Introduction
The current world has had a great deal of revolution in so many sectors, one of them being the information sector which has been promoted greatly by the invention of computer and other related gadgets. Such inventions have been followed by a number of other technological developments that have come to capture the interest of so many people in the society since these new discoveries have made life so simple as far as the process of handling tasks that were so hard to tackle in the past is concerned.
Besides simplifying life, information technology has provided entertainment facilities that have formed the major landmark in the contemporary world of fun. One of the greatest inventions in the entertainment field is the discovery of video games. These games have had a great influence in the minds of people, especially the children who have stopped playing the usual games on the fields to sticking on the computer and television screens playing video games.
This research paper will extensively expound on the way the video games are interconnected with information, technology, and society. It begins by offering a brief history of video games industry, which will followed by a discussion on the relationship between video games, technology and society.
Brief History of Video Games
The term “Video game” is a generic term that is used to describe any type of electronic device meant for entertainment purposes. The device is handheld and audio-visual. The history of video is known to have emerged from the Cathode Ray Amusement Device. The cathode tubes were missile defense systems that were in use in the late 1940s.
Since the tubes were being used for the defense purposes, modifications were being made from time to time. The modification of the defense system meant that the video games were being simplified into a more adaptable and useful products. In the late 1950s and 1960s, numerous computers had been developed, particularly the main frame computers, personal computers and consequently the handheld games (Gunter, 1998).
Video Games and Media and Communication
The technology behind the video games has drastically evolved with time due to the dynamic characteristic of technology, especially information systems.
Video games have a great relationship with media and communication in the sense that they are developed on the same platform of technology due to the fact they all revolve around the information systems that basically involve the computers. The technology behind the video games have emanated from an integration of two types of media, which involves the audiovisual and the graphical games.
These are designed with great expertise to imitate the real games and actions that are played in the real life situation (Downing, 2010). These games have brought great changes compared to the normal audiovisual entertainment that does not give the audience a chance to participate, but the video games have an interface that offers an opportunity for people to interact with the players in the game.
Another major connection between video games and media and communication is the fact both are used in conveying a variety of information to people in different ways. This happens in the sense that these two areas of media offer an interactive format which gives people a virtual arena to learn so many things that are happening in the world.
For instance, some games are created to depict common sports hence people learn the tactics used in playing those games in reality. Video games have also come to compliment what the usual media forms used to offer in the past. It is very clear that the usual media and communication facilities such as television, magazines, and books did not offer an interactive platform for children to learn new skills (Jozefowicz, 2009).
But video games, on the contrary, have improved the way information essential for kids to learn is conveyed, whereby video games have altered the format by offering children or any person an opportunity to interact with the game through participation. Thus, in the course of one playing the game, there is a great impact that is imposed on the person with regards to gaining knowledge.
Several skills are learned in the process of playing video games which enables an individual to develop the capacity to handle challenges and maneuver them in a tactical manner. These also inculcates the power of reasoning and fast thinking since most of them involve activities that have challenging tasks that a person is needed to do and possibly win.
They also enable an individual to have a pursuing attitude in life due to the fact most of the video games have levels which one goes escalating as he or she maneuver the challenges. This levels and the pursuit of the player to reach the highest level possible makes a person to have mentality of not losing hope in life.
Other games are created to convey messages touching on the society such as peace, harmony and environment, which are very important issues in life. The aspect that makes video games to have some commonalities with media and communication especially in the current world of technology is the mode of storage and conveyance.
All these forms of media can be stored in very complex gadgets which are extremely small, convenient and with big capacity such as the compact disks, cartridges, flash disks, micro SD cards and even in the Internet in various ways such as the emails. They can also be moved from one point to another in a very efficient manner by use the same gadgets. Video games have also taken after media and communication in the sense that they are also changing with time. That is, from analogue to digital technology.
This has taken over in many areas and at the same time led to the transformation of gadgets from the bulky size to small portable gadgets. This has become a trend in every sector of media and communication tool and also gadgets used for communication such as mobile phones have been installed with video games which are on digital format (Entertainment Software Association, 2011).
Video Games and Marketing Perspective
In the contemporary world, video games have become a major product for a majority of people, especially the young generation who have become the biggest consumers of these games. According to Holmes (2010), most people in the present world that is flooded with a lot of technological have shifted from the physical outdoor recreational activities to indoor less tiring games that are provided through computers and other related gadgets.
There are also some recreational places that have made these venture a commercial enterprise where people go to relax as they play games. At the same time there are people who like watching sports such as soccer on the television screens and wish to virtually participate in the game. Such instances have led to the development of video games that involve sports hence they offer such kind of people an opportunity to enjoy playing the game using the players they like and the teams they support.
Video games have therefore captured a wide range of consumers thus translating to thee growth of their market. With the invention of video games and their dynamic nature, a wide a range of market has cropped up since the number of consumers has increased considerably. Many business people have started venturing in this industry starting all the way to create video games to retailing them.
