Research & Enquiry: Reflective Post 4 - How are video games impacting todays society?
- What prompted this question? -
Sat, talking to my Girlfriend we began discussing my University work, after several minutes of me explaining what on earth an N-Gon was, she asked a question that to my surprise got me thinking rather deeply. "Why video games? what do they mean to you?" This led me to ponder on what these games did mean, and how they contribute to todays society.
- Are they important at all? -
Video games have certainly been a hot topic over the last decade, as we're seeing huge improvements to gameplay, graphics, and accessibility for players (amongst many other factors).
It's not a surprise then, that we're seeing a huge increase to the amount of people that own game consoles and other multimedia devices. "According to the CTA report, 53 percent of U.S households now own a video game console—that number ticked up 10 percent year-over-year, a notable increase for this report." - GameDeveloper 2021
So, with a huge portion of our society sinking more and more hours into these video games, the question arises: How are these games affecting us?
It is worth noting, in the grand scheme of things, video games have only been around/accessible like this for a relatively short amount of time. Therefore, we as a society may not know how they are affecting us fully, this is something that will become a lot clearer in a generation or two, as kids grow up around these devices.
- Minecraft in schools!? All I had were colouring books :( -
Conversations concerning the use of video games as an educational tool have become more frequent amongst a variety of educational bodies, this can be seen with the research into whether Mojang's creation Minecraft could be used as part of a curriculum. With the released of Minecraft: Education Edition in 2016 a variety of researchers looked into the effects in the classroom.
"Educational technology researchers have found that video games capture children's attention and provide particularly favourable conditions for learning and have shown positive effects on cognitive, affective and psychomotor functioning. When players are fully engaged in a gaming task, they enter what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls the "flow state," also known as "the zone," a state highly conducive to learning." - Thierry Karsenti 2019
In this article published by PhysOrg, Thierry describes how he and his team worked with schools in Canada, trialling Minecraft in the classroom in hopes to find positive effects.
"My team and I adopted an exploratory research design to highlight the main uses of Minecraft in a school setting and to identify any benefits of using Minecraft at school. We developed a program called Minecraft Master where students had to complete more than 40 different tasks." Thierry then goes on to say. "The educational impacts we found were encouraging. The students showed a heightened motivation towards school, stronger computer skills, greater problem-solving skills, expanded reading and writing skills, a development in creativity and autonomy and increased collaboration with classmates." - Thierry Karsenti 2019
Thierry's research is very interesting, unfortunately I don't have the £90 required to read his full paper on the subject, but I can imagine it's very intriguing! This shows that video games don't only have a place in our entertainment lives, but can also be harnessed for educational power!
- smoking leads to cancer, what does an excessive amount of gaming lead to? -
With almost everything in life, a little is good, too much can be fatal. This of course, applies to video games as well. "Video game addiction is not currently recognized as an addictive disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder" - Meredith Watkins 2021. However, this is still a widely debated topic as even WebMD states video game addiction can be considered a type of impulse control disorder.
Unfortunately, gaming can cause issues, and has been seen widely in todays society, even I have personal friends that have struggled with knowing when to turn the game off. This can lead to a whole variety of issues, including:
"Poor performance at school, work, or household responsibilities as a result of a preoccupation with gaming
Neglect of other hobbies or friendships
A decline in personal hygiene or grooming
Inability to set limits on how much time is spent gaming
Signs of irritability, anxiety, or anger when forced to stop gaming, even for brief periods of time
The need to spend more time playing games or to play more intensely in order to get the same level of enjoyment
Symptoms of physical or psychological withdrawal, such as loss of appetite, sleeplessness, agitation, or emotional outbursts if the game is taken away
Using video games as a way to escape stressful situations at work or school, or conflicts at home"
This was taken directly from Meredith's article on video game addiction
It is important for us to understand the negative affects of too much exposure to games, so that we can learn to limit ourselves and explore this new world safely. This is apparent with modern shooter games, which may have a correlation to the number of shootings in the US or other parts of the world, whether video games promote or incite violence is an old and well discussed topic, which I will not be going into, but there are many articles about this if you are interested.
- How does this all relate to us as video game artists? -
I have briefly touched a few subjects relating to video game in todays society, I feel as if I could write an entire doctoral dissertation on this subject matter, so I will quit whilst I still have your attention.
For us as artists, it is important to understand the video game industry as a whole, not just the small role we play in it. To understand what we are contributing to, and whether there are any ethical concerns to the work we do. This is important when looking for work, or switching game studios. Yes, you may get a flashier office with a built in coffee machine, but is the work you are contributing worth anything? and I don't mean financially. Yes I'm sure there are many game developers who have been made rich with all there small microtransactions. But do there games make a positive impact on our society? Probably not.
I believe as artists it is our responsibility to see the bigger picture, to produce content that will move people, or help them understand themselves better, or simply for entertainment! But never for a bigger pay check, as much as money is lovely to have. We must do better as an industry to help connect people and cultures through the use of video games, as well as inspire a new generation of artists and creatives (see next post for a more detailed look into how I plan to ensure I try my best to stay true to this in my career).
Bryant Francis, 2021. Report: Over half of U.S households now own a game console. Game Developer, 19 July 2021, Available from: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/report-over-half-of-u-s-households-now-own-a-game-console [Accessed 30 November 2021].
Thierry Karsenti, 2019. Minecraft can increase problem solving, collaboration and learning—yes, at school. Phys Org, 22 April 2019, Available from: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-minecraft-problem-collaboration-learningyes-school.html [Accessed 30 November 2021].
Meredith Watkins, 2021. Video Game Addiction Symptoms and Treatment. American Addiction Centres, 26 October 2021, Available from: https://americanaddictioncenters.org/video-gaming-addiction [Accessed 30 November 2021].
