75461 SPSS ORDER

Introduction

Video games for a very long time had been exclusive for those often called nerds or geeks and often suffer abuse or bullying because of it. But over time, video games as a hobby is becoming more acceptable with their peers as handheld consoles and home consoles are being enjoyed by both children and adults alike. With the introduction of smartphones and the thousands upon thousands of accessible games often downloadable for free on the app store, the hobby is becoming less of a niche and more of a norm. It is no longer a rare sight to see a middle age man playing some degree of video game on their smartphone, computer, or a dedicated home console. The hobby is now being openly enjoyed by everyone away from the scrutiny of others. But as video games start to gain traction in the mainstream media platforms, many begin to wonder or speculate the negative and positive impacts video games have on the player’s life. Video games have always been a controversial topic for debate. It’s often that we hear news shows blaming violence on video games due to the playful use of firearms in these games. It is also equally frequent to see news articles on the internet denying the relationship and causation of video games and violence. It is to this end that I would dedicate my time to explore all the impacts video games have on the player base. I would like to look through both the positive and negative effect video games have  on multiple aspects of the players life such as their social behaviours in and out of the game, emotional state, increased aggression (if any), reasons for playing, and how they view video games as a part of their life.

I believe that due to the recent rise in popularity and general public acceptance (mainstream media and personalities openly admitting or supporting video game titles), it is necessary to fully understand the effect it has on those that spend most of their days playing. I see a necessity in understanding these effects to be able to move forward and focus on the positive impacts and hopefully lessen the negatives.

For this paper, I would like to focus on the player base that spends a great deal of time playing video games. I will exclude more or less casual gamers who play for a few minutes on a bus stop or those that spend a few hours on a crossword puzzle game on their phone. I will also narrow down my research on those video games that include a community to talk, interact, and play with or against to be able to easily compare and contrast the players’ online persona with their real life counterpart. I would further narrow this down to the largest target demographic of video games, teenagers (13-19 years old) and young adults (20-30), due to their larger amount of free time to dedicate to the hobby.

Literature Review

I have first taken a look at the article, “Influences of motives to play and time spent gaming on the negative consequences of adolescent online computer gaming,” by Charlotta Hellstrom, Kent Nilsson, Jerzy Leppert, and Cecilia Aslund. In this article, it was found that most adolescents reported negative consequences from their gaming habits such as lack of sleep, unable to complete or start their school works, and conflict with their parents or siblings. Aside from these common consequences, some also report skipping school for video games, and having no time to play or interact with their friends in real life. The article also found a relation between the amounts of time spent gaming and experiencing negative consequences due to it. Finally, the authors focused on motives as a driving factor for the negative consequences it has on the players. It was found that if a player uses video game as an escape from their daily lives, they are at risk for greater negative consequences as opposed to those that play video games for fun or for social motives. Comment by François Lachapelle: No need for that. Use APA format

From the article, “The Multiple Dimensions of video game effects,” by Douglas Gentile, found similar trend of increased negative consequence with increased time spent playing video games. In addition, this research also found a link or relation between time spent playing video games and obesity. But despite that, it also focused on the potential positives video games could have such as the integration of educational video games for schools. This article further looks into different dimensions of video games such as content, context, structure, and mechanics to fully grasp different effects since video games can be a nebulous subject. Content can vary greatly from educational to violent, and context can include mindless violence to organized team work. “Critics often cite the research on the effects of violent video games, whereas proponents often cite the research on perceptual skills. The irony is that both the critics and proponents are correct about the effects that games can have. The flaw is that they extend their arguments to conclude that video games are ultimately harmful or beneficial.” (Gentile, 2011). Comment by François Lachapelle: Quote too long. Also need page number. See APA format.

Through this research, I found it abundantly clear that there are negative consequences for playing video games. But unlike how it’s painted in the media, there are positive effects as well. Things like increased performance in team oriented activities, decision making abilities, improved hand-eye coordination are just some common positive effect video games have on the players. Much like the first article reviewed, many researches fall into the category of pros and cons and often find results supporting their conclusions. While not necessarily incorrect, it ignores a large chunk of consequences of video games. Similar to the second article, I wish to pursue this topic from both sides of the spectrum and expose all consequences both positive and negative to let the audience decide whether or not video games is ultimately good for their lives. I also believe that as video game reach spreads towards both the younger and the young adult population, I find it necessary to extend the sample age range from solely teenagers to include young adults as well.

Conclusion

Video games today are more than just a hobby to some. It can be used as an escape from their mundane lives or a mean to socialize or interact with others. Due to the recent acceptance of video games to our society, I can firmly state that it is necessary to put further research on effects it has on the populations. Understanding these effects to the fullest would allow us to make changes or regulate certain types of games to better cater to the audience to focus on the positive impacts and reduce the negatives. While I don’t believe it’s possible to eliminate the negatives entirely, I know that awareness of the negatives is a great first step towards the betterment of society and the video gaming community all together.

References

Hellström, C., Nilsson, K. W., Leppert, J., Åslund, C., Medicinska och farmaceutiska vetenskapsområdet, Uppsala universitet, . . . Centrum för klinisk forskning, Västerås. (2012). Influences of motives to play and time spent gaming on the negative consequences of adolescent online computer gaming. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(4), 1379-1387. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.02.023

Gentile, D. A. (2011). The multiple dimensions of video game effects. Child Development Perspectives, 5(2), 75-81. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00159.

Clement, a few comments here. First, your paper is 3 and a half pages. We asked for 4-5 pages. Secondly, how can you do a lit review while discussing two articles as listed in your references? In the future, I would expect more efforts.

HYPOTHESES:

POPUPATION:

In theory, your target population is good, but in practice, I don’t think its realistic. Remember you need to find 100 participants that will fit that. Please review accordingly.

For this paper, I would like to focus on the player base that spends a great deal of time playing video games. I will exclude more or less casual gamers who play for a few minutes on a bus stop or those that spend a few hours on a crossword puzzle game on their phone. I will also narrow down my research on those video games that include a community to talk, interact, and play with or against to be able to easily compare and contrast the players’ online persona with their real life counterpart. I would further narrow this down to the largest target demographic of video games, teenagers (13-19 years old) and young adults (20-30), due to their larger amount of free time to dedicate to the hobby.

Grade

Intro: 7

Synthesis and critique of relevant research materials: 10

Conclusion: 5

Style: 3.5