Gaming Something about video games...

[Ninjaman]

Here's something a friend of mine e-mailed me:

[QUOTE]Video games dulling the brain?



A recent study in Japan suggests that prolonged video game playing can cause people to lose concentration and social skills.

A recent study in Japan has suggested that extensive amounts of time spent playing video games can cause players to lose concentration, get angry easily, and have trouble interacting with others, according to a report in the Mainichi Daily News . The study was conducted by Akio Mori, a professor at Nihon University, and it included 240 people between the ages of 6 and 29. Mori analyzed the subjects' brain waves and separated them into beta waves, which indicate activity in the prefrontal region of the brain, and alpha waves, which appear when the brain is resting. The study found that those who rarely played video games had stronger beta waves, while those who spent between two and seven hours each day playing games had extremely weak beta waves, even while not playing games. Many of the participants in the group who played the most video games told researchers that they had trouble associating with friends, were easily angered, and couldn't concentrate.

No specific games, types of games, or game systems were mentioned in the report. The results of the research will be formally announced in the US this fall at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

Another study was conducted last year at Tohoku University in Japan that suggested that video games can harm brain development in children. That study was later criticized for its limited focus by the European Leisure Software Publishers Association.[/QUOTE]

So do you guys think it's true? My friend thinks so. And I, as a video game freak, think it might be true too.

[Fall]

I think it's more true than it's not, even my mum comes into my room every half-hour saying "Get off that stupid machine! We don't want someone walking 'round the house who can't talk to people properly!"..... :angry: Even though I don't feel like anything's happening to my brain, it probably is.....which is a big problem because I'm a video-game freak aswell.

[James]

[color=royalblue]This is true, but only to a minor extent.

From other articles I've read, the development of the brain is only damaged based upon [i]continual, extended play[/i]...meaning, hours and hours per day.

The average gamer, who might spend an hour or half an hour a day on games, probably has nothing to worry about.[/color]

[kizu]

Well, I think it is true also. And know that I would qualify under that group of a normal 2-7 hours of playing video games a day. Heck when I first bought legend of dragoon I played 8 hours as soon as I got home (I got home at about 8 at night). Well I have some problems concentrating. I am still in the top 10 or so in my class. But I have noticed that my social skills are very bad. And common sence is quite hard to find in me. Hmm, I wonder if that is my problem, my video games really did rot my brain. Oh well, not like I will ever need that.

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]Bah. Playing video games for a few hours a day isn't going to make it so you can't talk to people and have a conversation. Heck, I play video games quite a bit, plus I'm also on the computer for a few hours each day, and I can have a decent conversation. I can also concentrate pretty dang well, when I want to, and especially if I'm interested in whatever it is. And for the last point, I think getting angry easier more depends on the person. If the person gets pissed at a game and is then in a bad mood because of it, of course they're going to be angered easier than normal. I'll sometimes get pissed at a game, but then I cool off pretty quickly, and I'm fine. If I'm not already in a bad mood, it can take quite a bit to really get me angry.

Like James said, it is true, but only to a very minor extent.[/color]

[Twinzam v]

I agree with james as well playing video games for a couple of hours woudnt make you dumb. Even my parents think that playing games too long would make you dumb

[Krademon]

I think the kid would be more damaged from only having a beanbag to play with than a computer. I mean he was prbably blued to the screen 20hrs a day.
*rips own hand off screen*

[Semjaza]

It's strange that it doesn't bother to mention how long any of these people played, or which age groups were most affected. Those would be the other two imporatant points I'd think...

This is part of an experiment though. They probably had people playing one game for 6 hours straight to see what it did. I doubt it would affect any average gamer. And who's to say this isn't a temporary thing as it is?

I still think videogames are what helped me read and write so well, so there are still good points to them :).

[PrettygurlRei]

that study is dumb. I heard that it increases eye and hand cordination. (SP?) Like Desbreko I to play a lot of video games, and are on the computer a lot. So far I have no trouble with talking, except I do get angry fast, but i had that as a little kid, so did my friend. She threw a plastic cup at her brother and broke the slidding glass door. He he he, and some other things but I wont go there. besides she goes on this site, she'll kill me.

