“6. Video games are not a meaningful form of expression.
"Violence has always been and remains a central interest of humankind and a recurrent, even obsessive theme of culture both high and low. It engages the interest of children from an early age, as anyone familiar with the classic fairy tales collected by Grimm, Andersen, and Perrault are aware." Posner adds, "To shield children right up to the age of 18 from exposure to violent descriptions and images would not only be quixotic, but deforming; it would leave them unequipped to cope with the world as we know it."
This I Thought was an interesting comment made by the Appeal Judge Richard Posner. I have always believed that not showing a child some sort of violence, controversy or any altercation will lead that specific child in a path not suitable for OUR social construct. An example that hit home personally is the difference between how my older brother and I were brought up in school vs. our little brother.
We attended a public school, which was predominately black for the 1st 7 years of school then attended a small private school. The things my brother and I came in contact with (i.e. fights, stealing, gangs, etc.) prepared us more than what my little brother went through. Him only being in a private school, where zero violence was occurring, no real problematic children, more “sheltered” children like himself around him, led to him to become certainly DIFFERENT from my brother and me. Granted, we WEATHERED him up some so he was more aware of these things, but his friends have never seen things or were exposed to any violent activities. It is easy to tell who has been around some sort of violence or is exposed to it, and who is not. Mannerisms change, confidence is lower, and some are ignorant to some things they do in “THEIR WORLD”, vs. what could be the repercussions in the “REAL WORLD”.
Society as a whole was founded, birthed, and the spread of cultures where we are today have been the result of violence of some sort. Violence is and will be something WE will always be attracted to and flock towards. Without it, where would we be today???
This is a blog brought to you by University of Cincinnati students. We are collaborating together to tell you what we think about Video-games!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked
Henry Jenkins
MIT Professor
A large gap exists between the public's perception of video games and what the research actually shows. The following is an attempt to separate fact from fiction.
1. The availability of video games has led to an epidemic of youth violence.
According to federal crime statistics, the rate of juvenile violent crime in the United States is at a 30-year low. Researchers find that people serving time for violent crimes typically consume less media before committing their crimes than the average person in the general population. It's true that young offenders who have committed school shootings in America have also been game players. But young people in general are more likely to be gamers — 90 percent of boys and 40 percent of girls play. The overwhelming majority of kids who play do NOT commit antisocial acts. According to a 2001 U.S. Surgeon General's report, the strongest risk factors for school shootings centered on mental stability and the quality of home life, not media exposure. The moral panic over violent video games is doubly harmful. It has led adult authorities to be more suspicious and hostile to many kids who already feel cut off from the system. It also misdirects energy away from eliminating the actual causes of youth violence and allows problems to continue to fester.
2. Scientific evidence links violent game play with youth aggression.
Claims like this are based on the work of researchers who represent one relatively narrow school of research, "media effects." This research includes some 300 studies of media violence. But most of those studies are inconclusive and many have been criticized on methodological grounds. In these studies, media images are removed from any narrative context. Subjects are asked to engage with content that they would not normally consume and may not understand. Finally, the laboratory context is radically different from the environments where games would normally be played. Most studies found a correlation, not a causal relationship, which means the research could simply show that aggressive people like aggressive entertainment. That's why the vague term "links" is used here. If there is a consensus emerging around this research, it is that violent video games may be one risk factor - when coupled with other more immediate, real-world influences — which can contribute to anti-social behavior. But no research has found that video games are a primary factor or that violent video game play could turn an otherwise normal person into a killer.
3. Children are the primary market for video games.
While most American kids do play video games, the center of the video game market has shifted older as the first generation of gamers continues to play into adulthood. Already 62 percent of the console market and 66 percent of the PC market is age 18 or older. The game industry caters to adult tastes. Meanwhile, a sizable number of parents ignore game ratings because they assume that games are for kids. One quarter of children ages 11 to 16 identify an M-Rated (Mature Content) game as among their favorites. Clearly, more should be done to restrict advertising and marketing that targets young consumers with mature content, and to educate parents about the media choices they are facing. But parents need to share some of the responsibility for making decisions about what is appropriate for their children. The news on this front is not all bad. The Federal Trade Commission has found that 83 percent of game purchases for underage consumers are made by parents or by parents and children together.
4. Almost no girls play computer games.
Historically, the video game market has been predominantly male. However, the percentage of women playing games has steadily increased over the past decade. Women now slightly outnumber men playing Web-based games. Spurred by the belief that games were an important gateway into other kinds of digital literacy, efforts were made in the mid-90s to build games that appealed to girls. More recent games such as The Sims were huge crossover successes that attracted many women who had never played games before. Given the historic imbalance in the game market (and among people working inside the game industry), the presence of sexist stereotyping in games is hardly surprising. Yet it's also important to note that female game characters are often portrayed as powerful and independent. In his book Killing Monsters, Gerard Jones argues that young girls often build upon these representations of strong women warriors as a means of building up their self confidence in confronting challenges in their everyday lives.
5. Because games are used to train soldiers to kill, they have the same impact on the kids who play them.
Former military psychologist and moral reformer David Grossman argues that because the military uses games in training (including, he claims, training soldiers to shoot and kill), the generation of young people who play such games are similarly being brutalized and conditioned to be aggressive in their everyday social interactions.
Grossman's model only works if:
•we remove training and education from a meaningful cultural context.
•we assume learners have no conscious goals and that they show no resistance to what they are being taught.
•we assume that they unwittingly apply what they learn in a fantasy environment to real world spaces.
The military uses games as part of a specific curriculum, with clearly defined goals, in a context where students actively want to learn and have a need for the information being transmitted. There are consequences for not mastering those skills. That being said, a growing body of research does suggest that games can enhance learning. In his recent book, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, James Gee describes game players as active problem solvers who do not see mistakes as errors, but as opportunities for improvement. Players search for newer, better solutions to problems and challenges, he says. And they are encouraged to constantly form and test hypotheses. This research points to a fundamentally different model of how and what players learn from games.
