After completing the final episode and reading these two
articles, I realized how significantly video games could impact its users.
Going through the whole game of The
Walking Dead, I often struggled with the choices that we had to make.
Although some argue that our choices were not that important, to me, it felt
like every line I stated had some sort of consequence. This goes along with
what Hamilton quotes from Sparky Clarkson, that “The players choices define who
Lee is, whose company he values, what principles he chooses to uphold”,
emphasizing how it is essentially up to us to decide what may be deemed
acceptable and what is “too far” in this game world. However, these decisions
that we make in the gaming world, I believe, are a direct reflection of our
character in the real world. As Galloway states in his article, “Video games
are actions”, and putting the player of the game in the role of deciding these
actions is just as significant as deciding what books we read or what
photographs we take – it reveals and determines what will shape our thoughts
and future mindsets. Throughout the game I tried to present the best version of
Lee that I could – being honest, selfless, etc., but I also found myself
struggling with making the “right” decisions when faced with intense choices –
for instance, I decided to take the food from the abandoned car, instead of
leaving it for whomever it belonged to (now knowing it was that psycho guy, I
would take it again). Video games push the minds of its players in ways that
books and films cannot – they force you to make the decisions. In the argument
of video games being relevant in today’s world, I believe that they could be
used to demonstrate to children and adults qualities and values that one might
strive to uphold, but, of course, they could also present an outlet for one to
let out all the distraught emotions and feelings and actions that may be pent
up. Before this I regarded video games as pretty pointless things, but now, I
appreciate them for their intricacy and ability to deeply inflict emotional
impact. Used in the right way, I think they could be a wonderful way to adapt
many things.
1.
What kind of person would you say your decisions
in the game created the ideal citizen of society?
2.
Was this citizen in the game different from the
ideal citizen you would want in real life? Why?
3.
In what ways do you believe video games could be
used to teach younger children life lessons? Could they be used to implement
significant change in how we may view society?
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