Comedy Line Do Not Cross - YouTube Task

Is Gaming More Than Just A Hobby?

Quick Glossary:

Gaming = The concept of playing computer games

Gamer = One that plays computer games

Mod = Modified (used in the context of talking about modified versions of a game; a mod)

Is Gaming More Than Just A Hobby?

“Computer games and higher education are like species that share an ancestor but have diverged wildly in their evolution.”(Herz, 1997)

The fascination of gaming started in the early 1980’s when Ronald Reagan claimed that the qualities of computer games would help create highly skilled cold war warriors while U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop believed that games were among the top health risks that would face Americans, already here it was evident that computer games had different consequences to different people. (Squire, 2002). Gaming to many people mean many things; to some it means a waste of time, to others it is a means of education and to many it is a contributing factor to violence. In this blog I will examine the various aspects of gaming and list the negative and positive attributes of gaming and then give my view on gaming and why I believe that gaming is more than just a hobby. I am going to explain this by giving a brief introduction of a typical gamer as I feel this will give the reader an easier time imagining who we are talking about in this blog, then discuss the negatives and positives so I can rationally explain my opinion on gaming and if it is more than just a hobby.

Profile of a Typical Gamer:

Gaming is most popular amongst people that are under-going an undergraduate education and game as a means of escapism, entertainment and socializing with friends (Griffiths et al., 2004). Another attribute of a gamer is the gender factor; gaming is more popular amongst men than women. Scientist’s claim this to be because of how our brain works and is divided, men are more spatial aware, whilst women more language specialized (Morgan et al, 2004). In other words the most common gamer is a male doing an undergraduate education.

The Negatives:

· The younger you are the more likely you are to get addicted to gaming as you are easily influenced (Gunter, 1998).

· Another negative factor about gaming is that it is very time-consuming (especially online games) and this often leads to people sacrificing of other activities to play games, in many cases social activities. This factor is perhaps the most criticized point when it comes to gaming as people often would see the correlation of gaming and alienation of individuals (Ng et al., 2005).

· Gaming hours on end can be and is very strenuous on the on the eyes, this I can personally account for, as before being an avid gamer my eyes were nowhere near as bad as they are today, went from -1.75 to -4.75 as I have now (Lin, 2005).

· Kids grow up too fast, as they view content that isn’t appropriate for them. Studies show that 68% of boys and 29% of girls included a M-rated (17+) game on their list of games they play, a survey conducted by the Psychiatric Times (Matthews, 2008). Disturbing as games with inappropriate content may affect the child in various ways; there is a reason for the rating system.

The Positives:

· A new form of a social activity, even though people blame gaming in many cases for alienation, it simply is a new form of communicating and being social, as is shown in the following statistics: 69.3% of adolescents play or have played with friends and roughly 76.2% of adults play or have played with friends. In other words people critiquing this aspect are simply ill-informed; as gaming can be a social activity just not in the traditional sense.

· As for personal attributes gaming has to offer the fact that it helps increase reaction speeds and can aid spatial awareness of individuals. Gamers of certain types of video games are affected to the point that they are 30-50% better than non-gamers in absorbing and taking in what happens around them according to a journal Nature, which re-confirms the idea of spatial awareness (Blakeslee, 2003).

“The tendency to escape from daily reality or routine by indulging in daydreaming, fantasy, or entertainment.” - Escapism (American Heritage Dictionary, 2003)

· Gaming allows people to escape reality and express and/or explore worlds unknown to them and that fascinate users at the same. For some it may be used as a form of relaxation others to escape a reality perhaps not wanted.

· Computer games in general can function both as entertainment but also for learning purposes.

Being productive, gaming allows people to show their skills in various ways. In 1994, the creators behind Doom released a level editor which meant the users could edit characters and scenarios as they felt. This was unquestionably welcomed by the community as various mod’s were released by avid and passionate gamers. Popular mod creators were then scouted by companies to further enhance the already existing product or a completely third company would recruit as they had proven themselves. I would definitely consider this a positive aspect of gaming, as a gamers passion can lead them down paths they weren’t aware of but wanted. This is just an example of how gaming can be more than just a hobby but also a means of getting to your destination a career. (Herz, 1997)

People perceive gaming as to be a means of escaping reality, which I will not argue it isn’t for some, but to many people it is a means of being able to explore fantasy worlds or relive history. If one is an avid computer gamer, then it is important to remember that everything in life needs to be done in moderation including gaming. And in the circumstances of a child, I firmly believe that parents that purchase games that are inappropriate for their child’s age are irresponsible. This is definitely a generalization on my part, as all children aren’t the same and parents have the right to judge what is appropriate or not for their child, but I definitely believe parents should do research before they make their decision. As a part of a conclusion to this essay I would also like to say that I believe gaming is here to stay and that I believe it can definitely be more than a hobby it really depends on how seriously you take it and how you want to apply yourself when gaming, to some it is a sport (e-sport) others a form of relaxation, but I believe it should all be done in moderation as some people do have an addictive personality and should be careful.

