7

Respondent D: For as long as I can remember -- when I was a baby, my dad bought a Sega Genesis "for the baby" and I started backseat gaming. It's been a cooperative journey ever since -- he and I have owned pretty much every gaming system.

Respondent E: My entire life, pretty much since I could understand how a controller functions.

Approximately how frequently do you play video games? (Hours per day/week/month)

Respondent A: I play about 1-2 hours a day. When I played WOW I played 3-6 hours a day.

Respondent B: 3-5 hours/week

Respondent C: 2 hours per week

Respondent D: I would say on average I play three hours of video games per day or more. (It's not necessarily consistent, but when I game, I binge and do like 16 consecutive hours of gameplay.)

Respondent E: 3 hours daily, give or take.

What is your preferred type of game? (RPG, FPS, MMORPG, etc.)

Respondent A: MMORPG and RPG

Respondent B: Strategy

Respondent C: MMORPG

Respondent D: I prefer RPGs

Respondent E: I have really been into FPS lately. And love RPG.

Why do you play video games?

Respondent A: It’s an escape and gives an opportunity to see dream like images come true. Also, it gives me control.

Respondent B: Challenge of winning

Respondent C: Because I feel they encourage imagination and creative problem solving.

Respondent D: I play video games to challenge me. The decision-making process in video games is an essential skill that is very hard to find a place to practice -- we can't in our current education system, and games are a safe place for trial and error.

Respondent E: They’re a great way to escape from the everyday stressors of life. It’s really great to just be able to forget about your problems, if only very briefly.

These were all common themes in the answers that I received from unused questionnaires as well. One other popular response was to interact with friends, as well as people all around the globe. 

What do you like about video games?

Respondent A: Being able to control an entire world.

Respondent B: To test myself against the computer or others.

Respondent C: I like the ability to roam freely through uncharted worlds and do dangerous tasks with no threat of bodily harm.

Respondent D: I like that my brain is stimulated. It's a more active activity than watching television, and requires ingenuity and creativity in problem-solving.

Respondent E: You get to go on adventures to a place that you’ve only ever imagined, rescue Princess Peach and Zelda, go on quests, and learn magic. You can fight dragons, robots, or genetically altered human beings. You can shoot zombies without an actual zombie apocalypse.

How does playing video games relate to your stress level? I.e. After you play, do you feel more or less stressed?

Respondent A: My stress seems to decrease when I’m playing but increase afterwards, mostly because I realize all the work I didn’t do.

Respondent B: Probably more stressed

Respondent C: I feel less stressed usually, but occasionally more stressed.

Respondent D: I don't generally notice a change in my stress level -- I usually don't play games when I'm stressed.

Respondent E: I feel a lot less stressed after a gaming session.

Do you think video games are more or less violent today than when you started playing?

Respondent A: Much more violent.

Respondent B: Much more violent

Respondent C: Slightly more violent, but vastly better graphic quality, giving the impression of it being more detailed violence.

Respondent D: Games are more violent today than when I started playing technically because of our advances in technology and graphics. The ideas are not intrinsically more violent, we are just more readily able to visualize them now.

Respondent E: I would say a lot of it is in the graphics change. There has almost always been violence in videogames. Even in the oldies, from Duck Hunt to Zelda or Donkey Kong. In 8-bit videogames whatever you just shot simply fell to the ground or if you hit something it just passed out. Now you see heads blown off and bodies burnt to a crisp. You can stab straight through a person and see the blood and it still be on your sword afterward.

I can understand why, off the bat, respondents A and B would say that games are more violent. However, I fully agree with C, D, and E. As far as the content of games go, there might be a slight increase in violent matter, but for the most part, it seems more violent because of more detailed graphics. 

Who do you feel is responsible for making sure that children do not gain access to video games with violent and explicit content?

Respondent A: Their parents and family.

Respondent B: Parents

Respondent C: Their parents and the ESRB raters accurately doing their jobs.

Respondent D: 100% the parent's job.

Respondent E: Their parents. I mean, if a person buys a violent videogame for their child without first checking to make sure it’s appropriate for them then they’re in the wrong, not the videogame company.

What is the most violent/questionable action that you have been asked to perform in a video game? How did this make you feel?

