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Effects Of Video Games On Children
Effects Of Video Games On Children
Video games came into our living room and into our life about 50 years ago. As the technology for the games improved, people recognized it as a business opportunity. With money making as the sole aim, game developers thought it fit to feed the basic cravings of humans – violence, vulgarity and perverseness. And they have been unleashing their despicable fare on the unsuspecting but highly impressionable young minds of children all these years. Researches conducted by organizations like, American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association have concluded that there is evidence of the cause-effect relationship between television violence and aggression among the children who watch it.
The perpetrators of this crime of poisoning young minds may argue that they do not force their ware and they rate their product as per the guidelines of Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). But the Federal Trade Commission investigation following the Columbine High School shooting, has concluded that, “Of the 118 electronic games with a Mature rating for violence the Commission selected for its study, 83 or 70%, targeted children under 17 in their target audience.” And the irony is that most parents, who have the ultimate responsibility for their wards, are unaware of the ESRB ratings.
Research* has shown that boys play video games for an average of about 13 hours a week. It has been found that the children who play violent videogames are characterized by 1. More aggressiveness 2. Confrontation with teachers 3. Fighting with their peers 4. Decline in school achievements. All this affects the overall personality of the child in the long run. The child becomes an adult who is not team spirited, doesn’t care for fellow human beings and has scant respect to traditions and practices.
The solution for all this may lie in totally banning the video games from the household. But that would be highly impractical, given the popularity of the video games and peer pressure. So, stricter legislations against marketing of mature content video games to the children should be enacted. The industry may protest that it’s infringing their rights, but as of now, the future of the young generation is more important than the right to do business using the loops in the law. However, it would not be prudent to blame the industry as a whole for the rising aggressive and defiant attitude of the young people. There are many games which are really fun to play and playing them can actually be beneficial for the youngsters. Kids can learn about problem solving and strategy planning.
So, the only solution left is in the hands of the parents. Parents should get to know what their kids are playing in the computers or consoles. They must find out the rating system and see that their child is playing only what has been recommended for his / her age. While it’s impossible to ban the video games altogether, it would be prudent to limit the time the kids get to play the games. Perhaps in the future, responsibility on the part of the gaming industry and increasing awareness among the parents can stem the damage.
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Dealing With Teen Video Game Obsession
Dealing With Teen Video Game Obsession
Games can be addictive – But obsession is something else.
The following article is meant for parents of a teen who might be obsessed with video and/or computer games. While in some of our other articles we may sound as though we encourage obsession, we share a concern over teens who tend to shun other interests in life in favor for gaming activities to the point where they withdraw from society. We would never encourage this kind of behavior, and that’s why we’ve taken time to describe some of the signs of game obsession and offer some advice on how to deal with it.
Recognizing the signs of teen game obsession isn’t as easy as one thinks. It always starts off as first, an interest, and it then starts to grow into an addition. The problem with identifying the beginning stages of game obsession begins with the teen. By the time our children are 15 and up, they’ve learned some rather impressive debating skills. So when we question their motivations for repetitive game play, they may rebut our concerns with logic and even make it a point to question our own flaws as parents.
Since no parent ever really wants to admit a flaw, we can sometimes cave in and convince ourselves that maybe 4 hours in front of a video game isn’t that bad. After all, we spend that much time at the computer, on the phone, or transmitting data back and forth between our Palms, Blackberries, and Cingular cell phones.
Be careful not to fall prey to the logical teen. Video games can be addictive and if the time spent playing them is not carefully monitored, they’ll consume everything that a teen used to care about.
The moment you notice your teen’s grades falling, homework missing, or social life starting to drop off, nip that game time in the bud. If you wait too late to restrict game time, you may experience pre-adult temper tantrums that you aren’t prepared to handle correctly (cursing, breaking things, stealing, running away from home, etc.). At this point, the child is obsessed and will do anything to get his or her hands on a game controller.
Another sign of obsession is a behavioral change. A child obsessed with gaming will lose patience with things and with others, be quick to anger, and react to situations without fully thinking of the consequences. If you’ve paid any attention to video and/or computer games, you’ll notice that they require this kind of behavior to win or to advance to a higher level.
