Study shows that playing violent video games alters brain activity

The Indiana University School of Medicine has concluded that violent video games do in fact damage the brain. However less that 30 men were tested in this study which shows that these results are not entirely accurate. The study does show though that those who played the violent game had less activation in the left inferior frontal lobe than those who did not. Other studies show that if you want to have a healthy brain, eat fish.

But is this still enough to prove that violent video games are mad for children and influence violent behavior? There have been many other studies that show that they don’t. The book “Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do” seems to point out that it doesn’t.

There are many different books, studies, opinions out there that say that violent games DO cause behavior, and then that say they don’t. I guess it will take many more studies to find out the truth… if there is one.

Heavy Rain – A Review

These past couple of days I played Quantic Dream’s interactive psychological thriller, Heavy Rain. The game was released in 2010 and was highly anticipated. It tells the story of the hunt for the Origami Killer. A murderer who kills young boys by drowning them in rain water and then disposes of their bodies and leaves a origami in their hands. Ethan Mars’ son, Shaun, is one of the latest victims. He has only a certain amount of time to find his son before he will be killed. There are 3 other characters involved in the story, a photographer named Madison, an FBI agent named Norman Jayden, and a private investigator named Shelby. The game centers around Ethan’s search for his son, and how the other characters get involved in the story.

The game has overall, a very interesting story. One of the most intriguing stories in a game ever. While there are 4 different characters to play all their stories seem to go in sync with one another so there is never any confusion. As far as knowing what is going on that is. After completing one part of the story players will play as another character. When you return back to a certain character their story will fall inline from where the player last left off. During the loading process of the next part players will be shown a closeup of the character they are about to play.

The graphics in the game are amazing. The characters are all very well defined. My only complaint is that their facial emotions aren’t that distinct. The use of mocap was used for capturing facial movement, unlike L.A. Noire which used MotionScan. The environment is very well detailed. Throughout the game players will have to look at other objects in order to gain knowledge about the current quest, such as clocks, cabinets, dressers, and so forth.

The gameplay is interesting. It’s not the best gameplay in the history of gaming. The game makes you hit one to several different buttons at a time in order to do one action. In fact, while I was playing it seemed to remind me of another game that I had played years ago, Indigo Prophecy. Come to find out that Quantic Dream did both of that game and Heavy Rain. Throughout the whole game different buttons will appear in the screen that correspond to what the player has to push. In the beginning it seems like a cool concept, but after awhile it got kind of ridiculous. Sometimes 5 different buttons had to be pushed at once in order to get through the action. If the buttons are not hit in the right order and held down then the action is failed and has to start over. The one thing that makes video games interesting is the fact that the player can control the character. However, this is way too much control. Some of the actions seemed pretty pointless such as taking of the character’s coat, or opening a car door, starting it, putting it into gear, and driving away in it. Overall the game is pretty short. I was able to finish it in a 24 hour period of time with breaks. And I wasn’t slacking on sleep in order to play it. Initially it takes 8-10 hours to play. Of course, if someone is wanting to complete 100% then it will take longer to find everything and of course will take longer to play. If the developers had spent less time on the button commands and more time on other ways to explore a scene then I could see the game being better.

Overall the game was a good play. Something that everyone should play and complete to the max. I hope to purchase it to keep someday. I give Heavy Rain an 8/10.

Heavy Rain is rated M for Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs.

Mortal Kombat to get another big screen release

The popular fighting video game series, Mortal Kombat, is set to get a new feature length film. Kevin Tancharoen who worked on the latest films, Fame and Glee: The 3D Concert Movie is set to direct the latest installment. Knowing that now, this movie should be interesting. The Mortal Kombat series has 2 other movies and a television series titled, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and Mortal Kombat: Konquest, respectively.

Other movies based off fighting games are Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture, Street Fighter II, and Tekken: Blood Venegence.

Some Interesting Statistics

Ever wondered what the actual truth is behind video games? Well here are some interesting facts.

