February 25, 2009

Gamer: Video games are here to stay, but parents can shape and control their influence

By John Gleason

Despite the cold and snow, more than 50 people showed up at Braun’s Bar and Grill Friday night to hear Francis X. Maier, chancellor for the Denver Archdiocese, deliver the latest Theology on Tap lecture. Maier spoke on “The Video Game Culture.”

Maier, a game veteran for decades, told the audience that games are part of American culture, and they offer much more than simple enjoyment.

“More than 50 years ago, I learned to play chess and Go,” he said, “and certainly they were ‘fun,’ but they also helped me learn how to think.  Games like chess and Go are really war games that ancient royalty would play to develop abstract thought and strategic thinking.  Video games, at their best, have some of the same qualities.”

Games and computer simulations are not mere toys, Maier said.  Specialized computer simulations—in other words, high end “games”—are now routinely used to model economic and political problems, public emergencies, non-violent public organizing and even international peace negotiations.

“As a species, we play games to learn; in fact, nearly all mammals do,” he said.  “Play is part of who we are.  We’re relentless puzzle solvers. Many videogames are deliberately designed around solving a puzzle or fulfilling a quest, and that’s one of the keys to their enjoyment.  Videogames can be excellent teaching tools, as the military figured out years ago.” 

The popular Xbox title from several years ago, Full Spectrum Warrior, was jointly developed by the U.S. Army, which used it as an urban warfare training tool.

The downside, Maier said, is that some of the most popular games today are brutal, cynical, sexually explicit or simply boring.  They can also be addictive time-wasters.

Every major new technology has cultural significance, asserted Maier, and not always the intended kind.  Using television as an example, he noted that the typical American now spends an average of four hours a day watching TV.  That translates to two months per year. By age 65, he said, the average American has spent nine years of his or her life non-stop in front of the television.

What kind of long term impact does that have?  The evidence is mixed, and not all of it is bad, Maier said.  But “one recent study showed that 59 percent of American adults surveyed could name the Three Stooges, and only 17 percent could name two Supreme Court justices. The power of television is a pretty good window on the potential power of computer simulations and the gaming culture.”

Since its beginning, the video gaming industry has grown from an eccentric, computer-geek hobby to a multibillion dollar annual industry that circled the planet faster than anyone could have imagined.  In 1961, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created the first video game called Space War.  The game’s primitive images were the product of a computer that filled a large room. 

In 2002 alone, more than 212 million video games were sold, or more than two for every U.S. household, said Maier.  Today, even in an ailing economy, overall game and simulation sales remain very strong.

“In the past seven years, video game sales in this country have gone from $10 billion to $19 billion annually; and globally, the sales now top $40 billion a year,” he said. 
As computers and gaming consoles get more powerful, and game software grows more absorbing and sophisticated with better storylines, product demand will continue to increase.

“The stronger and faster computing power becomes, the more effective the programs become as simulators of reality,” he said.

On the bright side, game industry success has sparked important technological innovations for persons with disabilities, educators and leaders in business.
Maier noted that critics of the gaming industry claim that it promotes anti-social behavior with products that encourage aggression and solitude.  This can be true, Maier said.  Some games are not merely vulgar or brainless, but act, in effect, as “killing simulators” or what one gamer friend called “life suckers.”  But that isn’t a fair judgment on the whole industry.

“Actually, today’s games have their own unique social dynamic, especially online,” Maier said.  “There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that many games actually enhance social skills and learning.”

The popularity of video games and their influence on mainstream culture isn’t likely to ebb, Maier said.  But those who worry about the impact of video gaming should recognize that they aren’t powerless against it.

“It’s very hard to stop technology, even when we want to, because it’s the fruit of human creativity.  But we can definitely shape and modify the effect any technology has on our families,” Maier said.  “The point is, we need to be serious about controlling it, instead of letting it control us.”

When it comes to computers, the Internet and video games, adults need to know what they’re talking about, Maier said.

“It doesn’t do any good to start complaining about video games if you haven’t played them and don’t understand their appeal,” he said.

Parents need to stay directly involved in their children’s recreation, he emphasized. 

“Adults need to listen to and engage with their children who play videogames—don’t let the game become a babysitter.”

Finally, Maier said, parents should always monitor what their children are playing.

“You’d never let your child bring home the wrong kind of magazines,” he said. “You need to have exactly the same type of vigilance when it comes to computer use and video games.”