Games, in one form or another, have existed for almost as long as the human race and despite the fact that they are often reduced to being something for children they are in fact quite complex. When analysing games one must look at why they are engaging – what keeps us playing – and how they foster participation in the average user. By comparing and contrasting the characteristics of Activision’s Guitar Hero series and King’s Candy Crush Saga, it will become apparent that the former is more engaging while the latter is more effective in fostering participation in players.
Before one can begin to analyse games in terms of their engagement and participation qualities, a definition of what a game is and the characteristics that make them effective must be established. Koster defines games by saying they are, ‘iconic depictions of patterns in the world…games are puzzles to solve’ (2004, p. 34), indicating that games are simply non-threatening representations of reality designed to teach the player skills that they will first have to discover for themselves. According to Koster the skills games intend to teach are often, ‘things that we can absorb into the unconscious as opposed to things designed to be tackled by the conscious, logical mind’ (2004, P. 76) which is something that can be seen in both Guitar Hero and Candy Crush. On the surface, Guitar Hero is a game about being a rock star and playing music, but the way the game is played aims to improve hand-eye coordination
Using persuasive writing, Wright begins to influence his audience that game play is a beneficial source of entertainment not a wasteful one. Playing video games increases creatively, self esteem and improve problem solving skills of the players. Video games are becoming test runs that appear or feel close to the real thing. Where you can control everything with added effects like magic or future technology. Games have the potential to exceed almost all other forms of entertainment media. They tell stories, play music, challenge us, allow us to instantly communicate and interact with others. Encourage us to create things, connect us to new communities, and let us play with people across the world. Unlike most other forms of media, games are inherently tangible. According to Wright young children spend their days in imaginary worlds, substituting toys and make believe into the real world that they are just beginning to explore and understand. Wright states that games are the result of imagination and that they consist of rules and goals. Generation of teenagers has grown up with different set of games. Teenagers use the scientific method rather than reading the manual first. Games today maybe a person’s only place to express a high-level of creativity and growth. Older generations have a lot of criticisms for games, the games can help a person learn to think on his or her own.
In “Why Games Are Good For You,” an excerpt from the book Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter, the author Steven Johnson defends gaming as a valid form of entertainment against its conventional opponents and delves deep into its benefits. Firstly, Johnson presents the old conventional argument of beneficial reading as opposed to the colossal time-wasting
Our lives have become busier and therefore there is less time for complex gaming. Casual game use is on the rise as such games are simple and can be played quickly (“The Rise and Rise of Casual Gaming,” 2008). Jesse Schell (2010) observes games are becoming an extension of our real life, for example, fitness trackers and Wii fit, ‘brain exercising’ apps to ward off dementia, good driver apps that are provided by car insurance companies, point systems for shopping rewards and weight watchers. We can even compete with others in these games using leader boards. In the future there may be reward systems for brushing your teeth or using public transport (Schell,
Tom Bissell presents an article in 2010, to college students of which is “Why Video Games Matter.” Bissell isn’t intending for the argument to be about video game criticism, the history of the gaming, or an assessment of anything. On the contrary, he wants to articulate his own opinions and thoughts on what playing games feels like, why he plays them, and the questions they make him think about. Being a gamer myself, I have also endured the struggles of what being obsessed with a video game feels like. It is understood that when first purchasing a video game, all one thinks about is getting home and popping it in the console, disregarding everything else that is happening in the vicinity.
The author says that, nowadays, a lot of people label video games as “violent, addictive, childish, and worthless.” On the one hand, these people are somewhat right that video games have a bad influence on the younger generation, but they miss “the big picture” in another way. As Wright says, “…watching someone play a game is a different experience than actually holding the controller and playing it yourself.”
