Jane McGonial’s presentation gave out some very valid points about why as humans have evolved so much into becoming obsessed with different video games and why we continue to play them even though they may not serve a purpose to us. She states that what we as humans get in video games is something we don’t in real life, and that is either multiple lives, depending on the game, or just a multiple of chances to try and redo something. The message she gives out is that in the gaming world, it gives us humans a better life than what we actually have. She relates to how in video games we continue to face the problems we encounter in the game because we know that there is a possibility that we will not only get another chance at it, but the chances of us succeeding with the task is what draws us to that fantasy type of life. Some of the feelings that we might encounter in real life when we are faced with adversity can be overwhelming because it truly affects us and our emotions. That is something that we wont face when playing these games, we dont ever get the emotion of having to face reality in those games. When someone fails at something in life, that person will be negatively effect by it emotionally and depending on the situation, could possibly become depressed and out of the obnormal of what they may feel if they had succeeded. In a video game, it is a different story. We dont ever feel that emotion of failure because we realize that it is not real life and have came to realize that it is something that will not affect our daily lives.
Off of what Jane presents in her case about video games, I would completely agree with why we as humans continue to play video games, which is because of how it makes us feel. From personal experience, and playing video games growing up, I used to always like playing them because I could be whoever I wanted in the game. A lot of video games give the option of creating your own personal character and that is one of the main reasons why people enjoy them. Although there is one thing that I would disagree with what Jane presented. Being a guy and having a competitive nature, some video games would often get intense with friends and I. Between all of the competitiveness in the room and all the emotion occcuring because of the game, the room would often get heated depending on the outcome.
On a different note, when I think of video games and a common topic related to it in the real world is the violence that has been occuring between the link of video games being played to much and young teens going out and doing the things that they see in the video game. Do you believe that video games have anything to do with it? If they do, do you think that these kids are losing what they might actually believe reality is and start believing that the video game becomes their own reality?
Hi Tyler, I’m Binglu. I were read your post, you were mention that people have different emotions between real life and game word, such as “We dont ever feel that emotion of failure because we realize that it is not real life and have came to realize that it is something that will not affect our daily lives.” I think people may feel same in the game world and realy life, becuase they spend a lot of time on it and they care about it, in Jane’s video she state that “people have totally different feeling when they in the virtual world and real world, and people 10000 hours in the game.” You can see that people spend more than 10000 hours on the game, people spend time and money on it, I belive that they care about it, and will have similar emotions.
I think that there is some sort of disconnect between the real world and the game world, but at the same time, I also think there is a bit of an overlap. Video games are a hobby and passion for some, so just like any other activity that one takes part in, they invest themselves — money, time, emotion — into that hobby. So I think there will be an emotional reaction to the video game. Maybe it won’t last as long because it isn’t a part of the real world, but the emotional response will still occur.
I believe that video games can play a part in the ongoing violent tendencies of our youth. If we spend a certain amount of time on something, and we become so attached and devoted to it, we feel the emotions related to that activity more often. And if we are often having a negative and angry response to a video game, it could be that we are making ourselves more prone to negative and angry behaviors, and that could trigger a violent response. I still think they have an idea of the line between game and reality, though; the problem is they are believing that their emotional reaction is normal, even if it is a negative one.