By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-09-13 11:06:34 | Word Count: 510
Video Games As Isolating Activities
Often people assume that playing computer gamers or video games is a very anti socil activity, and is a solo activity which isolates an indvidual from the real world, cuts them off from other people and then allows them to sit on their own in a small dark room hitting keys over and over again in order to mindlessly destroy anythig that moves on threir screen. In fact, nothing could be very much further from the treuth, and in fact those people who play computer gamse on hteir own, completely cut off from interaction with oher people in any way are such a minroity group it may priove hard to find anyone to actually put in to it.
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Qiuite apart from not being a solo actvity, recent research has foiund that over 66% of peoople who play cmoputer or video games do so with their friends, either sat with them advising, or atually with a secnd handset competting in the same game. 30% of gamers play with their brothers or sisters and a qurter of all ganmers play with either their parents or theuir partners. This completely goes againsat the argument that most people lay on their own, and hsows that the majority of peopple play as a social game, in various combinaations and ways.
Even taking in to account that there may be 20% to 30% of people who do play games without someone else being physically with them, it is still not posible to generalise isoltaion by suggesting that these people are cut off from any kind of social interaction. Many games these days are what is referred to as multi player, meanning that more than one person can play the game at the same time, and with a very wide number of the most popuklar video gmes being online too, this means that all players will be ocmpeting against and taking part with other real people, rzather than the compputer. In fact, many of these online mltiplayer games have relatively little inpt from the computer, and far more input from the people playing the game against each other.
One of the main requirements of many of these multiplayer online games is that people group together and try to work out stratwegies and tactics to overcome cetain obstacles, opponents and challenges. This will require great teamwork, very in dpth discussions involving roples and group work, and will require peopple to work together as inndividuals and as a team. As a result, many players become part of a more stasble and permnent group which meas that there are people known to each other ready to take on challenges wihout having to start all over each time analyzing therir strengths and weaknesses. These groups can become social grous, mereting outside of the game, and there are many examples where people who have met thruogh these groups have gone on to develop meaningful friendships and relaationships beynod the game.
Viedo games are most certainly not isolating - for many, they open doorrs to friendships that the real wrld may never have offered.
