The change of children playing sports to children playing videogames

From ScenarioThinking
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Description:

Since the rise of the Nintendo 8-bit video games have been a part of society. Children who used to play a sport in front of their house with children from the neighbourhood can now play the same sports online with children all over the world. Since the 1960s, the number of overweight kids and adolescents in the United States has nearly doubled. Today, 10% of 2- to 5-year-olds and more than 15% of children between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight. And a whopping 31% of adults are also obese. Studies indicate that overweight and obese adolescents have up to an 80% chance of becoming overweight and obese adults, especially if one or more parent has the same condition. This trend has been proven to be the same in Europe, so this is not a cultural thing.

Ofcourse there are a lot more reasons why these changes occur but videogames are a part of it. Ironically there are different kind of theory's regarding this phenomenon. There are people who say that gaming is better then just watching T.V. becuase of the minimal activities while using a controller. And there are even cases of people losing weight while using a "dance-pad" designed to simulate dancing on a console.

Without even talking about overweight people it is quite obvious to see that there are simularities and opportunities when looking at sports and videogames.

Enablers:

  • The advance of information and communication technology
  • Parents who are also used to growing up with videogames
  • The growth of online gaming and the increasing amount of gaming tournaments

Inhibitors:

  • Organizations against the gaming industry
  • Sportorganizations trying to keep encouraging young people to play sports
  • Active parents trying to combine both choices

Paradigms:

  • A new videogame culture
  • Advanced videogames are moving towards sports

Experts:

  • Marshal McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage
  • Nancy Morris, Media and Globalization: Why the State Matters
  • Monroe E. Price, Media and Sovereignty

Timing:

The notion of the effects of media globalization emerged in 1960s - 1980s when NWICO (New World Information and Communication) literature critized the presence of foreign media, especially from the United States, as a threat to cultural autonomy in the developing world (Dorfman and Mattelart 1972; International Commission for the Study of Communication Problem).

Web Resources: