Are Computer Games Worse Than Old Fashioned Games?

Kids and teenagers today have been brought up playing games totally unimaginable to all us who are over 40 years old. Most games until the 80s used to take place outdoors as kids’ activities were more physical and where consisting mainly of sports.

Judging whether the change has been for the kid’s benefit or not is something for the sociologists of the future to investigate and make conclusions. Adults and people who didn’t have the chance to be part of the digital games revolution oppose strongly in that great influence computer games have in their kids lives and their main argument is that computer games are too static and they do not motivate children to move and excercise!

Looking at today’s kinds in terms of general knowledge one could argue that they know a lot more compared to the kids of previous generations mainly because of the vast amount of information available to them through the TV and the internet.

Creativity, great emotions and collaboration are cultivated by both types of play, the traditional one and the technological one alike. The game of ‘exploration’, probably unknown to today’s kids is a great example as it was one of the favourite boys’ games in the 70s and 80s. The game was about locating an dilapidated residential building or a warehouse, break into it and try to get in every single room in order to collect as many strange and unusual objects as possible.

I will never forget the day we entered that warehouse that used to belong to an electrical components rich businessman who had recently died and all his businesses ceased to exist. Our imagination was running with 100 miles per hour each time a very odd object was on our way varying from cable ties to circuit breakers, everything seemed really extraordinary for our minds.

Similarly, playing today a typical adventure game on a computer can lead to similar emotions if say; the main character is entering a similar building and is looking around for something interesting. The essence is still the same although the way has significantly changed. Having the chance to experience both traditional games and the digital ones I can say that the emotional and mental excitement I was getting out of the two was equally important and by no means one was better than the other. Because of all the aforementioned reasons I am against all adults who disprove computer games as useless and dangerous just because the physical element is missing.

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