1. VIDEO GAMES Consumption Duke Tomlinson JTC 413

2. Statistics, Facts and Figures! 69 Percent of American head of households play video games! Average Age of “gamer”: 33 years old

3. Gender Female’s make up 38% of the gamer population, with males at 62%. BUT, WOMEN aged 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game playing population (30%0 than boys ae 17 or younger (23%)!

4. Video Game Stats! Action seems to be the most popular with 30.1% of units sold, with fighting games being the least with 4.7%

5. Computer Game Stats! The best selling computer games are strategy games with 30.8%, whereas Action is on the short end of sales with 4.7% of units sold!

6. POLITICS Politicians have jumped on the bandwagon of video games and held town hall-type meetings within Second Life! Notables speakers include Virginia Governor Mark Warner, Speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi and Representative George Miller of California.

7. America’s Army is a First-Person Shooter game created in partner with the U.S. Army. “The game has opened entirely new channels for communicating with America about soldering. It has also fostered the growth of a dynamic community of interest in the army that encompasses hundreds of internet fan sites and community game hosts. In the past year these virtual communities have witnessed an exchange of information about the Army and its game in several million web-forum postings, web logs, and internet chat sessions. This has placed AMERICA’S ARMY at the forefront of attention of young Americans and their parents as a source of information about the Army!” -- John McLaurin, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for human resources and executive agent of the America’s Army project.

8. Positive aspects of Video Gaming “Potential positive skills learned or obtained while playing video games include problem solving abilities, perseverance, hand eye coordination, pattern recognition, hypothesis testing, estimating skills, inductive skills, resource management, logistics, mapping, memory, quick thinking and reasoned judgements” (Sheff,33). Nintendo Wii—combining timing, hand eye coordination, etc. through physical gaming.

9. Positive aspects of Video Gaming Video games are also helpful in other areas as well. Gamer’s who have problems with attention, self-esteem, and boundaries are often helped by the gaming experience, with many therapy programs turning to video games for those types of people. One may argue that a gamer who may not have the greatest social skills, or a “social outcast” may gain social standing because he is a video game aficionado. Video games are also helpful in other areas as well. Gamer’s who have problems with attention, self-esteem, and boundaries are often helped by the gaming experience, with many therapy programs turning to video games for those types of people. One may argue that a gamer who may not have the greatest social skills, or a “social outcast” may gain social standing because he is a video game aficionado.

10. Positive Aspects of Gaming cont. Video games Mimic social structure as well. Video games allow a means by which to establish hierarchies of skill and ability, and ultimately leadership just like in other areas of life. Video games are also unique in that its one of the few settings in which children can teach parents and grown-ups a thing or two about gaming.

11. HALO 3 HIERARCHY EXAMPLE The EXP system is simple. Win a game, and you get experience. Lose and you don’t get any experience. Quit the game, you lose an experience point for deserting your team in combat. The more games you win over time, the higher rank you get!

12. Negative aspects of video gaming Time Allocation Theory: Nie & Hillygus suggest that “The more time a person sits in front of a computer screen or TV, the less time they have for interacting directly with friends and family. This “displacement” model holds that time on one activity simply cannot be spent on another activity, since time is a zero-sum phenomenon”

13. Negative Aspects, cont. Violence in video games is another major concern. Violent video games may affect individuals by having influences on their aggressive beliefs, schemata, scripts, and by desensitizing them to aggression. The resulting change through these influences can result in increased opportunities for violence to occur in their everyday life.

14. FINAL THOUGHTS “Games are widely used as educational tools, not just for pilots, soldiers and surgeons, but also in schools and businesses…Games require players to construct hypotheses, solve problems, develop strategies, and learn the rules of the in-game world through trial and error. Gamers must also be able to juggle several different tasks, evaluate risks and make quick decision’s….Playing games is, thus, an ideal form of preparation for the workplace of the 21 st century, as some forward-thinking firms are already starting to realize.” --The Economist August 4, 2005