According to OnlineEducation.net :

• 65% of US households play video games.
• 49% of gamers are ages 18-49 and the average gamer is 32 years old. That’s an interesting fact since when it comes to marketing advertisements always seem directed to a more younger crowd. Also whenever there is a crisis that likes to point the finger at video games, such as the Columbine shooting, it always seems to involve teenagers.

The ESRB did their own study and found some more interesting statistics:

• 40% of gamers are indeed females. If you’ve ever been online to the many different gaming websites, such as Gamespot.com, a lot of the users will not be afraid to admit that they don’t believe that girls play video games. Why, when I was on that website for a few years so many of the people told me that they didn’t believe I was a girl since apparently girls don’t play video games….
• The average adult gamer has been playing for 12 years. I’ve been playing for 14 years. It’s not the average, but remember, the average gamer is a 32 year old male and I’m a 21 year old female so I’ve got room to stretch.
• 93% of the time parents are present at the time games are purchased or rented AND 97% of parents report always or sometimes monitoring the games their child plays. So what is the deal with all the parents freaking out about their children playing bad games? How does the old saying go? A few bad apples ruin the bunch.

So there are some great facts about the real world of gaming. Video gaming has some of the most bizarre myths and I hope that this brings light to what some people may think.

How young is too young?

That is a popular question made by many parents of child gamers. Even though there are plenty of games out there marketed toward children such as the numerous Lego video games and Nicktoons Unite!, many children want to play the more mature video games like Mortal Kombat, or Mass Effect. Many parents are not okay with their children playing M-rated video games. And some of them are.

When I was 10 years old my mother came home from a day of work. As she entered the door she seemed to be carrying a small, square case in much excitement. That small case contained something that forever changed my view of video games. It was Silent Hill.

My mother said that she had borrowed this video game from a friend, and that it was supposed to be very scary. There were not very many survival horror games before 1999. There were a few, but Silent Hill seemed to help that genre of gaming take off. So when my mother told me about this game being scary I was excited because I had never played anything like it before. So there I was at the tender age of 10 playing survival horror.

As you can tell in the image this game is rated M for Mature. The ESRB gave Silent Hill its rating for Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence. There are a ton of parents out there that would have a fit if they knew their child was playing such a game. And because of that, many parents will try to have video games banned in hopes that their child will not get their hands on it. It all comes down to parenting skills in reality. Parents say they want to get involved in knowing what their child is playing. It is as simple as picking up the box, turning it over, and reading the ESRB rating in the bottom corner or every video game box. Standing in line at a video game store one day, a mother was going to purchase an M rated game for her 12 year old son. The clerk asked the mother, “You do know this is rated M for Mature, yes?” The mother looked shocked and said that she wasn’t aware and then asked what it was rated for. The clerk then told her it was for violence, sexual content, nudity, use of alcohol and drugs. The mother then got very angry with her son and left the store.

It is mothers like that, and fathers as well, that try to take the fun away from everyone. Because they don’t want to ask a simple question or do some small research for themselves they would much rather have as many video games banned as possible to avoid their child from playing it. My mother was more lenient with me, than my younger brother. I was more mature at the age of 10 and she knew that I would not act out on what I played in the game so she let me have it. My brother on the other hand got in trouble at school for imitating something from a violent video game he had played. Parents want to get more involved, then they should monitor their own child and decide for themselves whether it is okay for their child to play a stricter rated game. Those of us who are responsible gamers should not suffer the same punishment as those who are irresponsible or too young.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am not saying I would give my 10 year old child (if I had one) a game with ratings for sex, nudity, and extreme violence. But I would not forbid them from playing anything. I would inspect the game before letting them have it. I tend to remain open-minded about gaming since it was been apart of my life for near 15 years. If they’re too young to see the sex scene in Mass Effect then I would take it away from them until they were older. But if they want to play as a man with a cheetah for a face and compete to be the King of the Iron Fist, then my all means, go on ahead. So how young is too young? I guess that is for mom and dad to decide.