The Influence of Computer Games on the Ethics, Economic Aspects and Social Issues - Essay Example

? of the of the of the Computer Game THESIS MENT: The research is attempted to discuss the role and influence, if there is any, of computer games on the ethics, economic aspects and social issues relative to the human society. INTRODUCTION The human society have been revolutionized by the advancements in Computing and information Technology. From what it was in its primitive times the society of the human beings has now evolved into a completely different form- the form of utmost dependence upon computing devices. Computers have become inevitable for human beings since they assist man in almost all aspects of his daily routine and his life if previewed overall. Whether it is work or leisure computers have been part of man's every unit time of life he spends since the last decade. While on one hand computers are mainly used to lessen man's workload and to increase perfection and accuracy in tasks, on the other hand they are a source of pleasure and entertainment. The latter is provided by social networking, listening to music, watching videos and playing computer games, just to mention a few. This research paper aims to address the concept and effectiveness of computer games. It further aims to discuss the ethical implications associated with computer games and also the environmental, economical, societal, global and cultural considerations associated with computer games. BACKGROUND The advent of computer games started with small scale simple mathematical games. As the advent of computers themselves was a fascinations, the computer games also enjoyed that fame. The transition from paper based games to digital gaming was hailed warmly by elders and youngsters alike. The computer games became an addiction and due to their timely responses interactive user friendly interfaces it was hard to make people revert to ordinary and contemporary gaming methods. Computer Games "(Electronics & Computer Science / Computer Science) any of various games, recorded on cassette or disc for use in a home computer, that are played by manipulating a mouse, joystick, or the keys on the keyboard of a computer in response to the graphics on the screen" (The Free Dictionary) The very first computer game was built in the year 1952 by A.S. Douglas as a part of his PhD degree thesis. The computerized animation of Tic-Tac-Toe game was the very first game to be built from where there was no turning back. Exactly two decades later the very first stand alone gaming console was built which could be bought home and played. Ralph Baer was the designer of this first commercial computer gaming venture that name of which was Odyssey. The advent of formal video game dates back to the middle of the 1990s. The popularity of video games has grown since then at a very rapid rate. These video games are, in the present times, inevitable for every household that has adolescents or youngsters in it. Majority of the youngsters prefer to play video games over any other leisure activity and rather tend to indulge in them for unlimited periods of time. Around sixty percent of the American Citizens indulge in playing video games and the average age of the majority of players is 28 years. Impacts Dr. C. Shawn Green, a renowned psychologist of University of Wisconsin, is quoted saying that, “Video games change your brain. So does learning to read, playing the piano, or navigating the streets of London, which have all been shown to change the brain's physical structure. The powerful combination of concentration and rewarding surges of neurotransmitters like dopamine strengthen neural circuits in much the same the way that exercise builds muscles.” (Hotz, “When Gaming is Good for You”) Generally the parents get frowned over their kids when it comes to respond on the issue of computer games or video games. They unknowingly term these games as wastage of time and money, injurious to health, mind corroding, socially harmful and violence propagating. The analysis behind these conclusions seems superficial i.e. done considering the apparent effects and with a bit short sightedness. Even some experts in education think the same way saying that the computer games are one of the major reasons of youth’s anti social behavior. However in-depth analyses of overall causes and their respective effects regarding computer games are conducted by renowned scientists and psychologists of the world and reveal a very balanced story. These analyses highlighted the fact that the impacts of computer / video games are good and bad both. Among these scientists and psychologists there are big names like Joshua Lewis of University of California, San Diego, Dr. C. Shawn Green of University of Wisconsin and cognitive neuroscientist Daphne Bavelier of University of Rochester in New York. This report discusses the positive and negative effects of computer / video games under the context of the research done by eminent scientists of the world regarding economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts of computer / video games. Merits and Demerits: Computer games give a real workout to a child’s brain when he/she plays video games. Several video games inculcate critical thinking, logical skills in a child / player inadvertently. These skills are not commonly taught at any real life forums like home or schools. The impacts of playing computer / video games can be analyzed under different perspectives creating the categories of these impacts. The text below discusses the impacts along with the respective merits and demerits in terms of skills and harms. Personal Impact: The text below discusses both the positive negative personal impacts. Following Instructions The kids learn to follow instructions with a real time effect of the followed instructions in terms of the game output. Basically it is really difficult to get a child convinced regarding following instructions in any walk of life without creating different kinds of incentives and pressures around. The children who usually play games are better in understanding, evaluating