Video Games: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

For my fourth Media Arts blog post, I will be talking about video games and their impact on society. Video games have evolved over the past three decades, and they are constantly growing in popularity. However, they are bringing controversy, due to the fact that some children seem practically GLUED to the consoles. They just don't want to put the video games down, and its beginning to worry parents. Despite the evolution of video games to what they are today, I believe that they are currently more detrimental rather than beneficial. However, some of today's technologies are beginning to show a better future for video games.

One of the most popular new consoles is the Nintendo Wii. Nintendo has always been a trendsetter in the video game work, with things like the NES, Mario, the Nintendo DS (a touch screen portable console), and now, the Nintendo Wii. The Wii is different from most consoles because it encourages players to use hand motions to play the game. For example, if you are throwing a Frisbee, you have to mimic throwing a Frisbee with the controller in your hand. This gets gamers up off the couch and it makes them move in order to achieve results in the game. However, there are still not enough games where movement is required, and the movement that IS required is very minimal. This is where Microsoft comes in. Microsoft is working on a new technology for their Xbox 360, where a camera is positioned on top of the TV screen, and the player must move his or her entire body to play the game. This is a great example of video games that are more good than bad, because the player is actually exercising and moving.

This technology is still in its early stages, and until it is released to the public, video game continue to do more harm than good. In fact, children in Asia have died of starvation because they played video games for too long. The themes in some games are also harmful, such as shooting and gore in some games rated M for Mature. These games encourage gamers to kill as much as they can, which isn't very "family oriented" The Nintendo Wii is a great start towards activeness in games and family-friendly gaming, but it is going to be a while before video games truly become beneficial to people.