Unit 2 Project

Jade Wearing

Eng 1101-OL10

Professor Edelson

Unit 2 project

The impact of video games on people’s lives

Video games has been something that has been around for a while now and it always had some sort of impact on people’s lives whether it was a major one or a minor one. Throughout the years, video games have grown into something much bigger that has been attracting people more and more. Video games, video game consoles, and the video game industry as a whole, have evolved and developed cool attractions towards it that impacted the way people view and play video games, and it is evident that the growth is not going to stop anytime soon. The world of gaming has grown into something amazing and recently, it is clear that gaming has reached a whole new peak, as in it is in it’s all time high where many people are supporting and getting into to gaming. Ever since covid-19 hit and everyone was forced to enter quarantine, a lot of people were bored and had nothing to do and nobody to talk to. People mentals started to drain which led to all types of stuff like anxiety and depression. With people having nothing to do, a lot of people have decided to enter the world of gaming and give gaming a try which has had major impacts on people’s lives for the better. Now, ever since quarantine, video games have been on many people minds and many people can’t wait to see how the future of the gaming world is going to be. Video games and other things that are related to video games have been receiving a lot of endorsements and advertisements and they advertise all the big things they have coming up like in-game events. Let’s look at Fortnite for a second, Fortnite recently just had a major event happen in the game that they hyped up and advertised for a while that many of people attended and viewed. Epic Games, the company that developed Fortnite, even came out and said how the event was a massive success and how millions of people came out to watch the event which was one of the game’s highest viewing. The event was being streamed and broadcasted throughout multiple platforms and these platforms are what help bring the community together. Many people live stream on a daily basis on them playing video games and even make YouTube videos and post stuff on different types of social media that are mostly about video games as a way to get the community involved and bring them into their lives and on their journey to share a common interest on what they all love and love doing and also, to help make people be and feel like they are part of a community that loves are respects each other. With these communities, people like to socialize and chill with other people that are there, as well as the content creator which is the streamer and the one that posts different kind of stuff, and they play games with each and just overall have a great time. There are also many games that are out there that are team based or requires people to communicate with each other, like Overwatch and Among Us, that are popular throughout the world and are really fun to play and be a part of and that brings the community together. These are only a few out of many ways where video games help build these types of communities where the communities grow into something big and where video games will have major impacts on people’s lives for the better.

Anderton, Kevin. “The Impact Of Gaming: A Benefit To Society [Infographic]”. Forbes Magazine. 25 Jun. 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton/2018/06/25/the-impact-of-gaming-a-benefit-to-society-infographic/?sh=14af2a65269d

Gaming is a very good thing that provides many benefits in people’s lives that can help make their lives better. According to this article, which is written by another fellow gamer, the main point that the author tries to conveys is that gaming is and can be a very positive thing to experience and be around that haves and will always have a major impact on society for the better. The author also tries to convey that all the people that have negative thoughts on video games and the impact it has are all false and need to stop spreading these negative and false information. The author talks about how being a part of the gaming community can benefit all different types of people no matter of their age and where they are from. According to the article, the author used data from an organization called Qutee which is a data-led discussion platform in which helps gamers to get the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions and it states, “In an online poll, gamers were asked what they believed to be the main benefit of gaming. Over 40% said that gaming improves emotional well-being.” This shows that nearly half of the gamers that participated in this poll said that it helped improved their well beings and the article then follows up with, “That’s a serious benefit if you consider that one in five people in America experience mental health issues each year.” This is considered to be a very good thing because the fact that many people go to many different things that can all have a negative effect on their well beings, and the fact they nearly half of these people said that gaming helped them get through it and helped with their well-being, is just a benefit that cannot be under minded. In the article, it also states, “This is a large contrast to the common view that playing video games leads to violence and other antisocial behavior. Which, according to Qutee, is a view that 93% of gamers think is incorrect.” This shows that majority of the gamers and people that are a part of the gaming community all have good things to say and that they don’t really have any negative things to say about the gaming industry and the impact it has in people’s lives and the society.

This article can be a very good source to read that can help people see the benefits of gaming. The information used in this article really helped supported the author’s claim and backed up everything they had to say. The information in this article, which involves both facts and the author’s thoughts and experiences, can be very impactful where it can persuade people that aren’t for gaming or don’t know much about it that gaming is very good. The information found in this article isn’t really surprising to me as where that I am also a gamer and that I see all the good and benefits of gaming and don’t see any negatives. If anything, I would’ve added a few more pieces of evidence, such as facts, that will help further deepen his argument. Me and the author are both fellow gamers and I agree with the author whereas, in the article, it states, “But for the most part, it seems that gaming has a positive impact and should be treated as such.” This shows that gamers will have positive things to say about gaming and the impact it has.

American Psychological Association. “Video game play may provide learning, health, social benefits, review finds”. Feb. 2014. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/video-game

This article talks about how gaming can help people grow and learn new different games. The main claim I get throughout this article is that gaming can help people learn things and adapt new skills that people can use in the real world. The person(s) that published this article also included the other side where gaming can be viewed as a negative thing and it can supposedly lead to bad things. According to this article, research shows that gaming can both have a negative and positive impact on people’s lives and society. In this article, it mostly goes it dept on how gaming can help people’s lives and how people can grow from it. According to this article, a 2013 meta-analysis found out about the impact of people playing shooter games, and it states, “’ This has critical implications for education and career development, as previous research has established the power of spatial skills for achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics’”. This shows that playing video games can provide people with the knowledge and skills that can help people out in the real world, such as academics. In the article, it also states, “The more adolescents reported playing strategic video games, such as role-playing games, the more they improved in problem solving and school grades the following year, according to a long-term study published in 2013.” This shows that playing all these different types of video games can provide all different types of knowledge and life skills that people can benefit from.