and following the instructions. According to Hotz, a research study namely “Michigan State University’s Children and Technology Project” is conducted on a sample of 491 middle school students. The duration of the project was three years. The study reveals that the scores of the students after a standardized assessment of creativity are directly proportional to the extent of playing computer games. The fact persists regardless of gender, type of computer games or race. Logic and Problem Solving Computer games are found to increase the logical skills of the players. The games like angry birds, the incredible machine or cut the rope coach the brain of the player to come up with new and creative techniques to solve the problems and puzzles in least number of attempts or shorter time duration. Eye-Hand-Console Synchronization The games help the players build up their apt Eye-Hand coordination along with getting synchronized with the interface. Considerable improvements within less time duration have been seen in the students who are first exposed to simple keyboard and mouse based games for basic orientation of computers. For advanced users the games like flight simulators have proven effects with more skillful pilots than ever before. Operations Management Strategy games like command & conquer, SimCity and Age of Empires teach the players to manage resources in an optimized manner. The players then exploit these skills in real life as well. According to the American Planning Association, the key inspiration of most of the new architects and urban planner is SimCity. Parallel Processing of Tasks with Ultimate concentration Most of the action and strategy games train the brain of player managing multiple tasks at a time without losing concentration and focus. Optimized Decision Making & Stress Management Quick and improved decisions lead to success while playing computer games. This not only instills the habit of making optimized decisions within due time but also teaches the player to overcome the stress in hard times. Anticipation and Awareness Estimation of situations before time and analysis of complete situational knowledge are considered to be the exceptional intangible gifts of computer games for the people who play them. • Health Hazards Frequent games may be afflicted upon with ailments like gastric disorders, hepatitis, obesity, repetitive strain injury, computer vision syndrome, DeQuervain’s syndrome, insomnia, depression and chronic lethargy. The main reason is the sedentary nature of the tasks i.e. playing computer games with extremely less body movements, zero exercise and food intake disorders. Social Impacts: Cooperation and teamwork: The players of multiplayer games learn the importance of teamwork and integral cooperation unintentionally. This exercise affects their social standing while performing real life projects that require team work and proper coordination among team members. With an instinctive development, the computer / video gamers exhibit a intuitively matured behavior in their social circles accordingly. • Social Isolation and Self Containment: Several people find solace and satisfaction in playing computer games. Their addictive condition compels them to run away from the real life stress. They try to achieve pleasure and gratification through playing computer games. They lose their confidence regarding normal social interactions. This takes them to the state of self containment. Moreover the sense of loss keeps on vanishing as in a game whenever they lose they get the opportunity to start over again with any kind of material and financial loss. The computer games addicts usually skip meals, violate commitments, and refuse taking sane advices. • Violence Despite all the claims concerning the benefits of playing computer games, it is proven fact that computer games that contain, exercise, propagate and teach violence definitely affect the gamers in their social interactions. First person games like Doom and Mortal Combat are two of the violence prone computer games. The scenes like killing, slaughtering the enemy make the players lose the basic sense of hatred with the killings in real life etc. Studies conducted by researchers indicate that the players who play violent games do exhibit a considerable extent of aggression (physical and verbal) in their daily life as compared to the non-violent game players. According to Calvert and Tan the violent game players found to have a rapid heart rate, nausea and dizziness and aggressive thoughts. The frequent exposure to the bomb blasts, fire and destruction make them unsusceptible to the phenomena in real life. The violence in computer games is used as a hot commodity in the business of making and selling computer games. These games mainly focus teenagers. Elaborated violence scenes increase the market value of these games. The extent of violence induced in the younger generation can be explained through quoting the April 20, 1999 incident when two students in accordance with the game named “Doom” killed 13 and wounded 23 in Columbine High School in Littleton. They were dressed as game characters and later committed suicide. • Virtual Crime The virtual crime or cyber crime is found to be amazingly linked with computer games. Investment games or financial games train the players to take illegal short cuts that are equally applicable in real life. Environmental Impacts: Currently the gravest environmental hazard is due to the wear out / second hand computer hardware. Gaming console play a major part in keeping up the volume of this dump. This is termed as e-waste and it comprises of more than 50 million tons of discarded electronic products majorly containing computer hardware and gaming consoles. Moreover the extent of this problem is increasing with each passing day due to the reduced product life. According to Greenpeace if the containers of e-waste are sequentially lined up their collective length would be sufficient to match the circumference of the globe. The frequent rate of replacement of cell phones, computer hardware and gaming consoles makes them major contributors in world’s e-waste. Although the e-waste is about 5% of the world’s solid waste but it is much more hazardous as compared to the other 95% of the solid waste. The gravity of the situation is highlighted by BigFish Games through the following facts. 