Video games good or bad???

Well, I saw an interesting article put out by the American Psychological Association talking about how video games are the opposite of depression in terms of neurologically speaking. (I will post the article below).  It talks about how playing video games is a good way to fight depression (or manage it at least).  It talks about how playing video games hyperstimulates the areas of the brain that depression causes to become understimulated (the hippocampus and the reward pathways).  It also mentions that playing games to just escape reality in the long-term is bad because it causes people to not deal with their problems (causing social isolation, etc).

Now, personally, I am a gamer.  I play A LOT of video games.  And I will admit that when I was younger, I DID play with that escapist attitude.  I hated my life back then.  When I was a kid, I was abused at home (phyiscally and emotionally).  There was also neglect (be denied food, toilet paper, showers, etc).  I had been called worthless so many times, I believed it.

Now, my parents were divorced.  So, on the weekends, my dad, would pick us up to go to his house.  We had a NES there, and eventually a SNES.  And I played video games whenever I could there.  It was my escape from reality.  My only time I really cared about anything at all.  Games were a way to get away from everything that was going wrong.  I didn't think about how I would have to go back home... I didn't think about how I was going to have to face the bullies Monday morning... all I thought about was the game on the screen and the controller in my hands.  That was happiness for me back then.

Fast forward to the present.  I still play video games, and I still love doing it. :)  But, the reasoning behind it has changed.  I no longer feel the need to escape my life, because I'm working and living as well.  Video games have settled into the role they are supposed to be... a hobby.

However, there are people who think video games are bad.  Well, with the proper mind set, video games are GOOD, but with the wrong mind set, yes they can be bad.

People claim that video games cause irresponsible and violent behavior in kids.  Again, I must disagree.  Video games in the hands of the young and impressionable are something that DOES need to be moderated.  There are games that shouldn't be played by the young, and there are games that really SHOULDN'T be played AT ALL.  But most games are good games.  For instance:

• Ace Attorney series - These games really boost your logic and deductive reasoning skills.  You find contractions in witness testimonies.
• Any game that requires dodging bullets (Gradius series, Metal Slug series, Contra series to name a few) - These games really emphasize quick reaction times.  Games like this test your ability to think quickly and helps with making split decisions.  Games like this also boost reaction times (meaning you'll slam on the brakes quicker if a deer jumps in front of you).
• Platforming games boost memorization skills (as you remember how you made that jump or got past that area).
• Tetris, Dr. Mario, etc boost spatial reasoning, as you are dealing with falling patterns and must fit them appropriately to keep playing.  You have to recognize what the pattern looks like flipped, etc.
• Brain Age series tests your "executive functions."

With games like this, you'll find that as you play them, you get better and advance farther.  Most games test your memorization skills, and getting better each play through is proof of that.  Dedication and resiliance are tested when you lose and you try again.  (In fact, the more you try to beat a level that is just giving you a tough time, the more determined you prove yourself to be.)  A person is more likely to succeed in life in general with more dedication.

So, it is time to stop blaming video games on violent and irresponsible adolescents.  In today's world, parents spend less time with their kids.  The kids are either on social media, hanging out with the wrong crowds, etc.  Parents are now both working to make ends meet.  And yes, that makes for a very distance relationship between the kids and the parents.  THIS is a huge problem in terms of being a good influence on your kids.  Missed opportunities like this = more violent and irresponsible adolescents.  Parents who make their kids feel hated or worthless, or who aren't there when their kids need someone to talk to, are parents who have kids who begin to act out.  And acting out can include things like commiting suicide, fighting in school, committing crimes, etc.  A lot of it is a cry out for attention (even though it'll never be admitted).

Parents will need to figure out a way to connect with their kids.  Devise some way to ensure that the technology is turned off and there is time for actual communication.  Parents need to be attentive to their kids.  They should be able to figure out that something is wrong if something is different in the way they act or communicate.  Parents should be able to read their kids like a book.  Not in today's age.  In today's age, there is a decent chunk of parents who could admit that they don't really know their kid any more.  That is not a good thing.  If the kids don't know you any more, then who are they going to look up to?

So, video games are a good thing if played for the right reason, but it is important to actually spend time in reality as well.  If you have parents who love you, then put the tech away for a while and actually talk to them.  It would feel good to know that you have people who love you and want the best for you.  They may be annoying, but they are the only parents you'll ever have.  Parents, you need to pay attention to your kids (teens included).  They may be trying to find their independence, but you need to let them know that you have their back, no matter what.  Let them know that you still want to be there for them, and continuously communicate with them.  And yes, life will get in the way, but just don't let it get in the way too much.  Same with games.  Games are good, just don't let them get in the way of life.  Actually spend some time living, game responsibly, and talk to people.  Gaming can be a wonderful hobby to any active lifestyle. :)

Check out this link on this article I mentioned:
How Video Games Can Teach Your Brain to Fight Depression

Game Off - Where is gaming headed?

This is a blog post a long time coming.  I would consider myself a gamer, so when Mortal Kombat X hit digital download for the PC, I was excited.  I do not own a PS4, or an XboxOne, because of the way gaming has changed.   I do have a gaming computer, however, and I thought, this would be great.  I was... disappointed.

Not saying that the game is completely unplayable.  The game is playable, and that's about it.  There are graphical glitches, reported issues with online play, a faulty Faction system, inappropriate amounts of netcode, etc.  These issues have plagued the PC release of the game since the beginning, and the question I have to ask is why?

