Video Gaming: History, Advances, Concerns Term Paper

Additional studies show these effects last." (Ibid) the following statistics are stated in the study of Walsh, Gentile, Walsh and Bennett (2005) relating to the parent's belief and the actuality as reported by their child.

Differences between parents and children reports related to video games

Parent reports

Never"

Child reports

Never"

How often does a parent/do you:

Play computer or video games with you/your child?

Talk to you about the video games you play?

Help decide what video games you may buy/rent?

Have to ask permission before playing video games?

Parent reports

Yes"

Child reports

Yes"

Does your family have rules about how much you may play?

Does your family have rules about when you may play video games?

Source: Walsh, Gentile, Walsh, & Bennett (2005)

IV. The Future of Video Gaming

Positive applications for learning have emerged from video gaming capabilities. A Computer Research Association report entitled: "Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Learning for the Future: A Vision and Research Agenda" reports the results reported from a series of workshops which was a collaborative effort between the Computing Research Association and the International Society of the Learning Sciences with the support of the National Science Foundation" under a research Grant. The workshop series was conducted for the purpose of exploring where education stands in relation to the use of computers for instruction and where computer-assisted learning should focus in the future for the purpose of resource planning. The workshops including the areas of: (1) modeling, simulation and gaming technologies applied to education; (2) Cognitive implications of virtual or web-enabled environments; (3) how emerging technology and cyberinfrastructure might revolutionize the role of assessment in learning; and (4) the interplay between communities of learning or practice and cyberinfrastructure. The report of the workshops states findings that the U.S. is "failing to train adequate numbers of students for careers in science and technology, or to develop the broad scientific and technological literacies that are necessary for full participation in a democratic society. Interactive learning is stated to be a necessary component in education. This activity will be through development of simulated projects using game-based simulations as well as many other possible applications in this area. It is stated: "Serious games...are becoming increasingly common in public policy, healthcare, and military training, as well as for corporate training and all levels of education." (Ainsworth, Honey, Johnson, Koedinger, Marumatsu, Pea, Recker and Weimer, 2005) CELF or, Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Learning for the Future is stated to have the capacity to "...change the way learning takes place both inside and outside the classroom, blurring the distinctions between the two. Mediated learning will take place in the context of computationally augmented real-world environments, online communities of practice, interactive virtual environments, games, simulations models, and audio/video/IM/SMS communications - not just in classrooms." (Ainsworth, Honey, Johnson, Koedinger, Marumatsu, Pea, Recker and Weimer, 2005)

The factors that feed either success or failure for video games are both reviewed in the work of Cook, Schildt, Warhol, Schoback, and Javelosa in a report entitled: "Group Report: Building Innovative Games that Sell." Two of these external factors are stated to be: (1) No long tail: games often have a very small window, a few years at most, before they are technologically obsolete. Slow burn, niche products often stop working before they turn a profit; and (2) Limited distribution channels: Limited diversification of distribution channels means a game has a finite number of chances to find a prospective audience." (Cook, Schildt, Warhol, Schoback, and Javelosa, 2005) Internal factors are stated to be: (1) lack of customer focus; (2) lack of reliable and shared success criteria; (3) lack of business expertise; and (4) outdated practices. (Cook, Schildt, Warhol, Schoback, and Javelosa, 2005) Valuable tools are identified as being:

1) value stream analysis;

2) Ideation techniques;

3) constraints-based product requirements;

4) onsite customers and quality scorecards; and 5) small cross-functional teams." (Cook, Schildt, Warhol, Schoback, and Javelosa, 2005)

Use of these techniques has been: "...proven to slash time to market, increase product quality and improve success rates." Cook, Schildt, Warhol, Schoback, and Javelosa, 2005) Also shown to be essential is a 'stage gate process' which is stated to include the following steps:

1) a product starts out as a simple idea and moves through several production stages before release;

2) Each stage has clearly-defined, objective exit criteria, spelled out well in advance;

3) in the form of a kill gate. At the kill gate only the products that meet the success criteria are allowed to move on to the next development stage. Other products are killed at this point and receive no further investment;

4) Products that move on to more advanced stages receive both increased funding and stricter success criteria. The process continues until a few, highly vetted products are released into the market." (Cook, Schildt, Warhol, Schoback, and Javelosa, 2005)

This is what is referred to as an "options-based decision model" (Cook, Schildt, Warhol, Schoback, and Javelosa, 2005) in which the options are left open as long as possible, with the least expenses possible until it has been decided that it will be lucrative to proceed with the product.

The work entitled: "Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18-year-olds" states that in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey it was found that "children and teens are spending an increasing amount of time using new media like computers, the Internet and video games, without cutting back the time they spend with old media like TV, print and music. " (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005) This is stated to be because these age children often watch television while they are online and the like.

Summary & Conclusion

Video-gaming started out as simply a recreational past-time however video-gaming is presently being used for training employees both in the corporate and military sectors. Video-gaming is furthermore being used in the educational sector and being purported to be critical for certain types of instruction. Video-gaming is being used in the science sector for use in creation of real-life or simulated activities.

Bibliography

Fischer, P.; Guter, S.; Frey, D.; Kubitz; J. (2007) Virtual Driving and Risk Taking: Do Racing Games Increase Risk-Taking Cognitions, Affect and Behaviors" Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied 2007 Vol. 19 No. 1 12031. American Psychological Association 2007.

Walsh, D.; Gentile, D.; Walsh, E.; Bennett, N. (2006) 11th Annual MediaWise Video Game Report Card. National Institute on Media and the Family, 28 Nov 2006. Online available at http://www.mediafamily.org/research/report_vgrc_2006.shtml.

Ainsworth, S.; Honey, M; Johnson, WL; Koedinger, K.; Maramatsu, Pea, R.; Recker, M. And Weimar, S. (2005) Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Learning for the Future: A Vision and Research Agenda. Computing Research Association. Online available at http://www.cra.org/reports/cyberinfrastructure.pdf

Gaming Advances as Learning Tool: For Some Educators, Computer Games are Serious Business" eSchool News Online. Available at http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=6799.

Brum, J. (2007) Immersed in Engineering, Advanced 3D Visuality Promotes Insight. FakeSpace Systems. Electronic Design Strategy, News. Online available at http://www.edn.com/article/CA6372849.html?industryid=2852&text=fakespace

Cook, D.; Schildt, G.; Warhol, D.; Schoback, K.; Javelosa, D. (2006) Group Report: Building Innovative Games that Sell. Project Horseshoe 2006. The First Annual Game Design Think Tank. Online available at http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:DOzjO-FHIysJ:www.lostgarden.com/files/Project%2520Horseshoe%2520Report%2520-%2520Building%2520Innovative%2520Games%2520That%2520Sell.pdf+Video+gaming:+history,+advances,+concerns,+future&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=89&gl=us

Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18-year-olds" (2005) the Kaiser Family Foundation. Online available at http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia030905pkg.cfm.

Fischer, Pl; Guter, S.; Frey, D.; Kubitzki, J. (2007) Virtual Driving and Risk-Taking: Do Racing Games Increase Risk-Taking Cognitions, Affect and Behaviors. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Applied. 2007 Vol. 13, No. 1.

Lowood, H. (2002) Shall We Play a Game: thoughts on the Computer Game Archive of the Future" Stanford University, October 2002. Online available at http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood/Texts/shall_game.pdf

Video Gaming: History, Advances, Concerns and Future