Evolution of Video

Games

How we got to what we play today

Video Games...Good

For You?

Max Hooper-Clark answers that

question

Kids Who Play Vid-

eo Games ‘Unfit’ For

School

A school in England thinks so

Video Games Good For You……………………………..3

Kids Who Play Video Games ‘Unfit’ For School…...………4

Evolution of Video Games..……………………………..6

Kids+Video Games=Disasater?…..…………………..8

Are You ADDICTED To Video Games….………….10

This magazine is a focus on the popular subject: video games. They are a very large part of today’s society and part of our children’s life and even our life.

Vol. 1, Issue #1

March 30, 2012

Table of Contents A special thanks to....Mr. Ashe

2

By: Max Hooper-CLark

VIDEO GAMES... GOOD FOR YOU?

A recent study shows that some video games can actually be very

beneficial to you, if played in moderation. Certainly not all video

games are good for you, like violent ones where there is no real ob-

jective that requires you to think. But some video games out there

are proven to sharpen your decision making skills, your problem

solving skills and your hand eye coordination skills.

To help prove this theory there has been many tests done, includ-

ing a test on young surgeons. They got a large group of surgeons to

do a fake surgery, but before the surgery half of them played video

games and the other half did not. The results were pretty significant.

The surgeons who played video games did a much better job in the

surgery. They were faster and made less mistakes.

Another test was done on a group of 7th and 6th graders. They

were tested to see how well they could focus in school and just in gen-

eral while regularly playing video games. Once again their problem

solving skills improved and they had a longer attention span, instead

of a shorter one, which many people argue video games cause.

Gears of Games

3

Kids who play games are ‘unfit’ for school? By: David MacDonald

There has been a recent report done by the Metro in the Unit-

ed Kingdom that claims children who play video games are

unfit for school. While children staying up late to play a video

game is a bit unreasonable, the newspaper goes out right and

says they should not play any games at all. The research is

not even that great. It simply says that 78% of the 26 children

asked if they play games play every night. It says that 42%

play games with an ESRB rating of Mature and Teen.

One teacher at a Plymouth primary school says the kids

are becoming lazy, acting rudely, and are doing poorly in

class. These are claims done by a teacher who only asked 26

kids out of a school of several hundred. Then, the same

teacher tried to tell parents how to parent their own children.

The largest problem is that the research shows no corre-

lation between number of hours playing a video game and the

skills in the classroom. Then the research blames violent vid-

eo games as the cause for children doing poorly in school. It

seems as though, now, the anti-gaming community is becom-

ing desperate to put down video games

Gears of Games

4

ing any ghosts that move around the level.

This game was so fun because there were little

fruit that would pop up at random times that

you could get to collect extra points, and there

were big dots that you could get that could

make the ghosts powerless, meaning you

could eat them for points too!

In 1983, video games as we know it changed

completely. Japanese video game company,

Nintendo, released the Nintendo Entertain-

ment System (NES). This system was so huge

that some people today still play it and its

games. Nintendo created the biggest and most

popular video games in the history of video

games, such as the world famous Super Mario

Bros. There was nothing more fun than con-

trolling this little plumber through these mag-

ical levels throughout the Mushroom King-

dom, collecting coins, defeating enemies and

overcoming obstacles to save Mario's love,

Princess Peach. Mario and Nintendo became

so huge that a 1991 survey shows that children

were more able to identify Mario than the

world famous, legendary, cartoon icon Mickey

Mouse!

In 1994, yet another consol came and

changed the way video games were played!

The Nintendo 64 (N64) continues to be the

most popular gaming consol of all time. The

N64 was the console that played the biggest,

and most popular titles known to gaming,

such as Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario

64, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

The N64 was the first consol to bring 3D

Video games are one of today's most popular

sources of entertainment. In the past 40 years,

video games have evolved in such incredible

ways. Technology has really been on our side

when it comes to these household entertain-

ment systems. From moving one stick to con-

trol a paddle and a ball, to physically interact-

ing as the character on the screen, video

games have come along way, keeping us ask-

ing "what will they come up with next?"

