Video games

See also: chess, a strategic board game dependent on intellect which can help overcome addiction to video games.

A video game is an electronic game, which is played on a device such as a computer or console. Video games provide the user with audio and visual feedback when the game is played. Today, they are often played with others, either in person or over the Internet. Board games are often converted into video games using online matchmaking and scripted bots, and one of the most popular of these is chess for its strategic gameplay. One expert observes that "every school shooter has been heavily immersed in violent first person shooter games." Many bright futures of young men are destroyed by video game habits, and video games even cause harmful increases in blood sugar in players.

Video games are addictive, train young mass murderers, and promote liberal talking points or ideas. By exploiting this addiction, one article says that the "Global Video Games Market [is] to Reach $293.2 Billion by 2027." Additionally, another article states that In 2022, in Japan, that "17 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 12 spend more than four hours a day gaming — up from 9% in 2017, with a similar jump seen among those between the ages of 12 and 15." As to liberality, video games, even ones exported to Russia, increasingly promote the homosexual agenda contrary to the policy of Russia and elsewhere.

Violent video games are particularly addictive for boys and young men. Additionally, video games are associated with dropping out of school and the video game industry is criticized for exploiting its workers.

At least one study showed that "young men are playing video games instead of getting jobs", as reported by the Chicago Tribune. Young adults would be helping themselves by seeking alternatives to video games during recreational periods.

The video game industry itself also receives significant government support; in Quebec, all large video game projects can receive tax credits up to 37%, increasing public debt and taxes for everyone else.

Nature of video games

Video games vary greatly in type and complexity, but all games are alike in that they translate player input (from a controller, mouse, keyboard or motion sensor) into onscreen actions. Games are often stored on some sort of digital media - ROM cartridge, CD, DVD, flash memory chip, or even cassette tape for early computer games. Older or less expensive games sometimes used dedicated chips that were pre-programmed to play certain games only. In recent years, game developers have moved to digital distribution, allowing customers to purchase game licenses online, and download over the internet. On PCs, this is often done through marketplaces such as Valve Corporation's (also known as Valve Software) Steam service, or Electronic Arts' Origin service, while the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have their own digital distribution services.

Home consoles are classified by generation to indicate their relative power and date of release. The current major consoles (Xbox Series X, PS5, Nintendo Switch OLED) are considered ninth generation. Handheld consoles are not generally put into generations due to their more irregular release schedules.

Various genres

Video games in the course of their existence have grown from simple arcade-style games, and have become more detailed and separated from one another. Genres can now include first-person shooters, racing, simulation, role-playing, sports, action, strategy, massively multiplayer online (MMO), puzzle, Sport simulation, and many others. Even then, games can combine genres, such as Mass Effect (Role Playing and Third Person Shooting), or not fit nicely into any genre, like The Mystery of the Druids. The most popular genres tend to be shooters, action, and role-playing games. Some video games are based on movies, such as Star Wars.

Popularity and controversy

Games have risen in popularity over the years, as is shown in the rise of video game sales from the 1980s until today. This has brought with it a large amount of controversy as the video game industry continues to grow with its original player base.

Video games are addictive activities targeted at teenagers, often with tragic results. Certain genres of games are becoming increasingly violent and offensive, attracting the attention of legislators in many states to protect the exploitation of children by them. Games such as Grand Theft Auto are very violent, sexually explicit, and feature criminal behavior. These games are rated "M 17+" for "Mature," but courts have struck down laws preventing retailers from selling them to children, under an interpretation that the First Amendment protects offensive video games even for children. After a Conservapedian filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to consider this issue, it surprised liberals by granting certiorari.

However, in 2011, the Supreme Court denied a ban on the sale of violent video games in California, claiming they were protected as they "qualify for First Amendment Protection" and pointing out that there has historically been no shortage of violent imagery in children's fairytales, classical literature, and comics. Writing for the majority, Justice Scalia pointed out that "disgust is not a valid basis for restricting expression", and continued that any effects of violent video games on children "are both small and indistinguishable from effects produced by other media".

It has also been suggested that it is the role of parents to regulate what their children play, and that laws restricting video game vendors are an effort to replace parents' decisions with the government's decisions.