“Being within reasonable limits; not excessive or extreme” - Moderation (American Heritage Dictionary, 2003)

Reference List:

American Heritage (2003). Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton Mifflin Company

Morgan, K., Brebbia, C.A., Sanchez, J., & Voiskounsky, A. (2004). Human Perspectives in the Internet Society: Culture, Psychology, and Gender. Southampton: WIT Press.

Gunter, B. (1998). The Effects of Video Games on Children: The Myth Unmasked. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.

Sandra Blakeslee (2003). Video-Game Killing Builds Visual Skills. http://query.nytimes.com (accessed 16 May 2008)

Squire, K. (2002). Cultural Framing of Computer/Video Games. GameStudies, 2:1.

Griffiths, M.D., Davies, M. N. O., Chappell, D. (2004) Online computer gaming: a comparison of adolescent and adult gamers. Journal of Adolescent, 27.

Hanson, T. (2008). The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games. OpenEducation.net

Herz, J.C. (1997). Joystick Nation: How Videogames Gobbled Our Money, Won Our Hearts and Rewired Our Minds. New York: Little Brown

Lin, H. (2005) Gendered Gaming Experience in Social Space: From Home to Internet Café. Authors & Digital Games Research Association DiGRA

Ng, B.D., Wiemer-Hastings, P. (2005) CyberPsychology & Behavior. 8:2

Gaming and Its Effect on Individuals

Essay Draft Outline:

“Gaming and its effect on individuals” is my blog topic. Before reading anything about this topic I really had a skeptical view on gaming and its effects on users so I was therefore interested in seeing if others had the same opinion as me. To my surprise there were many articles discussing the positive aspects of gaming even on young children. The benefits range from: increased reaction speeds of gamers to increased awareness. I found this to be extremely interesting and therefore I continued my research, as I was very keen to learn more about this area which was unknown to me. I, myself, definitely enjoy playing computer games once in a while, but always saw it as a hobby more than I did an instrument of education, which some articles call it. The articles I have already found are articles that discuss anything from: an interview with a professor on computer gaming to statistics and the effects of gaming on individuals from a psychological point of point.

The research I have gathered has given me a great insight as to how I would like to narrow my question down and what areas I would like to touch. As the various articles intrigued me to the point that I want to know more about its positives as well as its negatives and basically write a blog that will contrast the two, so it will make it easier for the reader to form an opinion as well as for myself. As well as discussing the positives and negatives of gaming, I will also briefly create an introduction to gaming and its users, so basically the gamer.

Update:

After the class discussion, I have now changed my question to: "Is gaming more than just a hobby?"

Links:

http://www.gamestudies.org/0102/squire/

http://www.classification.gov.au/resource.html?resource=968

http://gamingandlearning.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/playing-computer-games-impact-on-health-part-2/

http://gamingandlearning.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/author-reveals-%e2%80%9cthe-surprising-truth-about-violent-video-games%e2%80%9d/

http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/FFPIU019.pdf

http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/soc/courses/stpp4C03/ClassEssay/machalien.htm

http://www.lionlamb.org/research_articles/study5.pdf

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/discussion/are-computer-and-video-games-harmful-to-children/1020817/

http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=gHu0Qf1n5TYC&oi=fnd&pg=PA7&dq=computer+game+alienation&ots=mYgIhiLC1k&sig=BCfO1ZRVILKB6N0skI24l6wXBWk#PPA90,M1

The 3D Chatting World and Word Task Blog

What is different about the kinds of socializing that happens in these spaces? Does the 3D aspect make much difference?

The 3D-aspect of internet changes the circumstances, as the avatar is a reflection of you. When one write simple text, one feels more secure as no one can put a face to the words, but having an avatar completely changes that! Instant message programs such as MSN, mIRC, etc. give you the possibility of doing something else while chatting, whilst when is in a 3D-world one is more into the conversation as it isn't as easy to simply flip in and out of the game as it is with a MSN-chat window.

The benefits of a 3D-world range from being able to choose what you look like to the attitude you wish you had. It gives people the opportunity to be their alter-ego. That is what I can imagine is so fascinating about the various 3D-worlds, they really give you the opportunity to easily be your perhaps "true" self without there being any (physical) consequences. You can edit everything about your avatar if you want, and at the same time you can actually choose to look like yourself in real life if you so wish.

MSN (and other programs alike) are great for simple quick chatting, as one does not have to devote all one's attention to it. I know from experience that I like to have MSN open all the time, so basically when I boot up my computer, I start up MSN as I then feel "connected". And people may write to me or I may write to them, but I would say that 8 out of 10 times I would be doing other things simultaneously. e.g. playing internet poker, other games, surfing the net etc.

Therefore I would say that I prefer IM-chatting to being in a 3D-world!

