Hall 1

Justin Hall
UWRIT 1102
Thomas
12/3
Reflection: My Paper has come a long way and I believe it is a truly interesting topic, it makes
me to continue writing more and more on the subject. I believe that this is quite the polished
work and hope that people learn a thing or two. Perhaps even changing their views on video
games even if it is for a short period of time.
Stay Awhile And Listen
Turn the T.V. off and go outside! This was a common utterance in my house when I
was younger, and was repeated many more times than I care to admit as the years passed. More
than likely, you've heard the same song and dance as well. As a generation of technology users,
being behind a digital screen of some sort is second nature to us, and foregoing our physical
activity is much easier when Netflix has just released a new season of The Walking Dead or
Bobs Burgers for us to binge watch. Between the arguments and general rowdiness of two boys
growing up together, my brother and I would spend the rest of our time playing video games. We
spent countless hours on Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo, an old school gaming
system that helped build my love for games and, of course, the rivalry that still persists between
my brother and I today. Due to the age gap between my brother and I, almost ten years, I was
introduced to video games at a young age. He wanted to share his own experiences with me, and
as a younger brother I obliged. Although I have fond memories of the time spent behind my
fatback T.V, gaming has come a long way from the simple platforming era of Super Mario. In
recent times, the gaming industry has undergone large changes to not only its subject matter, but
also the complexity of the games themselves and the effects they can have on our society.
When the discussion of video games comes up, many people turn a cold shoulder almost

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immediately. There is a stigma associated with those who play them, whether it be the fading
stereotypes of an overweight anti-social, or the concern that people who play them will be
affected negatively in some way. To me, this is a one-sided and flawed point of view. People
give the topic little thought, which is unfortunate for many reasons. Today, if you ask people
what the negative effects of video games are, I'm sure that many will be quick to recite various
news articles and research showing some correlation between violence, age, mood swings, and
the like. Lets flip the coin now; when asked about the positive effects of video games, most are
left unsure of how to respond, which is interesting, though not surprising. To form an educated
opinion on a controversial topic, one must know both sides of an argument. In today's world,
many people do not have knowledge of the positive effects that video games can have on
individuals. It is my goal in this paper to give insight as well as educate the reader on the topic of
the positive effects that video games can have on people based on personal experience as well as
recent scientific studies.
One issue among the debate is that negative statements about video games come from
rumors rather than scientific fact or research. While I wish that this wasnt the case, many people
these days latch onto what they believe in, or rather want to believe in. One trend I have
witnessed is that we often see new research studying the negative effects of video games on
children directly after a school shooting or other violent event. This is quite the efficient way to
build negative stereotypes, if people associate violent actions with video games, then the media
has done its job. While yes, some people who play video games are violent, this does not mean
that the leading cause behind their violence stem from the violent elements included in some
video games. Although, this is exactly what the media leads people to believe. The train of

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thought behind this is similar to thinking that watching a movie about killing people will make
the audience believe that it is okay to do so. Why do video games come under fire when horror
movies such as Texas Chain Saw Massacre are continuously shown with no criticism? The
media loves to target video games and directly correlate their usage to the motive behind real life
violence. As aforementioned, these reports that spring up are normally published in non-peered
reviewed journals. In other words, they hold no credibility besides the title Doctor in front of
the researchers name. This non-credible information is then used to in fearmongering tactics,
pushing political agendas, and reinforcing stereotypes alike. We all hate bad stereotypes, whether
it has to do with race, ethnicity, religion or otherwise. We've all experienced things of this nature.
Whether it be against us personally, or as a bystander, we must fight it, which is precisely the
problem at hand. The media plays off of the stereotype that violent people (school shooters,
thugs, and the like) are explicitly that way because of the video games they play. Ignorance is
bliss and rumors spread quickly due to technology these days, (a blessing or a curse?).
Unfortunately, misinformation and stereotypes are more important than one might think.
Currently, we find ourselves living with people that aren't vaccinating their kids due to a
celebritys endorsement of a scientific report which was later found to be falsified. Because of
that one person, we have an entire bandwagon of people following this idea and placing our
children at risk to diseases that have been eradicated since 2002 in the USA. Video games are
following in the same steps, as such, misconceptions are born and the general public is left in the
dark. A former English teacher once told me, I can't do the thinking for you, you have to draw
your own conclusions which is why I will explain the research I have done in hopes that when
you are finished, you are more educated on the topic and can construct an informed opinion.

