blog # 4

Hey guys!

So this is my last post for the semester in my video games practice and theory course, So I wanted to make sure it was something that I highly believe in and hope for the best for.

In my last blog post, I wanted to look up an article based on the effects video games had for the elderly.  I had a grandmother recently die of alzheimers, and unfortunately there is no cure.  But, I always wondered if there was an activity that could decrease the age related effects such as memory loss.  I recently read an article that was about this issue at hand. 

The article was called “Can Gaming Slow Mental Decline in the Elderly? By Anita Hamilton stated that with no cure for memory loss, there is evidence that certain behaviors slow the effect of age-related decline, one of them being social activity and exercising which both you can get from video games.  Certain video games such as strategy and problem solving work the brain more than they are use too.  One game that works those muscles in the brain is called Brain Age, which gives exercises that deal with math and problem solving.

In the article there was a study that they had gotten 25 year olds and 65 year olds to come together for five weeks “of computerized training on tasks ranging from reproducing a series of light flashes to repeating digits in the opposite order that they were given, the older group was able to reach the same level of working memory, attention and reaction time that the younger group had at the outset.”

In my opinion I just hope that this works because children who grow up with parents I believe are lucky, they are not only there to discipline but also give a love and support different from parents. 

 ~~> http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1909852,00.html <~~

Blog # 3

Hey guys!

For Blog #4 , it is about where I think I fit in the " player culture".  Honestly, I do have to admit it is said that men dominate in the video games "world" so to speak, and if you were to ask me if I were part of the small percent of females that are active female players I would have to say no.  If it was not for my brother who has the game system I probably would not play at all.  Even though I do not play video games enough to even be apart of that small percent,  I do play here and there and when I do play I would have to say that I do fit into the stereotype of playing games that give a more girl friendly appearance.  If on the cover it shows guns to reference war or shooting, I usually look past those and go to more games like mario brothers or even the just dance games on wii.  I have however tried those first and third shooter games just to try it as an experience and hey, you can never judge a book by its cover, or in this case a cover by its cover, it just did not get my full attention as im sure my brother would have liked because now when I was little and my mom would buy video games she would have to buy games we both liked , believe me that was the worst shopping trip I have ever had.

Blog #2

Hey!

For Blog #2 I picked Herbert Meads Model of role-training.  I believe it to still exist today.  When I was a little girl, my favorite thing to do was to switch roles.  I would make believe that I was someone else, mostly a school teacher or a parent in a family, with my pets being the students or children.  This type of role play took me out of my role as a child and made it so I could finally be the adult and to make the decisions and be in charge.
Nowadays, when wantingto destress and leave my role as a student and take me away from my busy life, playing video games is a way to do so.  It takes me out of the role and puts me in a role as something, in some cases it could be a "rockstar".  Games is a way of fulfilling fantasies of people by becoming and taking on the role of the game you are playing and become, at the end, the "hero"
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Blog #1

Hey again!

Over the weekend I played, well "tried to" play two video games that were extremely different.  One I had played before and the other I had never played and to this day, still do not understand.  The first one I had played with the Michael Jackson The Experience dance game on the wii.  I played this with the little girl I babysat because she absolutely loves Michael Jackson and, well I figured it would get her tired before bed.  If someone were to find this game years and years from now it could tell that our culture was very media based.  We, as a society, like to "idolize" our favorite movie/music star and this game is just one way we are able to do it by being able to copy Michael Jacksons moves and "trying" to dance like him.

Another game I "tried to" play was Call of Duty.  I am not sure if there was a number or name after that it was just one of them.  This game just confused me and made me realize that I have really slow reflexes, when it comes to shooting people that already killed me apparently.  If someone were to find this game years from now it might be able to say that our culture was entertained by violence.  This could mean that people liked the thrill of "killing people" or even got an adreline rush when doing so, but only in this type of video game of course, not in real life.

Intro Blog

Hey! Im Nicole Agnew,and this is my first time using a blog. I am currently, according to credits, a junior at RIC and I created this blog for the class Video Games: Theory and Practice.  I am not one to play video games that much, but if I do its normally sport games or anything on the Wii ( it is the only way I can give competition to whoever im playing).  I took this class because I was interested in the theory of video games and what types of behaviors differ from the use of the different video games.  Are people who play more shooter games more violent than those who play something like The Sims? or does it just relieve stress after spending a day at work/school.