6. Video games are not a meaningful form of expression.
On April 19, 2002, U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr. ruled that video games do not convey ideas and thus enjoy no constitutional protection. As evidence, Saint Louis County presented the judge with videotaped excerpts from four games, all within a narrow range of genres, and all the subject of previous controversy. Overturning a similar decision in Indianapolis, Federal Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner noted: "Violence has always been and remains a central interest of humankind and a recurrent, even obsessive theme of culture both high and low. It engages the interest of children from an early age, as anyone familiar with the classic fairy tales collected by Grimm, Andersen, and Perrault are aware." Posner adds, "To shield children right up to the age of 18 from exposure to violent descriptions and images would not only be quixotic, but deforming; it would leave them unequipped to cope with the world as we know it." Many early games were little more than shooting galleries where players were encouraged to blast everything that moved. Many current games are designed to be ethical testing grounds. They allow players to navigate an expansive and open-ended world, make their own choices and witness their consequences. The Sims designer Will Wright argues that games are perhaps the only medium that allows us to experience guilt over the actions of fictional characters. In a movie, one can always pull back and condemn the character or the artist when they cross certain social boundaries. But in playing a game, we choose what happens to the characters. In the right circumstances, we can be encouraged to examine our own values by seeing how we behave within virtual space.
7. Video game play is socially isolating.
Much video game play is social. Almost 60 percent of frequent gamers play with friends. Thirty-three percent play with siblings and 25 percent play with spouses or parents. Even games designed for single players are often played socially, with one person giving advice to another holding a joystick. A growing number of games are designed for multiple players — for either cooperative play in the same space or online play with distributed players. Sociologist Talmadge Wright has logged many hours observing online communities interact with and react to violent video games, concluding that meta-gaming (conversation about game content) provides a context for thinking about rules and rule-breaking. In this way there are really two games taking place simultaneously: one, the explicit conflict and combat on the screen; the other, the implicit cooperation and comradeship between the players. Two players may be fighting to death on screen and growing closer as friends off screen. Social expectations are reaffirmed through the social contract governing play, even as they are symbolically cast aside within the transgressive fantasies represented onscreen.
8. Video game play is desensitizing.
Classic studies of play behavior among primates suggest that apes make basic distinctions between play fighting and actual combat. In some circumstances, they seem to take pleasure wrestling and tousling with each other. In others, they might rip each other apart in mortal combat. Game designer and play theorist Eric Zimmerman describes the ways we understand play as distinctive from reality as entering the "magic circle." The same action — say, sweeping a floor — may take on different meanings in play (as in playing house) than in reality (housework). Play allows kids to express feelings and impulses that have to be carefully held in check in their real-world interactions. Media reformers argue that playing violent video games can cause a lack of empathy for real-world victims. Yet, a child who responds to a video game the same way he or she responds to a real-world tragedy could be showing symptoms of being severely emotionally disturbed. Here's where the media effects research, which often uses punching rubber dolls as a marker of real-world aggression, becomes problematic. The kid who is punching a toy designed for this purpose is still within the "magic circle" of play and understands her actions on those terms. Such research shows us only that violent play leads to more violent play.
Henry Jenkins is the director of comparative studies at MIT.
MIT Professor
A large gap exists between the public's perception of video games and what the research actually shows. The following is an attempt to separate fact from fiction.
1. The availability of video games has led to an epidemic of youth violence.
According to federal crime statistics, the rate of juvenile violent crime in the United States is at a 30-year low. Researchers find that people serving time for violent crimes typically consume less media before committing their crimes than the average person in the general population. It's true that young offenders who have committed school shootings in America have also been game players. But young people in general are more likely to be gamers — 90 percent of boys and 40 percent of girls play. The overwhelming majority of kids who play do NOT commit antisocial acts. According to a 2001 U.S. Surgeon General's report, the strongest risk factors for school shootings centered on mental stability and the quality of home life, not media exposure. The moral panic over violent video games is doubly harmful. It has led adult authorities to be more suspicious and hostile to many kids who already feel cut off from the system. It also misdirects energy away from eliminating the actual causes of youth violence and allows problems to continue to fester.
2. Scientific evidence links violent game play with youth aggression.
Claims like this are based on the work of researchers who represent one relatively narrow school of research, "media effects." This research includes some 300 studies of media violence. But most of those studies are inconclusive and many have been criticized on methodological grounds. In these studies, media images are removed from any narrative context. Subjects are asked to engage with content that they would not normally consume and may not understand. Finally, the laboratory context is radically different from the environments where games would normally be played. Most studies found a correlation, not a causal relationship, which means the research could simply show that aggressive people like aggressive entertainment. That's why the vague term "links" is used here. If there is a consensus emerging around this research, it is that violent video games may be one risk factor - when coupled with other more immediate, real-world influences — which can contribute to anti-social behavior. But no research has found that video games are a primary factor or that violent video game play could turn an otherwise normal person into a killer.
3. Children are the primary market for video games.
While most American kids do play video games, the center of the video game market has shifted older as the first generation of gamers continues to play into adulthood. Already 62 percent of the console market and 66 percent of the PC market is age 18 or older. The game industry caters to adult tastes. Meanwhile, a sizable number of parents ignore game ratings because they assume that games are for kids. One quarter of children ages 11 to 16 identify an M-Rated (Mature Content) game as among their favorites. Clearly, more should be done to restrict advertising and marketing that targets young consumers with mature content, and to educate parents about the media choices they are facing. But parents need to share some of the responsibility for making decisions about what is appropriate for their children. The news on this front is not all bad. The Federal Trade Commission has found that 83 percent of game purchases for underage consumers are made by parents or by parents and children together.
4. Almost no girls play computer games.
Historically, the video game market has been predominantly male. However, the percentage of women playing games has steadily increased over the past decade. Women now slightly outnumber men playing Web-based games. Spurred by the belief that games were an important gateway into other kinds of digital literacy, efforts were made in the mid-90s to build games that appealed to girls. More recent games such as The Sims were huge crossover successes that attracted many women who had never played games before. Given the historic imbalance in the game market (and among people working inside the game industry), the presence of sexist stereotyping in games is hardly surprising. Yet it's also important to note that female game characters are often portrayed as powerful and independent. In his book Killing Monsters, Gerard Jones argues that young girls often build upon these representations of strong women warriors as a means of building up their self confidence in confronting challenges in their everyday lives.
5. Because games are used to train soldiers to kill, they have the same impact on the kids who play them.
Former military psychologist and moral reformer David Grossman argues that because the military uses games in training (including, he claims, training soldiers to shoot and kill), the generation of young people who play such games are similarly being brutalized and conditioned to be aggressive in their everyday social interactions.