1. The games and consoles sold in the world collectively weigh around 6 billion pounds. 2. The gaming console giant “Nintendo”, alone can produce a landfill that weighs more than the collective weight of more than 5000 Statues of Liberty. 3. Out of 2.5 billion pounds of Nintendo sold products (e-waste) only 1.72 million pounds are recycled. The duration it would take to complete recycling at this rate is estimated to be 1453 years. 4. 1 pound of plastic requires 0.4 gallons of crude oil to be produced. 5. The total number of video games exceeds the total number the people in the world. 6. The exercise of of downloading the computer games may save 2.4 billion gallons of required crude oil which is equivalent to 4 times of Italy’s yearly consumption. 7. The plastic content used in the making of gaming consoles does not disintegrate or decompose. 8. Downloading all the computer games would be equally impactful as removing 20,131 cars off the road for one year. The computer / video game manufacturers are trying to be more environmentally responsible. In order to achieve a lower impact on environment they are trying to work on improved power management and reduced carbon footprint. “I'm reminded of my time working at an EB Games here in Australia, when I asked a regional manager what happened to all the unsold second-hand consoles that used to pile up out the back. His response was that they were sold off to nations like Pakistan, where he claimed they were then passed on to retailers. With Greenpeace claiming moves like this can often be a cover for simply dumping the stuff, though, I wonder if that's really what happened.” (Plunket, “Games, And Their Impact On The Environment”) Contemporary Issues: The modern development in the arena of computer games is “Green Gaming”. It is defined as, Gaming in the green is taking your passion for gaming and transferring a little bit of that fervor back to our planet and perhaps even moving a little bit of another type of green back into your wallet. (Prenda, “Gaming in the Green: Reducing the Environmental Impact of Video Games”) It is now seriously to be taken into account that amidst the pleasure of gaming what unseen price does we pay in terms of our environmental assets. According to the 2008 report of NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) the yearly consumption of USA’s gaming consoles is equal to the annual electricity consumption of San Diego city. The gaming consoles amazingly consume 80% of their play time electricity consumption during stand by times or at menu. There is no mechanism installed inside a gaming console that can make it sense the state of usage as playing or not playing etc. Therefore the amount of energy used in both the conditions is almost the same costing money and energy wastage both. The gamers may exercise green gaming on their own without expecting any kind of help from the manufacturers. Following are some tips regarding green gaming. • When not in use don’t forget to turn your gaming console OFF, always. • New games come with a feature of automatic save. This option is enabled when a new game begins. Taking advantage of this option the shutting down of the console won’t let you lose the current state of the game. • Search for the Power Save option of the console and enable it. Most users do not even know about it. • Using the gaming console as a movie player takes the consumption to 5 times of the energy consumed by an ordinary DVD / Blu-Ray player. Avoid seeing movies on gaming consoles. • Never throw out a wear out console. It adds to the misery. Do try to get it repaired or recycled to certain extent by contacting any local shop. Ethics and Computer Games Famous cultural historian Johan Huizinga (1955) the playing of computer games takes an individual out of the era of reality by transcending the boundaries of reality and eventually makes him enter into the world of fiction which is part of the computer game scenario. In the fictional world of the computer game the rules of life are not applied. These real life rules get ineffective in the world of the gaming era. This invokes the player to act as an individual other than what he actually may be in reality. This change is mainly due to the fact that no fear of real life consequences exists in the fictional world of the game. Huizinga calls the environment of the gaming world as the "magic circle". He classifies this space as an arena where the "as if" quality of a player emerges from within himself. This determination of gems is not restricted only to video games but applies equally to computer games as well because they are also more than just "GAMES"! These games are although labeled as leisure activity but they in fact are more than just mere distractions from the reality of life. Computer games are artifacts of culture and possess their own specific cultural context. The way these game cultural contexts are addressed is vary from the context in which literature and films are addressed in real world. Research and studies have revealed that whatever conscience and influence children gather in their very first years they review the entire society in the same paradigm of thought. Before the advent of computer games people used to spend their time reading books and pondering over issues concerning the society. In the modern times the equal amounts of time are spent in playing video and computer games. The game worlds are just like books in the fact that they offer a new world of though where the player creates his own domain and survives as a separate individual far far away from the world of reality and are often very keen to explore the boundaries of the new world. Most of the youngsters who play computer and video games suggest that these games have the same impact on them as do anything or any matter in the real world. Heroes in the computer games often serve as role models