I have really never been into video games. I do remember playing that duck-hunting game when I was about three years old, and playing Mario Party at the dentist when I was in elementary school. I also had a GameCube at home and recently got a Wii. However, I think I stay pretty mainstream with video games. I always got bored of them quickly. My attention doesn’t hold up long enough to get very interested in video games.

However, I think that video games have changed society. I think it is the first real way kids become obsessed with technology. Boys go through a gaming stage more noticeably than girls, first of all. Madden, Halo, Super Smash, etc. are all huge parts of many boys’ lives. Either way, from the moment a kid uses a video game, they understand the power of technology and the ways is can create an entire new world.

I don’t necessarily think video games are bad. I think that many games are very inappropriate and give children the wrong ideas about society (i.e. those shooting games with girls in revealing clothes on them), and some games are so strange that kids and even young adults become sucked into their virtual world (Halo and other games like that). But for the most part, I think that they are the reason kids become obsessed with technology at such a young age.

I have seen it in boys more than girls, but as a college student, video games are still a distraction. Somehow, being in a different world like the Sims or Halo or playing an NFL game in Madden is more appealing to many than being in the real world. I don’t particularly understand it and I think it is pretty strange and annoying, but if that’s the world someone wants to live in, hey, as long as they don’t hurt anyone in the real world, more power to them.

I don’t think video games are the root of all violence, but I do believe some plant bad seeds. Kids need to know that there is a real world with real rules, life isn’t just a constant game or stage of battle. However, the age old “do video games lead to violence” question is still hard to answer. In some cases, yes, some type of game probably has planted these seeds. But in many, probably not. It’s a case by case question. Many people just play for fun. They don’t believe it’s the real world.

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