Grossman's model only works if:
•we remove training and education from a meaningful cultural context.
•we assume learners have no conscious goals and that they show no resistance to what they are being taught.
•we assume that they unwittingly apply what they learn in a fantasy environment to real world spaces.
The military uses games as part of a specific curriculum, with clearly defined goals, in a context where students actively want to learn and have a need for the information being transmitted. There are consequences for not mastering those skills. That being said, a growing body of research does suggest that games can enhance learning. In his recent book, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, James Gee describes game players as active problem solvers who do not see mistakes as errors, but as opportunities for improvement. Players search for newer, better solutions to problems and challenges, he says. And they are encouraged to constantly form and test hypotheses. This research points to a fundamentally different model of how and what players learn from games.
6. Video games are not a meaningful form of expression.
On April 19, 2002, U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr. ruled that video games do not convey ideas and thus enjoy no constitutional protection. As evidence, Saint Louis County presented the judge with videotaped excerpts from four games, all within a narrow range of genres, and all the subject of previous controversy. Overturning a similar decision in Indianapolis, Federal Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner noted: "Violence has always been and remains a central interest of humankind and a recurrent, even obsessive theme of culture both high and low. It engages the interest of children from an early age, as anyone familiar with the classic fairy tales collected by Grimm, Andersen, and Perrault are aware." Posner adds, "To shield children right up to the age of 18 from exposure to violent descriptions and images would not only be quixotic, but deforming; it would leave them unequipped to cope with the world as we know it." Many early games were little more than shooting galleries where players were encouraged to blast everything that moved. Many current games are designed to be ethical testing grounds. They allow players to navigate an expansive and open-ended world, make their own choices and witness their consequences. The Sims designer Will Wright argues that games are perhaps the only medium that allows us to experience guilt over the actions of fictional characters. In a movie, one can always pull back and condemn the character or the artist when they cross certain social boundaries. But in playing a game, we choose what happens to the characters. In the right circumstances, we can be encouraged to examine our own values by seeing how we behave within virtual space.
7. Video game play is socially isolating.
Much video game play is social. Almost 60 percent of frequent gamers play with friends. Thirty-three percent play with siblings and 25 percent play with spouses or parents. Even games designed for single players are often played socially, with one person giving advice to another holding a joystick. A growing number of games are designed for multiple players — for either cooperative play in the same space or online play with distributed players. Sociologist Talmadge Wright has logged many hours observing online communities interact with and react to violent video games, concluding that meta-gaming (conversation about game content) provides a context for thinking about rules and rule-breaking. In this way there are really two games taking place simultaneously: one, the explicit conflict and combat on the screen; the other, the implicit cooperation and comradeship between the players. Two players may be fighting to death on screen and growing closer as friends off screen. Social expectations are reaffirmed through the social contract governing play, even as they are symbolically cast aside within the transgressive fantasies represented onscreen.
8. Video game play is desensitizing.
Classic studies of play behavior among primates suggest that apes make basic distinctions between play fighting and actual combat. In some circumstances, they seem to take pleasure wrestling and tousling with each other. In others, they might rip each other apart in mortal combat. Game designer and play theorist Eric Zimmerman describes the ways we understand play as distinctive from reality as entering the "magic circle." The same action — say, sweeping a floor — may take on different meanings in play (as in playing house) than in reality (housework). Play allows kids to express feelings and impulses that have to be carefully held in check in their real-world interactions. Media reformers argue that playing violent video games can cause a lack of empathy for real-world victims. Yet, a child who responds to a video game the same way he or she responds to a real-world tragedy could be showing symptoms of being severely emotionally disturbed. Here's where the media effects research, which often uses punching rubber dolls as a marker of real-world aggression, becomes problematic. The kid who is punching a toy designed for this purpose is still within the "magic circle" of play and understands her actions on those terms. Such research shows us only that violent play leads to more violent play.
Henry Jenkins is the director of comparative studies at MIT.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
comment to Sebastian's 11/27
I agree, they should start at a young age and start making more "intelligent" games!
I like how the Wii has Wii fit and xbox and playstation are also moving in that direction! Maybe videogamers will get a better name now that people can't call them lazy!
I like how the Wii has Wii fit and xbox and playstation are also moving in that direction! Maybe videogamers will get a better name now that people can't call them lazy!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
When’s the last time you observed the computer and video games your children play?
This article had me thinking if video games cause children to act in certain ways then they should start producing a lot more productive, brain challenging. competitive, and moral video games. I completely disagree with the author that video game violence makes children more prone to becoming violent that those two are inherently not tied together at all for teens. Maybe for children who are under the age of 9 who shouldn't be playing games that are rated by the ESRB as for adults only. The reason that I say this is because kids under the age of 9 are more likely to be influenced by things that they see are do. They are not out in the real world or close to it so are not dampened down and numb to the video game violence that older gamers are. Me and my friends could play FPS games for hours and hours and hours on in. We have killed more people than every war that has ever happened combined in our lifetime in video games but that doesn't make us want to become Serial Killers, or make us want to go around beating people up. When you are a true gamer you are numb to what is on the screen and are just trying to get the objectives achieved that the game presents you. I never kill anyone in any game and for a second think about that person being "killed". I see it as something that needed to be done and on to the next. If this fallacy logic this Anderson said is true then in every school yard across America everyone would be a bully girls included beating everyone up. It is another over protective and over zealous parent trying to find another media or societal issue to blame for bad parenting. If children were that able to take in material, I have a grand idea. How about since children are going to play video games anyway that we force them to play all the positive games out there? Reward children for playing video games if they are as influenced and apt as the author says they are at taking in what goes on the idiot box then rewarding them for playing video games is a win-win situation. If parents are rewarding children for playing games and the kids are playing positive games and be positively influenced then nobody is harmed. Everything however is a per case basis I am sure there is some children who are gravely influenced by violence on the gaming systems however I would also ensure that this is a grave minority. The majority of gamers are simply that gamers they are playing games for the sake of playing games not to go mimic what is going on the TV screen. We have yet to see the crazed many running through Los Angeles stealing cars with a rocket launcher on his back while he picks prostitutes on the way. Until then I feel that this issue is irrelevant and rest assured I doubt that will ever happen no matter how good of TV it would be.
