Impact of video games

It will further briefly discuss expected future trends in gaming. Gaming has now become a dominant technology especially in this generation where it has transitioned from being just a niche activity considered available for those with access to the university’s mainframes to a broad and well pursued form of entertainment accessible on a wide range of electronic devices such as smartphones and virtual reality headsets (Ružic & Strnak, 2016, p. History of gaming The first ever gaming device was initiated in 1967 by Ralph Baer and was referred to as the ‘Brown Box’. Ralph and his team designed it for commercial home purpose. Basically, this was a vacuum tube circuit that was able to be connected to the television. After the developers saw how big the game was, a new version was created, the “Atari 2600.

” The Pac-man was considered as the first competitive gaming tournament and Atari therefore had kick-started the trend for gaming tournaments (Lowood, 2004, p. However, the video market became more saturated with more companies trying to get a piece of the cake and this saw the release of knock off and poor versions of major releases. After people lost interest in going to arcades, there was a need for a suitable home gaming experience. In 1982 therefore, the first computer games that many people played was first enjoyed on the commodore 64 which offered more bigger and better graphics as well as an immersive game-play. Arguably, this is by far the best experience young people have been subjected to by the gaming industry. It has gifted the young people and the society at large with the chance of stepping into the worlds that they only dream of visiting.

Throughout the years, especially in the last four decades, gaming has completely revolutionised. It should be noted that once gaming started, multi-players had to interact on a personal level and in most cases the arcades. However, gaming has embraced the advancement in technology and we now enjoy the virtual approach of gaming. In fact, studies have shown that young people fascinated by playing first person shooter style or the popular game Grand Theft Auto, are more likely to adopt a detached view of how the society works (Pyoung et. al, 2013, p. They develop tendencies, responses and thoughts that are aggressive in nature. Another common negative impact of gaming is that it is making young people isolated. They are spending too much time playing video games than the time they are spending on outside activities.

They also have trouble falling asleep as well as concentrating in class. Video game addicts also find a way to skip their homework papers to play more video game leading to a great downfall in their grades (Collins & Chamarro, 2012, p. Positive impacts One benefit that comes with gaming is accuracy and the ability to think quickly. The actions that are involved in gaming helps to train the brain and in turn making fast decisions with minimal loss of accuracy (Collins & Chamarro, 2012, p. As if to emphasize on this point, studies have shown that gaming can be used to train surgeons as well as soldiers. Online games that are played internationally introduce the young people to different cultures which in turn foster relationships among different kinds of people bringing forth unity (Pyoung et.

al, 2013, p. Impacts on the society and culture at large Gaming is nothing new as every kid especially millennials has either grown up with video games or has the complete idea of what they are. Culturally, we are led to believe that gaming has been nothing but a ‘recreational waste of time. ’ However, it is high time that this idea encapsulates a larger picture in improving culture and the society in general. In the next few years, we expect to see some developers capitalizing on brands that exist and widely recognized to be the mobile gaming’s most recognizable face. The success of Super Mario Run and Pokemon Go has set the pace and brands are expected to pick up from there.