The increased demand for these games have also made video games developers to research deeply on more advanced technology to integrate in the games so as to remain competitive in the market. For instance, independent game developers are nowadays using the Internet rather than conventional retail channels to reach customers. As computing and graphics power has increased, many firms have also grown to house increasing graphical and programming complexities.
The market for video games have also been highly promoted by the association of most of the video games with real activities such as movies and sports that have been set in a graphical manner to be played by people as video games. This development has been accelerated by the fact that most people are fanatics of some of these recreational activities but they only enjoy them by watching on television and cinema screens. For example, FIFA and Sony are the leading organizations in collaborating with developers of soccer video games.
Therefore, since most of these activities have now been transformed into games, such people become so excited playing them since they can now virtually feel as though they are taking part in the scenes when they are playing the games. This transformation has led to a great rise in the market of video games. Many factors have also played a major role in marketing the video games in various ways hence making this venture to be well known across the world.
One of the common way through which video games have been advertised is by use of the Internet which provides a wider view since it covers all over the globe. Video games are therefore displayed on the advertising websites and other sites especially the social networks since they have a big number of viewers (Jacko, 2009). They are marketed by use of word of mouth. For instance, a child can inform another about a news video in the market hence making that kid to insist of having the same.
Video game dealers also give promotions to their customers which are one of the best ways of attracting more customers and at the same time creating royal consumers. The origin of video games has also become the major player in marketing video games. Video games that are created on the basis of captivating movies or sports do very well in the market since their origin already has a captivating nature.
Characters used in the video games can also be another crucial aspect that attracts the attention of customers because many people wish to play games that have their favorite movie star, cartoon star or player in a certain sport. Such characters act as very important tools of marketing the video games.
The introduction and commercialization of video games have also contributed a lot to the improvement of the economy in various ways. One of the ways is by acting as an income generating venture to those people who develop the video games. It also acts as a source of employment to many people, starting from those who work at the production level to those who are at the distributing and retailing platform.
They also offer a wide range of other job opportunities such that there are people who work as sales and marketing personnel and others who start businesses that involve offering recreational environment by playing games at a fee. The business of video games has also earned countries with revenue in the form of tax. All these forms of revenue generating sectors have influenced positively the economy in general.
Historical Development of Video Games
As earlier mentioned, video games have undergone a great deal of evolution as far as technology is concerned. The earliest video game made its debut in the business arena back in 1971 and was called the computer space. It made a landmark in the recreational sector during this decade across America and other regions such Europe and Asia (Japan).
Nevertheless, this industry was faced by major setbacks in the course of its teething stage since it had not set firm technological roots. Various companies that had started making video games were directed to dispose their stock of video games that seemed to be in obsolescence due to poor standards of technology that led to low quality games.
These challenges even went to a point of afflicting the American video game industry with worse effects such total closure of the trade. This led to the transfer of the venture from United States of America to Japan, which seemed to have the competence technology wise to improve the gaming discovery and development (Wikipedia, 2011).
The gaming market for video games still remained strong despite the fact that the market for video games was negatively affected. But this was not the case in Japan since the development of video games went on as usual and actually grew stronger because this country was working really hard on their technological expertise to ensure that they remain at the top.
Various generations of computer games came up following one another in Japan, but it became very hard for other corporations in places such as USA and Europe to keep with pace and competence of Japan.
It was not until the development of the fourth generation of the video games that at least USA and Europe were able to have the required knowledge to facilitate them to have a share in this new generation. But at the same they were not as equipped as Japan hence the latter went on dominating in the industry. This went till the introduction of the sixth generation of video games that had a different company other than only a Japanese affiliated corporation to deal with.
All in all, this was just a passing cloud for America since with the introduction of portable gadgets that would be used to play video games, the glory that USA had started basking under began fading away since they had not created a firm technological platform to enable them to compete successfully. Japanese video game companies went on doing very well in the industry especially in the development of portable gadgets that contained games such as mobile phones, PSPs, and other electronic devices.
These set Japan at a very favorable position in the gaming market hence making them to dominate in this industry for quite some time. The evolution of video game was so dynamic and seemed perpetual since even to this date there are so many new form of games that are being developed to suite the current generation that has been drowned in the advanced technologies, especially revolving around computer systems and the Internet.
Improvements have been made and keep on being done so as to meet the demands of the present customers and at the same time, companies that deal with making video games are working hard to remain competent and create loyal customers for their games. The invention of other technologies such as the Internet has also marked the history of the gaming industry in various ways. The internet has led to the elevation of computer games to activities that can be accessed, shared and played by people in different locations online.
Another historical landmark in the video games venture is the introduction of the 3-D (three dimension) technology which has completely transformed the gaming interfaces to a more realistic, interactive and interesting format. The history of video games therefore becomes longer as time goes by because there are so many changes that are being made as result of the need to keep at par with the dynamic nature of technology and the needs of society (Jacko, 2010).