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Another issue with the ongoing controversy of the positive versus negative effects of
video games is that a lot of research that endorses the negative effects of video games is quite
dated, varying from ten to fifteen years old. Video games have come a very long way from the
turn of the century. An Increase in graphics, complexity, international interest, and everyday
accessibility are all examples of recent progress. A great example of just how far the video game
industry has come is realized within the popular video game Dota 2 (Defense of the ancients).
Throughout the year, there are numerous amounts of small-scale tournaments held, with
professional teams playing for sums of cash. This is now very popular despite the fact that ten
years ago the idea of professional video gamers were absurd and outlandish. Lets put it into
perspective a bit more. This past year, 2015, twenty teams from around the world were invited to
participate in The International, the Superbowl of the Dota 2 community. The prize pool for
the entire tournament was eighteen and half million dollars. Let that sink in for a moment. Each
team is comprised of five players, the winning team (Evil Geniuses, USA) took home six and a
half million dollars. This means that five more people have become millionaires, because of a
video game. That, is a long way to come in just fifteen years. It makes sense then, as to why
citing old research relating to video games is similar to reading an article about aerospace
engineering that is outdated, so much has changed in so little time. Take the Wright brothers for
example, they first took flight in 1903, just sixty-six years later, in 1969, humans landed on the
moon. In January of 2000, the most advanced gaming system was the Playstation 2. From here,
the gaming community has advanced from being able to count the polygons on our favorite
characters chest, to having a hard time differentiating screen shots between real life and Grand
Theft Auto V. Improved graphics may not seem important to some, yet they allow programmers

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to introduce more complicated elements that previously could not be understood or visualized
because of the graphics barrier. Advances in video games have come so far that virtual reality is
no longer a dream of the future, but is, forgive the pun, no longer virtual. Therefore, logically
following this pattern, the players, the effects, and the games themselves must have also changed
during the course of these improvements. Meaning, that we must take a new look at how video
games effect people in current times. There are a variety of different games that have unique and
positive effects on the player, whether it be an increase in problem-solving, mental health,
cognition skills, or even social interactions. The fact is, video games are overwhelmingly
portrayed as negative. It is time for us to study the situation and break the stigmas surrounding
them.
Chances are, you have at some point in your life encountered a variation of video games.
Whether that be an old school arcade game that you loved at your local CiCis pizza, a short lived
guitar hero stint at your cousin Tony's house, or various mobile games such as Flappy Bird and
Clash Of Clans (anyone else noticed how he looks like the mustache guy from the walking
dead?) The gist is, we're familiar with the concept of them, a tool for amusement, fun, or just
wasting time. Plainly stated, this is what we can consider video games' purpose is. They're a way
to escape from reality and entertain ourselves. Although, many people are misled concerning the
actual facts about video games in todays world. Some of these figures might come as a surprise
to you, even I was unaware of some of these statistics. The ESA, or Electronic Software
Association, is a conglomerate of the largest video game manufacturers in the world. It is the
ESA's job every year to compile sales, demographics, and usage information along with other
data every year using the official figures from each company's records. So, I'd like to begin by

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breaking a few stereotypes that people may have about the people who play video games. In
2014 fifty-nine percent of Americans play video games, of those, the average age of people who
purchase video games was thirty-one, video games arent for kids anymore and not just for men
either. The split between male and female gamers is 52-48 respectively. Another cool fact is the
one that seventy-seven percent of players, play games with others at least one hour per week.
This is a fact that I will touch on more later, but is one of the stereotypes that has been broken
within the community and shows the evolution of video games. Video games are no longer
meant to be played alone whilst in alone in your room, rather they represent a thriving
community of people that are reward by co-operating with one another to achieve a goal. It still
amazes me that I can play games with someone from across the globe whilst sitting on my
couch. The world of video games can offer us so much more than our mundane lives possibly
could, introducing us into a world of fantasy and adventure, magic spells and even mobile
scrabble games you get to play with your friends, parents (who would've thought). While we're
on the topic video game diversity, it is pertinent to bring up the types, or genres of video games
that people play. As previously acknowledged, there are many stereotypes pertaining to gamers
and the genres that they engage in, namely the ones that are overtly violent in nature. The most
common among these violent video games are classified as First Person Shooter, or FPS. The
main goal in these games are to kill as many people possible in the small time allotted. Lets take
a look at the data, in 2013 the best selling computer game genre was strategy coming in at 38.4%
of games sold. This genre can be broken down into RTS (Real time strategy) and TBS (Turnbased strategy), two people build armies from scratch and race to destroy each others
headquarters. The second largest genre is casual games, clocking in at 28.3%. Casual games are

