Response | Video Games

Yoshi, I will always love you.

This week’s video game discussion has been really interesting. I’ve been playing video games since I was a little kid but never could’ve dreamed much far video games would evolve. Remember the super scope? I loved that thing. I wonder if 7 year-olds now-a-days will look back on today’s video games with the same sentimentality.

The commercial for Call of Duty was great, although a little disturbing. I liked how they’re expanding their target audience but, as someone said on Twitter, it kind of represents what’s wrong with America by glorifying warfare. Everyone’s a soldier? I don’t know. I wish we didn’t need soldiers, although I appreciate all that they do. I just saw on NPR that the new Call of Duty blasted last year’s sales. So I guess the campaign worked. I definitely think that video games and its contents are shaping our culture, and we should be careful what we’re putting out there. I remember hearing (again, on NPR) about a dispute regarding a video game that allows players to rape women. Eh. Come one now. That’s just ridiculous. Do we really need that? WHO is playing that game and where did they get funding to create it? Then again, we create bloody gory violent games that glorify the deaths of our “enemies,” so why not? Right? (joke.)

The video we watched on Wednesday was a little sad. I do hope those kids get help and more things can be put into place to prevent that type of addiction. A part of me wonders if (since addiction is linked to genes) those kids would’ve eventually been addicted to something in their lives if it hadn’t been for video games. This is not to say it’s ok to let a video game run your life, but I have a difficult time wrapping my head around the idea that something can be so captivating that one would quit her job and play a game 16 hours a day. I can definitely see how the internet and phones can be addicting (I get antsy when I don’t check my email for more than 8 hours), so maybe that’s how it starts.

Either way, this week’s topic has been pretty interesting, especially since it coincides with the games we’re creating in Flash.