[Guest Imsirion]

So thats why I have no social life.....

I thinks its pretty true. Games can get me frusturated and pretty mad ( I have a quick temper) so I'd say its accurate. Or accurate for most gamers.

[Ninjaman]

Before my friend sent me this I had no idea why I had such a short temper. But when I read this I didn't want to believe that video games were the cause! They helped me read! Seriously, I've played video games when I was about six or seven. But I have to admit that when I lose to video games I get angry very fast, which results to me getting very angry to my friends very fast.

[GhostofSalvtore]

yes and I know that from experience

[Charles]

Well, like others have noticed, the fact that the specific games used for this genre weren't mentioned, hurts the credibility of the results somewhat.

[Quote][B]A recent study in Japan has suggested that extensive amounts of time spent playing video games can cause players to lose concentration, get angry easily, and have trouble interacting with others, according to a report in the Mainichi Daily News.[/Quote][/B]

I find this amusing. If anything, games such as Tetris, or strategy rpgs should improve concentration and build a higher threshold for patience.

Also, online games should improve communication skills somewhat. Especially if cooperation plays a large part in succeeding.

Oh well......

[Red]

[b]A couple of weeks ago I was actually looking at a number of studies about video games, they almost all came to the conclusion that games were [i]good[/i] for you.

It was shown that children and adults displayed improved reflexes, and mental abilities for problem solving (e.g a hard maths question or puzzle) had greatly improved.

I play games quite a bit, and I have not found it to effect me in any way, I still get good grades in school, although I do have a terrible temper, it is not caused by games. Sometimes it is good to come home and take out your anger on a game, e.g Tekken.[/b]

[Saiya-jinro]

Its all a bunch of bull. I agree that playing too long could make complications arise. But other than that, nothing really happens. Its how they say that video games cause violence, and they don't. The game is just trigger in a way. What I mean is that, they could already have the ideas in their head for wanting too do violent acts. The game will just make them do it faster. Like, you can't shoot a bullet without the gun.

[Semjaza]

Another guy just contradicted all of this. The study saying games are bad is very misleading. The guy who wrote this works for a puzzle game company, and while he obviously isn't a doctor, he sure seems to know what he is talking about. From PGC:


[b]Videogame Designer Nalin Sharma Says Reporting of Recent Research From Nihon University in Japan is Misleading[/b]

A recent study by Professor Akio Mori at Nihon University has found prolonged playing of videogames by children could lead to permanent disruption of their brain waves, causing them to lose concentration, get angry easily and have trouble interacting with others.

Reporting in the UK media of this study would have us believe that we are nurturing a population of young people who will grow up with permanent brain damage, inflicted by playing videogames.

Such a notion is "absurd", says Nalin Sharma, the founder of UK-based Puzzle Kings, a company dedicated to producing videogames that are as mentally challenging as they are aesthetically stimulating.

"I'm sure that a respected academic like Professor Mori has conducted a valid and useful piece of research. It is impossible however to draw valid conclusions before the formal results of this research are published, together with details of the methodologies behind the study; which games were selected and how the sample population was selected. The results of Professor Mori's research are due to be formally announced later this year at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in the U.S.

Speaking as someone who has played, designed and written videogames for nearly twenty years, I'm surprised and disappointed that some reporters have interpreted the preliminary findings reported in the Mainichi Daily News in an uncorroborated and sensationalist fashion.

The reality is that not enough is known about the brain and how it operates to reach the sort of concrete conclusions promoted by certain elements of the UK press this week.

For every negative study there are positive studies, highlighting the potential benefits of video games. A report by the New England Journal of Medicine in 2001 suggests that video games can help to develop ambidextrous brains in young children, who are otherwise drawn to activities controlled by their brain side preference. In this study, children who played video games a minimum of 20 minutes three times a day exhibited left and right brain co-operation, implying that they could be both logical and intuitive rather than one or the other. Other research has pointed to video games helping to treat attention deficiency hyperactive disorder (ADHD) instead of drugs. Using a "biofeedback" mechanism children's brain waves were connected to control video games so they could be trained to increase the strength of both high and low frequency beta waves. In fact this has now resulted in a commercially available device , based on video games.