for youngsters. These have equal importance to the heroes and super strong people of the modern world. The relationship between the Avatar and the player is of intense importance to the players themselves. The Issue A society’s building blocks are often termed as its youth. It is inevitable to take steps against any wrong that may be done in order to harm the youth of a society. This is because the future of entire society and generation depends upon the youth only. There are severe side effects associated with the seemingly harmless and entertainment prone leisure activity that the kids are permitted to take up very willingly by their elders. Things that indulge the youth into activities that may harm them may actual eventually deform their personalities forever. Such activities should therefore be taken care of and their misuse and extent of use should be addressed with any excessiveness being shunned. The interests of the youngsters need to be safeguarded by the elders themselves as it is their immediate responsibility being the current rein-holders of the society. Among numerous threats to the sanctity of youth the most alarming one nowadays are the affects of computer games upon them. IMPORTANCE OF GAMES Man begins learning right from the time of his birth to the time of his death. The first quarter of a man's life is, however the most knowledge grabbing era in his entire life. Games have a mind involving property and are often said to be enhancing a human being's analytical and reasoning power. It is for this reason that the learning environment of an individual is considered to be incomplete without the inclusion of games in it. Games mesmerize youngsters in their attractiveness and often teach them concepts that they may otherwise, theoretically not get to learn in the conventional manners of learning. It is for this very reason that computer games are often deployed as learning tools in educational institutions. This is just one of the few reasons why the importance of playing computer games is often emphasized upon. Making learning fun for a youngsters is the foremost responsibility and intention of every educator. Right from the onset of their education children are given attention so as to make their knowledge gaining periods full of fun. For this purpose different kinds of toys are bought for children. The practice matures and modifies as a child grown up into purchasing of computer games rather than physical toys. Intellectual Stimulation is said to promote Effective learning and it is primarily because of this very reason that computer games have caused conventional board games to eradicate and lose their value. Research has proven that the infusion of technology into human lives and specifically the interaction of human beings with computing devices assists man in his decision making processes. At this instance it is important to realize that the interaction of individuals with computer games at an exceptionally high frequency would definitely have prolonged and strong effects on the decision making capabilities of all those who are indulged in playing them, elders and youngsters alike. These effects may be favorable as well as un favorable. The favorable effects of playing computer and video games frequently are numerous are spread over a wide range of things among which the enhancement of analytical capabilities and sharpened vision are just a few. A detailed roundup of the favorable effects is done further in the report. The un favorable effects vary in intensity. Some are trivial whereas some may be as severe as the indulgence of youth in violence and similar activities under the impression of the type of computer and video games they play. The extent to which the influence of computer and video games could be un favorable can be assessed by getting to know about a California State Ruling. This ruling was about the purchase of video games. The ruling, promulgated in the year 2010 stated that no individual under the age of eighteen years was permitted to either take video games for rent or to purchase them. VIOLENCE IN YOUTH Violence in youth is one of the commonalities of the present times. Youngsters seem to be indulged in violent verbal and physical activities just about everywhere whether it is school, college, the neighborhood or the playground. But this is not it There have been incidents where severe violent activities have been witnessed in the near past in which the youth have been involved. These severe events were highly tragic and were also highly publicized. It is imperative to realize at this point that most of the video games prevalent and popular nowadays are inclined towards violent activities and fighting sequences. The scenes and pattern of the games are so very intense and violent that it is beyond the comprehension and imagination of a common man to even imagine them. Excessive use of ammunition and that too in brutal manners is the norm of these games. For example, the banging of a players head with all kinds of weaponry, slitting of the opponent's throat, extreme use of nudity and profound bloodshed are the compulsory properties of every successful and popular and On-Demand video game. The gaming sequence is intertwined with levels and barriers that need to be crossed in order to win. Youngsters are indirectly being taught that they have to adopt all possible means of getting things done and reaching the finish line whether no matter how brutal and violent those scenes may be. A silent learning of this type does not refrain disconnected from the youngsters' real lives. Naturally so, it is very highly unlikely that such youngsters would refrain from adopting the activities of their virtual world in the real world. The plight does not get over here. It is tragic to realize that these violent games reward the player upon each brutal action performed and successfully executed. Silently the games inculcate in the mind of the player that he would be benefitted with rewards if he acts in the certain way and increases the importance and value of violent responses in his mind. The factor of violent attitude on the