Traditional and New Games Course - Term Paper Example

 Traditional And New Games Course Game is the German word that means ‘an activity that is executed just only for enjoyment and pleasure’. It can be defined as any kind of activity that is meant to give pleasure can be called as the game. It includes dance, acting in plays, playing with dolls and physically performing games, etc. it can be stated that games came into being half from the need and half through concurrence. Games are always based upon the criteria that consist of game rules, goals, and competition. The basic fundamental factors that all games possess are common experiences, self-determination, activity, and impartiality (Craig). All through the time, man used game in order to flee from real life stresses. Primarily, there were several basic games in order to be entertained. However, with the passage of time video games have transformed from simple dice games to the highly advanced graphics. Video games have gained much popularity than before and become one of the major sources for the fun and entertainment around the world. To some extent, it could be stated that games mean more than just entertainment in this modernized era. Seemingly, games are supposed to be a new world or custom with in the customs. In this modern era with the advancement of the art and technology games are changing the world bit by bit. Today, some games teach people to be more social, to learn new languages, and others help to train pilots or engineers. However, there is still a question that needs to be addressed that is, whether these games are beneficial or detrimental for human culture and lifestyle? Despite negative stereotypes, games have a magnificent impact on the society. It is rightfully said that children model their parents, but nowadays the truth is that no matter how much parents love reading books but the children are interested in games (Koster). It must be understood that what fun is and in what games and sources it can be provided to children. Traditional Games: Games have played a key-role in growth of children, in terms of their ability. In the early ages, kids used to get attracted to the traditional games they were seeing their elder siblings busy with, their neighbors and friends playing in the streets, and grounds. The traditional games like ‘tic-tac-toe’, Scramble, Chinese jump rope, Blind man’s bluff, Fly a kite, Funnel ball, Hide-n-seek, Hot potato, Hand ball, Huckle buckle beanstalk, Musical statues, Musical chair, Peek-a-boo, Skipping rope, Red hands, Stone skipping, Marbles, etc. Nobody exactly knows who was the founder of these traditional children plays or games. With technological advancements, children are having more access to modern games currently. Modern Games: Nowadays, children prefer modern games; children do not know the traditional or old games. May be a very few of them might know about these games. They like to play Barbie doll games instead of playing with the toy Barbies. They prefer PlayStations, robots, video games as they do not require a lot of energy to play it. Children become proficient at computers using computers and technology by playing the modern video games. It raises their awareness of innovation. Some of the traditional plays need extra energy plus they cannot be played alone, they also need wide space, which is now hard to find in the cities, near to one’s house. With the passage of time, the human mind becomes more develop; they want to create new things. That affects to modernization in all sectors. The same goes for the technology, creating the new modern games, which replace the old traditional games. Therefore, children are now willing to play the traditional games. This trend makes the traditional games extinct. The reasons of influencing traditional games are economic and social conditions. The rich people prefer modern, video games for their children whereas the poor cannot afford buying their children new, modern games. Their preferences are the traditional games as they do not need costs. Here, the matter of prestige and reputation also takes place. This also contributes to the extinction of cultural heritage. As the time goes by, sooner or later the traditional games will be a historical record only. The society’s perspective should be changed, that the traditional games are old and out of date and most importantly that they have no class. This can help keep their existence. Parents and educators should emphasize more on the importance of the traditional games. The modern games focus on the interaction between children and machines, whereas, the traditional games provides an atmosphere that is enjoyable where children chat, laugh and cooperate to each other. This helps them improve their communicating skills. Traditional games also keep children in educational practices and have proven effective in developing their skills. In modern games, by contrast, game companies develop games for the profits and there is a risk of exposure to the unhealthy contents like violence. Thus, it can be proved that parents and teachers should not ignore the traditional games, as they ensure children’s positive and healthy skills learning process. Origin of Video Games The vast majority of video games are basically designed to entertain. Right at this moment, there are around millions of people playing video games. The game industry is expanding. It is becoming a large, overpowering force of finance (Egenfeldt-Nielson, Heide Smith and Susana Pajares). The video games were introduced in 1950s, but they became popular in 1970s and 1980s. Arcade video games and home computer games were introduced to the common people. Video gaming has become a part of modern culture in the world’s most parts. The video games have developed as an additional result in the field called Artificial intelligence. Some of the earliest games that are known are Nimrod (1951), Hutspiel (1955), Draughts or Checkers program (1956), NSS Chess Program (1958), and Tennis for Two (1958). In 1960s, a well-known computer game ‘Spacewar’ was introduced. Spacewar was the first widely available and influential game. Then came the Rocket (1969), Oregon Trail (1971), Space Invaders (1978), Pac-Man (1980) (Donovan). In 1981, Nintendo, featuring a character better known as Mario, designed the world famous game. Then came ‘Mule’ in 1983 and Tetris in 1984 that is a simple but puzzled game that is found addictive. In 1989, handled gaming was introduced to the general public as Nintendo’s ‘Game Boy’ popularized. A classic card game Microsoft created Solitaire in 1990. Sonic the hedgehog (1991) became an iconic hero for the character’s attitude and speed, which was adored by the public. In 1996 another famous game was created named Tomb Raider. Following these games, Legend of Zelda (1998), Sony online entertainment’s EverQuest (1999), Will Wright’s The Sims (2000) were in the market and they are still played and known by all. In 2005, came Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which