As some wake up to how harmful violent video games are, the video game industry declined in 2012, though it remains much bigger than Hollywood. Video games are likely the single biggest cause of bright young men dropping out of college. While video games were originally designed for children and adolescent males, video games have become too popular with adult males, many of whom will often neglect family and work to spend a copious number of hours playing video games including online games such as World of Warcraft in a video game addiction. Liberal denial discourages people from recognizing the problem.

Arguments against video game usage

The atheist Stephen Fry said, "I do enjoy video gaming... In the early days of games, I would spend hours. I mean literally. I would find it would be 4AM, and I would say: 'God, I have be at work at 6.'" See also: Irreligion, video game usage and obesity and Atheism and obesity

See young mass murderers for their connection to video games.

Video games have been accused of being linked to murders by young people and other violence, stress-induced health problems (including unexpected heart attacks), atheism, obesity, and sexual immorality. Several prominent murderers in recent years were inspired by video games. Young mass murderer Adam Lanza was "immersed in a perverse video game world" and "killed himself to prevent law enforcement from taking his 'points.'" He plotted his rampage far in advance and "learned the principles of ... the tactical reload" from his video games. Video games have also been used as "murder simulators" by the American army, in order to desensitize young men, into triggering the gun better, and with less doubt, thus killing enemies more efficiently.

After a murderous rampage by another video game user in Norway:

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A number of Norway stores have pulled violent video games from sale - including several Call of Duty games and World of Warcraft - in the wake of the massacre carried out by Anders Behring Breivik on July 22.

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Unbeknownst to many, the video game industry is partly subsidized by taxpayers, even in the conservative Texas. In 2015, a spat broke out between the video game and film industries about the millions they would receive from the government.

Video game usage and excess weight

See also: Video game usage and excess weight and Obesity

Due to the sedentary lifestyle of many who abuse video games or play them for extremely long amounts of time, there is an absence of exercise - meaning addiction to video games can cause an increase in weight to unhealthy proportions.

The state of Utah was acclaimed with the lowest percentage of children overweight, and was found to have the second lowest proportion of children spending 2 or more hours on TV/Video gameplay.

The District of Columbia, found to have the highest percentage of overweight children, also had the highest percentage nationwide of children spending an incredible 4 hours plus in front of a screen.

The National Obesity Forum indicates:

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The figures highlighted by the "F as in Fat" annual report [Trust for America's Health 2007 Annual Report] were retrieved from the Data Resource Center on Child and Adolescent Health website. The analysis of these figures reveals a strong positive correlation between hours spent on TV/Video game play and the percentage of children classed as overweight per state. The state of Utah was acclaimed with the lowest percentage of children overweight, and was found to have the second lowest proportion of children spending 2 or more hours on TV/Video gameplay. The District of Columbia, found to have the highest percentage of overweight children, also had the highest percentage nationwide of children spending an incredible 4 hours plus in front of a screen.

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Slate reported in 2012:

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The American Academy of Pediatrics tells parents that children’s total entertainment media time should not exceed two hours daily. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, average kids watch at least twice that much television. They also spend more than an hour per day online and another hour on video games. These activities, collectively called “screen time,” are widely blamed for the tripling of obesity rates in children since the 1980s.

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The University of Texas at Austin declares:

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A study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin suggests that watching television is not associated with children’s weight, but playing electronic games may be, especially for girls. “Children with higher weight status spent moderate amounts of time playing electronic games, while children with lower weight status spent either a little or a lot of time playing electronic games,” said Dr. Elizabeth A. Vandewater, who led the study published in the February issue of the Journal of Adolescence. Although the greater weight/video game link was found in this study with girls, she noted that future studies may reveal similar findings for boys. Either way, the findings could be significant considering how many American children play electronic games.

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The Pittsburg Gazette reports: "A 2010 study from the Eastern Ontario Research Institute found video games to blame, chiefly because children, boys especially, tend to eat more when they're playing them."

Irreligion, video game usage and obesity

See also: Irreligion, video game usage and obesity and Atheism and obesity

Relevant Magazine reported about the journal article in The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion entitled No Other Gods Before Mario?: Game Preferences Among Atheistic and Religious Individuals:

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A new study of 228 college students found that while just about everyone prefers video games to regular board games (duh), those who claim no religion vastly prefer video games compared to the religious peers. It's a small study, but the director, Chris Burris, has an interesting hypothesis about why atheists prefer video games. Burris believes that atheists tend to be less good at "generating emotionally evocative internal simulations of experience." Simply put, he believes that religious people tend to be more imaginative, and are able to craft their own sense of play around simple games, while non-religious people tend to prefer the concrete rules afforded by video games.

