my love for games
Jun. 15th, 2016 04:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hijabithey can get expensive, but i believe in the power of games.
i grew up on nintendo so i'm definitely biased but man, imo video games are one of the most versatile and immersive tools out there. why did i refer to them as tools instead of as a medium? well, that's essentially what they are. they're story-telling tools. they're educational tools. they're whatever-you-program-them-to-be tools. heck, PETA's notorious for their violent and derogatory parody games to communicate their message. i think they could go about it with more tact, but that's just my opinion.
i don't have to tell you that video games have a bad rep. so does television. the criticism is nothing new. i understand the complaints. many of them aren't totally unfounded. however, a loooot of those "ban all videogames" or "video games are evil" folks haven't personally experienced enough games to make an informed opinion if you ask me.
sometimes it feels like they just parrot newscasters because they want an excuse to tell their kids instead of admitting they don't want to spend their money on the latest pokemon game. (which is fair enough. it is their money after all.)
you can probably tell which camp i'm in at this point. it's all about how you use video games. knives aren't inherently evil. you can use them to carve meat and prepare a meal. they're also capable of non-intended uses like opening packages. some people take otherwise harmless tools and turn them into murder weapons. the same can be said for pretty much anything else. perhaps you can't take someone out IRL with a game of smash bros... but no action is without consequence.
maybe you played the game in front of your five year old sister and now she thinks punching people to death is a form of affection. that's a problem. we gotta be careful how and what we play--sometimes with who. most parents buy kids toys or games without reading reviews or doing a little research. i've seen so many parents blindly buy their children extremely violent games that THEY PAID FOR and then get mad at the kid when they find out how graphic it is later... without remembering that they didn't look at the cover. that they didn't ask about the rating. that they just figured "if it'll make you shut up i'll get it" while buying it without hesitation.
we can't blame just one person or group on the effects certain games and genres have on our psyche. we gotta remind ourselves step back and try to see what we did wrong, what we may have overlooked or ignored. this isn't easy, but if we want better it's gonna take a little self-criticism.
alright, enough of the negatives. let's get positive!
as i said earlier, i love video games. i grew up playing them. i'm getting tired of typing so i'm just gonna bullet point the rest of this lol.
i grew up on nintendo so i'm definitely biased but man, imo video games are one of the most versatile and immersive tools out there. why did i refer to them as tools instead of as a medium? well, that's essentially what they are. they're story-telling tools. they're educational tools. they're whatever-you-program-them-to-be tools. heck, PETA's notorious for their violent and derogatory parody games to communicate their message. i think they could go about it with more tact, but that's just my opinion.
i don't have to tell you that video games have a bad rep. so does television. the criticism is nothing new. i understand the complaints. many of them aren't totally unfounded. however, a loooot of those "ban all videogames" or "video games are evil" folks haven't personally experienced enough games to make an informed opinion if you ask me.
sometimes it feels like they just parrot newscasters because they want an excuse to tell their kids instead of admitting they don't want to spend their money on the latest pokemon game. (which is fair enough. it is their money after all.)
you can probably tell which camp i'm in at this point. it's all about how you use video games. knives aren't inherently evil. you can use them to carve meat and prepare a meal. they're also capable of non-intended uses like opening packages. some people take otherwise harmless tools and turn them into murder weapons. the same can be said for pretty much anything else. perhaps you can't take someone out IRL with a game of smash bros... but no action is without consequence.
maybe you played the game in front of your five year old sister and now she thinks punching people to death is a form of affection. that's a problem. we gotta be careful how and what we play--sometimes with who. most parents buy kids toys or games without reading reviews or doing a little research. i've seen so many parents blindly buy their children extremely violent games that THEY PAID FOR and then get mad at the kid when they find out how graphic it is later... without remembering that they didn't look at the cover. that they didn't ask about the rating. that they just figured "if it'll make you shut up i'll get it" while buying it without hesitation.
we can't blame just one person or group on the effects certain games and genres have on our psyche. we gotta remind ourselves step back and try to see what we did wrong, what we may have overlooked or ignored. this isn't easy, but if we want better it's gonna take a little self-criticism.
alright, enough of the negatives. let's get positive!
as i said earlier, i love video games. i grew up playing them. i'm getting tired of typing so i'm just gonna bullet point the rest of this lol.
- games help with hand-eye coordination
- certain genres promote developing problem-solving and strategy skills
- plot and characterization can increase empathy, sympathy, and overall emotional intelligence
- they can improve spatial reasoning capabilities
- help fine-tune fine motor skills
- developing games often requires effective leadership/teamwork skills, mathematics, and a decent understanding computer sciences
