In this final entry, I would like to recommend you my top 5 favorite blogs that I witnessed so far.
1) https://evgianamedia.blogspot.cz
In her post, she writes about influence of media on people. I loved the fact that she mentioned russian online suicide game called "Blue Whale", which is totally shocking and in order to know more - check her blog.
2) https://nosymonkeys.wordpress.com/2017/04/04/drugs-in-media/
Seong wrote in his blog about drugs and how they are represented in media. I am totally against drugs, but it was quite interesting topic to read. Before i did not know that drugs were portrayed that negatively in media. Also you can find out reasons in his blog
3) https://musicstreamingsociety.wordpress.com/
Ondra wrote about music industry which I am totally in love with and it is one of the reasons why it caught my attention first, when I was looking for blogs to read.He was writing about changes in music industry, especially such innovation like music streaming online (spotify). He also wrote about negative sides of that, which you can see in his blog
4) https://effectsofmediaonchildren.wordpress.com/
Tomas in his blog was writing about influence of media on children and adolescents. It is quite an important topic due to the fact that the easiest group of people that get influenced by information floating around is children. You should definitely check his site in order to find out more about impacts of media.
P.s his blog also has a fantastic design. Loved it.
5) https://hiddensideofmedia.wordpress.com/
In her blog, Natasha, focuses on hidden sides of mass media, more specifically the negative one. It is definitely interesting blog to read, because she points out issues with social networks and how fake beauty influences people. Besides that, she also mentions cyber-bullying, which is a huge problem and there is a lot of negativity around the net because of that.
Sunday, 7 May 2017
Monday, 1 May 2017
My view
Coming to my 6th and final post, I am going to talk about my point of view about gaming. As you can probably understand from my previous posts, video games have been playing a huge role in my life. However, not everyone shares love to gaming like I do. There is an overabundance of hate and criticism towards it in the media. And a question rises in my mind: why does the mainstream media hate video games so much?
Firstly, I feel that gaming industry is like a new phenomenon which gets bullied by bigger industries.Video games are a direct threat to the medias bottom line. People playing video games are NOT watching media and the fewer people watching the media, the less sponsorship - and therefore potential for fewer advertising dollars.So competition is a thing here. it's just that video games are the new kid on the block and thus gets blamed for everything wrong with the youth. It happened with novels, rock music, dancing, hip hop, comic books, violent movies, and now video games. It'll pass soon enough. It remains to be seen, however, whether video games will turn into the modern equivalent of comics (no longer blamed for society's ills, but struggling to be taken seriously by the general public) or modern music (accepted as an art form by pretty much everyone, even if some genres aren't respected as much as others).
Secondly, I would like to mention an understandable reason of hate towards games. Overusing video games can cause serious health problems to individuals. With no physical activity, children and adults are at risk of developing certain kinds of disorders. For instance, children and adults might develop cardiovascular disorders because of the cholesterol build up in their hearts. In addition, some people would even play in front of their computers for hours with their junk food at their side which causes them to gain a huge amount of weight. This leads children and adults of becoming obese. Moreover, the physical endurance and agility of both children and adults become poor. Hence, an over use of video games can cause serious health problems for children and adults. On the other hand, it also depends on the person, whether she/he is good enough with time management and self motivation.
Finally, there is also a bunch of positive reasons why people should play games. One of the most positive effects of video games is increasing the dexterity of a child and improving his or her hand-eye coordination. As mentioned earlier, the new video games that are coming out are extremely complex and they involve the movement of many different kinds of sticks and buttons on the controllers. These can be very good for children as they learn to make fast connections between what they see and what their hands and fingers are doing. This allows them to think quickly and improves their reflexes. The newest games are very precision-based and it takes very minute and accurate movements for the children to control the characters. This helps in making the children much more adept at handling and operating real-life machinery and objects.So skill plays a huge role here. It is not simply pressing random buttons.
To conclude, i suggest people to not be influenced or biased by what media says. It portrays us as anti-social people, who are stick to their computers or consoles and do not care about real social life outside of gaming world. I am a gamer, I love playing video games. But I am also a very sociable guy who does sports and simply enjoys life. I communicate with a lot of people in online games as much I do in real life.
And to you, my dear reader. I would like to thank you so much for taking your time on reading my blog. I truly appreciate that.