No mention has so far been made of the type of game played by Professor Mori's sample, which raises serious questions about the validity of the quoted conclusions. This makes me wonder how different genres of games would show up in terms of the brain activity they produced. I would expect a fighting game for example to produce different patterns of brain activity to a puzzle game. What would be the pattern if you compared two chess players: one playing a computer and one playing a human opponent? Is the phenomenon unique to videogames? If the reports in this week's press were to be taken literally, you'd expect the same patterns of brain activity in a computer chess player as you would in a Quake champion! It is not clear from the reporting of Professor Mori's study that any such distinction was made.

As a designer, I see all video games as challenging puzzles to be solved with a combination of analysis, creativity and dexterity. If video games were truly destroying players brains then one would expect players to get worse as they played; the reality is that the more people play, the better they become. Undoubtedly their brains are developing some skills in a positive way.

We live in a world characterised by the rapid march of technology. Anecdotal evidence suggests that children are often better than adults at learning the new skills required to cope with life in this environment. How many parents get their kids to set the VCR for them?

Often video games are intended to elicit tension and fear as part of the entertainment experience. In this sense they are no different to watching an exciting film or television show. Where video games differ is they offer objectives and reward the player for their completion. This sets video games apart and is a key reason why they can be addictive. After playing a particularly exciting video game there is always a cooling down period much like leaving a movie theatre and returning to normal life - both offer the opportunity for reflection on an uplifting experience.

The level headed view in the context of all these studies is that videogames, like any other leisure activity, should be enjoyed in moderation. Having failed to turn into one myself, I'll be surprised if videogames make zombies out of our children."

Nalin Sharma's latest project is ZooCube, a high-intensity puzzle game that excites and entertains as it tests mental ability and manual dexterity in equal measures. Having won plaudits at E3, the games industry's biggest trade show, it is due for a UK release on Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance in August. Find out more at [url]http://www.zoocube.net[/url] and [url]http://www.puzzlekings.com[/url]

About Nalin Sharma Although only in his mid-30's, Nalin Sharma has been active in the computer games industry for over 20 years. One of the 80's generation of self-taught programmers, he wrote his first commercial video game, at the age of 16, for the Commodore VIC 20. In 2000, while pursuing a career as a management consultant in the City, Nalin entered an early version of his game ZooCube in a national competition sponsored by Edge Magazine. It won hands down and received a sponsored international showcase at Milia.

About PuzzleKings PuzzleKings is a UK based company dedicated to producing high adrenaline puzzle games for the mass market that can scale from portable gaming platforms through to next generation games consoles. PuzzleKings mission is to create great games with widespread appeal that are hugely innovative, immensely entertaining and have lasting value.

[GhostofSalvtore]

o and I was the one that sent it to Digital Shadow.

[SaiyanPrincessX]

I think its true. I used to get so mad after I lost at a video game but I slowly grew out of it, and not playing many games helped. I don't play as much as I used to but when I do I don't get as mad and its alot more fun that way.

[James]

[color=royalblue]The article that Semjaza put up is interesting. And it raises many valid points.

When playing games like ICO or Resident Evil, you definitely find that logical thinking and creative thinking are important.

Especially a game like Silent Hill, with its emphasis on puzzles and puzzle solving. Some puzzles in the game can be quite difficult and often require that I take out some paper and a pen, and actually try and methodically work out a solution.

In my view, this kind of puzzle solving is no different to the kind of mathematics or case studies that I would do in a school environment. The only difference is that I'm participating in an interactive entertainment medium.

Furthermore, games that are historically accurate can teach children a lot. I've definitely found that my younger siblings have often learned by playing games. Either they've learned facts about history, or they've picked up small tidbits of information here and there through the game. Games also teach kids about direction and cinema production as well -- with a game like Final Fantasy X, my little sister is often asking questions about the significance of certain story elements (like when Tidus and Yuna practice their laughing). So, when I explain the meaning of these scenes to her...she is learning something about storytelling, in my view.

It is the same as if I were reading her a book, and she'd stop me to ask about something. Ultimately, she is learning in a number of different ways.

So given the benefits of video games...I'm not sure that this study from Japan should be the be-all and end-all of how people view video games.[/color]