On May 5th, a patch was released to fix all of these problems.  Within a few hours of the patch's release, it was pulled due to a lot of gamers reporting that their save game files have been deleted by it.  Great.  If you spent hours and hours of your life searching through the Krypt unlocking everything to have it all gone, then congratulations on wasting your time.  (Luckily, I did not patch the game as I took a brief break from playing it).  I found it quite coincidental, however, that in the store, a person could play $19.99 to buy all of the content in the Krypt and have it unlocked for you.  Yeah, we'll wipe your data, and THEN make you pay $19.99 to get it all back again (without the sense of achievement, of course).

Why have game developers started nickel and diming people?  Why are they releasing games that aren't properly tested?  I feel the big name developers have... gotten lazy.  And the gaming industry will suffer as a result.

For those not in the know, back in 1983, there was an event referred to as "The Video Game Crash."  Atari had inferior games (like "E.T. The Extraterrestrial"), and underpaid programmers who branched away and started their own company.  An over-saturation of the market with floods of low-quality games that no one ever (or wanted to) play, and too many consoles resulted in the crash.  People stopped buying video games and Atari went under.  And then in 1985, The Nintendo Entertainment System came to the United States (dubbed as a "entertainment system" instead of a "video game console" due to people being apprehensive as a result of the crash).  Eventually the crash game to an end, and gaming thrived.  (At least for a while).

Going over that brief history lesson, one thing can be gathered.  History seems to be repeating itself.  Games are being rushed out the door with no obvious play testing.  The quality of games have been going down hill.  Add on to the fact that game developers are nickel and diming their customers with ridiculous amounts of DLC, and we must start to wonder, is another crash imminent?  Obviously, that is where we seem to be headed.

Back when I was a young gamer, one person could take a game and make it last a long time.  For instance, Super C.  I played that game repeatedly as a kid.  And it was a HARD game.  One hit, you are dead.  And I managed to beat it, eventually.  But that is what made the game awesome.  Challenge.  It set up a degree of determination in me.  I WANTED to beat that game, and each time I played it, I got better and better at it, until eventually, I DID beat it (without help from Game Genie).  There was a sense of accomplishment in it.  I've beaten "Battletoads" another extremely hard game, and I did it without the genie or level warps.  I took pride in progress.

Finding Easter Eggs and cheat codes in video games always added something fun to the game as well.  The well-known Konami code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, Start) as well as variations of that code helped make people feel that they were doing something amazing in a game.  Something secret, that they only knew about (despite the fact that anyone with an Internet connection could find the code on sites like gamefaqs or "World of Nintendo").  Games were about making people feel a sense of accomplishment by doing something in the game, whether it was finding a code or finally beating that level that plagued your dreams for months.

Nowadays, accomplishments are being replaced by money.  It is too hard??? Give me $20 and I'll do the work for you.  Secret modes in games??? Not any more.  You buy them.   If the game is too hard, I'm sure there are games where you can BUY an easier mode.  "Mortal Kombat X" removed half of its core lineup, and are rumored to make appearances as DLC.  The game industry has become a nickel and dime industry.

Video games are a luxury item.  They are not required by any means, and the success of the video game industry hinges on the economy as a whole.  As people are more strapped for cash, people will start to hold on to their money more.  Video games will be the first to be given up to ensure needs are being met.  Mortal Kombat X is a game that costs $60 almost for the base game.  This does NOT include the $20 you have to spend to get the Kombat Pack with 4 fighters and the Samarai skin pack.  YOU HAVE TO PAY TO HAVE GORO!!!  Goro, a character that appeared in the very FIRST Mortal Kombat game back in 1992, is actually DLC now.  (Or a pre-order bonus).  This is absurd.  They are even nickel-and-diming people for the base characters from the original game.  All of this for a game that is glitchy and buggy.

And this isn't the only game with problems like that.  This is just one from personal experience.  The quality of games used to be a lot better.  They rewarded people for achieving something in game, and people loved that feeling.  Now, as long as you have cash in the wallet, you can buy something that leaves a sour taste in your mouth and a slightly emptier pocketbook.

However, it seems that indie games might bring hope to a seemingly dire situation.  The big game developers are about money and profits and they do not care about quality or even the customer.  Games like Minecraft, however, are HUGE.  Indie game developers are just trying to get into the market, and so they will not cut corners to get a game out there without properly debugging it.  Games like "Shovel Knight" remind gamers like what got me into gaming in the first place.

So, back to the original question at hand.  Is a video game crash imminent?  In my opinion, no.  (Not that I'm an expert at the markets).  People are still buying the games.  Plain and simple.  There is enough people still buying the games so that the big name developers can actually afford to cut corners to get game released faster.  I would NOT be surprised, however, if the video game industry did suffer another recession.  I would not go as far to say that it will completely crash, not with indie developers bringing some decent quality games into the mix, but frustrated gamers will start to become more hesitant to buy from certain game developers due to their history of cutting corners and releasing poor quality games.  Times have changed since the 1980s when video gaming wasn't as established as it is now, and enough precautions have been put into place to avoid a complete crash, but the nickel-and-dime tactics need to stop.  Games need to be tested.  Games need to make people feel good when playing them, and not regretful of the choices they made to pay the extra cash.