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meant to be played within small time slots for people who do not want to put a large time
investment into a game, these are meant to be played while on a lunch break or to kill time. FPS
games? They clock in at 7.1%.(ESA 10) As we can see, shooters are at the bottom of the list,
contributing very little in the grand scheme of things, while games that require actual thought
and skill are at the top of the modern day gaming food chain. These games that are at the top do
not inspire mindless violence, they reward the player for using his/her problem-solving and
decision making skills. Once again, proving how current research is so important to how this
topic relates to the world.
To begin on a personal note, there are many reasons as to why I enjoy video games, and I
could ramble on about my experiences over the years and even give a value system to what I
consider to be my favorite aspects of the entire journey, but I'll refrain. What I will share, are
some of the things that make them worthwhile. This includes the friendships made, the rivalrys
lost, the sleepless nights of just trying to beat that one boss, the lessons games have taught me,
and even the couch co-op parties that I have fond memories of from high school. You get the
picture, and I could go on, but it would be pointless to discuss these minor events considering
one story lives above the rest. In fact, it's the reason I'm still here today. In 2007 my mother died.
I was in the fifth grade at the time and I had a a dwindling support group. The kids in my
neighborhood showed love, but they had no idea what it was like. My brother was living in
Florida at the time so his support was short lived with a job to get back to, along with the fact
that he took it almost worse than I did, at least thats how I saw it at the time. Death is of course
never easy, this was especially true for me as I left the fifth grade and entered my middle school
years. I attended a middle school in which I had few friends due to my location within the school

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district. Unfortunately, this did not change much as the school year moved on, but luckily one
thing did, that was my cousin introducing me to a game called World Of Warcraft, known to
many as the most stereotypical nerd game since Dungeons and Dragons. Since my mothers
death, I had not found much happiness or comfort in just about anything. This of course was not
helped by the constant bullying from my peers. I remember the day I spent downloading World
of Warcraft and reading the manual, I was instantly hooked. This was a world in which I could
be whatever I wanted, away from the reality that had hurt me and into a world that had nothing
but boundless opportunities and endless adventures. I self medicated through playing the game
and was able to take my mind off of things. And as the old saying goes, time heals all wounds.
While today the game box sits on my book shelf, I'm constantly reminded of how it helped a
younger me. During that time of hardship, I experienced very difficult days, as aforementioned
that game is actually the reason I am here today, or rather a friend that I made through it. He was
my adventuring buddy, and any time I had a thought or notion that life may not be worth living
anymore, I would think to my friend Oliver, and how he would no longer be able to continue
without me. He would have to find someone else to befriend and traverse the world with, and
when I was younger, this was one of the things I clung to. While this was not the only thing that
kept me from performing such an act, (family was of course in my thoughts) it was just one
more person that I knew cared about me in some way, and that in itself was worth it for me. I
still keep in touch with him today via Facebook and I'm confident that he will be a lifelong
friend. As seen with my life story, video games can affect people in positive ways. World of
Warcraft offered me an escape from the hardships of life. Video games were my coping
mechanism that allowed me to get back on my feet again. Growing up is almost never easy,