Firstly, I feel that gaming industry is like a new phenomenon which gets bullied by bigger industries.Video games are a direct threat to the medias bottom line. People playing video games are NOT watching media and the fewer people watching the media, the less sponsorship - and therefore potential for fewer advertising dollars.So competition is a thing here. it's just that video games are the new kid on the block and thus gets blamed for everything wrong with the youth. It happened with novels, rock music, dancing, hip hop, comic books, violent movies, and now video games. It'll pass soon enough. It remains to be seen, however, whether video games will turn into the modern equivalent of comics (no longer blamed for society's ills, but struggling to be taken seriously by the general public) or modern music (accepted as an art form by pretty much everyone, even if some genres aren't respected as much as others).
Secondly, I would like to mention an understandable reason of hate towards games. Overusing video games can cause serious health problems to individuals. With no physical activity, children and adults are at risk of developing certain kinds of disorders. For instance, children and adults might develop cardiovascular disorders because of the cholesterol build up in their hearts. In addition, some people would even play in front of their computers for hours with their junk food at their side which causes them to gain a huge amount of weight. This leads children and adults of becoming obese. Moreover, the physical endurance and agility of both children and adults become poor. Hence, an over use of video games can cause serious health problems for children and adults. On the other hand, it also depends on the person, whether she/he is good enough with time management and self motivation.
Finally, there is also a bunch of positive reasons why people should play games. One of the most positive effects of video games is increasing the dexterity of a child and improving his or her hand-eye coordination. As mentioned earlier, the new video games that are coming out are extremely complex and they involve the movement of many different kinds of sticks and buttons on the controllers. These can be very good for children as they learn to make fast connections between what they see and what their hands and fingers are doing. This allows them to think quickly and improves their reflexes. The newest games are very precision-based and it takes very minute and accurate movements for the children to control the characters. This helps in making the children much more adept at handling and operating real-life machinery and objects.So skill plays a huge role here. It is not simply pressing random buttons.
To conclude, i suggest people to not be influenced or biased by what media says. It portrays us as anti-social people, who are stick to their computers or consoles and do not care about real social life outside of gaming world. I am a gamer, I love playing video games. But I am also a very sociable guy who does sports and simply enjoys life. I communicate with a lot of people in online games as much I do in real life.
And to you, my dear reader. I would like to thank you so much for taking your time on reading my blog. I truly appreciate that.
Sunday, 30 April 2017
For Further Research
Even thought I provided you examples of different perspective upon games, I would like to recommend some links that might be useful for better understanding of this topic.
1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nick-yee/video-games-media_b_4572231.html
This source is about how video games are portrayed in media. The problem is, that usually people have negative opinion about them because media frequently shows only how bad video games are for humans, however they usually get it wrong
2) https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-and-Video-Games-Playing-with-Violence-091.aspx
This source provides us information about games' affection on children from psychological point of view.
3) http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/health-benefits-of-video-games/
1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nick-yee/video-games-media_b_4572231.html
This source is about how video games are portrayed in media. The problem is, that usually people have negative opinion about them because media frequently shows only how bad video games are for humans, however they usually get it wrong
2) https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-and-Video-Games-Playing-with-Violence-091.aspx
This source provides us information about games' affection on children from psychological point of view.
3) http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/health-benefits-of-video-games/
In this one, we can see how games can be
sometimes even more beneficial than books. This source provides 8 important
reasons, which are: Games help break bad habits, Games reduce
pain, Games give you control of your memory, Games reduce
anxiety, Games can motivate you to exercise, Games fight
depression, Games make you more resilient, Games make you get along
better with strangers. I personally agree with every single reason from this
source.
What Experts Say ||
Beside negativity from video games, there is also a positive side. Video games allow you and your kid to play together and can be a good bonding activity. Some games are attractive to kids as well as adults, and they could be something that they share in common. When your child knows more than you, he can teach you how to play and this allows you to understand your child’s skills and talents. Quick thinking, making fast analysis and decisions. Sometimes the player does this almost every second of the game giving the brain a real workout. According to researchers at the University of Rochester, led by Daphne Bavelier, a cognitive scientist, games simulating stressful events such as those found in battle or action games could be a training tool for real-world situations. The study suggests that playing action video games primes the brain to make quick decisions. Video games can be used to train soldiers and surgeons, according to the study. Importantly, decisions made by action-packed video game players are no less accurate. According to Bavelier, “Action game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference.”