My assessment of the word and excel task:
I found the tasks very easy and knew most of them, the only one I didn't know was the Track Changes function. It is really useful when I have to add notes to my own work. Otherwise This task could perhaps have been more beneficial for others more so than myself, as I spent a lot of time on both programs.

Evaluating Wikipedia!

Is this an accurate article?
Does it cover all the basic facts that you'd need to understand this topic?
Does this article follow the wikipedia guidelines for useful articles?
Is this article fair and balanced, or is it biased towards a particular side or argument?

I have taken two topics of which I would consider myself an expert on; Counter-Strike (a computer game) and Entourage (a TV-show). I will evaluate the following wiki-pages using the questions above as criteria.

Is this an accurate article?
CS: Very accurate, practically everything one would want to find and know about the game is there, and presumably accurate as the figures come from VALVe.
Entourage: Accurate background history on the show and the producers, with some interesting information some would call irrelevant trivia!

Does it cover all the basic facts that you'd need to understand this topic?
CS: It covers more than all the basic facts, it not only explains what the game is, it also lists the changes made between the different beta phases.
Entourage: Very much, only thing perhaps lacking is diagrams of the popularity of the show in various parts of the world.

Does this article follow the wikipedia guidelines for useful articles?
I would have to say yes that it does for both of them, it starts off with a brief introduction and then leads into more detail as all other wiki-articles do.

Is this article fair and balanced, or is it biased towards a particular side or argument?
CS: Very fair and balanced.
Entourage: One gets the impression that the person who wrote this is an Entourage fan, as it is described in a "positive light"!

It is hard to say what changes I would make, but perhaps I would briefly discuss similar shows/games, so people that may not have seen either the show or the game can somehow relate to the articles better.

Does Digital Art Have An "Aura"?

How do the ideas from Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply to contemporary digital media?

"Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" has a valid idea that art has a form of "aura", and when reproduced it loses a piece of it. This is very similar to a belief some people have; when being photographed it takes a piece of the sole away.

The digital media and its produce today is an art form easily accessible for the masses and in most cases produced to reach the masses. One could say that it loses it "aura" but I rather believe that it loses it uniqueness as it becomes a common image everyone has seen and therefore lacks rarity. A good example of this would be advertisements which are created for targeting the masses as much as possible are soleness as they are pieces of art simply created to attract attention and convey a message to purchase something; either a service or product.

Digital media in the form of photography has lost a lot of credibility as one nowadays can re-touch any picture/person to look a certain way. Therefore people can't believe what they see as it is all a manufactured product of digital media.

There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?

In my opinion it means that art and creating masterpieces demand more and now really have to have a "wow" factor before being a success as now anyone can do it. And to break out and make yourself a "known" digital artist requires creating exceptional pieces of work. There are many people out there with the knowledge of how to create music, usually techno/tranquility as these genres are solely made on the computer, but require great skill and creativity as it is so popular to make. And the way you can judge a persons piece of music is by the "download popularity" of it. The more downloads the more recognized. And concerning art pieces, I believe that the possibles of digital media have broadened the spectrum of what art is, as now things such as themes, backgrounds and icons are pieces of art as much as anything else.

Is a photoshopped image "authentic"?

No, but to a degree yes. I don't believe photoshopped images of people are authentic, but images where you crop out the sides of pictures I would still consider authentic!

Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)?

Yes, I believe even digital arts pieces intended for billboards have an aura, but not a positive one. But digital pieces of scenery definitely have a positive and calming aura. I personally am very fond of digital art pieces of scenery. I am a big fan of having a calming scenery as a desktop background and can highly recommend the site: www.deviantart.com, fantastic site for people that enjoy photography or digital art.

Favourite Search Engines and Why?

Our task is to answer the following questions! And yes I have used my favourite search engines to answer them in certain areas! :D

How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?
The various search engine sites work in different ways, but they have a commonality, which is they use a web-crawler (also known as a web-spider) to retreive information from the sites and save it in their databases. This is where the different search engines work differently, Google stores only main important phrases, whilst sites like AltaVista stores all the information. That is why when searching different results appear. It also very much depends on the success of a site (hits it has).

Who, or what, makes one page (that you might get in your search results) more useful than another one, so that it is put at the top of your search results?
The relevance of the information in coherence to the words one has searched with. Also how popular the site is with other people having done similar searches would definitely affect the ranking of it.

What are some of your favourite search engines? Why do you like one more than others?
My favourite search engines would be: Google.com without a doubt, and then wikipedia.org and dictionary.com. The key word for google.com being my favourite search engine is because I'm so used to it and know how to use its advanced options, which has enabled me to find the results I want much faster than when I use other search engines.

Wikipedia.org is my favourite site when it comes to gathering background information on things, places, people etc. as it is a collective effort of people. It is an ever-evolving encyclopedia, which makes it great as it is always up-to-date.

Dictionary.com, I use for finding definitions and synonyms as I have gotten used to it and find it very helpful.