Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Video Games: A Virtual Reality



David Perry at TED talk discusses the idea how video games are evolving. In the beginning, games like Pong were simplistic dots moving across a television screen. The games were linear, all one had to do was move a control stick back and forth until another person makes a mistake. But as video game technology progressed the games became less linear and more complex. Now if you pick a popular video game, the graphics are all realistic, the game play simulates real life, the sound and music makes you fill like you are really in the game, and the story are becoming more believable. When you play one of these games, you actually feel like your in the main characters shoes.

The David shows a short video that one of his students' made for the talk. The video displays how video games change the students' life. He states he has become addicted to video games and believes that video games can offer an emotional experiences similar in life. He has a difficulty realizing what is real and what is virtual. He states in the future, video games will be able to simulate life and allow players to go through emotional experiences in life.

As a video game player, I do not believe what the student says about video games. Life lessons or emotional experiences can not be learn through video games. One has to experience those things in life. Video games allow people to open their imaginations and do out their fantasies/dreams. Examples of this can be found in a variety of games. Take Guitar Hero; its a very popular game that allows people to be rock stars using a guitar controller. There is a chance that same person might become interested in learning how to play the guitar and become a successful guitarist. That game could have opened his imagination into the possibility of playing a guitar in real life. The idea of video games simulating real life will never become a reality. Life is just something that cannot be reproduced on a TV or computer screen.

Photo source, from the Flickr photo stream of jeffmcneill: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffmcneill/2621861504/

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