by Ellen Stanton
How times have changed. Does anyone remember the old videogame PONG that was released by Atari in 1976? That venerable game simply revolved around rectangles bouncing a small square around the screen to create a multitude of "sports" games. Today, graphics and the sophistication of the games have increased so significantly that people love to play online game activities that provide the same wonder today that they did for people 30 years ago during the PONG days.
The Critics
One of life’s primal situations; the game of hide and seek. Oh, the delicious thrill of hiding while the others come looking for you, the delicious terror of being discovered, but what panic when, after a long search, the others abandon you! You mustn’t hide too well. You mustn’t be too good at the game. The player must never be bigger than the game itself.
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
While there are those who vehemently criticize people’s addiction to the desire to play online game activities, the number of people who are active participants totally dwarfs the critics. The question remains, why do people criticize the ability to play online game activities? Part of the reason lay in that fact that playing video and computer games all day is isolationist. That is, it limits human interactions. Also, the feeling is that playing online games encourages lethargy and denies kids and teens valuable exercise time. Granted, there is some merit to these arguments, but the 'danger’ of playing online games, as espoused by critics, is pretty much overly exaggerated.
The Critics Debunked
If there ever were a huge benefit to a person opting to play online game activities, it would be the fact that the games provide a sense of wonder that can be built upon as inspiration for future endeavors. Many times, things that have their origins in popular culture are seemingly dropped down an Orwellian black hole when it comes to mentioning the educational and inspirational sources of success. If one decides to play online game activities and these online game activities lead to the person becoming inspired to start a career in the computer field, then how could playing online games be such a bad thing?
Therein lies the problem of illogical thought present in many critics of online games. Knowledge and inspiration and value can come from any source. If one decides to decry a certain source of knowledge as having no value (a dubious claim. A third party can not tell someone what is or isn’t of value to their education), then one has simply placed a limitation on someone else’s ability to learn. (Provide the person allows the other individual from impeding the pursuit)
So, it is best not to deride one wish to play online game activities as the criticism of this "art form" is generally not warranted nor based in any serious issue requiring concern.