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Steven McNabb Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103-H 27 September, 2013

Videogames Give You Superpowers Videogames have been a controversial topic for years. People of all ages are playing videogames; it is important to fully understand the effects that they have on the human body, mentally and physically. People need to be cognizant of all these effects. In order to properly explain these effects, I have separated people into four distinct categories: Non Gamers (Does not participate in playing video games), Casual gamers (a few times a month), Moderate gamers (at least twice a week), and Fanatic gamers (plays on an almost daily basis, usually on binges). Videogames can be separated into a many unique categories. Such categories include: First Person Shooter These are shooting games from a first person point of view. Popular examples include: Call of duty series, Halo series, Doom. Puzzle These are critical thinking games. They inspire make the player undergo challenges that they must solve. Popular examples include: Donkey Kong series, Tetris, Kirby series. Action-Adventure Games These are games that combine situational problems with real-time action. They engage the users critical thinking and reflexes. Popular examples include: Legend of Zelda series, Assassins Creed series, Batman series. Exergames Games that detect physical movement from the player and converts that movement into an in-game action. Popular examples include: Wii Sports, Wii fit, Any Xbox 360 Kinect game.

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Many studies have shown links to the negative effects of videogames on the human body mass. A lot of these cases state that childhood obesity is linked to persistent videogame usage. The most persistent videogame players are fanatic gamers. Their bingeing leads to a large decrease in physical activity. This decrease can lead to burning less calories and ultimately, childhood obesity. Contrary to this common belief, not all videogames are bad. A study by Ralph Maddison, PhD, and his research colleagues from the Clinical Trials Research Unit for the University of Auckland, argued this study showed that active videogames had a small but definite effect on BMI and the improvement of body composition in overweight and obese children. Our findings suggested that interventions to displace sedentary behaviors have the potential to improve the body composition of children (Maddison et al.). Games that require physical activity thwarts the long-standing argument against the negative effects of videogames on causing obesity. Exergames are becoming more and more prevalent through popular gaming consoles such as the Wii and Xbox 360s Kinect. The Wii and Kinect technologies replace the conventional controller and force players to input commands through body movements. While playing a game such as Wii Sports, in order to bowl, the player must hold down the buttons and swing the wii-mote (Remote controller for the Wii) as if they were bowling. Wide arrays of physical activity in an easily accessible home environment will just encourage children and adults alike to become more physically active while having a fun time. Exergames are increasingly used as health tools. Gyms and health clubs, for instance, integrate gaming consoles into their equipment, Amanda Staiano, Postdoctoral researcher for Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Sandra Calvert, Ph.D, technological researcher at Georgetown University, disputes, Exergames can provide both direct physical benefits for youth and transfer of athletic

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skills to other activities. This development has come at a time when obesity has reached epidemic proportions (Staiano and Calvert). Videogames are fun and engaging for all audiences. When the videogames require players to perform physical activities, it seems less of a workout because they are enjoying it. A common issue with videogames is that most people assume that it can cause increased aggression in individuals. In Grand Theft Auto, a game that is rated M for mature due to its blood, gore, intense violence, and many other factors, a user is rewarded for violent behavior. Murdering innocent bystanders on the street will grant the user all of the money that the person was holding. Stealing cars enable the player to travel and complete missions in a smaller timeframe. The benefits from these activities are forms of positive reinforcement. The players violence is rewarded, therefore motivating the player to engage in more violent activities. Various psychological studies have shown this positive correlation between violent videogame play time and aggression; however, correlation does not prove causation. In a study by Craig Anderson, Ph.D, Director of Center for the Study of Violence for Iowa State University and Brad Bushman, Ph.D, Professor of Communication and Psychology at Ohio State University, they disclosed, An updated meta-analysis reveals that exposure to violent videogames is significantly linked to increases in aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, cardiovascular arousal, and to decreases in helping behavior (Anderson and Bushman). Anderson and Bushman conducted two separate studies and both resulted in a 95% confidence that violent videogames were linked to aggression. The people mainly affected by the results of these studies are fanatic gamers because of the prolonged contact with videogame violence. This does not mean that all videogames have a correlation with aggression.

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Many games can also foster heroism and creativity. In Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the player takes the place of a young boy who embarks on a quest to save the world. The player must fight through the game defeating evil and saving the world from destruction. Throughout the game, there are many challenges to overcome. These challenges are usually in the form of various puzzles such as raising and lowering the water level of a cave to reach specific points. Solving these problems will help players become versed in advanced thinking and creativity. Puzzle games are beneficial for every single class of gamer. A majority of people believe that videogames make eyesight worse. People that are used to playing videogames, such as action games and first person shooter, have better eyesight than those who do not play videogames. This is because they are able to unconsciously train their eyes to see small details, such as locating enemies in a forest. According to Daphne Bavelier, Research Professor at Rochesters Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department: [Their eyesight] is better in two different ways. The first way is that theyre actually able to resolve small detail in the context of clutter, and though that means being able to read fine print on a prescription rather than using magnifier glasses, you can actually do it with just your eyesight. The other way that they are better is actually being able to resolve different levels of gray. (Bavelier). Resolving different levels of gray will allow a person to see more things at night and in foggy areas. That is because while seeing in a low contrast setting, humans perceive colors as different levels of gray instead of the entire spectrum of visible light. In those settings, resolving more levels of gray provides a higher level of visibility compared to the levels resolved by nongamers. Gideon Caplovitz, Ph.D, from Cognitive & Brain Sciences at University of Nevada, Reno, and Sapine Kastner, Ph.D, Psychology dept. at Princeton University, maintains that

