Monday, May 16, 2011

Virtual Reality

I enjoy Julian Smith's channel, especially his commentary on Facebook.  However, this post, "uMove", makes me sad, because it portrays the truth.  There are many people who are losing sight of reality and imagination, who NEED technology to find enjoyment in life.  I have seen some of my younger cousins who complain if they have to use their imagination, since it is much easier for a DVD player or a video game console to entertain them.  Studies have shown that the playing of video games desensitize players to real violence.  Most video games contain some form of violence or another.

Now do not get me wrong, video games can be a good thing as well.  With two older brothers, I have played my share of games, including a lot of Mario Kart.


a song written by Sam Hart, now available on iTunes

A BYU Study showed that girls who played video games with their parents had overall strong mental health and family connectedness, as long as the game rating was age-appropriate.  Video games can be fun for a hobby and can be used as a bonding activity, but we as the players must not allow the technology to take over, maintaining our sense of reality and ability to utilize the power of the imagination.

2 comments:

  1. Ash I loved this post! Not only do I love video games but Mario Kart as well (BTW I love that Mario Kart is basically the only video game girls play and 9 out of 10 times the girl is either Toad, Princess, or Yoshi). I have found that I have been desensitized to violence as well. I have also been a solo gamer and a social gamer. Solo gaming is a lonely avenue to take and very un-fulfilling (When you beat a game it goes from "YEAH" to "...what now?") Social gaming, "Mario Kart,""Super Smash Brothers,""Mario Party," are ways to build relationships with others in the room. I am an advocate of the benefits of social gaming.
    Great post

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Matt! Like I posted in my blog, I have two older brothers who I wanted to spend time with. As a result, I was exposed to quite a few different games through the years such as Star Fox and 007. You might be surprised by the fact that one of my favorite games to play when I was younger was Turok: Rage Wars; the reason, because my brother Brandon would usually play this game with me...and because I could beat him with the raptor character, from which I was quickly banned.

    I had a Game Boy Advance and a DS (we are a Nintendo family) so I have had the solo gaming experience, but my favorite time to play games is when I am playing with family and friends. There is definitely a social aspect to the world of video gaming.

    ReplyDelete