I played a lot of video games growing up. When I think about that, my first response is to believe it was a waste of time; but when I look at the context in which I played those games, though, a tendency-- or pattern-- seems to surface that explains why they were so magnetic to me. I think it is informative to survey this tendency to understand why games are so popular today.
I can think of two general principles that apply to the popularity of gaming, especially for males. First, social interaction is not always easy. This seems to be especially true for males, and perhaps more so for prepubescent males; and yet, being human, those males need intellectual stimulation. They get it through video games. The fact that games offer that stimulation without the need for socially appropriate behavior offers him a way to satisfy his need for entertainment without feeling compelled to perform socially. Importantly, and under the same point, gaming allows him a measure of control. He decides when to play and when to leave his game.
Second, males need to feel like they are worthwhile, like they mean something to others, or at least that they are being productive. Treat this next point with skepticism, but it seems to me that video games fulfill a male's need to be heroic or productive, albeit artificially. When he steps into the role of his character, he takes on the qualities of that character and leaves what could for him be a mundane lifestyle. It is a means of escape. I suppose the same can be true for those who read for the same purpose: game and book (and blog, I admit) offer a way to escape a less-than-perfect life to pretend you are something or someone more satisfying.
Some of what I am saying, of course, seems to contradict the statistics on game playing. There are differing statistics, but the average age of gamers seems to rest in the early to mid thirties (a 2009 report* had it at 32 and a 2011 statistic** reported 35), and the male-to-female ratio is more balanced than you might believe: two sources show that sixty percent of gamers are male and forty percent are female.*** The latter statistic may have to do with an industry that has broadened its target market to include adults and females, rather than teenage males alone (recall that I was one of those males). Still, I believe the same motivations to play those games exist, especially in younger males.
If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't completely restrict myself from playing games. After all, they acted as a common interest that allowed my friends and I to enjoy our time together. Still, I would have tried to balance things a little more for myself. As far as any children I may have in the future, I would definitely allow gaming, but under what I see as healthy guidelines (i.e., in the family room only, balanced with social interaction, perhaps reserved for weekends, etc.). I have to remember, too, that the need to escape isn't a bad thing. Like much else, using entertainment to escape simply needs to be balanced with other life activities (consider the extreme example of a twenty year-old man who died of pulmonary embolism-- he died of a blockage in the lung or lungs because he sat in one place too long, in this case, playing video games). This is just one person's perspective on the matter, but I think my personal experience may help me to understand what I would do differently now. This is why we study history, I guess.
*Entertainment Software Association. "2009 Sales, Demographic and Usage Data: Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry," 2009.
**Education Database Online. "Video Game Statistics," 2011.
***Both above sources
I can think of two general principles that apply to the popularity of gaming, especially for males. First, social interaction is not always easy. This seems to be especially true for males, and perhaps more so for prepubescent males; and yet, being human, those males need intellectual stimulation. They get it through video games. The fact that games offer that stimulation without the need for socially appropriate behavior offers him a way to satisfy his need for entertainment without feeling compelled to perform socially. Importantly, and under the same point, gaming allows him a measure of control. He decides when to play and when to leave his game.
Second, males need to feel like they are worthwhile, like they mean something to others, or at least that they are being productive. Treat this next point with skepticism, but it seems to me that video games fulfill a male's need to be heroic or productive, albeit artificially. When he steps into the role of his character, he takes on the qualities of that character and leaves what could for him be a mundane lifestyle. It is a means of escape. I suppose the same can be true for those who read for the same purpose: game and book (and blog, I admit) offer a way to escape a less-than-perfect life to pretend you are something or someone more satisfying.
Some of what I am saying, of course, seems to contradict the statistics on game playing. There are differing statistics, but the average age of gamers seems to rest in the early to mid thirties (a 2009 report* had it at 32 and a 2011 statistic** reported 35), and the male-to-female ratio is more balanced than you might believe: two sources show that sixty percent of gamers are male and forty percent are female.*** The latter statistic may have to do with an industry that has broadened its target market to include adults and females, rather than teenage males alone (recall that I was one of those males). Still, I believe the same motivations to play those games exist, especially in younger males.
If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't completely restrict myself from playing games. After all, they acted as a common interest that allowed my friends and I to enjoy our time together. Still, I would have tried to balance things a little more for myself. As far as any children I may have in the future, I would definitely allow gaming, but under what I see as healthy guidelines (i.e., in the family room only, balanced with social interaction, perhaps reserved for weekends, etc.). I have to remember, too, that the need to escape isn't a bad thing. Like much else, using entertainment to escape simply needs to be balanced with other life activities (consider the extreme example of a twenty year-old man who died of pulmonary embolism-- he died of a blockage in the lung or lungs because he sat in one place too long, in this case, playing video games). This is just one person's perspective on the matter, but I think my personal experience may help me to understand what I would do differently now. This is why we study history, I guess.
*Entertainment Software Association. "2009 Sales, Demographic and Usage Data: Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry," 2009.
**Education Database Online. "Video Game Statistics," 2011.
***Both above sources
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