Video Gaming Is Not Bad

The video game technology, like most technologies, has changed drastically over the past few years. Video games have radically changed our society, and some people doubt it’s for the better. The gaming world has come a long way since first brought to a conventional society, and ever since the beginning of gaming, people have observed the effects of the games on whoever the gamer may be, it being a child of toddler age, to a middle aged adult playing the game. There have been many accusations over the years over the harm video games may cause to the gamer; however, as video games become more hands on and involve more of the gamers physical skill, rather than just mental ability the question comes up if the video games can actually have a positive impact on ones life. Miyamoto puts a lot of thought into his games and his gaming systems. He wants his gamers to feel that they are a part of the game. “Miyamoto starts from the kinesthetics of the controller. What is this thing going to feel like in my hands? Will I feel like I'm instinctively connected to this world? As opposed to, I've got sixteen buttons, and I'm trying to figure out which button does the super-thrust power-up, in which case it's very cerebral, kind of like learning to play the piano. Rather than, you know, just picking up a shovel and starting to dig. He's had an amazing impact not just on software and games but on the hardware as well" (Paumgarten, 2010). I believe that there is no harm in gaming, considering all of his ideas come from childhood memories.

Time and time again the concept of video games being a negative impact on a child’s life is brought up. Although there has been research about the negative effects of videogaming, there is also research that shows that there is a positive effect that is catching up with it. Every guy in my dorm that I am friends with can be caught in most hours of the day playing video games. The game I see them play most is called “Halo”, it is a shooter video game made by Microsoft. I asked my friend to explain the game to me and he replied “In this game players take on the roles of elite United Nations Space Comment soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.” Video games like this one involve violent thoughts in order to do what is necessary in completing each task, and studies have been done to prove how these games have a negative impact on the person playing them. A study done in the University of Melbourne, Australia, discovers what negative effects come from playing video games like Halo. “Violent video games lead to an increase in aggressive thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Built upon the rationale that violent media content leads to the modeling of violence and triggering of aggressive acts, this University argued that these games increase the likelihood of aggressive outbursts in both the short term and long term” (Anderson 2003). This statement is pretty scary to think