Respondent A: Killing the entire world (Plague). I felt a little creepy for liking it so much.

Respondent B: Killing others.  It was part of a war based 1^st shooter game and I understand it’s not real.

Respondent C: To mow down civilians at an airport as initiation into a terrorist sector (Call of Duty Modern Warfare).  This prospect disturbed me, but fortunately the developers wrote an option to opt out of the mission, which is what I did.

Respondent D: (SPOILERS) In Heavy Rain, the player is given the choice of breaking into someone's home and killing them in order to gain information that would save your son's life. In the scene, the victim pleads for his life and shows you a picture of his two daughters, explaining that he's a father and he's needed. I have never made the choice to shoot him, but if I did, I would have had to grapple with the idea that might makes right, and my bond to my son is more important than his to his daughters.

Respondent E: The most violent was when I was playing BioShock. Almost immediately after you arrive you are told to find a wrench and beat someone to death with it. Though it was safe to say the person I killed was verifiably insane and would have killed me, it was still pretty intense.

I found it very interesting to read the responses to this question. I had several responses that included scenes from BioShock, and surprisingly, they were all different scenes. I think that it is a good technique, when playing games, to question the things that make you feel uncomfortable. One of the best aspects of gaming (which was briefly mentioned in the question, What do you like about video games?) is the control that the player has. Both player C and D chose to not complete the task they were asked to do. This probably changes the game in some manner, but that's the beauty of it. It is your choice as to which path you want to continue on with. 

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being too violent and 1 being fairly pacifistic, where do you feel the level of violence in overall media rests today?

Respondent A: 5

Respondent B: 4

Respondent C: I’d say a 4.

Respondent D: Media perpetuates stories of violence and terror -- strong 4.

Respondent E: I would say violence in all media has certainly increased. All anyone ever sees in the news anymore is death, death, and more death.

For this question, I purposefully asked about the media as a whole. Respondent E did not give a number, but they share a very good point. It is not just video games that are violent. The news is downtrodden with depression and despair.

 At what age do you think people become responsible for themselves and the content they view? Why?

Respondent A: Age 16-18. This is when cognitive ability increases and pubescent hormones slow (maybe I made that up). Also, at this point a person has a good understanding of consequences.

Respondent B: 16. At that age they can get out of the house easily and also should be starting to take responsibility for what they are doing.

Respondent C: 18, because at that age the ratings no longer prohibit them and they are no longer under the legal guardianship of their parents. 

Respondent D: At age 8, children generally gain the ability to discern right from wrong, so the easiest jumping-off point is age 8, but in all reality the pre-frontal cortex isn't fully developed until the early-to-mid-twenties. Biologically speaking, we are not equipped to make a completely informed decision until age 26 or so. Realistically, somewhere after age 8, but definitely before age 17 (when one can legally purchase games rated M).

Respondent E: I would say sixteen. If you’re old enough to be responsible for a car and driving you’re old enough to be responsible for yourself when you buy something.

I love that these people (along with several other respondents that I did not share) acknowledge that once a person is often out of the house, it is time for them to take control of their own actions. In my opinion, it is probably at about 15 or 16 that a person stops relying on what their parents say fully, and must make their own conscious decisions as to what they want exposure to. 

All in all, I did this questionnaire for fun. There was no huge response in particular that I was looking for. Rather, I just wanted to know where my fellow gamers stand in conjunction with where I do. For the most part, it seems as though we are on similar lines, which honestly surprised me in some cases! If I were to do something like this again, I would probably have people who are not active in video-gaming respond, and then compare the answers of those who do and do not play. 

Where do you stand? Do you agree with what these people thought, or do you have completely different ideas? Feel free to share in the comments, for I would love to hear what you have to say as well. 

Video Games and Violence: What's the Relation?

It is not news when you hear someone say that they think the violence in video games inspire and enhance violent actions. More often than not, the person claiming this brings up the main argument that everyone else with the same view does: shootings.

Columbine.

Dark Knight.

Sandy Hook.

All of the people who caused these horrific events had one obvious thing in common. They loved video games. With the Columbine shooters, researchers even say that they got a part of their shooting technique from the games they played. Supposedly, they would reload their guns with ammo still in the clip. This is a common thing in video games, but not in the military or by recreational shooters.

