GAMES AND THEIR EFFECT ON SOCIETY

GAMES AND THEIR EFFECT ON SOCIETY

Games have come along way since they began in the early 60's.Games have evolved at an incredible speed since arriving and show  no signs of slowing down. More and more games are implementing elements that 20 years prior be taught impossible. 
With more and more games becoming more cinematic,artistic and even musical the whole world seems to be waiting with bated breath to see what Video games will do next.Prime examples of this are games such as Uncharted which not only have great game-play mechanics but offer great characters played by great actors, also the soundtrack is right up there with anything released by Hollywood blockbusters.Another example of how games have evolved can be seen almost everywhere, it is the role games play on an educational level.Firstly i will take a brief look on how the video game phenomenon began.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF VIDEO GAMES

The first successful  video game was called Spacewar! created by Martin Graetz, Steve Russel and Wayne Witanen in 1961.After the release of Spacewar! there was no looking back and so began the arcade era.With titles such as Pong released in 1972 and Pac man released in 1980 its easy to see why video games became as popular as they are today.Increasing its popularity even more was the release of the home consoles.These home consoles offered better graphics and better sound and an all round better experience to players.Consoles such as Sega and Nintendo dominated the market from the 1980's to 1990's creating some of the most memorable characters the gaming world has ever seen,Mario and Sonic being the poster boys for their consoles.As gaming became more and more popular Sony seen an opportunity to cash in on video games success creating its on console and  destroying the competition with Grand Turismo making 11 million dollars. Since then games have gone on to be one of the most successful business of the 21st century,with games like Grand Theft Auto IV selling 6,293,000 copies and generating close to 2 million dollars.

GAMES AND EDUCATION

   Educational games have had a massive cultural impact as these games can teach and aid people with learning disabilitys. In some areas of America and even Ireland Ipads are being provided for children in schools . This can be beneficial for children as it would be more interesting than a book and that work would feel like fun as educational games taught them as they play

A HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL GAMES

.The first educational game was  logo programming which was released way back in 1967.Although not being the funnest game Logo taught students how to write basic code and was very successful during the 1960's.
Since then Educational games have become more varied and fun.As we came closer to the end of the 80's SimCity was released. Created by Will Wright it put players in the shoes of a mayor of an imaginary city (or a real one),the player must manage its day to affairs while planning and spending resources. Educational games do not always have to be directed towards kids Nintendos Brain Trainer and Professor Layten series are prime examples of this creating challenging game play as well as being great for your brain.
Games such as Angry Birds and Cut the Rope both andriod games have been proven to encourage problem solving,logic,hand-coordination,fine motor and spatial memory.

Games can be seen every where we look and there is no denying that children have a greater access to technology than 10 years ago.Phones,IPads,Consoles,Pc's and even at school educational games can be found every where and while some argue this is not healthy for children the role on an educational level can not be denied.Educational games don't only teach they can also be used for relieving stress and encouraging children's imagination.
 

In recent years triple A titles have become more educational. a prime example of this would be Valve's Portal.While having a great story Portal almost by mistake teaches you physics. Momentum and trajectory are a huge part of the game as well as coordination.Without the players knowledge they have been taught science!

THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF VIDEO GAMES

Video games have had a huge cultural impact on society this can be seen in the many ways video games can be used, such as educational,for business and for therapeutic purposes. The american military uses games as part of their recruitment stage, using Xbox games and simulators to judge reaction,problem solving and decision making.An example of this is a free to play game called "American Army", the player plays as a soldier going through the military. This game is meant to give players a perspective of what military life can be like.

Video games can have a profound affect on peoples lives such as hospitalized children.“Initially, the thought was that it’s a form of entertainment, but we realized that video games could be a very effective tool for pain management,” said Kristin Lindsay, coordinator at Child’s Play, a charity with the primary goal of enriching the lives of hospitalized children. As well as providing a distraction games can help these kids interact with people outside of a hospital and makes the child feel less isolated.

Video games have also come under fire from many political autoritys claiming video games are destroyng young minds and influencing Voilence. Califonian senator Leland Yee has is the most noticeable political member to apose video games when critisized about this by the gaming comunity the senator said "Gamers have got to just quiet down,gamers have no credibility in this argument. This is all about their lust for violence and the industry's lust for money. This is a billion-dollar industry. This is about their self-interest."

THE SMALL THINGS CHANGE.

As video games have evolved drastically GUI (Graphical user interface)has had to keep up.1981 Xerox Star the first commercial GUI computer. This paved the way for GUI and was a key element in GUI design.As the 90's rolled on computers wore becoming more and more wide spread,with more and more people wanting them in their homes. This led to the Windows 95 and the "one in every home slogan".Windows redesigned  their GUI for Windows 95 it was dubbed "Cairo". "Cairo" never really found its feet and only parts of "Cairo" founds its way onto the operating system. Most early games GUI contained little more than a start screen,option screen,health counter and an item pick up.Sonic used item pick ups as health with sonic being able to take damage but only if he had collected rings.GUI elements are more cleverly used these days with health bars and stamina bars only being implemented in hack in slash games or MMO's. Dead Space was a great example of a great GUI design feature,as most games would place the health bar on the bottom left what dead space did was place it on the actual character,this made the game feel more realistic.GUI's can now contain hundreds of informational bars and charts depending on the game or like dead space you would have to look hard to find them.There may come a day were games become so realistic we might no be able to find them.
 

CONCLUSION

Video games are having a bigger and bigger effect on society and in my opinion video games will soon eclipse cinema and television.Video games are now offering rich stories, worlds,looks and some of the most unique characters the world has seen. As the world becomes more digitized  more and more people are connecting with the world of games and discovering the endless possibility's within them. Games have been implemented in almost every part of society and show no sings of ever slowing. A study in America has shown the over 63% of the U.S population play video games with 93% of kids from the age of 2-17 playing video games regularly. 
As gaming continues to evolve into becoming the most successful medium i can can only see it having a more increasing impact on peoples lives and as far as as games are concerned the future of video games is something to be truly excited about.