It’s unfortunate, but a teen obsessed with this kind of violent gaming is literally being trained to react in the manner described above. That’s why it’s pertinent that as an adult, you restrict access to this kind of entertainment and replace it with activities that slow thinking (such as art, music, theater, etc.) and expose your child to other non-violent pleasures (swimming, dance, skating, etc.).
There are a lot of debates circulating around about the impact that video games have on today’s youth and some of it might warrant paying closer attention to. As a mother or father of a teen, you will do well with your teen’s desire to “get his game on” by keeping a close eye out for undesirable changes.
The Top Video Cards On The Market
The Top Video Cards On The Market
The top video cards that can be used in today’s computers can be easily found in many stores. Many of these cards will have different interfaces that are used and some will have high definition television compatibility. However, not all of the top video cards are going to be the same.
The best of the top video cards on the market these days is the GeForce 8800 GTX. Made by NVIDIA, this features a GDDR3 memory technology chip and is PCI compatible. This is what is also used in Sony’s PlayStation 3 gaming system. This second best video memory chip is available and has a memory clock rate that well expands over one gigahertz in speed.
More of the benefits of the GeForce 8800 GTX is that it is the first video card that features DirectX 10 GPU. This is the latest edition in the Microsoft series of multimedia programming and is used exclusively with the new Windows Vista operating system.
PNY’s GeForce 8800 GTX Overclocked is a variation of this video card and is also one of the top video cards that are available today. In addition, a PCI card, this feature has the ability to create image resolutions as high as 2560×1600 in quality. It also supports DirectX 10, OpenGL 2.0 and high definition television systems. The memory bandwidth of this card is especially high, as it has a bandwidth of 96 GB per second.
BFG’s GeForce 8600 GTS OC2 is one of the top video cards in the PCI Express line. The PCI Express is a unique and easy to use interface for the video card. This specific card will handle more than thirty gigabytes of bandwidth per second and has 256 MB of video memory. OpenGL 2.0 and DirectX 10 are also used here.
AGP cards are available for those who have computers whose motherboards can only take in AGP formatted cards. Diamond Multimedia’s S120 Radeon 9550 is one of the top video cards in this category, and it is great for those who are not willing to spend a great amount of money on a video card. This costs around fifty dollars in a typical retail store. This contains a VGA analog output. This Video Graphics Array output is easy to connect. It also features 256 MB of video memory and a maximum resolution of 2560×1600, and it is AGP compatible. This is a great video card for those who are looking for a card that is affordable.
Another good AGP video card is the XFX GeForce 6200. These features VGA connectors and a dual 400 MHz RAM. It contains 256 MB of video memory, which refers to the coordination of depth in three-dimensional images. The CineFX 3.0 engine is one of the most notable parts of this card. It makes it one of the top video cards because it uses unique shader architecture so that images will be displayed at a smoother rate.
Some of the top video cards are SLI ready cards. This refers to Scalable Link Interface, which helps to link multiple video cards to create one output. NVIDIA’s GeForce 7300 GT is one of the top video cards in this range. It features DDR2 memory and is compliant with PCI Express cards. Its unique transmission encoder will help to provide HDTV and composite output signals.
Biostar’s GeForce 7100 GS TurboCache is also popular. This has 256 MB of video memory and a top resolution of 2048×1536. It is also HDTV ready.
Those are some of the top video cards to look for when shopping. These video cards all have different interfaces for PCI, AGP and SLI formats. They all have different resolution qualities and video memory ranges, but some of them will even handle HDTV signals. These cards will not only be great for a computer but they will work well for individual computer users.
Online Degree Program Scores With Video Game Enthusiasts
Online Degree Program Scores With Video Game Enthusiasts
When high school students spend hours playing video games, parents often say it’s a waste of time. However, these video game players, or “gamers,” can now find professional opportunities to complement their interest. The relatively young academic specialty of computer game technologies has grown in response to the popularity of the skyrocketing video game industry.
According to the NPD Group, Inc., a global leader in sales and marketing information, video game sales have grown from .6 billion in 2000 to .4 billion in 2004.
Building on the success of the game and simulation programming (GSP) bachelor’s degree program offered at 11 of its campuses nationwide, DeVry University announced it will offer the degree program online beginning in spring 2006.
“Game development technologies will play an important role in shaping many aspects of the entertainment and defense industries for years to come,” said Steven Riehs, vice president and general manager of DeVry University Online.
