Are Games Taking Over Our Lives?

In a recent article on CNN, John Sutter was interviewed about why he thinks games will take over our lives. The article describes how games are showing up everywhere; from brushing your teeth to buying a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Games are all over the place, and they are just going to increase in number as time goes on. Sutter believes that we will eventually be so use to having games apart of our everyday lives that we may start thinking and seeing life as one big game. He argues that games are so popular because the user knows that they can be won. As the article says, “In real life, we have these problems, and the problems are hairy, and they're messy. You look at the problems that you face in your job or in your relationship or in your family, and it's like there's no clear winning, and there's no clear losing. Whereas, in a game, things are crisp and clear. The game presents you with challenges that can be met, and then it congratulates you on your successes at those challenges. It's a thing we don't get everyday in life.”

While reading this article I couldn’t help but think about the effects video games have on the players of the games. Studies such as Albert Bandora’s doll experiment prove that violence being shown in the media can cause the viewer to be violent as well. Likewise, desensitization can occur if a violent video game is played too many times. In the same way, if a game is played continuously it is possible that the player will have a hard time determining the game from real life, as the article supports. Games seem harmless but are they really? Media messages do matter and are central to our lives. Many play games for the fun of it and do not realize that being a part of the active audience allows the games to have influence over them. Are games dangerous? What do you think?