Issue 129 | The Hound: ISFE Finds That Videogames Are Good For You

The tug-of-war between non-gamers and gamers as to the worth of videogames in society and in the lives of millions of young people all over the world is one that has raged since the 1980s, over twenty years later and the push and pull of conflict is still raging on. For the first time ever it would seem that people from outside the industry are actually willing to discuss videogames in a serious way and come to good conclusions about them.

Jean-Pierre Quignaux, a social commentator and media expert noted that the entertaining aspect of videogames is something that is yet to be fully explored, "Ever noticed how serious kids are while playing?" he joked. He also went to great lengths to point out that parents do not understand videogames and so automatically see them as a bad thing. Thus the issues of addiction to videogames, violence and of course a lack of social skills are raised. Mr. Quignaux was keen to point out that videogames hold a key role in shaping the future of society and will have an increasing impact as the size of the industry increases. His most interesting point though is that parents need to stop burying their heads in the sand and accept that videogames enhance their children's ability to solve life problems. The introduction of titles under Nintendo's Touch! Generations branding can only help the industry to open up more to parents and to encourage them to understand that videogames are good for you. They can be educational, they can enhance social skills, help children understand and solve problems that are applicable to life and most of all they are fun, entertaining and stimulating.

The main discussion was broken up into two key areas, the positive and the negative. On the negative side, violence, addiction and time wasting were noted as the main factors whilst for positive aspects they cited the use of videogames for therapy, education and socialization.

Violence is always a bit of a flash-point as far as the discussion of videogames goes. People like the now infamous Jack Thompson seem to think that there is a direct correlation between violence in videogames and violence in society. In other words, if you play Grand Theft Auto you are more likely to get in your car, shoot some people and try to a rob a bank than if you don't. Of course, we all know that logic like that has about as much grounding as a cloud, an opinion that is very much supported by Jeffery Goldstein, Professor in the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at the University of Utrecht and a member of the PEGI Advisory and Complaints Boards. He notes that the impact of violence in videogames on those playing them is impossible to ascertain by simply looking at how violent a certain videogame is. You have to take into account the personality of the person playing and of course their social and family background. His way of looking at is with a simple analogy. His father is addicted to bank robbery films, but he has never once contemplated robbing a bank. The same applies to videogames. Millions of people have played Mario, yet very few have been compelled to dress up as a plumber, speak with an Italian accent and go and try to save a princess from a big ugly dinosaur. And the less said about Sonic the better. Another interesting point highlighted by the roundtable was the different attitudes to videogames in Europe and America. Jeffrey Goldstein further noted that the USA's far harsher attitude towards videogame violence could be directly linked to the higher lethality of violence in the States. In other words, America is more scared of violence than Europe and violence is thus more likely to occur. More research is perhaps needed to highlight the now more widely held belief that videogames do not make you aggressive. They might feed the human hunger for violence that is in us all, but exercising that in the virtual world is surely a form of basic therapy, calming us for the real world and making us more balanced human beings.

The issue of addiction is a bit of a non-starter. Michael Stora, a psychologist and Serge Tisseron, psychiatrist, psycho-analyst, doctor in psychology, and research director, suggest that "excessive use" or "dependence" would fit videogames better than "addiction", a word with hugely negative connotations. Whilst at some point we have all been guilty of playing videogames too much, be it the desperate need to complete a dungeon in Zelda or to get that new high score in Tetris, there is always a driving reason to keep playing. But addiction highlights a dependency and a lack of being able to cope without something you crave. Playing videogames too much is no different to being obsessed with a certain TV show or perfecting yourself in a certain sporting area.

Of course, the issue of wasted time can be attributed towards any hobby that someone perceives as having a lack of worth. Problems arise when videogames are seen as nothing more than an electronic babysitter. As Mark Griffith pointed out at the discussion, this needn't be the case. For more, the Nintendo Wii philosophy is something that goes directly against the negative idea of videogames being a waste of time. Nintendo are creating titles like Wii Sports to get people up off the sofa and enjoying videogames with friends and family of all ages and backgrounds. By making videogames more of a socially acceptable and open form of entertainment, Nintendo are looking to break down the barriers that were highlighted at the ISFE roundtable.

On the positive side of the coin, videogames can be used for therapy. Unlike films, TV and reading books and magazines, playing videogames gives you an active roll. In titles like Eye Toy and a million and one Wii games soon to be released, it is user movement that manipulates the interface. Eva Petersson is Assistant Professor at the Aalborg University in Esbjerg (Denmark) and has been a member of the PEGI Complaints Board from the outset and she highlighted the use of the Eye Toy software to help children with a handicap. Similarly, Jean-Pierre Quignaux noted a joint endeavour between hospitals in Paris and Haifa, which looks to use games as a means of improving cognitive skills among senior citizens, much like Brain Training on the Nintendo DS is doing in the commercial market. Furthermore, some findings point to strong improvements among Alzheimmer patients.

The roundtable discussion also showed that games are good as educational tools and can also help our socialization, particularly at a young age. Hand-eye coordiation, problem solving, the ability to anticipate, trial and error methodology and many more were highlighted. Andrew Burn is Senior Lecturer in Media Education in the School of Culture, Language and Communication and the London Knowledge Lab at the Institute of Education, University of London, and Associate Director of the Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media (and breathe) and he noted that it is time that videogames be taught as cultural objects much like films, books and TV. This is already the case in many Media Studies courses and is sure to become even more commonplace. With the dawn or rather continuation of online gaming, gaming is becoming an ever more social pastime, much more so than solemnly reading a book or vegetating in front of a film or TV programme. Then you take into account the presence of four-player multiplayer gaming on modern games consoles and you have one of the most sociable forms of entertainment on the planet.

I was hugely surprised by the results of this discussion, and the signs are good for similar events in the future. For once, videogames are being highlighted as a valued part of society and a real progression in the way they are perceived is being shown. Amongst the academics and the experts outside the industry there is a feeling of worth towards videogames, they are not a pointless, anti-sociable and unhealthy form of entertainment, but rather a vibrant and exciting part of the modern media world full of potential and possibilities. With Nintendo really taking things forward with the DS and the Wii, things in the consumer market will surely only improve as the general perception of videogames is, much like the conclusion of this discussion, hugely positive.

Hound: "One Man and his dog went to a meadow, the dog got bored, ran back home and became a journo."

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