When's the last time you observed the computer and video games your children play?
When’s the last time you observed the computer and video games your children play?
Well once you do, don’t be surprised if you find yourself suddenly laying down some ground rules on the types of games that come into your home, and the hours spent playing them. From the slapstick of pre-school games, to the graphic violence of some teen games, the video game culture often relies on violence for entertainment. And for good reason. “Violence is inherently attention grabbing, or seems to be inherently attention grabbing for most people”, explains Craig Anderson, with the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University and one of the authors of “The Influence of Media Violence on Youth” published by the American Psychological Society. But because kids get used to violent images quickly, the level of violence has to increase in order to keep their attention, and keep selling games. As Anderson says, “ if you want to get the attention of video gamers you have to keep them energized, you have to keep them attracted and attending to the stimuli. Of course the problem is people become desensitized to the initial levels (of violence) and require greater and greater doses of violence in order to have the same kind of (excitement and) reaction that used to be provoked by fairly mild levels.”Anderson says research on violent media reveals unequivocal evidence that viewing violent films and TV shows increase the likelihood of aggressive behavior. But video and computer games can have the most profound influence on the behavior of children, simply because children retain a lot more information if they learn actively, rather than passively. It’s because of this interaction that violent video and computer games have such a powerful impact on children’s aggressive behavior. “One of the real interesting differences between video games and film or television is that video games are necessarily interactive - they involve active participation by the game player,” explains Anderson. “The game player has to assume the identity of one of the violent characters and essentially has to make decisions and take physical action, whether it be squeezing the trigger on a toy gun, or clicking a mouse button.”
So what can parents do about violent games? Anderson says the first step is awareness. Simply being mindful of the games children are playing may well be all it takes to encourage parents to lay down rules as to the types of games allowed in their home. “I think that for a lot of parents it will be quite a shocker and, once they see what it is that their kids are consuming, they won’t need an expert telling them to pay attention,” says Anderson. “They will, in fact, on their own say ‘you know this is not appropriate for my 6 year old or my 12 year old, so we’re going to make some changes in the rules of the household’.”
Donkey Kong RELEASED
Donkey Kong oountry is now released. Released November 21st and is available in the Wii gaming system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVq7XNV7K0w
What I'd like to ask of you all is if the Donkey Kong Country easier/more entertaining with the Wii or the original nintendo?
I guess it will be harder for most to figure that out unless you've played both. Well Iv'e found some information where people have played both gaming systems and they have differing views on what they feel about the systems. Some people said they enjoyed playing the orginal nintendo better than the Wii and some said they enjoyed the Wii better. I agree with the article below that the rebirth of the DK is huge for people who a an expectation of the originality DK. I played Donkey Kong when I was a lot younger and I enjoyed playing the game on the original game than the Wii.
http://thetandd.com/lifestyles/orangeburgers/article_993bb87c-f821-11df-bd7d-001cc4c002e0.html
I believe the Wii is geared more toward one losing weight and being active.
According to an interview with Nintendo's game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, the concept involved focusing on a new form of player interaction. "The consensus was that power isn't everything for a console. Too many powerful consoles can't coexist. It's like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii
The original nintendo was great to play according to http://www.dslitereview.com/
Although most people are more into DK with Wii, I personally enjoyed the original nintendo with the regular controllers. I reference the original nintendo to my generation and the new generation to the Wii. Although my mom has a Wii..
What do you you all think about this? I mean I know that the Wii has a lot more features and other things that the Nintendo doesnt have like.. the internet capability, wireless controlling, and more specific features..
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=wii+capabilities&aq=0&aqi=g1g-m2&aql=&oq=wii+capa&gs_rfai=&psj=1&fp=37d1bd045231f26d
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVq7XNV7K0w
What I'd like to ask of you all is if the Donkey Kong Country easier/more entertaining with the Wii or the original nintendo?
I guess it will be harder for most to figure that out unless you've played both. Well Iv'e found some information where people have played both gaming systems and they have differing views on what they feel about the systems. Some people said they enjoyed playing the orginal nintendo better than the Wii and some said they enjoyed the Wii better. I agree with the article below that the rebirth of the DK is huge for people who a an expectation of the originality DK. I played Donkey Kong when I was a lot younger and I enjoyed playing the game on the original game than the Wii.
http://thetandd.com/lifestyles/orangeburgers/article_993bb87c-f821-11df-bd7d-001cc4c002e0.html
I believe the Wii is geared more toward one losing weight and being active.
According to an interview with Nintendo's game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, the concept involved focusing on a new form of player interaction. "The consensus was that power isn't everything for a console. Too many powerful consoles can't coexist. It's like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii
The original nintendo was great to play according to http://www.dslitereview.com/
Although most people are more into DK with Wii, I personally enjoyed the original nintendo with the regular controllers. I reference the original nintendo to my generation and the new generation to the Wii. Although my mom has a Wii..
What do you you all think about this? I mean I know that the Wii has a lot more features and other things that the Nintendo doesnt have like.. the internet capability, wireless controlling, and more specific features..
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=wii+capabilities&aq=0&aqi=g1g-m2&aql=&oq=wii+capa&gs_rfai=&psj=1&fp=37d1bd045231f26d
Friday, November 26, 2010
ADDICTED TO THE GAME
Here are two definitions of addiction, to know if you or someone you know has an addiction.
1. The person needs more and more of a substance or behavior to keep him going.
2. If the person does not get more of the substance or behavior, he becomes irritable and miserable.
Addictions now days aren’t just to drugs and alcohol like some may thing, but people are actually addicted to Video games!
While reading this article I thought it was crazy that now days, you can actually compare video games to a drug addiction. If you would have told me that a few years ago I would have thought you were crazy, but it makes sense! When people cannot play their video games they become angry, violent, or depressed. If a parent takes away the computer their child sits in the corner and cries, the refuse to eat, sleep, or do anything. Sound familiar? When an addict doesn’t get their “fix” they can become very angry and violent, as well as depressed. They will do anything for their fix no matter what they have to do to get it! AKA – a child crying and refusing to eat and sleep will trigger the parent into letting them have what they want, and that is video games.
