Literacy
(noun) \ˈli-t(ə-)rə-sē\
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
The ability to read and write. The term may also refer to familiarity with literature and a basic level of education obtained through the written word.
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
The ability to read and write. The term may also refer to familiarity with literature and a basic level of education obtained through the written word.
How can video game experience be considered a form of literacy?
In the past fifteen years, video games have become so vastly complex that in order to win, players must master certain skills and acquire certain information in the early stages so that he can succeed in later stages of the game.
Games have developed into worlds where there are many different individual and overlapping goals that a player must achieve step by step. This mirrors the way we learn to read, write and accomplish pretty much everything else in our lives; by a trial-and-error process that utilizes learned information to help us along the way. |
This, James Paul Gee argues, makes video game experience a form of literacy. Experience breeds familiarity and, by making himself more familiar with a particular game, the user is thus becoming more literate in the "language of the game" so to speak.
For example, the best way to learn Italian is to spend time in Italy, and in the same light, the best way to gain skill in a video game is to play it. The more time the user spends playing the game, the more experiences he has to draw from, and therefore, the more he has to help further his progress in the game. |
Ok, so if video games really are a form of literacy, then users need to familiarize themselves with the game in order to become more literate...
...but what is it about video games that grasps our attention so firmly?
In Seven ways games reward the brain, Tom Chatfield explains how video games excite our brains and hold our attention long enough to reach its later stages. Most games use a carefully crafted reward system rooted in probability and logic in order to keep the user engaged. So, according to Chatfield, games reward our brains by...
OK, so now that we know how games keep our attention...
but what sort of benefits and drawbacks to they offer?
The ability to reflect important social and economic values
In his book, Persuasive Games, Ian Bogost claims that video games have the power to reflect certain social and economic values. He cites many games, including Animal Crossing, as examples. Animal Crossing is a game in which the player is brought to a new town, essentially broke, and must start a new life. The player is offered an opportunity to work for the town's businessman, who in turn provides a place to stay. Throughout the game, the user deals with both long and short term debt and must make decisions based on fiscal responsibility. Despite this, Bogost claims, the game itself will not simply instill these values into the player. Video games are unique in the fact that they requre a great deal of interactivity with the user. Even though the situation presents itself in the game no matter what, it is ultimately the user who makes the decision to spend money to pay the mortgage, or to spend money on junk.
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The violence issue
Violence is certainly a big concern that many have with games, but is there any substantial evidence to the claim that violent games are harmful to mental health? A study by the Indiana School of Medicine shows that violent video games may be linked to changes in brain activity. The study took an equal number of students, all within the same age range, and split them into two groups. The first group had no exposure to violent games of any kind for two weeks. The second group played violent, war-type games for the two-week period. The study found a considerable difference in the activity of the frontal lobe, the area of the brain that aids in controlling anger and aggression. The control group showed little to no difference over the course of the week, but the exposed group's frontal lobe activity was greatly reduced.
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So if violent video games negatively affect the brain, should they be taken off the shelves?
Bogost would probably say no. He would argue that the violence is simply a reflection of an actual violent situation, and therefore playing the game would not be a traumatic experience. Violent war games could even be considered a beneficial practice-round for those entering the military.
The point is this: video games are whatever the user makes of them. Games like Animal Crossing can teach important values, so long as the player makes the right choices. We have to remember that it is a game; and the user is the one with full control. This is an important distinction to make because no matter how life-like future video games may be, they are nothing without user involvement.
Bogost would probably say no. He would argue that the violence is simply a reflection of an actual violent situation, and therefore playing the game would not be a traumatic experience. Violent war games could even be considered a beneficial practice-round for those entering the military.
The point is this: video games are whatever the user makes of them. Games like Animal Crossing can teach important values, so long as the player makes the right choices. We have to remember that it is a game; and the user is the one with full control. This is an important distinction to make because no matter how life-like future video games may be, they are nothing without user involvement.