Whenever you think of the evolution of video

games, or think of old classic video games, you

probably think of the famous Pong. Pong was

a game in witch two people controlled their

own paddle and could move it up and down

their side of the screen. A ball would bounce

back and forth the screen off each paddle and

the objective was to make your opponent miss

the ball so you could score. As simple and easy

this game was, Pong had a huge effect on peo-

ple. Atari was the first gaming system to ever

be brought into people's homes in 1972, Pong

was the first game that you could plug into

your home TV using the Atari. To be able to

play a video game at any time in the comfort

of your own living room was a big change for

people, and changed the way people started to

look at entertainment. Atari started develop-

ing more games that could be played through

their system, such as Galaxian and Space In-

vaders. Each new game that came out kept

getting more exciting and had more features.

Each game had more controls and abilities,

such as flying a space ship through space left

and right, up and down and being able to

By: Kenzie MacKeigan

6

XBOX 360. The games played on these consoles basically have

been the same since the N64 introduced 3D games. Although,

throughout the years the graphics of these games have been get-

ting much more realistic to a point it almost looks real! Also, the

PS3 and XBOX 360 allows the players (depending on the game)

to sign in online and play against their friends and other people

all around the world! With extra features such as headsets and

messaging, the gamer can now communicate with other players

and friends while playing the game.

In 2006, Nintendo released another console called the Nintendo

Wii. What makes the Wii so special is the controllers are sticks

that you hold in your hand and can swing around and do other

motions with to interact in the game. For example, in the game

Wii Sports, to bowl while bowling, you would hold in a button

and actually swing your arm as if you were really bowling. The

Wii has came up with other features and attachments such as the

Wii Balance Board, and Wii motion plus. These features added

more abilities and boundaries to where gaming can take us.

Today, XBOX has its own feature called Kinect. Kinect is a cam-

era that you place on top of your TV and it scans you, turning you

into the controller. Without any controller, you can jump, move,

swing your hands, and many other motions to complete tasks in

games, all without using a controller.

Video games have come a long way in 40 years. With the constant

advancement of technology, video games just kept on getting better

and better. From moving a stick up and down to control a white rec-

tangular paddle, to jumping in the air and swinging your arms to

control these 3 dimensional, realistic looking characters in almost

Gears of Games

7

Gears of Games

With the average boy spending thirteen hours a week and girls

with five hours a week, mixed with the increasing violence in video

games, it is not surprising that parents are questioning their effects on

children. The American Psychological Association says violent video

games can increase aggression in children. From the popular television

show Dr. Phil, he says,, "The number one negative effect is they tend to

inappropriately resolve anxiety by externalizing it. So when kids have

anxiety, which they do, instead of soothing themselves, calming them-

selves, talking about it, expressing it to someone, or even expressing it

emotionally by crying, they tend to externalize it."

There has also been increases in violent behavior in kids. Dr.

Phil also explains that violent videogames don’t teach kids moral val-

ues, they get rewarded; this kind of action won’t make the child a serial

killer, but he or she could start to act out with rude language or behav-

ior. The American Psychological Association tells the kids who play vio-

lent videogames will become less caring and not as helpful. A majority

of children who play violent games are at the age where they could be

learning about sharing and helping others. It is not only younger players

who are play, but teenagers as well, they are at an impressionable part

in life, when coming to be adults, they become violent.

A positive of the violent video games though is that they have

been shown to improve hand eye coordination. Studies performed at

several universities and colleges across the United States did this

study. Over a five month study it was shown that people who play vio-

lent video games have 6 times better hand eye coordination. Also, this

also has been proven to help with multi-tasking. The research showed

gamers have twice the average ability to multi-task which is very im-

portant in real world life as well as games.

By: David

MacDonald

8

Gears of Games

This study was created as a way for people, (particularly parents) to tell if

their child or someone they know is addicted to video games. It included a

list of symptoms that regular gamers may experience. The list included;

Preoccupation; the person is often distracted from whatever it is they are do-

ing because all they can think about is the video game.

Downplaying; the person will deny the amount they are told they are playing

and say that they are playing much less.

No control; playing the game for what they intended to be a matter of

minutes but it ends up being hours.

Defensiveness; the person becomes easily provoked when the video game or

the person him/herself becomes put down or insulted.

Money; the person will spend a lot of money for upgrades, new items in the

game, etc.

These are just some of the signs that the article included. They say it can be

used as a basis for people to find out if someone they know has a problem. Or

even a self diagnosis for some.

By: Max Hooper-Clark

9