In the past decade capabilities of personal computers have increased tremendously. Better equipment changed the way people play video games.
Games have become more realistic, complicated and interesting. Interaction, realism of surroundings as well as the sound effects made video games much more fun and entertaining.
Video games Just like movies?
So what is it about video games that makes us sit in front of a screen for many hours, making us forget about not only our duties but sometimes eating and sleeping? What’s the pleasure that we feel: so different from the one gained from literature, radio or movies? It is worth having a closer look.
First thing that comes to my mind is that we like games because they provide us with good entertainment.
But why would video games provide us with better entertainment?
In my opinion video games have one feature that distinguishes them from other media, it is interactive.
Q. What is your opinion, are games more fun than movies?
Below there is an interesting video I’ve found on YT.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE1DuBesGYM
I encourage you to comment on it
User isn’t inactive anymore, he becomes more involved. Players love online games because competing with other people is more fun than with “artificial intelligence”.
Q What are your favorites online games?
Yeah, that's probably the way it works: I enjoy a game differently than a book because it's me who's acting there. I can't influence the events in a book. It doesn't make the book worse in any way - it makes it just different. I love books, films etc. And I must say, I spent hours playing, but I also used to spend hours reading or watching movies.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite online game? Maybe Quake or Starcraft? I don't play online too much. I understand the people who love it - it's loads of fun.
Yes, that could be true but I am not really keen on video or PC games now. I used to play when I was a child (my favorite was Half Life – I remember I was scared like hell when played), but now I’m a little bit afraid of them. Terribly Time Wasters. There is a new negative phenomenon now. Many children instead of going outside are sitting and playing whole days wasting their childhood, health and perception of a real world. And that should be forbidden. I can accept, even respect people in my age sitting whole day and playing PC games. But please, when you decided to stop and go outside - just DO NOT talk about them all the time for God’s sake :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, interesting presentation. In my opinion games aren’t good for us, they make some changes in our minds and our world view. But world is changing, our needs are different, and kids that spend a lot of time for playing games having other world view they could be more creative, project with more interesting graphics, music or story. I see it in my friends who spend about 30-40hours playing games.
ReplyDeleteAnswering to the question my favorite games are Starcraft 2 (I can say that this is only one game that I play the most about 4-5 hours every week), then will be Counter Strike the old one but now I don’t play in this game, sometimes I play leagues of Legends? A long time ago i did not play games i did not have time for this to say the truth. But I like playing some offline games on my smartphone before bedtime ; )
I agree with Tomasz, the video games are the Time Wasters and I don't have a time to waste;)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, the video games of new generation can be dangerous not only for youths but for adults as well. I lost one of my friend because of Second Life. He used to be addicted so bad that he didn't want to go out in real life... He tried to persuade me how funny is to go out in this game and how ideal you can be in this fake reality, it was sick and very sad...
My opinion is the same as Tomasz and Kniaz. Video games are Time Wasters. I would said more - there are Health Wasters and Social Wasters :-). In many cases it's truth.
ReplyDeleteNew games are more very realistics, so maybe you can learn somethik... For ex. if you have occasion to drive your car on a rece course you could previously do it in virtual.
What are my favourite online games? I don't play games.
Even though I do agree that playing video games for hours can harm people's personality it has to be stressed that the facts speak for themselves. More and more people play video games and more and more games are being produced.
ReplyDeleteOur society is becoming more and more technology oriented and more and more things depend on technology. Our lives become more and more complicated and people can't hold the pressure and hide in the virtual world.
Why don't you think it is better for people to hide in the virtual world instead of going out and violeting people's property or what is worse people's lives? Video games, when properly used, do not harm. Of course we have to strike a balance. If one sits in front of a computer or TV for hours you can expect that this person will suffer from isolation and personality problems. However, let us not demonize the whole issue with video games. Just keep your mind clean!
