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Levon Brassfield Dr. Lee Davis Comp-110 November Envision yourself in the future and you are a little tired because you celebrated after the Texans won the Super Bowl. You waltz into your first class that just happens to be physics. You came today because you felt compelled to, since you were so close to finishing off the chapter. You sit down in front of your assigned computer screen and begin the last lesson in the chapter. The lesson is a video game designed to assist students in learning the applications of physics to the human world. Video games used in the classroom, as like a textbook or something, could be a very evident future for America, seeing how many people are now following the trend of playing video games. Video games should be categorized as educational because of its influences on logical and mechanical reasoning. Video game consoles, in home gaming systems, have been around since 1972, and unlike most gamers would believe the Atari Pong was not the first. It was actually second to the Magnavox Odyssey (history 1). From then until the two newest releases in 2007, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii, sixteen consoles have been introduced to society. During that time, numerous amounts of innovations were made to the home video game console. The way you play and how you play has been improved dramatically to strengthen its participants experience. Instead of playing virtual ping pong/table hockey, you now can partake in a magical journey with a character, as in the Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog games. The last game I played with a character was

Gears of War. Video games are been blamed for the increase in violence and obesity for todays American youth. On the other hand, video game production requires many more employees than when video games first started because current video game production asks for graphical mapping since video games have transferred from one dimensional to two. Even thought video games could be a good source of entertainment on the weekend many anti-gamers believe playing wields no health benefits. Extremes believe video games fall in with television and McDonalds as a cause for obesity in America. Video games have been blamed for a 13%-22% increase in youth violence (Anderson 3). A very large number of games depict violence within, with some rewarding the amount of violence its user can inflict. Proponents of the new materials, on the other hand, have argued that technology is now a firm part of our larger culture, and that childrens introduction to its various forms should be as routine as exposure to any other learning tool (Encyclopedia 369). I strongly do not believe that is a promising outcome of playing video games. Games can relief stress through physical activates. The Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii come equipped with motion sensitive controllers, demanding its users the actively participate in the gamming experience by moving their arms and shoulders. Although the motion sensitive controllers are not as affective as the full body movement of Dance Revolution, its still relives stress. How much pain a person experiences often depends on how much conscious attention the person gives to the pain signals (Chen and Gamasutra 1). Benefits of playing video games are improved problem, mastery of specific investigation and the ability to apply information learned to real-life situation (Glazer 2).

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Critical thinking skills are very important for Americans to succeed since education is now the key. Playing a video game will ask you to focus on the given task(s) at hand, require you to continually formulize a hypothesis and test it out (Gee 209). This attention to detail compels the gamer to participate, not only physically but also intuitively, which increases critical thinking skills. Video games assist in the enhancement of these specific skills in several ways. Playing a majority of todays video games require its participants to dedicate their time to finish or master. Other games, asks for systematic assessments to achieve certain goals. A great example of this would be athletic games such as Madden. Madden, a football game, asks its user to actively strategize by picking plays that will either defend on defense or pushback their opponent on offense. In addition, Games like Madden often demand its users to conjointly remember which button to push in order to perform their intended action, with little hesitation. Playing a game requires that you pay attention to details in correlation to knowing your intended task and remembering what button to press without taking your eyes off the screen. A continuation of such practice will increase hand eye coordination which is very important for professions like surgeons. Motor skills will evidently strengthen with the continuous playing of video games. As a result, a persons mechanics and the ability to multi-task have improved. These skills are of high demand in several high paying careers in America. In the medical field more mechanical surgical tools are now used. Some require a doctor to focus their attention to a screen just like someone would for a video game. Schools that offer courses for students of special education have been using video games to enhance certain skills that assist the development of their learning retention. Video games are a healthy source of entertainment for adolescent and adults.

While video games have their own system of categorization based on censorship, education should be a label given to video games in general. Just driving a car around town requires some critical thinking skills, which are strained and enhanced throughout the participation of video games. Moreover, mechanical and logical skills will improve by the playing video games. Playing a video game surely is more interesting and fun filled compared to reading a book. Video games should be compartmentalized as didactic and used to aid in future educational efforts for Americas youth.

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Work Cited Anderson, Craig Violent Video Games Increase Aggression and Violence, U.S. Senate Testimony, Hearing on The Impact of Interactive Violence on Children, Committee on Commerce, Scion and Transportation, 106th Congress, 1st Session, March 21, 2000, http://www.psyhchology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstract/20002004/OOSenate.html (12 September 2002). Chen, Sande and Gamasutra, David Michael. Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train, and Inform. Games for Physical and Mental Health October 31, 2005 http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051031/chen_pfv.htm Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Education - 372.2103 E56 Gee, James Paul. What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Pub. info. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Glazer, Sarah. "Video Games." CQ Researcher 16.40 (2006): 937-960. CQ Researcher Online. CQ Press. Maryville College library, Maryville, TN. 12 Nov. 2006 http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2006111000 The History of the Home Video Game Console. http://www.thegameconsole.com/