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between school, hormones, parental pressure and home problems, when it it rains it pours.
Facing your problems every single day head on can be a difficult task to shoulder, and not
everyone has an easy access to that escape from life. Mental health is one of the most
important aspects in peoples lives and is often understated. Everyone needs that form of
distraction, or escape in order to live a healthy life. Some people have art, others have sports, but
for some kids video games may be the only things that are constantly accessible for that escape.
As the popularity of games increase and they become a more common part of our society, it is
my hope that others can benefit in the same manner I did.
However not everyone has to experience a life altering event to be convinced that video
games have positive effects on people, and just because I had a good personal experience only
proves so much. Therefore, along with the positive affects that social interaction within video
games can bring, breaking the stereotype of that anti-social kid that still lives in his moms
basement is an important step in humanizing video game players and showing how this
stereotype is no longer the case. By proving this, it also serves as yet another way that video
games have changed for the better over the years. A survey was conducted in 2014, by Helna
Cole and Mark D Griffiths, part of Nottingham Trent University's Social Sciences department,
more specifically their International Gaming Research Unit. Their study focused on discovering
the depth of social interactions and their effects on people within the Massively Multiplayer
Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) category. MMORPG's are highly social games in which
people come together and face a common enemy, whether it be an enemy created by the game or
other players in the universe that represent a rival faction. The study was a voluntary survey that
consisted of 912 different people from forty different countries taking a part in it. Thus,

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gathering information that did not represent just one demographic of people. The age group of
those who took the survey was between 11-65, and gender percentages coming out to be 70/30
male and female respectively. Cole states The study showed MMORPGs can be extremely
social games, with high percentages of gamers making life-long friends and partners. It was
concluded that virtual gaming may allow players to express themselves in ways they may not
feel comfortable doing in real life because of their appearance, gender, sexuality, and/or age.
MMORPGs also offer a place where teamwork, encouragement, and fun can be experienced.
Their results showed that 74% of the people reported making good friends within the game
and that 67% (2/3rds) of the players reported that the games had a positive effect on themselves
as well as the friends they played with. Therefore, taking this information into consideration we
can clearly see how the video games of today break the stereotype of being non-social, also it
cannot be understated how important making friends is in todays society. In the world of smart
phones and social media, making friends in the real world can be hard, especially ones that are
lasting and mean something. For those that are not in school or even for those that are in school,
the trend of isolationism is upon us, making meeting new people harder. Normally, before class,
students will sit with their headphones in until the class starts. As soon as the class ends,
headphones go back in, leaving very little interaction time between people. Headphones are the
equivalent of do not disturb, and breaking this social contract upsets most people. The idea of
dont talk to me unless I know you is becoming more and more popular, making gaining
friends, harder to accomplish. It is also beneficial for those that do not attend a school or college
that do not engage in normal ways of meeting new people. The popular way to make friends or
meet new people has become attending parties, going to clubs, or various bars. For many

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gamers, getting sloppily drunk and losing their wallet is not an idea of a fun time. Therefore,
many gamers choose to stay in on Friday nights, by engaging in an activity with people that
share similar interests and because games are highly social, and with the knowledge that 74% of
gamers make friendships while gaming, it is highly beneficial to gamer's social and mental
health.
In July of 2014, Valerie J. Shute was one of three researchers who recently published a
peer reviewed journal titled The power of play: The effects of Portal 2 and Lumosity on
cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Shute earned her Ph.D. in cognitive/educational psychology,
from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is currently a professor at Florida State
University. This journal is important in quite a few ways. To begin with, the subject matter and
her findings are incredibly important to how people not only view video games but the positive
effects they can have on the human brain. The purpose behind the research was conducted in
order to compare Portal 2, (a popular video game that forces you to solve complex puzzles via
portals) and the internet popular Luminosity (a website that claims to improve certain brain
functions) in order to evaluate which medium was more beneficial for the human brain. This
idea was born one day when Shute herself was playing Portal 2, she states While I was playing
it (Portal 2), I was thinking, I'm really engaging in all sorts of problem-solving." Thus, the seed
was planted and her research has since come to life. Shute took two sets of people and
administered baseline tests to gauge their abilities in three different categories. These were
problem solving, spatial skill, and persistence. After this test, the participants were assigned to
player either Portal 2 or Luminosity for eight hours. Following their game time, the gamers were
then given another test to gauge the improvements made, if any, following their game time. Her