I have just finished watching Jane McGonigal's speech and have mixed feelings about it. I don't think that playing World of Warcraft is teaching anything. Does it empower your social skills? How is writing "omg" on a screen social activeness?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jane's statement that in order to survive any world crisis people have to get together and cooperate on a single "Epic quest" to victory. I must say that it's quite innovative and brave to think that building computer games designers may influence gamers to fight with world famine.
Statistics used in Jane McGonigal's speech never mentioned how many adults play on-line games. I'm pretty sure that a vast majority of gamers are teenagers unwilling & unable to change the world. With that in mind game designers should develop games that bring awareness about problems of a modern civilisation.
I don't play online games, even though I think they are entertaining. It's not my definition of fun :)
I wonder why nobody here compares video games to traditional games. Interactivity is nothing new as well as competing with other people. These are advantages of traditional games and I believe it was just matter of time to have them in computer games. Nothing is changed except for huge number of players having fun at the same time, so we can find partners to play at any time. Another novelty are addictive virtual worlds which we can't easily escape from.
ReplyDeleteMcGonigal's speech is interesting, still she shows only one side of the phenomenon. She doesn't mention hikikomori ;-)
I don't agree that movies are less entertaining than video games. A good film can make you feel as involved as an interactive play.
I don't have much time for gaming, but I used to play Travian for some time. I found it too time consuming so I quited.
I prefer movies than video games. I generally agree with the statement that playing modern strategy games is an activity which makes you think and develop some useful skills (for example, planning, creating strategies etc). However, I am more interested in developing those skills in a real life. People nowadays have to tackle a lot of problems in their everyday life and I think they should concentrate more on that. Playing video games makes some people addicted to such an extent that they neglect or even forget their daily duties. When it comes to the YouTube video you posted, this woman presents the whole issue from a different perspective and in an interesting way, however, in my opinion what she presented it is more about her oratorical skills than about bare truth about video games and gamers. Coming back to the topic of movies, I prefer them as they show real problems, both simple and complicated ones. Reflecting on them may be more useful in our life than conquering ancient settlements in a PC game.
ReplyDeleteI can easily relate, regarding the idea that games begin to offer more personal involvement beyond ordinary interactivity.
ReplyDeleteWatching the Youtube video linked on the post, it reminds me of a documentary project that a friend of mine created. I invite you take a look, as I think it's very related to personality involvement in video games:
http://wow-players-project.blogspot.com/
In his project, he documents photos of both personalities involved in the game. Can you see any similarities or contrasts between the different real life personalities and each virtual counterpart?
Michał Rapińczuk - you're absolutely right! "Does it empower your social skills? How is writing "omg" on a screen social activeness? (...) It's not my definition of fun :)" haha <3 I love it! ;D
ReplyDeleteBut seriously I think the games are a waste of time and money (no matter whether they are online or not). In some situations it may come from the fact people have too much free time... Or they think they have too much :) If you don't have a girlfriend/boyfriend, a job and the only one thing you do is studying it's even worse when you play video games!!! Stop talking WTF, LOL, ZOMG etc.. and go outside and play.
Although I have xbox360,I play once every 3 months and I have only one game - FIFA10, which was included with the xbox. So it's hard to say what games are my favorites. It's boring and as Michał said "it's not my definition of fun".
Are games more fun than movies? Maybe but I would definitely choose a movie with my girlfriend or female colleague..
I have read somewhere that if child is playing games (ofcourse not 24 hours a day) it growns up (develop) some skills and can learn things like perceptiveness etc. - so games are not just waste of time.
ReplyDeleteI also have xbox360 but I don't play it very often as I don't have much time. But it is great to invite some friends and play with them, talk with, drink beer etc. ;) It is a lot of fun and I don't consider such time as wasted.
