Er spill kilden til alt ondt?

Dette er en still jeg skrev i Engelsken en stund tilbake. Den begynner bra syns jeg, men dabber utover. Vær så snill og unskyld skrivefeil og gramatik feil.

Are videogames the source to all evil?

Many people would say yes to this question. Many people would swear that this is a fact. But why? Why have videogames such a bad reputation? Why do some people, in lack of better words, hate videogames?
Is it to do with the violence in videogames? Or is it something else?
In this text I am going to reflect on these questions. I am going to see both good and bad thing about videogames.

Videogames are the newest entertainment medium. It has an enormous growth right now. More and more people are joining the wave. Many people are almost addicted to videogames.
One of the reasons that videogames get ‘blamed for everything' is that it is so new. That is my opinion. New things are often misjudged as bad thing. Music is a good example of this. Rock music was the product of the devil for some time.

Back to videogames. Some of the things videogames are blamed for are school shootings. According to a lawyer called Jack Thompson all school shooting are results of violent videogames. Three minutes after the Virginia Tech shooting he was out claiming that the game Counter Strike (CS) was to blame for the shooters actions. They didn't even know who exactly the shooter was at that time.
Jack Thompson has his own crusade against videogames. Every time there is a nasty bank robbery or a school shooting, or every kind of shooting for that matter, he is the first one to go out to the press and say that ‘they practiced in videogames'.
He has also sued a game producer that makes games for the schools in England. The games that they make are quiz games with questions from the lessons they have.
Why could that be so dangerous?

Jack Thompson is not the only one trying to kill videogames as an entertainment source. There was some buss about a game called Mass Effect some time ago. There was a children book writer that claimed the game was a pure sex game. You could go round and have sex with anyone. That is wrong. There is only ONE time you could have sex. You didn't have to do it ether. She claimed that this game had bad influence on children. That might be. But the game is rated M for Mature. The age 17 and up. There was one guy that defended the game and he asked: "Have you ever played the game?" Her answer: "NO!" in a What kind of person do you think I am? way. It speaks for it self.

Violence in videogames are the reason many of these people blame them. They want violent videogames banished from this earth. That's just stupid. If seeing violence is the reason, why do they show us that in the new? Or in 99% of all movies? The answer according to them, you take place in the killing. You do the killing.
I wont deny that many videogames is killing games. Games like Manhunter and so on are games with the point of killing. But so what? Better than doing it for real.

Games can be just as an escape from reality. You can let out your anger and kill many people in the game. When I am very angry I sit down. Turn on my PlayStation 3 and play a game to calm my self down. It works very well.
It is also proven that videogames are increasing your ability to concentrate and your ability to react. Videogames are a good way to handle stress and as I said earlier, anger.

People say that gamers (people that play games) are fat and lazy people. That is also wrong. Those who have games for a living say that almost more important than training in the game is training for real. You have to be in physically good shape to be a good gamer.
Many developers have taken action to make games healthier. Nintendo Wii is the best at this point. When you play Nintendo Wii you have to move around to make things happen in the game. When you play golf you have to move your arm like real golf. Same with bowling, baseball, boxing and tennis.
The things that I mentioned there were games that follows with the Wii when you by it. It has also been developed a game called Wii Fitness. A training game.

Parents are the one that are most negative to games. They say that it makes my grades go down. I don't have time for school work etc. In some cases this can be true. But my English grade has gone up after I started playing games. A game teaches us plots, characters and stories. Most games have very good stories that can match even the most exciting book. In some games the choices you make effects your characters emotions for people or how he turns out to be. This makes it better then a book I think. You can understand more easily why it becomes like that.

Another thing that videogames have against themselves is the graphics. They are getting more and more realistic. The ‘enemies' of videogames says that the more realistic the thinner the line between games and reality becomes. They say that it is easier to become a killer, you toughen up and get used to killing. Making it easier to do it in real life.
I think that is wrong too.
The more realistic the games are, the more realistic the reactions of the people you kill are. You can se the consequences of your actions better. You can se the expression in someone's face. I have played games for almost 10 years and I know I'm not capable of killing a person. And I play shooting games almost all the time.

There has been a lot about online games in the media lately. They say that it more addicting than heroin. I cant deny that. But if people drop out of school, almost never sleep or eat just to play videogames, they have a serious problem. They need help.
That it is this story that comes out in the media just makes the vision on games worse. I had a friend that had the grade 2 in English. After he started play a online game he went up to a 4, in some cases a 5. When you play online games you can learn about other people and cultures. In most games you can talk to them.
I have made a lot of friend's trough games.

There is also said that games ruins your social life. You just stays home and play all day long.
That is very wrong. I think that it is boring to play games alone. I like to play games with friends more than alone. I can play against friends online and chat with them trough a microphone. Or just have one in the chair next to me and play with him. Games does actually makes your social life better. When we have a birthday or a party at home we often turns on Guitar Hero or Singstar. Also called party games. Games that are made for parties and many people.

So are games the source of all evil?
No, its just the new guy. The one everyone put the blame on.