Future Implications of Video games on Society
There are number of influences that the video games will have in the future, whereby some will be positive while others will be negative. Positive implications may include a number of factors that endorse the fact that these games really have some benefits to the consumer. Video games have depicted some positive aspects that can be advantage if put into use.
For instance, some companies and national departments in America have adopted the trend of using g certain games to employ and orient people to the tasks they are going to handle in the job place. This has been discovered to be a much efficient way of recruiting and training new employees since these games are consistent and do not have any partiality.
At the same time they can always be updated depending on the amendments that have cropped up. The use of video games in recruiting new employees is also very economical since it does not require a panel of professional trainers to undertake this task as it has always been in the past or else in the areas that have not integrated such kind of mechanism in their system. This technology is also advantageous since it can be used by a chain of companies since it has a conventional nature.
Video games have also been proved to be used in learning new skills in various activities such as in sports, whereby children have adopted the system of playing video games with the aim of learning how to play real games such as soccer (Raise Smart Kids, 2011). Other people also play some games that are based on the idea of racing cars to learn more skills of driving. Gaming has also been used by the military personnel to teach themselves new skills of defense.
Video games, besides being used as a learning tool are also used as a recreational facility, in which people relax at home or in their offices after a hard day’s work and play these games to relief them the stresses of the day and work. This trend is deemed to continue in future.
Children also play video games at home after school to keep them occupied and give them an opportunity to relax and interact with each other. Video games have added the number of recreational activities in the leisure places which has created a diversified the pleasures of such places. Parents who go with their kids to places of recreation do not have any worry since they know their kids will also have a good time playing video games with other children.
Gaming has also been used as a method of lowering a person’s depression caused by sad situations that a person meets in life. It has also been proven that people who frequently play video games have a better ability to handle tough tasks in their job places than those who rarely or do not play at all. This is a clear indication that video games sharpen a person’s expertise since most of them subject a person to very difficult virtual tasks (Jacko, 2009).
With reference to the preceding facts, one can realize that the current generation which has been entrenched in video games will have a higher ability of maneuvering in many ways as far as solving tasks and doing sports is concerned.
Video games also enables people to utilize their skills virtually which could be very difficult to do or attain in real life since some of the real life activities are very hard to access or very expensive to set up. For instance, a person might be yearning to have an experience of participating in a certain movie or sport but cannot do that in reality.
That person is able to have an experience closer to what he or she wished to have by playing a video game. Gaming will also decrease the number of social misdemeanors that are perpetrated due to idleness because most of the young generations are preoccupying their minds by playing video games hence avoiding them from staying idle (Jozefowicz, 2009). Actually this is making them to develop a creative mind since these games jog their minds.
However, video games will also have some terrible negative effects to the present generation in future in many ways. Some games have violent themes which if played may induce a nature of violence in the minds of the players.
Gunter (1998) outlines that children tend to become so vulnerable to violent aggressions with one another as they try to imitate what is done on the computer games. Some kids also develop a tendency of wanting to experiment what they are doing in such games and since some of the video games are based on very abstract or complicated theories, they end up falling victims of very perilous encounters.
Violent video games have also led to drug abuse and alcoholism which at the end have resulted to serious crimes. Video games will also pose great danger to the health of many people due to the fact that they are less physical hence making such people to develop health conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart diseases due to lack of proper exercise (Downing, 2010).
Video Games and Human Needs
The objective of video games is not only entertainment, but also providing psychological needs, at least in a short period. The more a player succeeds in playing the game, the more he or she keeps playing it. It helps people to reduce stress as it improves the player’s hearing and touching senses. In addition, successful individuals are deemed to gain vitality after playing such games because of the challenges encountered in different stages of play (JS, 2007).
However, too much gaming can also predispose people to mental problems such as being so aggressive, withdrawal behavior, in which a person does not want to socialize with people, and acute insanity due to being brainwashed by the scenes in the games. Playing video games can also become addictive which if not checked early might make people to stop working so as to play games.
Such instances can cause gross problems in the work places between the staff and the executive since the employees do not work as expected due to the fact they use the working hour playing games on their computer and mobile phones. Video games have led to poor performance of students in schools since most of them dedicate all their time to playing video games hence lacking time to study (Raise Smart Kids, 2009).
Conclusion
In a nut shell, it can be concluded that video games era has had a great impact on peoples’ lives especially the computer literate generation. Video games have changed so many things in the society in a diversified manner. Some effects have posed the society with positive implications while others have subjected people to very adverse situations.
The discovery of video games have also changed so many things and at the same time made life so easy since activities that could only be done on the actual set up can now be efficiently and interestingly be done on the screens of television, computers or displays of some electronic gadgets.
The introduction of video games has also made electronic companies to be on their toes so as to remain competitive in the gaming market. This has led to the formation of very sophisticated gadgets that have state- of- art video games as one of the applications to compliment these gadgets such as the mobile phones, iPods and iPads.
References
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JS, Yahoo! Contributor Network. (2007). Video Game Playing May Fulfill Innate Human Need: Study. Web.
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