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Video game players (VGP) had increased contrast sensitivity at all but the lowest spatial frequencies when compared to age-matched non-video game players (NVGP) result suggests that video game playing has a causal role in improving contrast sensitivity and, more specifically, identifies the visual processing associated with the action-based video game as the casual mechanisms for improvement (Caplovitz and Kastner). Fanatic gamers show much higher levels of contrast sensitivity than non-gamers. Eyesight, however, isnt the only thing that videogames can affect. Videogames directly affect the brain. Daphne Bavelier has studied the impact of videogames on the brain using actual, quantitative measurements. In a moderate amount, videogames can have powerful, positive effects on behavior. These effects involve the Parietal Lobe (attention orientation), the Frontal Lobe (attention sustain), and the Anterior Cingulate (regulates attention). Action games have shown an increase in efficiency in all three areas. This has been proven by brain imaging. Non-gamers have the ability to track 3 to 4 objects using their peripheral vision. In gamers, this number can reach as high as six to seven. This is because of the massive increase in the brains attention regions and ability to track multiple objects at once. Multitasking is also increased by videogames. Gamers are able to switch tasks quickly, more so than people that do not play videogames. Walter Boot, Ph.D, Dept. of Psychology at Beckman Institute, et al argued, These studies suggest that playing videogames promise improved performance in a wide variety of situations; the transfer video game experience appears to be broad. The transfer tasks described were different from the games participants played both in the displays and the required responses, but transfers still occurred. Moreover, improvements in skills occurred quickly, in some instances with as little as 10 [hours] of game experience (Boot,

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Kramer, Simons, Fabiani, Gratton). Even small instances of videogame playing can increase a persons abilities. Videogames are also a great way to relieve peoples stress and anxiety. In a study by Carmen Russoniello, Ph.D, Professor and Director of Psychophysiology and biofeedback lab for Eastern Carolina University, Kevin OBrien, Ph.D, Dept. of Biostatistics, and Jennifer Parks, Casual videogames (CVGs), videogames aimed at casual gamers, were tested to see whether or not videogames could alleviate, prevent, and treat stress related disorders. The outcome of the experiment showed that Participating in CVGs produces changes in brain waves consistent with improved mood. Remarkably, different games affected brain waves in unique ways (Russoniello, OBrien, Parks). Another way that it can remove stress is through simulations. Imagine a scenario where inexperienced surgeons need to prepare for their first surgery. They wont want their first experience to be on a living person. This is where videogames play an important role. Using a surgery simulation game, surgeons can get rid of stress by practicing a dangerous operation on videogame generated character in order to better prepare themselves for a real-life situation. The same can go for anyone with a stress-inducing job such as: police officers, airplane pilots, military personnel, veterinarians, and even babysitters. Gamers of all types need to be aware of the effects of videogames on themselves. There are many positive and negative effects to the mind and body. Now that more and more people of all ages are playing videogames, these effects need to be known.

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Anderson, Craig. An update on the effects of playing violent video games. Sciencedirect.com. Journal of Adolescence, Feb. 2004. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Bavelier, Daphne. Your brain on video games. Ted.com. Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Boot, Kramer, Simons, Fabiani, Gratton. The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Sciencedirect.com. Acta Psychologica, Nov. 2008. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Caplovitz, Gideon P. and Sapine Kastner. Carrot sticks or joysticks: video games improve vision. Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Nat Neurosci, May 2009. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Ferguson, Christopher. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: A Meta-analytic Review of Positive and Negative Effects of Violent Video Games. Tamiu.edu. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Maddison, Foley, Mhurchu, Jiang, Jull, Prapavessis, Hohepa, Rodgers. Effects of active video games on body composition: a randomized controlled trial. nutrition.org. American Society for Nutrition, 2011. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Russoniello, OBrien, Parks. The Effectiveness of Casual Video Games in Improving Mood and Decreasing Stress. Ecu.edu. Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation, 2009. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Shinkle, Eugenie. Video games, emotion, and the six senses. Msc.sagepub.com. Media Culture Society, 2008. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. Staiano, Calvert. Exergames for Physical Education Courses: Physical, Social, and Cognitive Benefits. Nih.gov. Child Dev Perspect, 2011. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.