Video Game Myth Busting
Are you tired of trying to explain to Grandma that liking video games doesn't make you a serial killer? Maybe you think there is no girl gamer out there to call your own; wait that really doesn't bother us. Anyways, there are several myths out there about gamers and the games that we play. Leave it to PBS of all places to actually side with us and publish an essay debunking eight common misconceptions about gaming culture. The topics covered are:
1.The availability of video games has led to an epidemic of youth violence.
2. Scientific evidence links violent game play with youth aggression.
3. Children are the primary market for video games.
4. Almost no girls play computer games.
5. Because games are used to train soldiers to kill, they have the same impact on the kids who play them.
6. Video games are not a meaningful form of expression.
7. Video game play is socially isolating.
8. Video game play is desensitizing.
My personal favorite is number six and what the essay says about our interaction with games:
In playing a game, we choose what happens to the characters. In the right circumstances, we can be encouraged to examine our own values by seeing how we behave within virtual space.
I think even amongst gamers, the idea of video games as more than a form of entertainment is highly debated. I think the adrenaline rush I get during a particularly grueling match in Call of Duty 4, or the sadness I felt at the end of Final Fantasy X, elevated gaming far beyond mere entertainment. It isn't a specific emotion that causes games to be art; it is the very basic fact that they cause emotions within us.
Be sure to check out the full essay as well as the other sections of what looks to be a pretty extensive feature on gaming.
Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked [PBS]
[via: GoNintendo]
TheDoctor
Posted to Video Games on 27 August 2008
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Other stuff like this: culture, gamers, games
The list is written by Henry Jenkins, an MIT professor known for his public defense of videogames as a medium of expression. Check out the links he lists at the end, they're also very interesting.