It’s the same as alcohol in the sense that it can make you “escape your world for awhile and not be yourself,” people drink to make them feel differently just as people play video games because it is somewhat of a fantasy world, it is an escape from “real life.”
Video games, as drugs can ruin your life. If you are in front of your computer or television for five hours at a time, you most likely will have no social life, and begin “falling of the planet.” You may set other things aside like homework, playing sports, and exercising. It can get in the way of your job as well as relationships.
Here are some symptoms to know if you are actually addicted to video games.
# Playing for increasing amounts of time
# Thinking about gaming during other activities
# Gaming to escape from real-life problems, anxiety, or depression
# Lying to friends and family to conceal gaming
# Feeling irritable when trying to cut down on gaming
Video Gamers have to learn to limit their time, it is like an alcoholic, they cannot always avoid the computer or television, and in a sense it is like an alcoholic saying I will just have one drink, it doesn’t happen one drink turns into many just as one house of gaming turns into the entire night!
I think this is fascinating that there are detox centers and camps for people who are addicted to video games! Who would have ever thought this could ever happen, yet it has and it is a serious issue now days with many children as well as adults all over the world!
1. The person needs more and more of a substance or behavior to keep him going.
2. If the person does not get more of the substance or behavior, he becomes irritable and miserable.
Addictions now days aren’t just to drugs and alcohol like some may thing, but people are actually addicted to Video games!
While reading this article I thought it was crazy that now days, you can actually compare video games to a drug addiction. If you would have told me that a few years ago I would have thought you were crazy, but it makes sense! When people cannot play their video games they become angry, violent, or depressed. If a parent takes away the computer their child sits in the corner and cries, the refuse to eat, sleep, or do anything. Sound familiar? When an addict doesn’t get their “fix” they can become very angry and violent, as well as depressed. They will do anything for their fix no matter what they have to do to get it! AKA – a child crying and refusing to eat and sleep will trigger the parent into letting them have what they want, and that is video games.
It’s the same as alcohol in the sense that it can make you “escape your world for awhile and not be yourself,” people drink to make them feel differently just as people play video games because it is somewhat of a fantasy world, it is an escape from “real life.”
Video games, as drugs can ruin your life. If you are in front of your computer or television for five hours at a time, you most likely will have no social life, and begin “falling of the planet.” You may set other things aside like homework, playing sports, and exercising. It can get in the way of your job as well as relationships.
Here are some symptoms to know if you are actually addicted to video games.
# Playing for increasing amounts of time
# Thinking about gaming during other activities
# Gaming to escape from real-life problems, anxiety, or depression
# Lying to friends and family to conceal gaming
# Feeling irritable when trying to cut down on gaming
Video Gamers have to learn to limit their time, it is like an alcoholic, they cannot always avoid the computer or television, and in a sense it is like an alcoholic saying I will just have one drink, it doesn’t happen one drink turns into many just as one house of gaming turns into the entire night!
I think this is fascinating that there are detox centers and camps for people who are addicted to video games! Who would have ever thought this could ever happen, yet it has and it is a serious issue now days with many children as well as adults all over the world!
Detox for Video Game Addiction?
July 3, 2006
Detox For Video Game Addiction?
Experts Say Gaming Can Be A Compulsion As Strong As Gambling
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Tim, 21, a game addict who only wanted his first name used, poses after therapy at Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, June 1, 2006.
Keith Bakker, director of Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants, tells WebMD he created the new program in response to a growing problem among young men and boys. “The more we looked at it, the more we saw [gaming] was taking over the lives of kids.”
Detox for video game addiction may sound like a stretch, but addiction experts say the concept makes sense. “I was surprised we didn’t think of it here in America,” says Kimberly Young, PsyD, clinical director of the Center for On-Line Addiction and author of Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction -- and a Winning Strategy for Recovery. “I’ve had so many parents call me over the last year or two, particularly about the role-playing games online. I see it getting worse as the opportunity to game grows – for example, cell phone gaming.”
But can a game truly become an addiction? Absolutely, Young tells WebMD. “It’s a clinical impulse control disorder,” an addiction in the same sense as compulsive gambling.
Defining Addiction
While most people associate addiction with substances, such as drugs or alcohol, doctors recognize addictive behaviors as well. In a WebMD feature on the definition of addiction, psychiatrist Michael Brody, MD, set forth the following criteria:
1. The person needs more and more of a substance or behavior to keep him going.
2. If the person does not get more of the substance or behavior, he becomes irritable and miserable.
Young says compulsive gaming meets these criteria, and she has seen severe withdrawal symptoms in game addicts. “They become angry, violent, or depressed. If [parents] take away the computer, their child sits in the corner and cries, refuses to eat, sleep, or do anything.”
The Psychological Factor
Unlike with substance abuse, the biological aspect of video game addiction is uncertain. “Research suggests gambling elevates dopamine,” Young says, and gaming is in the same category. But there’s more to addiction than brain chemistry. “Even with alcohol, it’s not just physical. There’s a psychological component to the addiction, knowing ‘I can escape or feel good about my life.’”
Bakker agrees. “The person is trying to change the way they feel by taking something outside of themselves. The [cocaine] addict learns, ‘I don’t like the way I feel, I take a line of cocaine.’ For gamers, it’s the fantasy world that makes them feel better.”
The lure of a fantasy world is especially pertinent to online role-playing games. These are games in which a player assumes the role of a fictional character and interacts with other players in a virtual world. As Young puts it, an intelligent child who is unpopular at school can “become dominant in the game.” The virtual life becomes more appealing than real life.
Where’s the Harm?
Too much gaming may seem relatively harmless compared with the dangers of a drug overdose, but Bakker says video game addiction can ruin lives. Children who play four to five hours per day have no time for socializing, doing homework, or playing sports, he says. “That takes away from normal social development. You can get a 21-year-old with the emotional intelligence of a 12-year-old. He’s never learned to talk to girls. He’s never learned to play a sport.”
In older addicts, compulsive gaming can jeopardize jobs or relationships. Howard, a 33-year-old project manager who asked to be identified only by his first name, started playing an online role-playing game about six months ago. He plays for three to four hours almost every day — more on weekends — occasionally putting off meals or sleep. His fiancée says he’s addicted.
Addiction Warning Signs
Spending a lot of time gaming doesn’t necessarily qualify as an addiction. “Eighty percent of the world can play games safely,” Bakker says. “The question is: Can you always control your gaming activity?”
