Research paper
To Play, or not to Play, That Is The Question
Video games were one of the few things that I grew up around and still interest me up until today. I still remember the first time I ever came in contact with video games. My dad was playing “Quake” on his computer, a 3D first person shooter game, and my five year old me was just fascinated by those vivid colors and fast moving objects inside that small monitor. On the way from work, he would bring more games back home and play them one by one during his free time, and I would watch beside him eagerly. Soon enough, my parents bought me a “SEGA” console. That moment was probably the beginning of my gaming life. Luckily, my parents weren’t as strict as the usual Asian parents, so I had a huge amount of free time. I would play my newly bought console as soon as I came from school from noon up until dinner. The concept of controlling a fantasy character or driving a car virtually was just amazing to me.
As the years passed by, video games became more and more popular, especially among teenagers and young adults. Judging by how my very conservative grandparents play “Angry birds” on their phone, I believe that nowadays, almost everyone who has access to technology has been exposed to some type of video game.
However, there is a common understanding that video games have only negative impacts on those who play them. Many people assume that video gamers are socially awkward, and deemed as having “No life”. Especially parents fear that video games might have a bad influence on their child. A recent survey conducted by the Center for American Progress and the Common Sense Media, revealed that “75% out of 10.5 thousand parents who had a child under 18 living at their house assumed that violent video games contributed to violence.” (Common Sense Media) There are also a great number of speculations that video games are highly addictive and promote irresponsible behaviors such as skipping chores, homework, and bad
Video games were one of the few things that I grew up around and still interest me up until today. I still remember the first time I ever came in contact with video games. My dad was playing “Quake” on his computer, a 3D first person shooter game, and my five year old me was just fascinated by those vivid colors and fast moving objects inside that small monitor. On the way from work, he would bring more games back home and play them one by one during his free time, and I would watch beside him eagerly. Soon enough, my parents bought me a “SEGA” console. That moment was probably the beginning of my gaming life. Luckily, my parents weren’t as strict as the usual Asian parents, so I had a huge amount of free time. I would play my newly bought console as soon as I came from school from noon up until dinner. The concept of controlling a fantasy character or driving a car virtually was just amazing to me.
As the years passed by, video games became more and more popular, especially among teenagers and young adults. Judging by how my very conservative grandparents play “Angry birds” on their phone, I believe that nowadays, almost everyone who has access to technology has been exposed to some type of video game.
However, there is a common understanding that video games have only negative impacts on those who play them. Many people assume that video gamers are socially awkward, and deemed as having “No life”. Especially parents fear that video games might have a bad influence on their child. A recent survey conducted by the Center for American Progress and the Common Sense Media, revealed that “75% out of 10.5 thousand parents who had a child under 18 living at their house assumed that violent video games contributed to violence.” (Common Sense Media) There are also a great number of speculations that video games are highly addictive and promote irresponsible behaviors such as skipping chores, homework, and bad
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