With all the buzz about new gaming technology, more college students are hooked on video games than ever before, paying $500 for the latest PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 gaming console. One has to wonder what effects linger from this new gaming surge. Will grades suffer? Are students becoming socially deformed?
If you’re not much of a video game buff, you may already be convinced that aside from strengthening your thumb muscles or increasing your potential to develop into a trench-coat-wearing, pale-skinned psycho who hunts people for fun, video games do not really have much to offer.
“Video games really get a bad wrap,” Matthew Eastin, assistant professor of communication said in response to the age-old hype that video games cause aggressive and anti-social behavior.
When asked if video games cause bad grades or distract students from doing well in school, Eastin emphasized there is really no connection. In fact, he calls it “media displacement.”
“If students are not spending time playing video games, then time and money is being spent on other media, such as movies, Eastin said.
“There is simply a change towards using other media. Video games don’t really have anything to do with it.”
“I play two or three times a week, usually on weekends because school and work take up most of my time,” Sean Pereira, a senior in geomatics engineering said. “I like playing games because they are fun. Some are more challenging than others, but when it comes down to it, I play to have fun.”
Eastin said that not all video game effects are negative.
“In fact, there has been research done to show that video game play can lead to increased spacial ability, better critical thinking and improved attention and focus,” Eastin said.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of Comparative Media Studies, Henry Jenkins, admits to playing video games on a regular basis.
“I’ve been playing video games since Pong, but I’ve only studied them since Super Mario Brothers,” Jenkins said in an e-mail. “Games offer young people a chance to work through complex situations and compelling problems.”
Jenkins also disagrees with the concept of games being a source of aggression and social isolation. His research supports the idea that there is no causal relationship between aggressive video games and aggressive behavior. Also, Jenkins supports the idea of on-screen team play leading to comradeship between players. Quite the opposite of anti-social behavior.
“Multi-player games provide a context for teamwork and collaboration across geographic distances,” Jenkins said.
Jingyi Sun, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, plays video games frequently, but on a competitive level.
“I like first-person shooter games because you can compete against people online,” he said.
Although, perhaps not as experienced as Professor Jenkins, Sun has been playing games since he was 3, and he is a proud member of Competitive Gaming Association, locally based in Columbus.
“It is most fun to rank highest on a team at the end of the game. It really gives you a sense of accomplishment, that you have reached a certain skill,” said Sun.
Aside from the ancient rumors of developing into a trench coat nut-case, it appears there are other pressing side effects of video games, some which shockingly seem to be positive. And, are there potentially brain-boosting effects, to go along with the ever-increasing obsession of video games? Either way there appears to be no evidence that video games are the leading cause of social degradation or bad grades.
Aaron Post can be reached at [email protected].