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As far as the relationship between irreligion and obesity, please examine the articles below:

• Atheism and obesity

• Millennials, irreligion and obesity

• Generation X, irreligion and obesity

• Baby boom generation, irreligion and obesity

Exergaming

As far as "exergaming" (video games that prompt the users to engage in physical activity), Slate reports:

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After three months, “there was no evidence that children receiving the active video games were more active in general or at any time,” the authors wrote. (The year before, a similar study in New Zealand had shown only minor improvement with active games; kids weighed just a pound less after six months of "exergaming".)

”

Overcoming addiction to video games

As with any addiction, video game usage can be hard to overcome as soon as one is drawn into it. Fortunately, faith-based efforts to overcome addiction can be effective and rewarding, and churches exist in part to help people overcome harmful vices in the world. (See also: habit) The Online Gamers Anonymous website is a good example and has chapters in many places, nooks and crannies.

Catholicism recommends that people give up something they like on Fridays, and throughout all of Lent. For some, it is easy to end a bad habit altogether once one is successful in giving it up at least one day a week, or throughout the 40 days of Lent.

In this regard, the Bible can be extraordinarily helpful and inspiring. Replacing video game usage with readings from books such as Psalms and Proverbs can turn a vice into an enormous boost to one's life. One approach is to read the Proverbs chapter having the same number as the day of the month (e.g., on February 17 read Proverbs 17), and read five chapters in Psalms that also correspond to the day of the month (e.g., read Psalms 81-85) on February 17 (17 times 5 is 85). New Testament passages in which Jesus mentions Hell can also be tremendously beneficial in combating vice. See, e.g., Mark 9:43.

In general, acquiring good habits can help drive out bad ones. Setting goals helps: Give yourself a weekly or monthly report card on all aspects of life. (See also: Beating NFL addiction)

Violence

Most of the controversy comes from the rising trend toward violence in video games, as pioneered by Doom, Quake, "Spring", and the Grand Theft Auto series.

Some people point out that violent video games cause violent behavior in children. The effects of violent video games on the developing psyches of children and adolescents vary greatly and of course depend on the mental stability of the subject in question. Serious crimes have often been associated with video games. For example, a 14-year-old brutally murdered a video arcade employee one morning and his cousin stands trial for murdering the store manager when he entered the store shortly thereafter. In the USA, all retail games carry ratings from the ESRB, a video game ratings organization.

Some claim that kids who don't play video games at all seem to show more violent tendencies. Of course, as expected, those who played violent video games for large amounts of time also showed violent tendencies; the study, however, claims that this is a "risk marker", not an actual cause.

Multiple studies have shown a correlation between violent video games and increased levels of aggression, caused by playing some of the aforementioned video games. However, in such cases, it is vital to keep in mind the fact that correlation does not equal causation.

Sexuality

Although nudity is not prominent in western video games, there are various products containing sexually suggestive material. One reason for the relative lack of explicitly sexual material in Western games may be the refusal of retailers including Wal-Mart to sell games carrying an "Adults-Only" rating. One notable target of controversy is the Grand Theft Auto series after a third-party mod was released that allowed the player to engage in a mini-game containing explicit sexual material. Mods are, as "third-party" would imply, fan-made and are not the responsibility of the game's developer. Other sources of this criticism relate to the game Tomb Raider, one of the first games to depict and advertise a female character (the protagonist) as a sex symbol.

Arguments for video game usage

Video games have been suspected of giving otherwise liberal people some virtual conservative viewpoints. They have also been shown to help people to become more attuned to their surroundings and increase coordination, and in the future may be used to treat people with visual problems and to train soldiers.

While the evidence is conflicting, some also say that video games keep the participants engaged and more mentally active than watching television.

Also, the American Psychological Association states that while there is a well-established link between violent video games and aggressive behaviors, empirical research finds there is little to no evidence connecting violent behavior (extreme physical aggressive behavior) to video games.

Video games and society

As video games become more popular, their impact on society becomes ever more present. A prime example of this is the massive ad campaigns for the Halo and Grand Theft Auto franchises. Advertising, merchandising, and even social pressures have changed in the ever-growing influence of video gaming.

