Video Games and Sociological Theory Essay

The video games of today take many forms, ranging from immersive fantasy worlds, to simple point and click programs with little, to no plot. Some games aim only to demonstrate an educational concept in a fun and interactive way, while others allow the player to step out of reality and enjoy a world of their own making. It is this wide variety of game types that makes it impossible to judge "video games" as a whole. For this purpose of this essay, I will acknowledge video games as belonging to one of two camps - violent, nonviolent, or educational.

Joan Jett’s song, “I don’t give a damn bout my bad reputation” may seem to express the sentiment of the video game industry. Despite being accused of impairing academic achievement, leading to obesity, and contributing to violent behavior, the video game industry continues to market to children and to create an increasing number of violent games. Gamers are said to be isolated, antisocial, and lazy. It appears that this billion dollar industry has a blatant disregard for the public’s wellbeing. However, the negative reputation of the video game industry and the stereotype of gamers is not accurate. The video game industry has been blamed for enabling a sedentary lifestyle, even though they have created fitness games targeting health conscious gamers to engage in physical activity. Playing video games is also blamed for diverting students’ attention away from academics even though many video games are created that focus on education. The violent video games are blamed for leading to violent behavior despite the lack of scientific evidence. Not only is there a lack of evidence that video games cause detrimental effects to players, but there is actually evidence to the contrary. Although many people believe that playing video games can be harmful, playing video games can be beneficial to the player because they can improve your health, mental capabilities, and behavior.

The use of video games has become a norm for many people and families. They may be used to relax after a long day of work, or as a way for the family to all participate in something together. Many people view video games as just another form of entertainment, but could they actually be more?

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.”

Grand Theft Auto 5, one of the year's bestselling titles, allows players to kill prostitutes and torture characters, which sparked fierce debate on whether game makers have a moral responsibility to their audience.” Critics claim that violence in video games creates negative behaviors in reality but yet fail to accept beneficial soothness that these virtual worlds bring to gamers. But those dangers alone shouldn't discourage people from giving games a chance any more than we should shun television because it traffics in adult themes, not when there's so much to celebrate and still so much room for improvement. Video games are profoundly cognitive in an ideal position of having an adverse effect on the production of knowledge and perseverance. Stereotypically, video games disrupt mental awareness, body fitness, and productiveness. In circumstances of neglect and emptiness of oneself’s individuality in society, video games provide genuine warmth and compatibility in a virtual state. For example, in the same article beforehand, Nicholas Lioa makes this argument, “As both games and those who play them keep branching out, the definition of gaming will continue to change. It's true that gaming's qualities have an underside. The same technology that creates experiences of empathy can also offer escape from reality… the advent of more thoughtful

Brandon Nadeau is an anthropology student in his sophomore year at the University of Connecticut and a weekly columnist for UConn’s Daily Camus. On October 21, 2015, he wrote an article “Video Games Make Society Less Violent”. He discusses one man who is a medical malpractice lawyer, Jack Thompson, and this guy hates video games. He think that video games inspire violent behavior in people; however, all of facts are against him. Brandon Nadeau gives us a lot of examples of positive effects of video games. One example that he gives is that since video games became a mainstream industry when PlayStation came out in 1995, the violent crime rate has decreased significantly. This argument is a very important reason that video games have some positive

The term pop culture can be defined as ‘The culture of the people’ a culture that flourishes through social interaction and mass media that is most actively involved in by the public. Pop culture can cover a wide range of materials and as such should be looked at as a topic open to discussion, interpretation as to why it is popular and what makes it popular. Since pop culture includes an expansive spectrum of subjects I am going to be focusing on one of those and that is Video games. In this essay I will be exploring the ideas and theories of why I believe video games have made a shift into mainstream pop culture.

Videos games are much more than first person shooters. They can express complex plots, thoughts and feelings. Sociology is defined as the study of social problems and functioning, development, and structure of human society. How people interact with each other. This varies quite much in games. Games can be used to expression much more than movies or books. Games offer us the opportunity to make choices regarding morals and certain games can leave us thinking about the decisions we’ve made.

Stories such as these raise many ethical questions. Why are videogames so violent? And, perhaps more centrally, what cultural values do computer games communicate to their users. These questions have sparked a surge of recent studies to test the effects of video games on youth.

Gaming has a special place in the hearts of many because the games use can vary from user to user, it could be a be a form entertainment, to stress relief or even becoming a professional gamer. Today the gaming world has hit an astronomical at 1.8 billion players worldwide and is continually growing. Many have argued that gaming has influenced negative behavior, however, through the abundant amount benefits gaming provides and the constant stream of fresh innovations gaming has proven to have a positive impact on society.

Video games have become very prevalent in modern society, being regarded as a major form of entertainment. The video game industry is indeed one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. While the video game industry have become more socially acceptable since its inception in the 1970's, it had received much controversy and debate, especially in regards to video games considered too violent and/or sexist. Many people believe the influences in these sorts of videogames can affect the views and behaviors of the people who play these games (i.e. gamers). As a result of this link, gamers, for the most time of recent history, had been subjected to ridicule and condemnation. Gamers had been considered deviants.

In conclusion, video games have a large affect on the population rather that be good or bad. the effect is extrordinary. I done right and with care video games can beafit society in many ways. Even now doctors are useing simulations in order to gain experiance without any risk to a persons life. the military have aslo used simulation of hostal enviorments. Video games can help or harm, but it,s up tp us to decide

Videogames have had a major technological impact on our culture today. Many people play videogames on a daily basis, and playing has become part of their daily routine. Many people believe that videogames have plagued the younger generation of gamers with violence, less life skills and stupidity. People have become biased about believing videogames are unorthodox and say things like all gamers brains rot when they play. They say we are mindless zombies. Unlike many say, videogames don’t decrease intelligence, life skills or violent behavior but rather the opposite.

Excessive video game playing has been a problem with today’s youth they have had more influences over the youth than ever before. That brings to my attention a question, how do video games affect the youth of our society? Excessive video game playing, especially violent video games, can lead to youth violence, a decrease in academic success and many other negative things. I realize that some parents believe that they can be good for children, I agree but I also disagree in some cases. Some parents allow their children to play video games to keep a social life and to learn how to use strategies. This is true in some cases but not in all cases. For instance, other children that play video games alone and are in their rooms constantly can

This essay will be examining the cultural position of computer games and how the relationship between computer games and the older forms/methods of media it will hopefully explore fully the public’s perception of computer games and how the perception has evolved and how are games used today in many ways to help people do different things.