This article provides good claims that are supported by relevant facts and information that helped backed up the article’s main point. Even though the publisher put some negative views towards video games in the article, the benefits and positive views towards video games and people gaming outweighed the bad a ton. Even though there were negative views and claims in this article that would go against my claim, I still decided to put it because I agree that nothing is perfect, and this article just straight showed how the good outweighed the bad. This article provided so many details and evidence that really supports the good and positives about gaming. Questions I have for the publisher, the person(s) who wrote this article, is why would you put both sides of the positive and negative effects of gaming in this article, even though in this article, the good outweighs the bad by a lot? Is it because the writer has mix emotions and thoughts about gaming?

Babathebrown. “Who is Valkyrae”. Youtube. 10 Dec. 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNw6Y56xWi0

This is a video that talks about the life of a content creator called Valkyrae and how her playing video games and being a part of the gaming industry and the gaming community impacted her life for the better. Valkyrae has a lot to do in the gaming industry where she is well known, watched and supported. She went through a lot of tough times in her life and went through a lot and done many things to help her get through it and gaming has been the greatest thing that helped her where she has a major career and where it helps her a lot personally. She also has the ability to support her family and things that are extremely important to her with not much to worry about. In this video it talks about how Valkyrae was trying to get her career started and all the challenges she has faced and had to go through. It talks about how her dad was going through cancer and how she was trying to take care of him and support him and how times were rough for her. With the help of video games, it helped turn her life around and she is able to keep on doing good and positive things.

I have chosen this video because it talks about how gaming impacted her life for the better and he talks about it and represents it clearly. Valkyrae is one of my favorite content creators and I love to watch her play and go through her journey and I feel her and support her for what she is doing and what she is going through. Valkyrae has such a story that many people will follow and support her for what she has done and is doing, and many people will be with her in the long run. I know this video isn’t perfect but I think that this video presents her story clearly with a bit of humor that people could understand and follow and would love to watch. I know a better video with better and more information that will go deep in will be better for people to truly understand her story and what she been through and how gaming impacted her life, but I like this video because it is short and simple.

Salam, Maya. “The Video Games That Got Us Through 2020”. The New York Times. 17 Dec. 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/arts/video-games-pandemic.html?searchResultPosition=5

This Newspaper article talks about some of the games that helped people get through this 2020 year, which is where us people had to quarantine ourselves due to covid-19, and how it helped people get through it. Not all of the top games that people fell in love with and that majority of people play are listed here but just a few and it explains what about the games makes these games so good and beneficial. According to this article, some of the ways in which people used video games to get through quarantine were to pass time, communicate with other people and have fun, and because it also helped them mentally. In this article, it states, “Maybe you were new to video games in 2020, each day of social distancing nudging you closer to an alternate reality. (You wouldn’t be alone; the industry saw record spending and profits this year.)”. One can see that video games becoming even more of such a major factor in 2020, it shows that people playing video games really helped them through all the struggles and negatives of reality and enter a state of mind where everything just seems so perfect. With video games providing so many good things, many people wanted in on it and records show how many people are starting to enter and join the gaming industry and be a part of the gaming community. In the article, it also states, “In any case, what matters is that video games provided a much-needed outlet in a bizarre time.” This helps shows what the author’s overall message is that they are trying to show which is that gaming is really a positive thing to experience and be a part of and that gaming can help people get through tough times.

This article is really good and it shows how people can get through tough times and whatever they are going through that they want to escape. Even if you are not trying to escape things that are bad and are just trying to enter the world of gaming and enjoy the good and positives about it and take use of its benefits, this article is perfect to use and understand how games are good. I think the credibility of this article is perfect because the person who wrote this article said how they have been playing video games for over 20 years and you can see that she knows what they are talking about. The author provided great information about the games and the impacts they have. If anything, I would talk a little bit more about the impacts of playing video games have on people.

Conclusion

The reason why I chose this topic is because I am very passionate about it and I love and support gaming in every way. I think gaming can benefit people in many ways and I also think that it can bring good and positive things into people’s lives that many people could love and appreciate. I really wanted to focus on a topic that has a major impact on help fixing the current problems in society and the problems that many people are having to go through, instead of focusing on a major topic that I know many other people will probably talk about. I wanted to do a topic that can help solve all these problems that many people can learn and benefit from. In the research that I did, I am not surprised at the information and facts that I found out about but, the research that I did really helped deepen my understanding on the positives about gaming and how people can benefit from it. I found out that people getting into gaming and being a part of the gaming community and industry, can really help with all types of issues and problems that many people are dealing with. Playing video games can help with all types of problems like mental illnesses like anxiety and depression in which many people, during this time of quarantine, are going through. Gaming can provide all types of support such as mental support and physical support. Gaming can also help with many health issues and the problem of people needing to socialize and be in contact with people. People going to tough things like depression can have a toll on their health’s as in their not really taking care of themselves, so video games can come in and help fix that problem people are going through so they can start doing better and start taking care of themselves. Learning these things about video games are important whereas people can use this information and incorporate it in their lives and use it whenever they need it to get through stuff or to help out a love one or someone that is close to them that means a lot to you, or even if you just want to help people in need. The people I am targeting the most in this writing are people that are going through a lot of negative, bad things that they want to get away from and heal from. There are many ways people can heal, but getting into gaming can and is a major way to help people in need.