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conclusion states We found significant differences between conditions for all three of our
primary constructs: problem solving, spatial skill, and persistence--all showing an advantage for
Portal 2 over Lumosity. So, we have an online game that is advertised as a program that is to
help build brain functions, solve problems and etcetera. Yet, when compared side by side, a
video game that has made no such claims outperformed the competitor in every class. This is an
important piece of information as video games thrust themselves more into the center of the
worlds view. As far as positive effects go, numbers do not lie, therefore making it a fact that
video games can improve brain functions, and do have a positive effect on those that play them.
Why are video games important though? Can we not just learn problem-solving through other
methods? Shute states that Researchers have long argued that a central point of education
should be to teach people to become better problem solvers. What better way to teach kids of
all ages how to become better problem-solvers than through video games? It is a recognizable
and fun outlet that encourages learning. The future is video games, and the future is now.
Although the importance of the results pertaining to this study can not be understated, an equally
important point to be examined is the method that was used in collecting and comparing this
data, compared to other studies done on video games. Shute cites a quote that resonated with her,
Researchers need to compare any game/treatment condition with a similarly-active control
group that has the same expectations of improvement as the experimental group Here she is
referencing research that was conducted with games in a similar fashion to her study, yet the
games that are compared do not affect the brain in the same way, skewing the results. An
example of such would be comparing Super Mario Bro's to Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes.
Super Mario is a simple platformer while Keep talking and nobody explodes is a tense, team

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based bomb diffusional game based around the VR (virtual reality) headset. Therefore, when
studies compare two games such as these, it really serves no purpose as the games are not similar
in any manner. It would be much like observing the reactions of someone that was watching a
tense drama-thriller versus someone who was watching a whimsical children movie.
Comparisons really cannot be made, the issue is that there have been past studies that do
compare games in such a manner, diluting the data's significance. Therefore, Shute fills the gap
by comparing games that in similar in manners relating to how the person interacts with the
problems and it's effect on the players brains. Thus, Shute sets a standard for future studies to
come. Her findings prove that video games can have an immediate and direct effect on our brain
cognition and its functions, a very positive effect indeed.
In conclusion, video games are making their way into the public eye, and over the course
of this process I hope that everyone will come to the same conclusion that I have, video games
can and do have positive effects on people. Video Games have become largely social, allowing
people to make new friends, some who are even half way across the world, bridging culture gaps
through video games. They also give people a place to relax or escape from the world, a benefit
towards mental health for people of all ages. As seen in Shutes research, video games have even
been proven to increase abilities such as problem solving skills, spatial skills, and persistence to
a task. One of my favorite lines from the American Psychologist on The Benefits Of Playing
Video Games is When faced with failure, players are highly motivated to return to the task of
winning, and they are relentlessly optimistic about reaching their goals.( Granic 71) This is a
skill when translated into real life scenarios builds a good personality, we always tell each other
to never give up, a skill that video games can inherently teach. While there are still many unfair

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stereotypes that exist in the public eye about gamers, the ones that we can prove to be incorrect
are just as important. In order to dispel a stigma surrounding a topic there must be small steps,
such as the stigma of gamers being violent, anti-social and the majority of them being adolescent
children. We have seen that all three of these stereotypes have been dispelled by scientific
research, although we must now bring this information to the community of our peers. While I
now have knowledge of the positive effects of video games on people, two main questions have
sprung from my research. They are: Why have video games become the scapegoat of so many
issues? as well as speculation as to how long our society continue to demonize video games,
and will this hold them back moving forwards? It is my hope that you as the reader have
learned the way video games can positively effect people and continue to stay informed on
controversial topics such as this in the future.

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Works Cited
The Benefits of Playing Video Games, Isabela Granic, PhD, Adam Lobel, PhD, and Rutger
C.M.E. Engels, PhD, Radboud University Nijmegen; Nijmegen, The Netherlands;
American Psychologist 2014, Vol. 69, No. 1. electronically accessed 9/19
Shute, Valerie J., Matthew Ventura, and Fengfeng Ke. "The Power of Play: The Effects of
Portal 2 and Lumosity on Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills." Computers & Education 80
(2015): 58-67. Myweb.fsu. Elsevier, 30 Aug. 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Cole, Helena, and Mark D. Griffiths. "Social Interactions in Massively Multiplayer Online
Role-Playing Gamers." Economics and Social Conflict (2013): n. pag. Ocw.edu. Cyber
Psycology and Behavior. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Tassi, Paul. "Evil Geniuses Take Home Record $6.6M First Prize In Valve's 'Dota 2'
International." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 09 Aug. 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

ESA, Essential Facts About The Computer And Video Game Industry. Entertainment
Software Association, 2014. Theesa. Web. 8 Nov. 2015