brought high definition realism in the game market. In 2006, Nintendo Wii introduced an innovative gaming style that gets gamers off the couch, with motion- sensitive remote. It appealed millions of people. After that Rockband (2007), World of WarCraft (2008) were introduced. In 2009, the world of the game industry shook up by the invention of the ‘Angry Birds’ (Micheal). Fundamental of action games is about generating interactive games. This sector has further subgenres such as makeup fighting games and others. The most popular of the games genre are the action adventure games. Music, dance, makeup and exercise games are easier for the beginners rather than the interactive action games. Strategy games are also popular and involve the player’s intelligence and abilities. There are single-player games and multiplayer games. In a world depicted in games, children agree to establish a circle and they agree on the same rules and instructions. Video Games Addiction As far as games are concerned, they are not only meant for pleasure an amusement, but they also play an important role in children’s growth. Video games also accommodate in developing children’s skills. It can state that modern games are beneficial for children to enhance their skills to some extent. With modern games, there is a chance for children to experience the state of the art and technology (J.p Wolf). With the advancement of technology and art, video games, playing games on computer and handheld device have become a regular part of the life. That brings a massive change in person’s thinking. Video games addiction has claimed to be a mental disorder. Health professionals resemble video games with gambling due to their addictive aspects. Some symptoms by which game addiction can be identified easily are, people spend most of their leisure time by playing video games and possess sluggish attitude on their workplace and academic institutions (Lipson and Brain). This is actually the significant impact of games on the human life that can either be positive or negative. Positive Impacts: Video games are getting more and more exquisite with the passage of time. Video games have been gaining popularity since the very first time it was introduced. In this modern era, video games have a very significant impact on the human race. Some of the beneficial impacts are that games help to increase brain’s learning ability and also increase the processing speed (Collins). Games assess human in socializing and teamwork games also develop deftness and harmonization. By playing games, different languages can be learned easily. They also train to attain higher reflexes (DeMaria and Wison). Games also build up the brain for higher processing and enhance the visual equity. Accordingly, they generate skills like solving a problem, logics and discipline. All these have been demonstrated in various games that include puzzle games, adventure and word games. Video games regime also drives people to think out of the box. Video games are mainly valuable for the children because they find games to be more entertaining than different usual school activities and learn different skill from games along with fun (Fisher). With the development of the computer game industry, job opportunities have increased. It is not only limited with developing new technologies and games and adopting it as an occupation, but it also enables people to earn by playing these games. Therefore, video games provide a great way to escape from real life stresses and build up self-esteem. Negative Impacts: With the advancement in the field of video games many problems have led their way in society. One of them is the leading problem of game addiction. While playing games, when people win they constantly get rewarded, but in case if they lose then there is an option to start again to attain the goal that particularly lead people towards game addiction. And once people become addicted they prefer to remain in front of the computer most of the time due to which they skip their meal, do not sleep and exercise enough and being sluggish at their workplace. By being addicted people lose their social ability and mess up real world with the virtual world and not only expose themselves to risk but also affect their close relatives. With an excessive Gaming addiction people may harm their own health. There are many computer related diseases as ‘Repetive Strain Injury’ that affects muscoskeletal and nervous systems. It mainly affects the upper limb of the gamer. This disease occurs due to repetitive usage of the upper limb. Another disease like ‘Computer vision syndrome’ results by focusing the eye on the computer for prolong period. Repetitive up and down motion of thumb may lead to ‘DeQuervain’s Syndrome’ resulting in pain and swelling over and around the thumb. Thoratic Outlet syndrome, epileptic seizures and back pain are also some of the examples. Ecessive gaming may also cause aggression and depression. One of the main problems generated by game addiction is aggression and violence. The examples of these aggressive games are Mortal Combat, Doom, etc. According to the research, it has been proved that violent game players reveal more verbal and corporal aggression that lead them toward crimes. Thus, there are the pros and cons of everything, so as in playing video game too, which one either prevail over another depends upon the type, attitude and duration of the game played. It can be stated that benefits may over shadow the negative impact if there would be a control over the time spent by playing. Though, there is a need to understand the difference between virtual and real worlds. In order to avoid problems with video gaming, people have to make the most out of playing video games. By such practices, advantages can be maximized to the beneficial level. Works Cited Collins, Karren. Game Sound: an introduction to the history,theory and practice of video game music and sound design. United States: Massachusetts Institute of Technoogy, 2008. Print. Craig, Steve. Sports and Games of the Ancient. U.S: Greenwood publishing group, 2002. Print. Egenfeldt-Nielson, Simon, Jonas Heide Smith and Tosca Susana Pajares. Understanding video games. UK: Routledge, 2013. Print. DeMaria, Rusel and Johnny L. Wison. Highscore: The llustrated history of electronic games. U.S: Osborne Publisher, 2004. Print. Donovan, Tristan. Replay: The History of Video Games. New York: Yellow Ant Media, 2010. Print. Fisher, Donald M. Lacrosse: The History of a Game. United States of America: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. Print. Koster, Raph. Theory of Fun for Game Design. United States of America: O'Reilly Media Inc., 2014. Lipson, Ashley S. and Robert D. Brain. Computer and Video Game Law. U.S: Carolina Academic Press, 2009. Print. Micheal, Nitsche. Video Game Spaces. United Sates: Massachusetts Institute of technology, 2008. Print. Wolf, Mark J. P. The Video Game Explosion. United States of America: Greenwood publishing group, 2008. Print. Read More