rise was one perspective with which the youngsters have gotten stuck. Another important issue is that exposure to intense virtual violent paradigms may instigate a sense of fear among the young players of the game. The sense of insecurity may even provoke the players to take unwanted precautionary violent steps even at the thought of being opposed or repelled by any individual around them. “Violent video games desensitize players to real-life violence. It is common for victims in video games to disappear off screen when they are killed or for players to have multiple lives. In a 2005 study, violent video game exposure has been linked to reduced P300 amplitudes in the brain, which is associated with desensitization to violence and increases in aggressive behavior.” (Bartholow, Bushman, 532) And another study goes, “Playing violent video games causes the development of aggressive behavioral scripts. A behavioral script is developed from the repetition of actions and affects the subconscious mind. An example of a common behavioral script is a driving script that tells drivers to get in a vehicle, put on a seat belt, and turn on the ignition. Similarly, violent video games can lead to scripts that tell youth to respond aggressively in certain situations. Violence in video games may lead to real world violence when scripts are automatically triggered in daily life, such as being nudged in a school hallway.” (Funk, "Exposure to Violent Video Games and Desensitization to Violence in Children and Adolescents.”). It is important to note here that as compared to normal-non computer game playing youngsters, those youngsters who remain indulged in violence based computer and video games tend to find violent solutions to matters in their day to day lives as well. Results of a poll conducted among general people exhibits that people believe instances of university shootings in the recent past have only been due to the similar inclinations inculcated among youngsters via violence based video and computer games. GAMING ADDICTION Addiction to gaming is another ethical issue that is faced by players and fanatics of video and computer games. Gaming addiction can have severe affects on the personalities of individuals. People often tend to neglect their health and their family and remain indulged in the gaming scenario for hours and hours. It was once reported by BBC that an individual kept on playing a computer game for fifty hours without any noticeable break and he eventually ended up suffering from a heart attack and dying on the spot. Studies and research have revealed that people were ready to harm others and earn money by hook or by crook in order to get their hands at some money and buy more computer games. This extent of addiction to computer games is devastating and simply non-ethical. People would forcibly borrow money from acquaintances, steal, hunt and do whatever else required only so that they may be able to play. The ethical issues may be summed up by saying that there indeed are many ethical issues concerning the spread and extent of video and computer game players, youngsters and elders alike. People need to be made aware regarding these ethical hazards and also made to realize what adverse effects they have for their own selves, their families and the societies as a whole. Violence imparts much more than what may superficially be viewed by an onlooker. The players of the violent games are the ones actually in need of help. Stereotyping is another ethical issue in line with which people believe that men are given more coverage in video games than women. The alarming ethical concerns and the studies being conducted over them emphasize that these issues should be addressed and attention should be paid at them. More awareness and policies would help immensely in many ethical issues concerning computer games. ADDRESSING ETHICS IN COMPUTER GAMES An intelligent approach to address then number of ethical issues mentioned above is to call for the creation of video games that are only ethically sound. The government needs to address this issue and enforce the selling of ethically sound games only. Some of the ethical choices proposed in computer games may be unrealistic but even their being fake would enrich the idea of brainstorming and looking for healthier alternatives to every thought. This brightens up the ethical perspectives and is a form of ethical indoctrination. MODIFYING GAMES Story given computer games can be made which give rewards to players only when promises are kept and tasks are done for all the players involved in the game. Ethics ratings could be introduced in games which would be gained every time respect and care would be shown to fellow player. The basic idea behind it is to improve then ending of the game and make it result into positive outcomes rather than prevalent brutal bloodshed. CONCLUSION: Conclusively it may be said that gaming is an interesting phenomenon but it is accompanied with severe repercussions if left uncontrolled and unsupervised. Computer Games are a good and healthy means of relaxing, exploring analytical mental skills and becoming part of a wider gaming community as long as the gaming is not done in excess. The advantages associated with them can easily outweigh the negative effects associated with them. Since games have helped the modern technological world develop into what it is right now their educational value cannot be neglected. Moreover simulators involving computer gaming techniques are often used in the training of pilots and astronauts show how integral its use can be. There exists enormous potential in computer games to benefit the human society one directed in the right direction. Works Cited: Bartholow, BD, BJ Bushman, and MA Sestir. "Chronic Violent Video Game Exposure And Desensitization To Violence: Behavioral And Event-Related Brain Potential Data." Journal Of Experimental Social Psychology 42.4 (n.d.): 532-539.Social Sciences Citation Index. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. 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REUTERS. 26 Apr, 2010. Web. Dec. 2012. Read More