Video Games Suck?!

For years video games have been at the bottom of the social heap. They have been frowned upon by everyone; regardless of age, sex and intelligence, nobody seems to have a good word to say about them. Why? Why is there this awful stigma with video games, gamers and the gaming industry as a whole? Do video games need a defence? Do I need to justify myself if I spent 3 hours today playing video games? What if I spent 3 hours watching some films, listening to music or going to the theatre? Do they need a defense too? Let’s try and answer these questions.

Social Standing

As I said, gaming has been at the bottom of the social heap for years. It was a hobby for geeks, nerds and generally people with a poor social life who used video games to escape from their real world problems. Now, this is no longer the case, with the addition of newer titles (e.g., ‘COD‘) gaming has been brought to the masses and has become more acceptable! But I still feel there is a long way to go. Gaming still appears to be quite near the bottom of the social ladder – with activities such as watching television and reading books etc. seemingly rising far above it. This was proved when I posted a short question to Twitter and Facebook. I asked my audience what their opinion would be if they met someone whose favourite pastime (or keen hobby) was gaming. The response made it pretty obvious that people’s views hadn’t really changed. Most people said that they’d consider the person lame and/or nerdy, with some going as far to suggest their other pastimes; stamp collecting and heavy metal music (I think that was slightly farfetched!). I then posted a question with the same situation but instead of gaming being the pastime of choice it was reading, watching films, tv, and theatre. It’s safe to say, the response was quite contrasting. Although, (for the gaming character) I did get a few respondents saying that it depends what his/her other hobbies were. So it’s good to see that some have adjusted to the entertainment of the modern world!

“Video games rot your brain!”

How many times have you heard an older relative or family friend saying that?! They take great pleasure in telling you the true brain melting nature of the latest titles. Let’s elaborate on this sentence. What does it actually mean? They’re clearly insinuating that playing video games will make you a brain-dead zombie (or their equivalent monster of choice). Let’s look into it:

Brain-dead

The dictionary definition is “not using or showing intelligence; stupid”. So what would an activity consist of if it were to make you stupid? This is completely down to your judgement. But I’d say this: If an activity does not engage your mind, if it does not challenge you or your decision making skills, then over time and when practiced a lot it is undoubtedly going to make you stupid. Is that fair enough?

So let’s relate this back to gaming. Artificial intelligence (a key feature of video games that will create the illusion of intelligence in computer generated characters and plot) is coming on in leaps and bounds. It’s pushing the boundaries of games; making them more challenging, more realistic, and most importantly more engaging for the player. This level of engagement is achieved across most genres of games, from sports to first person shooters. But nothing boasts such attributes more than puzzle games. Their sole purpose is to challenge the player and exercise their mind! Need I say any more?! So gaming is engaging the player’s mind, requiring constant attention, requiring decisions to be made and in some cases greatly challenging the mind; the result being complete opposite of what the phrase ‘brain-dead’ suggests!

Now, let’s compare gaming to other activities that people do on a daily basis. Think about television: Although there are many shows that can be very educational, the majority of content will be of no benefit to your brain. Your brain isn’t constantly having to make decisions and experience the consequences of those decisions.

Of course, playing video games all day long will not be good for you! But that goes for everything. It’s all about a balanced lifestyle. But I hope you will agree with me when I say this: As shown here, when used in moderation gaming can be a great tool for exercising the mind, especially when you compare it to watching other pastimes.

On a personal note, something I don’t understand is why more people don’t regularly play video games! Think of it like this: Imagine going to see a movie. But instead of the plot having to follow one timeline you could have an almost infinite amount of options, an infinite amount of timelines, every action you make will effect the plot. That’s the beauty of video games! I must admit that not all video games are up to these high standards. But there are a handful that are capable of such amazing feats. Think of gaming as an ‘interactive movie’. Does that make it any better?

Even though all of these negative stereotypes exist I am happy to see the gaming industry is still growing on a daily basis, and after years of work some games are having movie-like premiers and releases.

The stigma of video games still exists (and perhaps always will for some people), but I hope to see this changing in the future as people learn to respect the power of video games, the effect they have had on the modern world, and the years of hard work that has gone into making them.

Thanks for reading, hit up my personal blog if you liked it.

Tek Nation Episode 7: iPad 2 Coming Soon?

This is the seventh episode of Tek Nation. Time just goes by really fast. Tek Nation is a show all about technology and the news that goes along with it. There's always something new in technology. So, I've dedicated my blog and videos to the technology news. In today's show we discussed the possibility of a Verizon iPhone, the iPad 2, and the future of video games. So, strap yourselves in for a new episode of Tek Nation. If you'd like to know my thoughts or share you're own please refer to the video above. 

