Sunday, March 8, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Army Recruiting With Video Games - at the mall
It's not really news that the Army has been using video games as recruitment tools for years now...and now at the mall. I hope people with ethical concerns will speak them.
Jesse Hamilton, a former Army staff sergeant who served in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, said the use of videogames glamorized war and misled potential recruits, calling it "very deceiving and very far from realistic."
"You can't simulate the loss when you see people getting killed," said Hamilton, who left the Army after his Iraq tour and is now a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
"It's not very likely you are going to get into a firefight," he said. "The only way to simulate the heat is holding a blow dryer to your face."
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE50819H20090110?sp=true
Jesse Hamilton, a former Army staff sergeant who served in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, said the use of videogames glamorized war and misled potential recruits, calling it "very deceiving and very far from realistic."
"You can't simulate the loss when you see people getting killed," said Hamilton, who left the Army after his Iraq tour and is now a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
"It's not very likely you are going to get into a firefight," he said. "The only way to simulate the heat is holding a blow dryer to your face."
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE50819H20090110?sp=true
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Tetris helpful in preventing PTSD
We've learned a lot in recent years about PTSD and the way that traumatic memories are consolidated in the neurological system. A new study indicates that playing the simple game Tetris shortly after a traumatic event prevents the formation of traumatic memories and subsequent post-trauma symptomology.
"Although we are developing a number of therapies for PTSD, the most effective ones, such as cognitive behavior therapy, are best suited for patients weeks or months post-trauma. And that's where Tetris comes in. A group of researchers at the University of Oxford have been looking at ways to limit the onset of the disorder, by interrupting the brain's memory processing immediately after a traumatic event.
Their work, published in PLoS ONE, builds off a pair of findings. First, the brain has limited resources, and secondly, work on memory consolidation suggests that there is a six-hour window within which disruption of that consolidation is possible. Put another way, there's only so much your brain can do at once, and if you distract it within that six-hour window, you can prevent the memory being fully formed.
Since PTSD flashbacks involve a strong visuospatial component, distracting those pathways from their trauma with another activity might be expected to interfere with the condition. And that's just what they discovered."
"Although we are developing a number of therapies for PTSD, the most effective ones, such as cognitive behavior therapy, are best suited for patients weeks or months post-trauma. And that's where Tetris comes in. A group of researchers at the University of Oxford have been looking at ways to limit the onset of the disorder, by interrupting the brain's memory processing immediately after a traumatic event.
Their work, published in PLoS ONE, builds off a pair of findings. First, the brain has limited resources, and secondly, work on memory consolidation suggests that there is a six-hour window within which disruption of that consolidation is possible. Put another way, there's only so much your brain can do at once, and if you distract it within that six-hour window, you can prevent the memory being fully formed.
Since PTSD flashbacks involve a strong visuospatial component, distracting those pathways from their trauma with another activity might be expected to interfere with the condition. And that's just what they discovered."
Full article found here:
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=47685647046&h=W7x_z&u=_ecdUSunday, November 9, 2008
Yanking the game not always the solution...
Regarding the tragic death of Brandon Crisp:
Investigators eyeing the death of gamer Brandon Crisp are speculating that the 15-year-old likely succumbed to hypothermia, according to media reports Friday.
Crisp's body was found Wednesday in an undisturbed condition by deer hunters in a wooded area several miles from his home. Police said they do not suspect foul play.
Crisp had been missing for about three weeks from his house in Barrie, Ontario, a small Canadian city about 60 miles north of Toronto. Crisp bolted after a dispute with his parents over the amount of time he spent playing Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on his Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Xbox.
Crisp was "addicted" to playing online video games, particularly Call Of Duty 4, over Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service, according to reports. The game allows players to assume the character of a contemporary combat soldier.
This case is a tragic example of why "take that game away" is not always an appropriate solution when it becomes apparent that something is going wrong in a young person's life or within the family system. Gaming may be part of what's wrong - it may not be the only thing that's wrong. And if an individual is using gaming to cope with other problems, just pulling the game away without adequately dealing with other co-occurring disorders can have disasterous consequences.
It can be difficult to understand why some people play too much, and there are more variables than can be predicted. As I always say, "it's complicated" and ideally professional help should be sought from mental health clinicians who understand gaming and internal player dynamics, behavioral addictions, and family system therapy.
Investigators eyeing the death of gamer Brandon Crisp are speculating that the 15-year-old likely succumbed to hypothermia, according to media reports Friday.
Crisp's body was found Wednesday in an undisturbed condition by deer hunters in a wooded area several miles from his home. Police said they do not suspect foul play.
Crisp had been missing for about three weeks from his house in Barrie, Ontario, a small Canadian city about 60 miles north of Toronto. Crisp bolted after a dispute with his parents over the amount of time he spent playing Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on his Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Xbox.
Crisp was "addicted" to playing online video games, particularly Call Of Duty 4, over Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service, according to reports. The game allows players to assume the character of a contemporary combat soldier.