According to the Center for On-Line Addiction, warning signs for video game addiction include:
In addition, video game addicts tend to become isolated, dropping out of their social networks and giving up other hobbies. “It’s about somebody who has completely withdrawn from other activities,” Young says. “One mother called me when her son dropped out of baseball. He used to love baseball, so that’s when she knew there was a problem.”
Howard, the project manager, says he still goes out with friends and family, so he doubts he is addicted. “I am not limiting myself to gaming as my only pastime or hobby,” he tells WebMD. “If I needed to stop playing, I'm convinced that I could.”
Parents, Take Note
Young and Bakker say the overwhelming majority of video game addicts are males under 30. “It’s usually children with poor self-esteem and social problems,” Young tells WebMD. “They’re intelligent and imaginative but don’t have many friends at school.” She says a family history of addiction may also be a factor.
If you’re concerned your child may be addicted to video games don’t dismiss it as a phase, Young says. Keep good documents of the child’s gaming behavior, including:
“You need to document the severity of the problem,” Young says. “Don’t delay seeking professional help; if there is a problem, it will probably only get worse.”
Video Game Detox
Treatment for video game addiction is similar to detox for other addictions, with one important difference. Computers have become an important part of everyday life, as well as many jobs, so compulsive gamers can’t just look the other way when they see a PC.
“It’s like a food addiction,” Young explains. “You have to learn to live with food.”
Because video game addicts can’t avoid computers, they have to learn to use them responsibly. Bakker says that means no gaming. As for limiting game time to an hour a day, he compares that to “an alcoholic saying he’s only going to drink beer.”
Bakker says the toughest part of treating video game addicts is that “it’s a little bit more difficult to show somebody they’re in trouble. Nobody’s ever been put in jail for being under the influence of [a game].”
The key, he says, is to show gamers they are powerless over their addiction, and then teach them “real-life excitement as opposed to online excitement.”
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Response to Sebatian
It is a sad thing to think that one could take their life due to a life they live in a virtual world. I touched on this in my post, but it is our job to help others understand that this is a "make believe" world and that the use of moderation in gaming is key. It apparently seems that it is easy to be caught up in the whole "VR world" and how much of an impact that it can have on us. I guess we need to begin to adjust how people are treated in real life, so that when VR world treats you wrong, you can understand tha it is "Just a Game".
Rehab Or Preceptions
While reading my article I could only think about my grandparents, and other senior citizens. I see my grandparents and how hard it is for them to do normal tasks anymore, due to heart attacks or carpal tunnel, and other issues dealing with getting older. I have talked to my grandparents about how they think about not being able to do normal tasks and how they wish they were a few years younger so it would be easy to:
• Open jars
• Pick up pots and pans easier while cooking
• Not shaking while pick up a gallon of milk and pouring
To individuals our age it seems simple but getting older and how other complications have made it hard to do everyday tasks, take a toll on these individuals. The thought that video game rehabilitation in stroke patients and other patients with complications has made a significant improvement in these people is really interesting.
Not saying that my grandparents have had a stroke nor are they on the level as the patents in the article, but they are too the point where rehabilitation and some exercise in normal tasks needs to be done in order to facilitate improvement and keep up the continued care that they need. Moat have heard of Wii consoles in nursing homes, and how it has got patients off their chairs and actually moving around and becoming active.
The virtual world has its ups and downs, as well as video games have on our youth and our typical gamers. The impact that it has on society can be viewed in many different ways whether positive or negative as well. The main goal should be with anything, is things can be good as long as things are used appropriately, for a positive cause, as well as in moderation. The things we can think are bad to one certain “people”, might be the same for another (i.e. virtual world on obese teens vs. rehabilitation patients). If we come to an agreement that “in moderation”, as long as screening and allowing regulating what is being played, many of these questions and concerns would subside. Video games and the virtual world can be viewed however one wishes to perceive it and it is our duty as consumers to either give them reason to be right, or to prove them otherwise.
• Open jars
• Pick up pots and pans easier while cooking
• Not shaking while pick up a gallon of milk and pouring
To individuals our age it seems simple but getting older and how other complications have made it hard to do everyday tasks, take a toll on these individuals. The thought that video game rehabilitation in stroke patients and other patients with complications has made a significant improvement in these people is really interesting.
Not saying that my grandparents have had a stroke nor are they on the level as the patents in the article, but they are too the point where rehabilitation and some exercise in normal tasks needs to be done in order to facilitate improvement and keep up the continued care that they need. Moat have heard of Wii consoles in nursing homes, and how it has got patients off their chairs and actually moving around and becoming active.
The virtual world has its ups and downs, as well as video games have on our youth and our typical gamers. The impact that it has on society can be viewed in many different ways whether positive or negative as well. The main goal should be with anything, is things can be good as long as things are used appropriately, for a positive cause, as well as in moderation. The things we can think are bad to one certain “people”, might be the same for another (i.e. virtual world on obese teens vs. rehabilitation patients). If we come to an agreement that “in moderation”, as long as screening and allowing regulating what is being played, many of these questions and concerns would subside. Video games and the virtual world can be viewed however one wishes to perceive it and it is our duty as consumers to either give them reason to be right, or to prove them otherwise.
Video Game-Based Therapy Helps Stroke Patients Recover Study
Video Game-Based Therapy Helps Stroke Patients Recover Study
ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2010) — Repeated exercise, even in a virtual environment, helped stroke patients improve arm and hand function, according to a new human study of an interactive video game-based therapy.
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The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego.
"We are using an innovative approach to rehabilitation," said study author Sergei V. Adamovich, PhD, of the New Jersey Institute of Technology. "In virtual environments, individuals with arm and hand impairment practiced tasks such as reaching and touching virtual objects. They took a cup from a shelf and put it on a table, hammered a nail, and even played a virtual piano."
Even years after a stroke occurs, people with disabled limbs still sometimes show improvement with therapy. Though recent studies have shown recovery is possible, researchers aim to further increase the amount of improvement in the speed and fluidity of motor control. In this study, 24 participants who had a stroke at least six months prior to therapy practiced with the video game for about 22 hours over a two-week period. With the aid of a robotic arm, individuals attempted increasingly difficult tasks. Adamovich and his colleagues observed that the volunteers moved their hands faster over the course of the tests.
