Video games and time wasting Essay Example for Free

Video games and time wasting Essay There is a fine line between using your time to your advantage and one of which you’re on a couch watching the latest Hannah Montana episode. I plan on explain how you use video games to achieve that maximum goal. Many adults over the age of 40 don’t take the classic controller or the player seriously and from that you get the hate and criticism you see today. From here on out I will take you on an in-depth tour of the latest video games and how they apply to different subjects. Firstly, this is my thought in the matter; video games are not a waste of time. Video games help you relax, they are just for fun. What most people fail to see when they say things like, video games are a total waste of time is that they too have areas of their life which could be deemed pointless. They however do not see it this way. This is because whatever their time-waste is has something to offer that person. Do you like to watch movies? Few would say no, yet what have you gotten done after an hour and half of sitting in a chair, staring at a screen? Yet these same people can attack video games. True, there are those who play way too much, (I am not one of them), and there is a point where it becomes a problem. The fact is that every form of media has something you can glean from it. This includes movies, games, T. V, books, ect. Movies contain inspiration, Books and T. V contain knowledge, relaxation and humor. Games likewise contain a mixture of all of them, and throw in strategy and interactions to boot. Many people say they are a waste of time, but really they are about as much waste of time as say reading a magazine or a taking a walk in the park. You might not be accomplishing much, but it is entertainment. It’s Simple as that. Let me brief you up on the history at the start of the video game era. The first commercially available video game was Computer Space in 1971, which laid the foundation for a new entertainment industry in the late 1970s within the United States, Japan, and Europe. The arcade game industry entered its Golden Age in 1978 with the release of Space Invaders by Taito, a success that inspired dozens of manufacturers to enter the market. In 1979, Atari released Asteroids. Color arcade games became more popular in 1979 and 1980 with the arrival of titles such as Pac-Man. The Golden Age had a prevalence of arcade machines in shopping malls, traditional storefronts, restaurants and convenience stores. The first home console system was developed by Ralph Baer and his associates. The system was released in the USA in 1972 by Magnavox, called the Magnavox Odyssey. At the end of 1983, the industry experienced losses more severe than the 1977 crash. This was the crash of the video game industry, as well as the bankruptcy of several companies that produced North American home computers and video game consoles from late 1983 to early 1984. It brought an end to what is considered to be the second generation of console video gaming. Causes of the crash include the production of poorly designed games such as Custers Revenge, E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 that suffered due to extremely tight deadlines. It was discovered that more Pac-Man cartridges were manufactured than there were systems sold. In addition, so many E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial cartridges were left unsold that Atari allegedly buried thousands of cartridges in a landfill in New Mexico. The new decade (2010) has seen rising interest in the possibility of next generation consoles being developed in keeping with the traditional industry model of a five-year development cycle. However, in the industry there is believed to be a lack of desire for another race to produce such a console. Reasons for this include the challenge and massive expense of creating consoles that are graphically superior to the current generation, with Sony and Microsoft still looking to recoup development costs on its current consoles. The focus for new technologies is likely to shift onto motion-based peripherals, such as Microsofts Kinect and Sonys PlayStation Move. One new console is Nintendos new handheld: the successor to the Nintendo DS known as the Nintendo 3DS. The system is due for release by the end of the fiscal year (March 2011). The system will incorporate 3D graphics and effects without the need for using 3D glasses. Other features include three cameras (one internal and a dual 3D external set), a motion sensor, a gyro sensor and a Slide Pad that allows 360-degree analog input. Sony is also using 3D technology, with some PS3 games compatible with their 3D TV, the Sony Bravia, also using 3D glasses So you see video games have been around for a long time and I don’t see a point where the will become obsolete. Secondly, videogames have genres much like books. There are several different kind of genres. For example; Role-Playing, First Person Shooter or Third Person Shooter, Adventure, Puzzle, and Education, etc. are all genres of videogames. Many just provide fun and entertainment but they all provide learning one way or another. The learning comes from these topics; hand-eye coordination, problem solving skills, teamwork, tactics, reflex improvement, vocabulary, cash management, multi-tasking, etc. A famous video game is Call of Duty. There are many different variations but it will always give you a little history lesson. Like in the 5th one; World at War, it puts you in the place of an American soldier in World War Two. There is also a softer side of videogames such as the Wii console. There are many videogames for the young gamers such as; Brothers Sesame St: Elmos A to Z Adventure for Nintendo Wii, Math Blaster for the Pc, Magic School bus, and plenty more. As a matter of fact I was walking down an isle at a Toys R Us and picked up a copy of World of Warcraft and a lot of younger kids recognized it. Videogames also have a lot of backstory in it. People get paid just to re-write history straight out of a textbook, script it, then code to where it’s a game that you can play. Burger King also released a videogame a while ago that came with the big kids’ meal. It consisted of some cheap coding and crappy graphics. Strategy Games have you devise methods to solve a goal which is working your mind, thus making you smarter. Same goes with puzzle games like Bejeweled. There are also games that can test your reflexes like that one app for the iPod touch. Of the topic of puzzle games there is one that can be played off of the screen and on a piece of paper. It’s called Sudoku. Sudoku is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9? 9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3? 3 sub-grids that compose the grid. Many accomplished surgeons come from a video game background. The hand eye coordination practice they received from games is the reason they succeeded. Although gaming is a great past-time it also has some serious downfalls that you need to take into consideration. 1. An increased rate of aggression or violence because of the graphic content and violent images games. 2. A sedimentary lifestyle can result in childhood obesity. 3. Seizures or epilepsy. Those are the many side effects from gaming. Although those may seem serious, playing games for only an hour or two at a time is relatively healthy and stimulates brain activity. So if you read everything carefully you have come to understand that videogames are not a waste of time and are simply just a past time. Just imagine you could be improving your reflexes instead of catching up on the latest Oprah show. I hope this essay enlightened you.