This case is a tragic example of why "take that game away" is not always an appropriate solution when it becomes apparent that something is going wrong in a young person's life or within the family system. Gaming may be part of what's wrong - it may not be the only thing that's wrong. And if an individual is using gaming to cope with other problems, just pulling the game away without adequately dealing with other co-occurring disorders can have disasterous consequences.
It can be difficult to understand why some people play too much, and there are more variables than can be predicted. As I always say, "it's complicated" and ideally professional help should be sought from mental health clinicians who understand gaming and internal player dynamics, behavioral addictions, and family system therapy.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Japanese woman jailed for killing "husband's" avatar
Yes, a high percentage of online gamers take in-game friendships and romantic relationships seriously. People who have never met in real life do develop intense intense attachments in online games. They identify with their avatars.
The Associated Press reported on October 25th that a 43 year old female teacher in Japan was jailed and criminally charged after her in-game spouse jilted her, and she responded by hacking into his account and murdering his avatar. The entire story can be found here:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i6uWUGXDt2weftMFg76UD1qyWabwD940B2DG0
Looking at the psychology of the virtual world experience, we come back to the question "What is reality?"
For many people the virtual is very, very real.
The Associated Press reported on October 25th that a 43 year old female teacher in Japan was jailed and criminally charged after her in-game spouse jilted her, and she responded by hacking into his account and murdering his avatar. The entire story can be found here:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i6uWUGXDt2weftMFg76UD1qyWabwD940B2DG0
Looking at the psychology of the virtual world experience, we come back to the question "What is reality?"
For many people the virtual is very, very real.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Games Magazine Editor on GTA IV
Thomas L. McDonald has been covering games for 17 years. He is an editor at large for Games Magazine. These thoughts come from www.maximumpc.com.
"Watching Grand Theft Auto IV rack up the highest recorded sales in gaming history was one of the most disappointing things I've witnessed in 10-plus years of covering this hobby.
This is utter nonsense, even by the game's own rather warped standards. Putting aside the flaky driving model, clipping problems, and cliched plot and dialogue, there is a gigantic elephant in the room that the gaming press seems hell-bent on ignoring: the issue of morality. It's like we're afraid to acknowledge the rancid, misogynistic ethics of GTA4 because we might give aid and comfort to those who want to control or suppress the freedom of game designers to create. Tough luck. This is simply a vile game utterly lacking any recognizably human moral context.
As Warren Spector, the man behind Deus Ex, recently observed, "GTA is the ulitmate urban thuggery simulation, and you can't take a step back from that. I am frustrated that the games in the GTA series, some of the finest combination of pure game design and commercial appeal, offer a fictional package that makes them difficult to hold up as examples of what our medium is capable of achieving."
Exactly right. DePalma's Scarface has a stronger sense of right and wrong, and The Sopranos is positively conservative by comparison. Like it or not, there is a difference between what movies and games can get away with. The Sopranos is a drama in which the viewer is a passive observer. In GTA, the character is under your control: The choices are yours. That distinction matters...
...Dan and Sam Houser have given the government the gun it's going to use to put a bullet in the brainpan of the gaming industry. Why the hell are we defending them?" - Thomas McDonald
Principles of neuroplasticity indicate that any activity we engage in repetitively does change the way we think and perceive reality - even if on subtle levels beneath conscious awareness. I'll be posting more on this topic in the future. In the meantime, I highly recommend Dan Siegel's book The Developing Mind.
"Watching Grand Theft Auto IV rack up the highest recorded sales in gaming history was one of the most disappointing things I've witnessed in 10-plus years of covering this hobby.
This is utter nonsense, even by the game's own rather warped standards. Putting aside the flaky driving model, clipping problems, and cliched plot and dialogue, there is a gigantic elephant in the room that the gaming press seems hell-bent on ignoring: the issue of morality. It's like we're afraid to acknowledge the rancid, misogynistic ethics of GTA4 because we might give aid and comfort to those who want to control or suppress the freedom of game designers to create. Tough luck. This is simply a vile game utterly lacking any recognizably human moral context.
As Warren Spector, the man behind Deus Ex, recently observed, "GTA is the ulitmate urban thuggery simulation, and you can't take a step back from that. I am frustrated that the games in the GTA series, some of the finest combination of pure game design and commercial appeal, offer a fictional package that makes them difficult to hold up as examples of what our medium is capable of achieving."
Exactly right. DePalma's Scarface has a stronger sense of right and wrong, and The Sopranos is positively conservative by comparison. Like it or not, there is a difference between what movies and games can get away with. The Sopranos is a drama in which the viewer is a passive observer. In GTA, the character is under your control: The choices are yours. That distinction matters...
...Dan and Sam Houser have given the government the gun it's going to use to put a bullet in the brainpan of the gaming industry. Why the hell are we defending them?" - Thomas McDonald
Principles of neuroplasticity indicate that any activity we engage in repetitively does change the way we think and perceive reality - even if on subtle levels beneath conscious awareness. I'll be posting more on this topic in the future. In the meantime, I highly recommend Dan Siegel's book The Developing Mind.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
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