Due to their popularity, various corporations have begun placing advertisements for their products within the context of the game. Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world, has attempted to blur the lines between the real world and the virtual world, and companies such as Adidas, Reebok, and Dell have set up virtual stores selling real-world products within the game. Reuters also operates a news bureau reporting news in the game.

NPC internet meme

Popular graphic used in the NPC internet meme.

The NPC internet meme (derived from Non-Playable Character (NPC) in video gaming), is a politically right-wing internet meme that represents liberals/leftists (like SJWs) who do not think for themselves, lack critical thinking skills and have been politically indoctrinated.

According to the website The Verge:

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Last week, The New York Times published a piece about an insular 4chan meme that had started to bleed over into political Twitter. At the time, NPC — an acronym for the gaming term “non-playable character” — had been weaponized.. in an attempt to “own the libs” by calling them automatons, but it was still a relatively niche meme very few outlets had touched. Along with a couple of stories before it, the Times’ article kicked off a domino effect: its publication prompted popular members of the alt-right — including Paul Joseph Watson and Infowars — to amplify the meme to their audiences through YouTube videos, articles, and tweets. Search results for “NPC” increased, according to Google Trends... Suddenly, a meme... [was] telegraphed to a massive audience in a jarringly forced display of virality that highlights just how quickly an inside joke from an insular community can spread with the oxygen of press coverage.

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The rise of the NPC internet meme

Google Trends graph of the number of worldwide searches for the term NPC

There has been a huge rise in the use of the NPC meme on the internet as can be seen by this Google Trends graph of worldwide searches for the term .

The main factors are:

1. Elon Musk taking over Twitter which gave a boost to the political right.

2. Supporters of right-wing politics are getting more active in culture war issues such as anti-woke backlash.

3. The growing hunger for free speech and anti-cancel culture sentiments.

4. The rise of a few other right-wing friendly social media platforms (Rumble, Gab, etc.).

5. Right-wingers are aggressively building their own ecosystem.

6. A right-wing populist program normally encompasses factors such as economic protectionism/problems and anti-immigration/anti-illegal immigration sentiments and these factors are rising in some countries.

7. European right-wing political figures (Marine Le Pen, Viktor Orbán, Andrej Duda, etc.) are using the European Union corruption scandal as a political weapon and inciting anti-EU sentiment ahead of the 2024 European Parliament elections which is giving a bounce to right-wingers.

Education in video games

It is unlikely that there is any educational value in video game usage, compared with better activities that could be pursued.

But Firaxis Games, a noteworthy video game development company, has been creating a video game series called Civilization for nearly a decade. Civilization is a simulation game that allows the player to lead a nation from ancient times to the modern day. It features a dynamic military system, politics, trading, and historical content. It has been recognized for its unintentional educational properties.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is another example of a video game that may have some slight educational value.

Some games are also created specifically as teaching tools. While they may not offer detailed, useful knowledge, they typically attempt at least to teach useful concepts or general information. An example of this is the now-dated game, Oregon Trail.

Faith in video games

Faith in video games has, as a rule, either led to the creation of new and dynamic antagonists, or video games that are mediocre, such as Spiritual Warfare and Bible Adventures for the Nintendo Entertainment System, or The Bible Game for various systems. Bible Adventures in particular is infamous for its poor design and playability.

The Bible, or other such religious texts, tells a story spanning many different viewpoints. Turning these ideas into a video game, however, most often leads to games that tend to bore most video game audiences.

Religion has, however, taken a prominent place amongst the various heroes and villains in video games. The Breath of Fire series and the Shin Megami Tensei games, in particular, use a god as a main antagonist in many of their incarnations. Other games to use religion in some way include the Final Fantasy series, Left Behind: Eternal Forces, Black and White, Heaven and Hell, Xenogears, Okami, and the Tales series, particularly Tales of Symphonia. Unfortunately, many (not all) of the aforementioned games (And nearly any Role-playing game from East Asia) present religion (or its respective church and followers) as evil, fake, or having ulterior and nefarious motives.

Games may include a fictional religion as part of the setting if the use of a real religion may invite undesirable controversy.

Video game reviewers have sometimes unjustly attacked and reviewed games where real-world religion plays a notable role. One of the most prominent examples of this is the game Left Behind: Eternal Forces.