The researchers also examined whether therapy changed the participants' brains to improve motor functions. In ongoing trials, the authors use transcranial magnetic stimulation and functional magnetic resonance imaging to map connections in the volunteers' brains as they undergo rehabilitation.
"Our preliminary data suggest that, indeed, robot-assisted training in virtual reality may be beneficial for functional recovery after chronic stroke," Adamovich said. "Furthermore, our data imply that this recovery may be particularly due to increased functional connections between different brain regions."
Research was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2010) — Repeated exercise, even in a virtual environment, helped stroke patients improve arm and hand function, according to a new human study of an interactive video game-based therapy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego.
"We are using an innovative approach to rehabilitation," said study author Sergei V. Adamovich, PhD, of the New Jersey Institute of Technology. "In virtual environments, individuals with arm and hand impairment practiced tasks such as reaching and touching virtual objects. They took a cup from a shelf and put it on a table, hammered a nail, and even played a virtual piano."
Even years after a stroke occurs, people with disabled limbs still sometimes show improvement with therapy. Though recent studies have shown recovery is possible, researchers aim to further increase the amount of improvement in the speed and fluidity of motor control. In this study, 24 participants who had a stroke at least six months prior to therapy practiced with the video game for about 22 hours over a two-week period. With the aid of a robotic arm, individuals attempted increasingly difficult tasks. Adamovich and his colleagues observed that the volunteers moved their hands faster over the course of the tests.
The researchers also examined whether therapy changed the participants' brains to improve motor functions. In ongoing trials, the authors use transcranial magnetic stimulation and functional magnetic resonance imaging to map connections in the volunteers' brains as they undergo rehabilitation.
"Our preliminary data suggest that, indeed, robot-assisted training in virtual reality may be beneficial for functional recovery after chronic stroke," Adamovich said. "Furthermore, our data imply that this recovery may be particularly due to increased functional connections between different brain regions."
Research was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
In RESPONSE To Sebastian.. The site wont let me comment so here it is...
The whole addiction to video games and the blog issuesand trouble is a bunch of bologny to me. People just have the craziest issues with internet. I believe that the only way that one will be successful at whatever theydo is to not be sooo damn emotional about everything that is negative and even positive because there has to be room for failure. There's no way that they'll all read our blog about what advice they need so our words won't help the whole world but at least the few we tried to make a difference to could see it. I sometimesfeel like people make blogs and stay on the internet forever because they don't have figure telling them how to react to stress and delimmas in life. OMG.. get some brainis what I say..
BLACK Friday & Holiday DEALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Nintendo Wii is on sale at Walmart for only $199.99 equaling $213.00 total on the New Red Nintendo Wii. My question is "is it really worth it?"
Well lets do a TOTAL EVALUATION....
The Wii at regular price is $249.00 plus tax is $266.00. The Wii game system on sale is $53 cheaper than what it usually is. Although Walmart is not giving the public a real "DEAL" they're completely making every dollar that the system costed them. The oneswho are really giving the deal is Nintendo. So really Walmart is not giving us a deal or a percentage off like they are making it seem and If you ask me they're not making any money off of the fact that we're buying the game if Walmart paid full price for the game then how are they making money?... Thats another question to answer for another day.. very technical. With all gaming systems on sale your getting all of the things that you'd get normally, such as the contoler and games. The only difference between buying the game from Walmart and buying it from Nintendo directly is the shipping fee. Tax is still included, and the price is still the same.
I saw a story about a company who analyzed black friday deals and found that most of the very things that Black Friday is suppose to be about are not true.. click on the video on the link below to see.
http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/money/consumer/dont_waste_your_money/6-black-friday-myths-
The Wii suppose to be good for work-outs, playing games, making people more active with the game than other games.
The Wii video games at Kohls are ALL 30% off and ALL video games No matter what brand it is are ALL $20 or cheaper.
http://www.black-friday.net/video-games-black-friday.html
So I guess it is worth it.. No shipping fees, no wait for your product, and you can even find games for a lot less.. The only thing I don't agreee with is sleeping outside the night before. =)
Addicted suicide over everquest
This is an interesting story and something that has to do with the dark side of the video game world. On the surface it looks as if a troubled kid who had some emotional issues was looking for an outlet to get out of the real world and everquest was it. This is a sad story where a kid was using video games for a positive reasoning to get out of the real world and to enjoy his life or have some sort of reasoning behind it. However in doing so tragedy occurs as it seems that Mr. Wooley was to addicted to the game and could not stop it for whatever reasoning. Being already in an emotional state the loss to a love online the character "Iluvyou" was it for him. The worst part behind this is that the character "iluvyou" could have been anyone. It could have been a devious male teen going around praying on kids just like Mr. Wooley. It is a sad issue and something that should be debated, is having games such as World of Warcraft and Everquest a good thing. It gives kids a way to become socially accepted however it takes them away from the real world. As Mrs. Wooley said, "Sean was nearing his end as he did not go to work, see family or friends, and eventually stopped cleaning his room and not allow anyone to come over." It has its positives but it also has its negatives when people start losing their lives over a game I think that the game has gone a little too far. The worst part about this story is that if the game had never existed would this young man be dead. Furthermore maybe if it didn't exist but if he wasn't introduced to it. I think the answer is he would still be alive. This was the platform that pushed him over the edge, if he was enjoying life and enjoying playing everquest it was only in that fashion as his real life completely dissapeared. I don't have the answer on what could be done in this situation but apparently something needs to be done. I have a few friends who have lost a lot of time in their lives due to a (MMORPG) Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. It hasn't hurt their health or dangered their lives however it has deteriorated their relationships with family and friends as they do nothing but sit in front of their computer screens all day. What bothered me is Sony the creators of Everquest thought their game had no responsibility in this child's death. They surely did not pull the trigger however Mr. Wooley did pull the trigger of a gun while sitting in front of his computer screen with the game on. If that isn't a statement that the game was partially to blame then I don't think you could ever leave a statement of why someone commits suicide. Society needs to find an alternative to these children or young teens getting lost in these games, there is nothing good that is going to come out of this and video games are supposed to be an outlet for entertainment not an outlet for an alternative life. We all have seen the World of Warcraft kid who had his account taken away by his mother, if kids are becoming that bad in regards to video game play this genre is not going in the right direction ethically but it is profitably. That in turn I guess is why nobody is doing anything for change as business is through the roof.
