What we read on video games in class is what I feel is only half of the spectrum. Sure there are tons of video games out there that glorify masculinity and violence etc. However, we are missing the one part of video games what I like to call the other half. Behind all the gore and all the violence is the social aspect of these games. Sure there are ego's and rivalries among players but there is a social bond also being formed. MMORPG'S are a great example of this, behind all the battles and fights in these types of games are social involvements. Game developers encourage these social connections by making a game impossible to progress in without teaming up with other people. What makes some of these games out there like World of Warcraft so popular is that we are in an age of social networking. It is no longer acceptable to play at home against a computer, we have to interact with others and test our skills with others. (A clip below is a great example of this teamwork, although they end up losing the battle everyone seems to have a lot of fun). Most of the games I have experience playing could be classified as "war games" or violent but that is not what draws me to them. Since 2001 I have spent a lot of time playing video games. More than I am proud to say. There is a competitive aspect to these games especially for me Call of Duty has been one of the better experiences in my life. Sure the gore and killing is fun and great but the fact that you get to know who you are killing and associate names to faces is even better. Over the years I have traveled the country and met most of the people I play against. (this is for Call of Duty 4 competitive scene) At these tournaments, win or lose you have a lot of fun because you are interacting with people socially that you are playing against. Sure ego's come out and there is sometimes a confrontation but overall these people become your friends.
This is a video showing strategy among friends, and the social aspects that go into games. Also a hilarious ending.
There is also a part to be careful about and this is where some of the violence and social networking can be a bad mix. This is in the case of the "nut jobs" the guys who take it way too seriously. People who play these violent games and it only enhances what violence they were already brought up on or whatever. (I won't go into a psychology debate of why people are violent). These people can't tell the difference between violence in a video game and violence in real life and that is where a problem comes in. Take the following article for example : http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-05-27/news/27065615_1_stabs-man-knife-virtual-world
A man is so mad about losing the virtual fight that he takes it to the real world and almost kills a man. To this day after reading that (and many many many many articles like it) I can't see why someone would do this. Video games haven't made me who I am in a violent / non violent way. To me I don't see video games being the main reason there is negativity in behavior towards others. I could see about behavior towards one's life and lifestyle but that is a whole other issue entirely.
I agree in the fact that social interaction in video games is quite a bit better than what a lot of critics say it is. A lot of flak toward video games is that connections made with other people aren't "real." That people aren't "real friends" if you meet with them online and not in real life.
ReplyDeleteI believe there was a Doctor Phil episode in which an "expert" (I don't know what her credentials were but she seemed completely clueless) criticized social connections made online as being fake. I find that to be, quite frankly, COMPLETE B.S.
Personally I think I've made some better, more trustworthy friends playing multiplayer games than I've ever had in so called real-life. After over a year I'm still in contact with a close few people that I play with. I've had a friend in middle school call me names in the next year of school because he started hanging out with football jocks when I preferred soccer.
Social connections made entirely over the net has its problems but it definitely isn't as bad as some make it out to be.