Week 10- The Wonders of Virtual Reality

Technology is evolving and it will continue to evolve for the years to come, virtual reality what is it? It is an attempt of replicating reality itself using the latest computing technology available but how was virtual reality started, where did it began, what are the origins of it? First concepts of virtual reality is actually movies which are designed for people to enjoy as entertainment but people wanted more thrill they wanted a more immersive experience so experimentation on VR started in the 1930s with the View Master which showed images in a more immersive way but because of the advancing technology ways of tackling VR has gotten much better and people are coming up with better ways to improve the VR experience. VR really began to take up shape in the 1990s-2000s when video game companies started to create headsets for a better video game experience examples are like the SEGA VR headset which had a sound system with it. In the 2000s onwards the latest form of VR technology is the Oculus Rift DK1 which was designed and released in 2014 because it is somewhat the best it is the most well-known. The Valve Corporation is currently working on a VR headset called HTC Vive which is apparently going to have a full release in 2016. VR tech are being used in other ways too, not only to improve the experience of entertainment, it can be used for functions such as for education purposes, training, construction planning But even with all this technology virtual reality can still be bettered further developed and improved. But when one can say that virtual reality has reached its final stage of development it is when the player can interact, feel and perform in the gaming environment as if they are the character or avatar, that it what virtual reality should be and meant to be. As a conclusion although the concept of virtual reality is still in its primitive and developmental stages it can be further improved as it will be in the future as mankind becomes more and more advanced in technology and that it should be a concept in which it could enhance the experience for man in many different forms of media, virtual reality itself is indeed a wondrous concept.

Week 8- Violence in Video Games

Since the dawn of video games in the 1980's the amount of violence and aggression in video games has increased dramatically and it eventually became a normal part of games. Violence in video games are being blamed by a lot of critics for the violence that is happening in reality, but statistics are saying otherwise to these accusations. Between the dates 1995 and 2008 arrest rates have decreased by 49.3% while game sales have risen significantly, if what the critics are saying is true then violent related juvenile crimes should have risen exponentially. What these critics do not get or take in is the fact that a lot or the majority of the offenders behind major shootings like the Sandy Hook shooting that occurred in 2012 had other small things that contributed to them that allowed that shooting to happen like for instance the offender had a mental disorder for his whole lifetime also in addition to that weaponry was easily accessed and wasn’t secure enough and he didn’t really play any violent video games even though he had access to them. These so called critics should really do some major or further research into these issues instead of putting the blame on video games for being the major influence for these shootings. Also another thing is that these critics are in fact not putting such blame on the parents for being irresponsible and letting their children to have access to games they do not approve of. Also to fortify the point that violent video games does not contribute to real life violence a research conducted by the U.S Secret Service comparing the amount of homicides or rather shootings and the relation of offenders being influenced by violent video games the result was that they found that only one-eighth of offenders were actually interested in violent video games and less than other violent materials like books, films etc. the report in the end showed that they found no relation between violent video games and school shootings. So in the end violent video games doesn’t really contribute that much to the violence that’s happening in the human society or does it have much influence in making a person more violent more rather it depends on the individual themselves if they are going to commit such violent acts. 

Week 9- Blog: Video Game Addiction

Video game addiction is becoming a major issue in children to play video games usually those that are ages 8-18 sometimes there’s a risk of people that are older than that age range to be addicted to video games. When it comes to video game addiction it is very controversial issue. Statistics show that most gamers that are addicted to video games are mostly pathological gamers who are aged within the age listed above or, people who find it difficult to adjust to reality or have major mental issues or disorders like anxiety, depression and what not and people can’t just accuse these people who are experiencing these very difficult situations that they are addicted to games in reality they are using games as a way of escape from the harsh reality of real life. But using this group of people as a basis for the general accusation of video game addiction doesn’t seem that logical and accurate, rather the main source of video addiction usually comes from people who decide to become addicted on their own, more of trying to find ways of escaping school work or procrastination. It seems very illogical though that people so called highly educated doctors or scientists are putting the blame on the video game developer companies or parents who put the blame on companies that they are “corrupting” their child by making them addicted yet what they do not know is that the developers themselves need to also gain themselves a living by creating these games and that their children’s addiction is that of their own choice. So as a conclusion video game addiction isn’t automatic and can be stopped by the person who is addicted, video addiction depends on the decision of that person and it is not the fault of the game or video game company