Addicted suicide over everquest
(CBS) Growing up in Wisconsin, Shawn Woolley was, at least on the surface, a happy kid.
His mother, Liz, was especially proud of his accomplishments, because, she says, Shawn struggled with learning disabilities and significant emotional problems.
But last year, he got a job and a new apartment. She did all she could to help him find his way; it wasn’t enough.
Last Thanksgiving, Shawn, 21, committed suicide. His mother found him at his apartment. He had shot himself at his computer. On the screen was the online computer game, Everquest.
Read more at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/17/48hours/main525965.shtml
His mother, Liz, was especially proud of his accomplishments, because, she says, Shawn struggled with learning disabilities and significant emotional problems.
But last year, he got a job and a new apartment. She did all she could to help him find his way; it wasn’t enough.
Last Thanksgiving, Shawn, 21, committed suicide. His mother found him at his apartment. He had shot himself at his computer. On the screen was the online computer game, Everquest.
Read more at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/17/48hours/main525965.shtml
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Recovery for Addicts
People are so addicted to video games that they make recovery centers for such a thing!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Women Gain prominence in video game world
Women have been belittled and shown not to belong when it comes to video gamers. They have been stereotyped against to not be willing to be competitive enough or able enough to play video games against boys. Their have been a billion dollar industry of video games for many and many of years. Video gamers have been playing forever but it has been mainly dominated by males. People in the Role Playing Game or RPG industry have been allowing women to play video games more and more of late. They have created games in where the main character is a female such as Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy X-2 respectively. Square Enix has created these games to get women to join in on the adventure and allow them to experience something that has been predominately a male activity. There has been more than enough women that want to play video games so the time was right for them to play. In a social view point I feel that women being apart of the video game world is a great thing. Who wouldn't want to be playing online and talking to a female about something that you both enjoy? It would be the ultimate ice breaker as well as the ultimate turn on to either be getting beat by a female gamer or to be playing a game and cooperating it together. I feel that it is time for females to join and with the creation of interactive games such as the Kinect, the PS3 move, and the Nintendo Wii it enables women to be more involved physically in the games as well. There has been many games created to enable women to lose wait or to keep up an excersize regiment. This is something that video games creators are hitting a home run with. There is a lot of housewives who have nothing better to do so are more than happy to play video games. This is something that I hope continues and that more and more women join in the awesome and exciting video game world.
Women gain prominence in video game world
Women gain prominence in video game world
| Posted 5/29/2006 4:56 PM ET | E-mail | Save | Print |  |
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By Sandy Cohen, The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Traditionally, the only women in video games were digital.
Think busty, pistol-packing Lara Croft of Tomb Raider, or the scantily clad walking pinups in Grand Theft Auto.
Beyond these stereotypical male fantasies, women were all but absent from the billion-dollar gaming industry.
But that's changing, thanks to a core female gamers who are increasing women's visibility and influence.
These women are programmers, designers, tech students and members of all-female gaming groups that compete against guys for cash and corporate sponsorships.
And experts say the industry stands to benefit.
"For this industry to mature and move on, it has to grow beyond just that 13- to 35-year-old male demographic," said Anthony Borquez, a professor who teaches video game production at the University of Southern California. "From a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense to engage women more."
Besides, sisters are doing it for themselves.
Amber Dalton and twin sister Amy Brady created the PMS Clan in 2002. Boasting international membership of nearly 500 women and girls, PMS — which stands for Pandora's Mighty Soldiers — is a competitive group that plays Xbox, PlayStation2 and PC games. Its members range in age from 9 to 58, Dalton said, but most are adults.
Learning about the Clan was "an epiphany" for game designer and devotee Felicia Williams.
"Finding a community where you can say that you play games was kind of like a confessional," said the 24-year-old New Yorker, who owns "every system ever released." "Having a support group out there that loves what you love, and seeing such a diverse group of successful, wonderful women is just hugely beneficial."
Clan members compete with each other and band together in professional tournaments. They also challenge the online harassment doled out by male gamers. PMS Clan rules prohibit "belittling or attacking others in any way, even in retaliation," according to its 30-page member manual.
Guys can be "vicious," said Dalton, 30.
"They say, 'You must be 300 pounds with a mustache,'" she said. "They hide behind the anonymity of (the game). Our group has a strict code of conduct. It takes someone showing the example."
The Clan's classy manners and tournament-worthy skills caught the attention of Microsoft.
The company hired the PMS Clan in April to represent Xbox Live. Rather than relying on public relations pros or "booth babes" to demonstrate its new games at May's E3 electronics expo, Xbox gave the duties to Clan members.
"They set great examples, not just for the female gamers, but for everybody," said Aaron Greenberg, a spokesman for Xbox Live. "They're serious. They practice. They're strict about being good to gamers."
Competitive female players also make gaming more social, he said.
Borquez, the USC professor, agreed. "They're creating unique ways of being able to communicate in games," he said. "Before it was all trash-talking."
Microsoft isn't the only company looking to competitive female gamers to promote products. Ubisoft, which produces games, assembled its own women-only gaming group, the Frag Dolls, nearly two years ago.
The seven-member Frag Dolls team touts new titles and competes in tournaments for the company, said spokesman Michael Beadle.
It was a surprise to find women who enjoyed hard-core gun-wielding games, he said, "and a pleasant surprise that they were really good."
"You only pick up these games to be real competitive," Beadle said.
Dalton said Clan members are also competitive in sports and business. Video games are just another outlet, she said.
Most members play about three hours a day. Halo 2 and Ghost Recon, both war games with male soldiers as main characters, are the top choices.
Role-playing games are also popular, said game designer Williams, adding that off-putting images in games that have women "portrayed as whores" may have kept some female players away.
Games reflect their designers, she said. But as more women enter the gaming industry, she expects to see more positive female characters.
Borquez has already seen creative contributions from the handful of female students in his video game classes. Their designs include sophisticated story lines, female characters and "shopping games of course," he said.
"It's hard to have a middle-aged male trying to design a game that would hit the interest of female gamers," he said. "For the industry to continue to develop, there needs to be innovation from various demographics. Having a female element is such a great added value."
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