Gaming Obsession: More Than Just Small Talk

I play video games on an almost-daily basis. I play when I get home, until dinner-ish, and then I either continue playing or start my units. It seems to me that it's true: the majority of the youth population is playing video games on a regular basis. But why? It seems obvious, doesn't it? It's an escape into another world, where you can be whatever you want; make a new personality, a new history and become something you can't be in real life. Best of all? It's entertaining, as I'm quite sure most people will agree.

Obviously there are better things for adolescents to do. Play sports, hang out with friends, and even do better in school. I myself am an avid gamer, but I do other things too. I have a job, and I like to think I do quite well in school. I would hang out with friends more if they did something that didn't involve going halfway across the city to walk around in a mall. Life is constantly a juggling act, in which you need to balance all the different aspects that make you unique. Letting some things slip out of your hands makes life unbalanced, and obviously unhealthy. Brandon Crisp was a 15 year old boy who ran away from home because his parents took away is XBox. That is going too far. At 15, one would assume you have the common sense to ignore a small dispute like that. There was no reason to run away. In my opinion, he either was dependant on the games (like an alcoholic) or was raised incorrectly and had issues with punishment. Either way, what's done is done, and the past can't be changed.

Although games in general are fun, there are games that teach habits and send negative messages to gamers everywhere. An example would be street racing, where a young man was found dead after a car collision with the game Grand Theft Auto in his backseat. Coincidence? It's hard to tell. There are many video games that influence gamers in bad ways, with this case being just one example. It seems to me that kids, let alone parents, don't respect the ratings for games. I was at a store once, when a child about 10 year-old boy was buying a Grand Theft Auto game. At the register, the cashier asked if the father if the ESRB rating was fine. He didn't even look at the game again, he just said it was fine. Obviously, something has gone wrong if the parents are disregarding the ratings for video games. Although games are very fun, it seems that the gaming industries need to treat their followers more like people, and not just sources for money.

Although video games are normally seen as bad influences on society, I see them as a great way to relieve stress. Nothing makes me happy after a school day then to unwind by playing video games. I personally think the video game developpers need to design more games like "Professor Layton and the Curious Village", which is a game full of brainteasers and puzzles to solve. I'm not saying that we should banish video games from society, but there is obviously something that needs to be changed. Whether or not it needs to be done by the government, the video game companies, or parents, a line needs to be drawn between real life and obsessive gaming.

Barack Obama: The Beginning of a New End?

Barack Obama was elected president of the United States last Tuesday, with the Democratic Party gaining many more seats than needed to win the presidential race. Throughout the campaign season, there have been many ads which either speak about rising issues, speak about the party's presidential nominee, or slander the opposing party. The ad campaign found on the Comm Tech blog was both entertaining and insightful, and was effective in it's ability to convey the message; that Obama would make the best choice for president.

The advertisement itself had the same features of the original Budweiser commercial in 2000, featuring some men talking to each other through the phone saying 'Wassup?!' In the new 2008 advertisement, it features the same men, just 8 years older, talking to each other about the issues they are facing at this point in time. There were many issues that were brought up in this commercial, including unemployment, health care, the war in Iraq, plummeting stocks and the economy, and environmental issues including extreme weather. These are all issues that are considered important at this point in time, and Obama has talked about all of these issues at one point or another during his campaign.

Obama's message is that he is the right choice. The commercial ended with the question, "Wassup?", and the man replied, as he saw Obama on the television, with one word: "Change." The commercial then showed the words "Good" and "Change", which illustrate that if Obama is elected as president, he will be bringing a change to Americans and all the countries in the world. This campaign effectively used comedy and extreme scenarios to properly illustrate the many issues that the U.S. is currently facing. The ad itself may have seemed more like a gimmick rather than an election ad, but compared to the Canadian counterparts, it was very convincing. The use of the men who faced the various issues that many Americans are concerned about properly sent out a strong message: that Barack Obama is the best choice.

On a side note: Obama was the first man of African descent to become president of the United States. As it was said in a Saturday Night Live spoof of Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin, "I didn't want a female president. I wanted to be president, and I just happen to be female" (Paraphrased from the Clinton character). The fact that Obama is president is rewriting history, but why? If race and gender are no longer important for judging people in society, why does it matter that he is the first of African descent? He has great ideas, and is a good person, but he just happens to be of a certain race. If his race affected the votes, then is it unjust that he had the ethnic vote? Shouldn't both parties be on equal footing?