Okay, so video games were an influence in how they carried out their bad decisions. The violence that they viewed and took part in via the screen had an effect on them. But this does not give the picture shown above any more truth. Gaming was by no means the cause of their actions. People are bound to take in influences from everything they experience. Along with being gamers, the Columbine shooters were suicidal and homicidal. Playing video games any less would not have changed the course of their actions. (For more on their diagnoses, read here) 

In fact, by blaming video games for pushing those who commit violent actions to the brink of their sanity, it seems as though people are trying very hard to move responsibility around. Why just admit that a person is messed up when it can be at the fault of the media? Why should one person have to be called "crazy" when clearly they only like shooting people because they play first person shooters? Who cares that thousands of other people play those games too?? Naw. Obviously all of those thousands of people are just one more round away from reaching their breaking points as well. It's only a matter of time.

Really, my point is that the presence of violence within video games does not encourage actual violence any more than the many other platforms by which gruesome content is displayed. I do not necessarily think that violence is needed in games. I would be fine if some of the gore was taken out, as I mainly play games for other aspects. In fact, in one article by Laura Sanders, she shares, "A survey of two groups showed that excluding violence didn't diminish players' enjoyment of the game." Citing several other studies, Sanders tells that in circumstances where the graphics of blood in games were changed to a sort of goo, gamers did not report to enjoy the games any less (Sanders). Overall, the violence hardly mattered. Players liked games because they were drawn to other elements of play involved.

Writer Todd Martens has his own very interesting view on violence in video games, "There are Cuban soldiers in the latest “Call of Duty,” but they’re obstacles — the military game equivalent of a barrel in “Donkey Kong.” Only here, you press a button to shoot instead of pressing a button to jump." (Read Martens' full article here) His whole idea is that because the violence in games is so quick, it doesn't actually leave any lasting effect. The player is just pushing buttons, and with little thought comes little consequence. I don't know that I totally agree with Martens, but it is an interesting idea. Really, violence in gaming hasn't changed. The imagery that comes with it has. Which further supports my point that video games should not be receiving any more blame than say, movies or TV.

Don't like what you see on screen? That's fine. Change it. But do not claim that those who play video games only do so in order to kill. Do not try to say that because my friends and I play games, we are more likely to do awful things then your friends who do not play. Because that is simply ridiculous.

Sanders, Laura. "Gamers Crave Sense of Control: Feeling Competent Matters More than Violence, Blood."Science News. 14 Feb 2009: 14. Web. 2 Mar. 2013. 

Does Gaming Make You Dumb?

So many times I have heard people say something along the lines of, "Video games have no benefits! They're just time-wasters that distract from more important things! They make people stupid, and those that play them don't think about anything but what's on the screen!" My first response to this is generally to ask if they themselves have ever played video games. Then, I want to know how actively they have played them. Yes, video games are definitely a source of entertainment, and if you like that sort of thing, then they do a great job! But it really perturbs me when people are so quick to cast off video games as such a negative way to spend your time. Really, how much better is watching TV? I would say it is significantly more mindless than a game. Reading a book? Yes, you have to work a little harder to understand the story, but it is still laid out for you, right there. 

Well let me tell you something. TV is a great source of information. While it is not very interactive, a person can gain quite a bit from watching, depending on what they choose to watch and how closely they pay attention. Along with the potential to be educational, people absorb many different social and cultural traits by watching and listening to whatever is happening on the screen. Books? Obviously they are great. They help tone a person's linguistic ability as well as enhancing imagination. When reading, the reader must create the world, people, and events all in their own mind. It is up to them to get the full effect. 

So how are video games any different?

Initially, when looking at a video game, one does not generally see the educational value lying within, but it is definitely present. For one, those who use lots of technology and play video games are great problem solvers. In Portal, the entire (basic) premise of the game is to solve puzzles. Players often die or fail, and must start levels over and try different tactics. This ability moves on to other aspects of life, as we are able to see things from different angles. Just recently, a friend and I were trying to print something, but had to take about four different routes before we were successful. Many people in older generations do not understand that there is any way to achieve this other than simply pushing the print button. 