The campus-based GSP degree program was met with enthusiasm by students, faculty and employers and it’s expected that the online GSP program will allow even more students to pursue degrees in this growing industry.
According to Jesse Schell, former chairman of the International Game Development Association, the number of individuals looking to enter the gaming industry has grown tremendously in the last 10 years. He stresses that the gaming industry is not about theory, but the application of real technology and notes that individuals with hands-on experience developing games are most likely to succeed in these careers.
The university’s game and simulation programming degree program features course work in the math and physics of games, programming fundamentals, game design, modifications (MOD), massively multi-player online game programming (MMOG), two- and three-dimensional graphics programming, simulation and game engine design.
Graduates will be qualified for positions as programmers, software engineers and project coordinators in the computer game technology industry, as well as similar positions in simulation design and programming.
Examples include tactical and strategic military simulations and training, automotive design and testing, training for health care workers, crime scene reconstruction and flight simulation.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, entry-level gaming programmers/engineers with three years’ experience can expect to earn an average annual salary of ,300.
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Play With the Best Video Game System and Spend Hours of Great Fun
Play With the Best Video Game System and Spend Hours of Great Fun
Video games are one of the best forms of entertainment today. With it, you can really make your imagination come alive and become an entirely different character that fights monsters from different planets or be a Formula 1 race car driver.
To play these games, you usually go to the mall and play it on the arcade. In the arcade, you will see different games available. Some are even placed on realistic cars or fighter planes that are designed to follow every move you make. For example, if you play in a fighter plane, you will see that the machine will follow the plane’s movements, when you bank your plane right, you will feel the machine that you’re in move right too, if you pull up, you will feel that the machine will also point up.
Some of the arcade games even have a vibration feedback to alert you that you’re being hit by the enemy. There are even two player modes where you can go head to head with your friends in a dog fight or you can do cooperative missions where your friend can be your wingman. There are a lot more arcade games available.
However, you can’t go to the arcade everyday because doing so can be too expensive. Therefore, you should buy your own video gaming console where you can play right in your own home. Although it won’t contain all the realistic machines that you can find in the arcade, you can still have that great graphics and sound quality in the games.
Another great thing about buying your own gaming console is that you can have flexibility in selecting your games. There are a wide variety of games available that is not yet available or impossible to put in arcades.
In order to maximize enjoyment when you buy a video gaming system, you want to get the best. However, you may wonder what makes a good gaming console. With the number of gaming consoles available in the market today, people get confused on which gaming console they should purchase. The competition makes gaming console manufacturers develop the latest graphics and sound technology and integrate them in their systems making all the different kinds of gaming consoles in the market really stand out.
In the past, crude graphics and simple sounds were the ones available in the market. And, it was really popular. Today, quite a few gaming console manufacturers are now manufacturing the latest gaming consoles with integrated features that can even rival the power of your home personal computer.
Sega, Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony are four of the big names in the gaming console industry. They create the best gaming consoles in the market and really took the world by storm with each new version released. When you play in these consoles, you will know that it can really give quality entertainment for you and your family. When you have the time, you will spend hours on playing an action packed game with amazing realism and sound quality.
To answer the question on what makes a gaming system the best is not just about the sound quality and the graphics technology integrated on the system. Before you buy a gaming console, make sure that the gaming console has a lot of game titles supported. Besides, people would rather choose a gaming console where thousands of different games are available rather than purchasing a gaming console that only supports a few hundred games. You would eventually grow tired or bored of the only few hundred games available in a particular gaming console.
With thousands of gaming titles you can choose from, you can simply buy another game title if you get bored with your other games.
Another thing you should look for in a gaming console today is if it has additional add-on gadgets that you can connect. Some gaming consoles have memory cards that you can buy for you to save your progress in case you want to continue playing later on. Some have different joysticks that you can plug in for a more realistic feel for the game. For example, if you want your racing game feel more realistic, you can purchase a steering wheel with gas and brake pedals and if you want your fighter plane simulator, you can purchase a joystick that looks similar to fighter plane controls.
There are even gaming consoles that are integrated with a modem. This gaming console can give you the capability to connect to the internet and play with other players across the world.
If you choose a video gaming system that has all these features, you purchased the best video game system available. With the continuing development of different gaming consoles, who knows what other features it may bring.
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