08-03-2004, 01:33 PM
There is still a lot of reading in some video games, RPG's for example. When the kids were playing pokemon it exercised their minds quite a bit, the reading aspect, since none of it is narrated, their memories, in remember diffrent attacks, and diffrent creatures (last i heard they were up to 250). With each pokemon, with some unique attacks thats a lot of information to remember. You would think with ADD flourishing in our children that they couldnt sit there and read and remember information, yet they do it all the time. Reading and remembering information are pretty much the two most important skills they will need to succed in school. Now pokemon isnt a very violent game, but some RPG's are, like diablo. If you've ever played DOD, you will find its pretty heavy on communication. You get ppl saying, mg or sniper in the church, in the dark room, broken window ect or even stuff like just in the next room, or grenade. You have to remember to check certain popular camping spots on the map (memory again). You have to co-operate and work as a team, I dont see a problem with this. I know some teenagers play video games with their dads and it lets them spend some time together. I know snowdawg has played rico with his son. Frito and Josh. My brother and I play all the time together.
Back to the book thing. I'm not sure that they are better because your imagining an image. A good author will describe a pretty violent scene, and quite well to, so that image is in your head, and is in your head for longer then a quick one or two second flash in a movie and its over. The readers mind can also play with diffrent possibilities of the same violent act. Which is twice, three times, four times as worse depending on how many times the reader dwells on it. The time spent fixated on a violent act in a book is much longer then in any movie. Since you do it many times in a video game, you dont spend much time dwelling on it at all. But in a book, your spending at least a few minutes fixated on this one act of violence. If you ask me I'm much more worried about someone who can create violent imagery in their mind, then someone who just sees a one or two second flash of it.
Back to the book thing. I'm not sure that they are better because your imagining an image. A good author will describe a pretty violent scene, and quite well to, so that image is in your head, and is in your head for longer then a quick one or two second flash in a movie and its over. The readers mind can also play with diffrent possibilities of the same violent act. Which is twice, three times, four times as worse depending on how many times the reader dwells on it. The time spent fixated on a violent act in a book is much longer then in any movie. Since you do it many times in a video game, you dont spend much time dwelling on it at all. But in a book, your spending at least a few minutes fixated on this one act of violence. If you ask me I'm much more worried about someone who can create violent imagery in their mind, then someone who just sees a one or two second flash of it.