Since video games rose to popularity in the
early 1970s, they have been maligned by a
media narrative that associates them with
violence, addiction and antisocial behaviour.
Their popularity with youth, a persistent media
emphasis on violent content and a sense
that they challenge social norms and values
produced a moral panic once reserved for
comic books and rock and roll music (Ferguson,
2008; Sternheimer, 2007; Trend, 2007).
Condemnations by concerned parents, religious
leaders and politicians are a regular feature of
North American broadcast news cycles in the
wake of school shootings and other instances of
youth violence (Ferguson, 2008). Furthermore,
video games are commonly considered a “waste
of time” with a potentially addictive grip on
impressionable young minds that draws them
away from study, sports and healthy socialization
(Ferguson, 2008; Hellman, Schoenmakers,
Nordstrom& van Holst, 2013). These concerns
are not groundless, but have disproportionately
dominated and shaped public discourse at
the expense of a more balanced view that
might also consider potential benefits of this
emergent and increasingly pervasive medium.
In the last decade, however, a series of factors
have converged that now cast digital games in
a more favorable light.
Today, video games are
increasingly being leveraged for the purposes of
education, health and social good.
Digital and mobile games are quickly becoming
the world’s most consumed and thus most
lucrative cultural industry. Economically,
the global video game market is expected
to generate over $100 billion dollars by 2017
(Sinclair, 2015), outpacing both film and music
and, in the United States, revenue from video
games has surpassed film and music combined
(Entertainment Software Association, 2015).
The Entertainment Software Association (2015)
also reports that game design and research
programs are flourishing in colleges and
universities, further signaling the industry’s
growing economic and social relevance. The
Internet and digital distribution channels such
as Valve’s popular Steam service have opened
the door for small studios and developers to
inexpensively promote and sell their games
across the globe without the prohibitive costs
of material manufacture and distribution
(Broekhuizen, Lampel & Rietveld, 2013). The
proliferation of game studies and game design
programs combined with affordable production
and dissemination costs have resulted in an
eruption of experimentation and artistry within
the medium, challenging the narrowly formulaic
and market-safe approaches traditionally
favored by big studios.
- : http://mgiep.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/WORKING-PAPER-PAUL-DARVASI-.pdf
- : Paul Darvasi, York University
- : Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development / UNESCO