Yesterday, my Dad was using my PC for sending an important mail or whatever (probably creating my brother's profile in any of the matrimonial sites). Suddenly, he turns around and asked me something very simple with a clueless expression (less clueless than the Indian batsmen in T20 World Cups), "Beta, what's this circle with the thunderbolt in cutting it into half doing in your toolbar?"
"That is Daemon Tools, Daaaadd; it's used for reading image files." And my father gives me an even more clueless expression. I prayed that he freezes his questions right there or I were to have a tough time. Luckily, he did. Okay, fatherly discussions can stop here.
Well, Daemon Tools, ISO Buster, Alcohol and the list goes on; these softwares in today's date are an integral part of every gamer's computing system, in fact, they're a must. Of course, the likes of WinRAR and WinZip, the olden Goldies, cannot be left out.
A few of you non-gamers are sure to put up the face of a jackass who's been served a roasted turkey for dinner. But that's fine. It's like; you can't expect the Shiv Sena to understand the meaning of secularism.
Half a decade or a decade back, the trend of video games for computers caught up with the global youth (primarily the Japanese). Well, the trend has changed a little bit. Nowadays, computers are being specifically designed and configured to meet certain gaming requirements. The gaming industry is constantly on the rise and experiencing a boom (expected to be worth $68 billion by 2012).
Now, if you look at the larger picture, this realistic virtual world of gaming is not all about high end graphics, 3D designs and mechanical gizmos. There is more than that meets the eye. The finish line is beyond where some of us might perceive it to be. The world of gaming has its beautiful blend of virtues and vices. The Gen G shall blindly believe the virtues, as their parents are sure to take the vices' department. I agree, it is an undeniable fact that excess exposure to several video games can have hazardous effects on the young kid forever stuck to the joystick and eyes glued to the computer screen. Some of the consequent hazards can be poor eye sight, lack of appetite, strained fingers and many more unhealthy conditions which lead to a healthy income for the child specialists waiting in their chambers.
But I'd say the grass is greener on the other side. Flip the coin; open your eyes to the positive changes and impact many of these video games have encrypted on this computer-frenzy generation. This virtual world, which encapsulates the thinking minds of the young, also enrich and enlighten them with practical lessons on many essential qualities of life; which make a human out of a man.
Gamer or non-gamer, almost all of us are familiar with the most popular, I repeat the most popular multiplayer game of this decade: "Counter Strike". It has an unsurpassed fan base in the gaming community. This game brings alive a virtual world where kids turn hot-shot terrorists and hop around the place in a shooting spree, against the protectors of law; the Polizei, and sometimes, vice-versa. But there is also an untracked virtue of this demolition platform; team work and co-ordination. Terrorists or counter terrorists, the experience of the game installs the quality among the experienced of how to co-ordinate with other members of a team in the successful completion of a task; not preferably death and massacre.
Then, there in the racks are games like "Age of Empires", "Rise of the Nations" and many more which develop the abilities and capabilities of those young brains. In such arenas, gamers face the ultimate challenge of giving virtual life to their dream empire, fending off enemies and taking their dream to an unprecedented level. There are games based on sports such as soccer, basketball, tennis, and cricket and like, which incorporate the discipline of a sportsman in that gaming genius. They teach them precision and above all, perfection.
If we are to discuss the endless list of such marvellous creations, it would go on for ages. The point I am trying to put forward is, let's widen our perspective and point of view on the effects and influences the world of gaming has on the this "Gen G".
Hundreds of researchers and reports suggest that video games, due to their violent nature, at times, can prove hazardous for those not yet mature, regardless of age. I say, they are more prone to violence in this globally unsafe real world than the virtual one existing in their computer screens, where at least it flashes "Game Over". Unfortunately, it isn't the same in OUR (outrageously unsafe real) world.
So, Let's Play!