I used to be a gamer. I wasted tons of hours playing online games like Counter-Strike, StarCraft or League of Legends. It's hard to explain it, hard to find a reasonable explanation for why I spent so many hours in front of a computer screen shoting my virutal enemies. To be honest, I don't expect a non-gamer to understand it. It's an undescribeable feeling - being a part of an community that is so various, but yet the same. I've met a lot of interesting people I wouldn't have met if it weren't for the online games. Many of them are my real life friends now. And I don't call them "friends" as I say "hi" from time to time - those guys know me and I know them. But that's a long story.
ReplyDeleteWhat's more, when you are good at online games, it feels great when other people get nervous, because they can't handle your gaming skills. Sooo much satisfaction.
As it comes to movies vs. games, I don't think that there's a winner. It depends on game you play or movie you watch. There are some pictures that just don't let you got out of room, they demand you to stay and watch them till they're finished. And there are also games like that - really addictive. And what's interesting in games you accually can do something, I mean you can't change a movie, but game is interactive - you're the director and the actor. It depends on what you want to do. But, from time to time, it's good to just go with the flow, let others decide for you, suprise you. That's why I think that there's no winner.
What about computer game… hyh the last game which I played was "Diablo II" and it was a long time ago:) For me playing computer game is waste of time;/ Instead of playing we can do many useful things.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion movies provide much more entertainment than any video game.
ReplyDeleteI don't play video games, especially online games.
I am fan of team games as well, not only in common life but also if computer games are concerned. It is funnier to have real opponents and take part in tournaments online. I am happy that games like Counter Strike, Starcraft or Quake Live exist. Most often I play QuakeLive and Starcraft 2. Tomorrow I will try League of Legends. However unfortunately I do not have too much time because I have too many other musts to do.
ReplyDeleteI don't think video games and movies compare enough to choose which is more fun. Not all movies are fun, there are many different sorts and some have different purposes. Movies are an interesting experience, while video games are interactive. Information from movies is unchanging in presentation, whereas in some video games, information changes in direct response to a player's input. It would be easy for someone to personally decide which he or she likes more, but I think movies and video games are too different to compare in a way of “fun" :)
ReplyDeleteTo be honest i spend huge numer of hours in front of monitor playing computer games. There was a time about 7 years ago when i was playing counter-strike on a bit more than casual level. Every day trenings took about 40 hours per week. You have to add tournamets and matches. When i look at it now, it was huge wase of time, but still, there are days when i can play all night to end some game. It happened last time when Crisis 2 appeared ;).
ReplyDeleteComputer games beat movies right now almost in all aspects. Sountracks are made by proffesionalas. Budgets hits about 40 bilion of dollars. And there is about 200 people woring all the time to present the final product. What is more i can point to some example. Watch horror movie and then try to play some horror game in dark room with headphones. In game you are in center of action. Your moves play major role. You are the actor. Impessions will be great. I can recommend to you game called Amnesia. Try it :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteVideo games as everything in life have advantages and disadvantages. There are as many supporters of video games as opponents. As far as I am concerned, I would put myself in the middle. I am not strong supporter but I am also not an opponent of video games. As I stated before it is all in your brain. The most important thing in keeping your mind on the right track is balance. Video games will not harm you, will not cause any personality disorders and will not cause any violence in you as long as you know how to use it and when to use it. The purpose is also very important. Remember that video games are for fun.
ReplyDelete@JG thanks, I'm definitely going try it ;)
>Q. What is your opinion, are games more fun than movies?
ReplyDeleteDepends on the movie and my mood. :D
>What are your favorites online games?
Umm... none? I quickly get bored about any game. I'm probably not good gamer material.
Another thing: I don't know is it only me but the near real life quality graphics usually compensate for the poor game story. For me the main part of games is playability. I don't care about the graphic. Maybe because I'm the atari/amiga/snes generation. :)
Some time ago I read such a relationship: people who work (8 hours per day) mentally, their way of relaxation is physical work, mostly it is sport. This also works the other way: people who work physically, enjoying the books and other intellectual works. For me and my friends it works. I work at a computer all day and after work I just like to leave the house and play something physically outside.
ReplyDelete