In schools, quite often, being wrong or making a mistake is the worst thing that can happen to a student. The infamous "red pen" is a horror to returned tests, and raising one's hand to answer a question almost always has a bit of fear along with it. From schools, students often fear being wrong. However, video games do not penalize you. When you die, you have an extra life. You can always try again, in some way. Games encourage enriched thought in order to achieve your goals, and mistakes are how you come to solve the problems placed before you. Gamers are almost never perfect at a game the first time they pick it up. All playing takes a certain amount of trial and error. 

(Want to read more on this? Check this out.) 

When talking about playing a certain video game, one woman named Heather Robertson says, "I was required to learn many different skills in order to understand and gain knowledge of the game.  This included the ability to not only see what my character was doing on the screen, figure out where I needed to go and how I could get there, but to actually read the text within different screen shots in order to learn how to play."   She feels that games definitely help enhance academic learning, such as reading, through combining different actions that the player must master. (Read Robertson's article here.) Tons of games have extremely complex controls that become like a second nature to the player, but it is through repetition and practice that one becomes accustomed to them. Without applying oneself, the chances of improving at a video game, just like anything else, are slim to none. 

I will never understand why people think that playing video games can only hurt a person's intellect. In all reality, video games are another great opportunity for people to hone new skills. Some of these skills are things a person learns elsewhere, but many of them are unique to technology and video games as they become more prevalent today. In all reality, it is extremely foolish to cast off video games as a whole in terms of educational value, for they are becoming a very common new literacy. 

About Me

My name is Katie, and I have been gaming pretty much my entire life. Raised in a home with a techie Dad and two older brothers, I took every chance I got in order to find a bonding point. While my enjoyment of video games did not necessarily make my brothers want to hang out with their annoying younger sister any more than normal, it did prove to have its benefits. For one, it was fun. I will admit, my watching and playing of video games was rather forced to begin with. I did not understand the draw of pushing some buttons to make Ness fight Pikachu. It was not very appealing, and I was content in feigning interest as an attempt to be included in my brother's lives.

After a while, something changed. Once I discovered the internet, I started begging my parents to forget about the phone for half an hour so I could go online to play on the PBS Kid's website (remember the good ol' days of dial-up?). Eventually this expanded, and I began playing things like Pokemon Stadium and Super Mario 64. I moved on to Gameboy games, and increasingly became more invested and interested as new systems came out, including Gamecube, the many evolutions of the Gameboy, and of course, the WII. We were a Nintendo family.

As time went by, I started wanting my own games and my own systems. Asking my brothers to share theirs  was not enough anymore. Once I started spending my own money on games, the stakes rose. I wanted very badly to be good at picking games, but as a young girl, I had awful taste. My brothers made sure I was very aware of this. They always told me if I was making the right choice or not in what game I was choosing, and generally if they said it was bad, I would listen. I remember the first time I didn't. I was adamant on buying some game based on a TV show I liked. My brothers tried desperately to talk me out of it, telling me what a huge mistake I was making, but I would not listen. 

...I should have listened.

The $20 that I had saved up from weeks of allowance money went entirely to waste, as I discovered after my first time playing the game, that my brothers had been completely right. After this, I got better at predicting what games would actually be worthwhile. 

 (One of my favorite games, Skies of Arcadia: Legends)

Over time, after developing an understanding of how to read reviews for games and figuring out what features and game-types I really liked, I was able to part from following the opinions of others 100%. I really enjoyed this, because this opened up a lot of conversation between me and my friends. We had different preferences, but we all knew what we were talking about.

That was another great gain from video games. Not only did I genuinely grow to enjoy them, but as I got older they became a large part of my friend-base. I definitely hung out with people who did not like video games, but a large majority of my friends did. Not to mention, come high school, my knowledge and enjoyment of gaming definitely increased my popularity among certain male groups, which was fine by me!

Since my gaming beginning, I have expanded from solely the internet and Nintendo to many other systems and styles of games. I cannot claim to be a great gamer. My best friend, who I am currently playing through Heavy Rain with, would highly support the fact that I am not. But for me, being "good" isn't the point. I do it because I think it is fun, generally I enjoy the story lines in the games I choose to play, and I like the community that comes out of it. Overall, gaming is a part of what makes me me. As nerdy as it sounds, it's the truth.