Video games plays an important role in the cognition process in many of this generation children. This statement is the main point of this TedTalk arguement led by Gabe Zichermann in the presentation called “Video Games: How Games Make Kids Smarter”. Gabe Zichermann is the world’s leading expert in the topic of gamification; he is also a public speaker, author and entrepreneur, and the founder and editor-in-chief of a magazine called “Gamification.co”. Gabe Zichermann discusses that generation G (the current generation) obtain, learn and process information differently compared to any other generation. The term “gamification” is the application of gaming mechanisms in non-game circumstances and is the process of engaging the current generations
Video games in today’s society have become very popular. Every new game that comes out to be played and conquered by the average gamer has its own category. There are several other types of genres of games that people play but because of big hit titles and the new popular game systems like the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, people become more interested in a game that is well known than a game they have never even heard of before. Every game has its own storyline and own way of how it unfolds and where the game ends according to game play. Some of the biggest reasons people sway to certain genres of games is because of the game titles released under them and the demand of people who want a good game under that category. The top three most
Wright is a famous video game creator and has worked on countless video games. In doing this, he greatly adds to his credibility and this increases his evidence’s credibility as well. He is deeply familiar with how video games can affect people and knows an extensive amount about how they are created and what they are made to influence in people’s minds. Wright also created games such as “Sims,” which are meant to stimulate imagination, creativity, and help create a community. By being a creator of a game like this he shows that video games can be used to create a sense of community, belonging, and encourage the imagination. Rather than being mindless, worthless, and unimportant, Wright shows that video games can be used to help children improve their thinking and
In today’s society video games have a large influence on people. We also might be driven to the point of where we are dependent on them. In fact, being so engulfed in video games could help children become more focused.In fact, parents would probably disagree and say that video games wouldn’t be essential to learning because it would probably be considered a waste of time for children and time-consuming. Parents would also disagree with the content of what is in the game, but there is a great possibility that video games could actually make us smarter. Steven Johnson explains that the games we are used to playing can improve our visual intelligence and that it would be good to learn new strategies through gaming. Video games should be an
Now that technological companies all over the world have set most of the seven billion individuals in the world with a computer, smartphone or tablet, it is time for better software to use with them. This is where games come in. Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello stated in a recent interview that PC gaming is the ‘fastest growing platform’. This shows the growing interest in gaming bearing in mind that gamers also have the means to play on. The term ‘gamer’ refers to an individual that plays a game or games, typically a participant in a computer or role playing game. The gaming community has grown so wide in the last few years because of the shift from single player games to multiplayer games on the internet
Children’s engagement in and motivation by video games is commonly observed by parents and teachers. The Joan Ganz Cooney Foundation conducted a survey of 505 in-service United States teachers that use digital games in their K-8 classrooms (Takeuchi & Vaala, 2014). Regarding low performing students seventy percent of the teachers agreed that digital gaming improved motivation and engagement (Takeuchi & Vaala, 2014). The motivation and engagement of games exhibited in both adults and children has been employed by marketing firms to encourage consumers to engage in sustained use of products such as social networking sites, fitness bands, and consumer data collection apps. This method has been coined gamification. The Oxford English Dictionary defines gamification as “the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g., point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity,
Video games can be used as instructional tools as well. They have positive elements and add value; they create a micro world of their own. The players act based on natural tendencies towards learning. Therefore, learning occurs while playing (Rosas et al., 2003).
People tend to think that play and game is considered as similar types of leisure. Gaming is sometimes expensive and resources are required; there are rules, structures and even involvement relies on the selected strategy. However playing is free to practice, safe, without any rules of commitment and no equipment needed. According to some Educational theorist, gaming is behaviorist, whereas playing is constructivist. But what is the relationship between play and game? This essay’s aim is to clarify the understanding of this relationship, by basing some example on the angry birds game. At first a definition of play will be discussed, secondly a definition of game will be analyzed, thirdly the concept of immersion and interactivity will be pointed out and finally the relationship between play and game will be identify.
Many young children and teenagers have heard their mother’s incessant plead to get away from the screen and to go outside or pick up a book for once instead. The urge to play “just one more level” before starting that homework or doing those chores can be quite distracting. But are video games really as awful as Mom exclaims or as brutal as those TV ads depict? It turns out that video games can have a strong impact on participants’ lives in both positive as well as negative ways.
Since the Early 70’s video games have been giving a bad name. Parents state that video games rot the minds of children and are influencing them do be violent. These accusations are far from the truth. In my research I found that there are many positive effects of gaming. Some of these effects are increased skills, creativity, general knowledge, and also help those in need. Parents can also take proper precautions and look into a game before buying it to see if it meets the criteria discussed in this paper.