Popular video game franchises

Culturally Historical

• Pong - the first real video game, resembling a two-dimensional interpretation of table tennis using hand held dials as controllers.
• Pac-Man - An old maze game. It was very popular with kids and adults back in the eighties.
• Minecraft - A 3D Sandbox game that is all about building with blocks. Notable for being one of the two best selling video games of all time, tied with Tetris due to conflicting sources. It is also notable for having free updates with constant expansions.
• Tetris - A puzzle game about scoring the most points by creating complete rows with falling Tetrominoes. It is also notable for being one of the two best selling video games of all time, as well as having around 220 different versions.

Platformer

• Donkey Kong - An early platform game in which Mario (then known as "Jumpman") tries to save his girlfriend Pauline from a barrel-flinging ape named Donkey Kong. Both Donkey Kong and Mario went on to star in many other successful video games.
• Super Mario Bros. - Side-scrolling platform game series by Nintendo. Players play as Mario and Luigi, two Italian plumber brothers, who explore the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Peach from the evil Bowser [called Koopa in Japan]. This is possibly the most well-known game in the world.

2D Role-Play

• Final Fantasy - A very popular and long running RPG series in both the United States and Japan. Earlier games were rather child-friendly, but the series has become more mature over time.
• The Legend of Zelda - A popular series of fantasy action-adventure games.
• Terraria - A 2d Sandbox RPG game similar to Minecraft that has mature themes and violent imagery. Notable for it's sheer popularity, being the 7th best selling video game of all time.

First Person Role-Play

• Assassins Creed - Taking place, after a fashion, during the Crusades. Play as Altair, and kill leaders from both sides to stop a deadly plot.
• Mass Effect - A science fiction RPG for mature players.
• Tomb Raider - Series of games following the adventures of Lara Croft.

Above & Below

• Grand Theft Auto - A game series about gangster-like characters who perform missions to rise to the top by killing, stealing, and other, sometimes violent, missions.

First Person Shooters (FPS)

• Call of Duty - A series of first-person shooters in which a player is either a soldier in World War II or a soldier involved in the War on Terror.
• Half-Life and Half-Life 2 - First-Person Shooter series about Gordon Freeman, a luckless scientist turned hero-from-desperation. This game uses one of the leading physics engines in first-person shooters, the Source engine.
• Halo - A trilogy of games following a super soldier during a fictional future war.
• Medal of Honor - A first-person shooter series usually taking place in the front lines of World War II.
• Portal - A popular first-person shooter/puzzle game using the same game engine as Half-Life 2 involving inter-dimensional travel through portals in an abandoned testing facility. This game is known for its deadpan sense of humor.

Third Person Shooters

• Gears of War - Mankind has been annihilated by an underground race of beings.

Strategy

• Age of Empires - An RTS in which the player leads an ancient civilization.
• Civilization - A strategy game in which the player leads a civilization from it's birth, and into the future.

Arcade Fighting

• Mortal Kombat - Multi-player fighting game which is famous for violence, blood, and gory finishing moves called "fatalities".
• Super Smash Bros. - Series of Nintendo fighting games. It mixes characters from different Nintendo franchises [with some exceptions] in wide environments.
• Soul Calibur - A weapon-based fighting game. Revolves around the tale of two weapons, Soul Edge [Cursed] and Soul Calibur [Blessed], and those who fight for control or destruction of the weapons.
• Street Fighter - One-on-one martial arts fighting game series, where a player selects one of various martial artists and battles other players or against computer-controlled characters.

Simulation

• Guitar Hero - A game where players play the role of the guitarist in a band. Uses a special controller in the shape of and is played similarly to a guitar.
• Harvest Moon - Farm life simulator, with many sequels spreading from various platforms. The character runs a farm, raises animals, and can eventually marry.
• NHL series - A series of Hockey games produced by EA Sports.
• The Sims - A life simulator produced by EA.

Survival Horror

• Resident Evil - Survival/horror video game series, revolving around viral zombies and the survivors of the zombie attacks.

See also

• Addiction
• Video game industry
• Video game controversy
• Jack Thompson
• Young mass murderers

External links

• What They Play - the parent's guide to video games
• Left Behind Games - a Christian, family-friendly video game company
• Chapter Fourteen: Popular Culture–A Decadent Indulgence, The Epoch Times (from How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World).