YouTube

Tek Nation Ep 4: Android Madness

Join Alex (ace4vikings) as he presents you with episode 4 of Tek Nation. We're 4 episodes in already! It's crazy and I appreciate all of the support and exposure it has gained. I hope it continues. This week's episode is not in full screen, I was messing around in screenflow and it's a long story. But I hope you still like the episode. Enough rambling. My YouTube channel.

Today's topics are the Motorola Droid 2, the Blackberry Torch, the jailbreakme.com jailbreak for i OS 4, and Blu-Rays are coming to a Redbox kiosk near you. 

The Motorola Droid has an amazing keyboard. It's a huge improvement over the first Droid. The device also features a 3.7 WVGA multi touch display. Verizon is charging $199 on a 2 year contract. 

The Blackberry Torch was announced on August 11, 2010. I have to say, RIM did an amazing job with this phone. Blackberry OS 6 is great. I wouldn't say it's as great as Apple's i OS platform but it's up there. The web browser is much improved and the operating system specializes in social media. The form factor for the phone is also very nice and the keyboard looks awesome. 

Jailbreakme.com is a website that has a very simple concept. To let users jailbreak their device without downloading potentially dangerous software onto you're computer. So, all you have to do is go to jailbreakme.com and swipe to jailbreak. Please note you must have an iPod touch 2nd generation or iPhone 3G (or later) running iOS 4 to jailbreak you're device. 

Redbox is a very awesome DVD rental service. It's convenient, it's cheap, and overall a very great experience. Well, you may have noticed they don't have Blu-Ray discs available for rental. Redbox has made an announcement that BLu-Ray discs will be coming to a kiosk near you soon for only $1.50 per night. Standard DVDs will still be $1.00 per night.

How To: Receive Review Products

Like many aspiring technology reviewers on YouTube, I am always trying to find a nice product to review for my channel. I'm always contacting companies to try and obtain sample or review products. What person would not want a free product in return for a review video or blog post? 

To many, it sounds much easier than it is. In order to try and receive these products, you have to build up a channel of quality, professionalism, and mature manners. As a YouTuber with a fair amount of subscribers, wide range of viewers, and high amounts of feedback, one might think that getting review products is as easy as snapping your fingers. That's where many reviewers go wrong. In this post I will try and explain helpful tips to bringing more viewers and more products into your room or office through this post.

First of all, build up you content. Post videos on a regular schedule, advertise your work (but don't spam!), do your research. More than likely, companies will over look a blunt and boring channel with content found in a million other places. Think of it this way: you are contacting a company for a reason, obviously in hopes of receiving review products, and you have to believe thousands of other reviewers are doing the same thing as you. That's why you have to be better. Above the crowd. Stand out. It might take a bit of time to get strong amounts of views and hits, but in the end, it will make that much of a difference. This might mean spending your allowance or baby-sitting money on a camcorder that records high quality video, or even spending a few dollars a month on advertisements, such as the ones found on this blog. You don't have to go crazy, a nice set-up can be had for under $100. Quality is key.

Secondly, write to companies in a mature manner. Address them formally in an email, with key points about your channel, and you goals with a product they might have. Use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. You wouldn't write poorly to your teacher or boss, so why write like that to a company? I always tell my viewers to give the company a brief description of your channel or blog, an explanation or reasoning that you are contacting them, and a paragraph explaining what could benefit their company. It's nice to let them feel confident and comfortable with your review. Although this isn't mandatory, I always explain to a company that I could send the product back after full review purposes. They almost never require that to be done, but it's nice to let the company know you care more about the review than the product.

Lastly, and most importantly, keep doing what you do. Build on your success. Show your viewers that you care about them by answering questions, helping them build a better channel, giving advice. Don't feel discouraged if a company doesn't respond to you, or isn't interested in sending products. You learn from your mistakes. A closed door doesn't mean a new door can't open. 

I hope this blog post has helped you understand the measures it takes to receive products to review. I would also like to say that I love the new changes to the Social Blog, and I hope TekSocial will just rise with more amazing posts. 

-Brandon Goldman (iTalkTech)

YouTube

Still Looking For Tech Enthusiasts!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. I want to create a podcast that is focused and based on technology and gadgets and even a little bit of social media. I'm looking for people who can become a part of the podcast and help get it off the ground. If you are interested in applying (You need to have a passion for technology!), then e-mail me at the link below. I hope to get some great responses and hope to meet some other geeks out there!

E-mail: jakeculp@gmail.com

Skype: Vanmaster13

This is a repost from my older one.