Also, as we can see from the picture below, it affects positively on our brain Below you can watch a video of a TEDx talk of miss Bavelier, where she talks about video games' influence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FktsFcooIG8
Also, as we can see from the picture below, it affects positively on our brain Below you can watch a video of a TEDx talk of miss Bavelier, where she talks about video games' influence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FktsFcooIG8
What Experts Say |
For many experts, gaming industry was quite a hot topic to discuss, especially violence in game and its influence on people. Most of the bad effects of video games are blamed on the violence they contain. Children who play more violent video games are more likely to have increased aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and decreased prosocial helping, according to a scientific study. Also according to Dmitri A. Christakis of the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, those who watch a lot of simulated violence, such as those in video games, can become immune to it, more inclined to act violently themselves, and are less likely to behave emphatically. The effect of video game violence in kids is worsened by the games’ interactive nature. In many games, kids are rewarded for being more violent. The act of violence is done repeatedly. The child is in control of the violence and experiences the violence in his own eyes (killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting). This active participation, repetition and reward are effective tools for learning behavior.
I got this information from his TEDx talk, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoT7qH_uVNo
I got this information from his TEDx talk, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoT7qH_uVNo
Current Events ||
The gaming community is growing and so does Cyber Sports. It still quite new and does not have much popularity (yet, it still far more successful than Wife Carrying sport. Yes, it is actually a sport and I, in advance, sincerely apologize to all wife carriers who are involved in it), however it is growing rapidly, more and more tournaments are being created each year and prizing tools are getting bigger too. There are rumors that Cyber Sport might be a part of Olympic Games, but the idea, unfortunately, have not been come to reality yet. However, steps towards that are being done and according to BBC, Cyber Sports is going to become a part of Asian Games 2022 in China, Hangzhou. "E-sports generated $493m (£400m) in revenue in 2016, with a global audience of about 320 million people.Revenue is predicted to rise to $696m (£553m) in 2017, with 15% of that coming from China alone, according to e-sport analysts Newzoo.In 2014, more than 40,000 people attended the League of Legends (online RPG game) World Championship finals when they were held in Seoul, with about 27 million unique viewers watching online." ( http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39629099 )
Where did it come from? People playing computer games against each other is nothing new - gamers have been doing this for over 30 years. Around the year 2000, computers became cheaper and the internet became faster, which made it much easier for more people to get involved with computer gaming.It also became easier to connect with gamers around the world, so people could play against each other - and watch others. Now, players have become so skilled - and, in some cases, gained so many millions of fans, who support them, attend various events and sometimes even donate money, that computer gaming has become organised, competitive and professional.
Where did it come from? People playing computer games against each other is nothing new - gamers have been doing this for over 30 years. Around the year 2000, computers became cheaper and the internet became faster, which made it much easier for more people to get involved with computer gaming.It also became easier to connect with gamers around the world, so people could play against each other - and watch others. Now, players have become so skilled - and, in some cases, gained so many millions of fans, who support them, attend various events and sometimes even donate money, that computer gaming has become organised, competitive and professional.
Current Events |
When it comes to video games community aka gamers, the stereotypical representative idea of such community is a bunch of nerdy people who just sit in front of their monitors with their hands on controllers/mice 24/7 without socially interacting with the rest of the world in real life and having poor chances on proper relationships. People do not take this community seriously, considering that such entertainment like video games is just a waste of time and this kind of people could spend it on more beneficial areas and be more productive in life. However, I can assure you, that video games are not just for fun. The vast majority of people actually make a lot of money on it. To be more specific I would like to provide an example of the game, which is one of the most famous games of shooter genre Counter-Strike Global Offensive.
As you may probably know gaming is actually part of sports and it is called Cyber Sport. Each year, there are various C.S. Global Offensive tournaments, where various teams from different countries compete with each other for prize, which sometimes reaches millions of dollars. For example, PGL Major Kraków 2017 tournament which is going to take place in Poland this summer. It is one of the biggest championships of the year and the prizing pool is $1,000,000. 16 teams are going to compete with each other and the duration of the tournament is 4 days.
As you may probably know gaming is actually part of sports and it is called Cyber Sport. Each year, there are various C.S. Global Offensive tournaments, where various teams from different countries compete with each other for prize, which sometimes reaches millions of dollars. For example, PGL Major Kraków 2017 tournament which is going to take place in Poland this summer. It is one of the biggest championships of the year and the prizing pool is $1,000,000. 16 teams are going to compete with each other and the duration of the tournament is 4 days.
The fantastic part of this is that those players who are taking part in all these tournaments are doing what they love to do and earning quite good income not from just tournaments, but also from their sponsors, who financially help them a lot. They rent houses for them (big teams usually even have huge mansions) so they can practice ( they usually spend the whole day practicing without having day offs) and engage with each other to improve team work. They also pay for their flights and hotels.
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