Video Games and Risks

In chapter 10, Nielsen discusses the harmful effects and risks of video gaming. The topic of possible harmful effects of playing video game has been rised as one of the key issues to be studied and researched ever since video gaming culture has been positioned as very important aspect in people's daily lives. One of the stereotpyical idea regarding the harmful effects of playing video game is that playing video game increases and triggers the violent attitude of players. This topic regarding the connection between violent games and player aggression is not just a topic regarding video games, but also a key issue in other media forms such violent movies, music, and even novels. In the reading, in order to discuss and analyze deeply into the topic of risks of playing video games, Nielsen suggests that we need to know two major types of research perspectives: the Active Media perspective and the Active User perspective.

According to Nielsen, the Active Media perspective is a research perspective that is based on the scientific theories of behaviorism and psychology. This method of research is less dominant today, but used as the main method to research from early 1980s. Active Media research uses "classical" research methods where a reserach design is "experimental" that usually takes place in a laboratory setting which is also referred as "controlled studies". The main interest of the research is studying the effects of media on attidue and behavior that focuses on the effects the game has on the player. On the other hand, the Active User perpsective is a research perspective that is based on the scientific theories of anthropology and pedadogy that focuses on the study of humanism. Unlike the Active Media research, the Active User research uses interviews and field observations to study the meaning, role, and fuction of media that focuses on the player, rather than focusing on the game. This research veiws players as competent and selective, rather than categorizing players as mere passive recipients of information.

As we can see from the conclustion that Nielsen makes, there is no definite answer regarding which research method is more valid and correct regarding the harmful effects of playing video games. Both Active Media reseach and Active User research, and even other methods of researches are just studies of prediction of risks that video games might carry. However, it is notable that Active Media research is more on the side that video games do trigger aggressive behaviors of players while Active User research concludes that violence in behaviors from playing video games all really depends on who plays the game.

I honestly believe in Active User research rather than Active Media research since the effectiveness of triggering aggressive behaviors depends on the players, not the game. As Nielsen suggested, in last few years, there were more far more researches done using Active Media research compared to Active User research on harmful effects of video gaming surely questions the validity of studies done with Active User researh. And I agree that some video games (ones with sexual and violent contents) do affect players in negative ways. But, the degrees of effectiveness can vary depends on players. Some players will get affected more than others. Thus, it is more important to study players rather than the game when researching for the risks of video game plays.

In this chapter, Nielsen mainly focuses on the link between violent games and aggressive behavior. He brifely talks about other issues such as the content of video games, social and gender relations, and addiction of video gaming, but the information regarding those three other topics are not in-dept. My question for this reading is:  What do you think is the most important issue regarding risks of video gaming other than violent/aggression issue? Why do you find your choice interesting? Can you think of any other topics regarding risks of video gaming other than four issues Nielsen talks about?