Games in Society

1. Games in Society

2. Expanding • In 2004 Nintendo moved away from traditional handheld games and released the Nintendo DS, which had an innovative touch screen interface. The system was to encourage a new generation of game players. • Mario • Brain Training • All ages

3. Better multiplayer • Playing on console games was a solitary experience for a long time. Most consoles had more that one controller, but never very many. • PC’s allowed games to be played across a network, but these were very slow until broadband became common. • Microsoft Xbox really started the online gaming revolution.

4. Concerns • There are various concerns about people playing computer games. These tend to get reported in the media on a regular basis, to the extent that many parents are extremely worried about their children playing for long periods of time.

5. Benefits • Hand-eye co-ordination – games encourage people of use different combinations of button in response to incidents happening very quickly on screen. Pilots, astronauts, athletes use games to help with their co-ordination. • Brain training – every game platform now boasts the ability to develop brain training skills. Numeracy and literacy skills can be improved.

6. Thinking and strategy skills – taking on the role of a military commander or creating whole civilisations. These games teach tactics and forward thinking, skills that you need in the real world. • Future impact – can take the place of films as their stories get better and better and become available on many different platforms. • Mainstream application – chat is no enabled trough games - headset, tams can play and strategize together as a team.

7. Psychological factors • Games are so popular because they engage thoughts and feelings at the same time.

8. Health • Repetitive strain injury (RSI) this is the result of performing the same movements over and over again. Symptoms are pain and weakness in the areas for the injury – thumbs and fingers. • Lack of exercise – most games involve no activity what so ever. This inactivity for pre-longed spells can become unhealthy and players run the risk of becoming overweight or conversely too distracted to eat regulary.

9. Eye strain – eye strain can be made worse when playing games in a poorly lit room. Think – what other health issues can you think of? • Temper • Over excitement that results in negative behaviour • Blur between reality and fiction.