Video Games and Computer Holding Power
In her publication Sherry Turkle focuses on video games and the way they are affecting the lives of the people who play them, with her audience being the general populous, as those are the people who are and will continue to be affected by the growth of video games. She primarily follows a young boy named Jarish and, through several snips out of interviews with him, gives insight into how he feels about video games and his feelings on the future of video games. Aditionally, she showcases a few other people by focusing on their motives for playing video games. Alongside the personal interviews Turkle addresses some of the concerns surrounding video games, such as the “myth of mindless addiction” that was often applied to video games. Using four years of studying video games and those who play them, Turkle was able to go beyond just discussing the games and delved into the minds of those who played them and examined the social impact video games have had as they have “become part of the cultural landscape” (500).
One of the biggest overall arguments made by Turkle is that video games affect the mind in a way that lasts longer than just the time spent playing the game. Turkle shys away from using the word “addicted” too often, stating that “most people don’t become addicted to video games just as most people who diet don’t become anorexic” (512). She does, however, point out the ways in which games can seem to be an escape from reality or a way to gain control. For example: Jarish, the young boy who is fascinated by video games, uses video games as a way to gain control. His parents divorced and his father re-married and then divorced again. Jarish himself is small for his age and doesn’t really fit in with other kids. He doesn’t have much control in his life. When he goes into a game, however, he is in control. Jarish says that when he is angry he goes to play his favorite game “Robotron” (506). Jimmy is another young boy who has a physical disability who turns to games to give him an altered state of mind. In Jimmy’s case he strives for absolute perfection. He plays one game, Space Invaders, in a “ritualistic” way and states that achieving perfection calms him. Other examples of video games causing an altered state of mind are Roger, who plays to clear his mind in the same way that skiing clears his mind. David, a lawyer, plays games to achieve a Zen-like state, where he can “direct [himself] totally but not feel directed at all” (510).
When Turkle discusses the idea of altered states, she likens video game playing to race car driving. A race car driver cannot take his eyes off of the road for even a second or he will crash. With video games, the consequence of a loss of concentration may not be as dire as death, but it is certainly not beneficial. All it takes is one second of not paying attention and your space ship will explode, bringing you one step closer to the “end” of the game. It is this requirement of absolute concentration that entices many people to play video games. As Turkle states, “for people under pressure total concentration is a form of relaxation” (509).
Having played video games quite a bit myself, I must say that I can see where Turkle and the people above are coming from. There are definitely some games where I can tune out the rest of the world and become engrossed in the game, and it is absolutely a calming sensation. During times when I am under a lot of stress, like just before a big test, I will often play a video game for a few hours. I find that it allows me to stop worrying and become relaxed and comfortable – a state of mind that is essential for me to be able to study well and succeed. With that in mind, I pose the following questions:
1) What is your opinion on video games causing an altered state of mind? Is there more to playing a video game than just having fun for a few hours?
2) Early in the article, Jarish says that when he stops playing video games he feels “cut off.” Can video games become an addiction just like drugs, alcohol, or other forms of “escaping reality”? Have you ever experienced some sort of withdrawal after a video game is over, like Jarishs feeling of being cut off?
3) All of the video games Turkle investigated were from 1984 and earlier. What do you think the effect of new technology that allows games to feel much more realistic has been on the people who play them?
5 comments:
First off, I would like to say this is my favorite reading yet. I really enjoyed reading about “old school” video games. Anyway, I definitely can see how video games can be an escape of sorts…I know if my boyfriend had no video games, he would have no life of sorts. His roommate is the same way. They depend on video games and the internet for most of their entertainment. He actually got me hooked on WOW and I enjoy it, but only in moderation. I can totally understand how things can become an addiction after a while, like the in-class speaker said. I really think that video games are useful for the “socially inept” (myself included). I may be a few steps behind the majority of the gaming community, but I still find gaming fun and a great way to spend time with family and friends. The part of social gaming that we haven’t really talked about is how the social aspect can be real-life too. I love playing multi-player modes of games with friends and family. So despite being considered an “escape” in some cases, gaming actually opens many more windows for interaction, than a sport may (like golf).
I have personally experienced the feeling that games create in someone that compels them to play it. It is a gentle urgency to do something in the game, sometimes because it’s fun, sometimes because you want to escape and get your mind off things, and sometimes because if you don’t, you think that something will happen like you will fall behind your friends or lose your edge. This urge to play games for these reasons is the altered state of mind that I have felt and witnessed, but is it necessarily a bad thing?
I think that video games are a fantastic medium for education and entertainment that some people abuse/misuse. I love gaming, and have had days where I would play for hours and hours, but now that I look at it critically, I can see it as a time-sink for some people. I say this with the idea that while games are fun, when you play them for multiple hours every day, that time adds up. I don’t want to say that games can be a waste of time, necessarily, but it gets to a point where the “8 days, 9 hours, and 32 minutes” that your game log reads is a serious investment in your life. This amount of time is time where one person could learn a great deal about a subject, improve their grades dramatically, or accomplish something that could benefit them. The counter to this is that games are an entertainment medium, and something like reading a novel, or just spending time with friends has the same consequences that I mentioned above.
In summary, I suppose that I am just saying that it is not the games themselves that hurt people but the things that they neglect by playing the games.
With increased technology games are feeling more real and there are now a plethora of genres available. One genre of particular concern are the first person shooter games that are questioned to be coorelated to real life violence. The government of Switzerland is establishing legislation that would completely ban violent video games becuase they fear that these video games have an adverse affect on youth and increase the chances of youth violence such as the events that happened at Columbine and Winnenden(http://www.techeye.net/business/switzerland-wants-to-ban-violent-video-games). The supper nanny asks that question and does an experiment to measure increased violence (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/feb/10/games-controversy). But do her studies really show that violent games increase violence. Statistically, there has been a decrease in violence over time. And the few violent events were the propagated by violent video game playing, or are pre-disposed violent individuals more inclined to violent video games. This taboo of violent video games being so real that they increase the chance of violent acts has been debated from many views. So what is the correlations?
Video games mean different things for different people but this varies less within the range of genres. For example, people that play first person shooters play for different reasons than people who play MMORPGs. I personally have played Mass Effect 2 (an offline action-RPG) in excessive amounts since its release (recently clocked, I found that I played it almost 16 hours in just 2 days). I play this game to this extent, because I am drawn into the amazing storytelling and thematic elements that the game presents. For someone that plays an MMORPG (such as World of Warcraft), the “addiction” seems to be more in the communion among the different players. People play WoW because they can meet up with a group in a fantasy world and cooperate to achieve a common goal. This fantasy world can make people feel like heroes, allowing them to escape from, possibly, a mundane life. This communal integration can make people feel good which draws a large crowd. FPS’s take advantage of this now with online multiplayer. Anyhow, people play games for different reasons and in some cases, addictions can be prominent.
Post a Comment