First of all, let me say something about violence in games, for many people above named it as a negative feature. The point is that any game man ever invented, contains a great deal of cruelty in itself. Probably, this is what makes them so attractive to play. One doesn't have to look far for examples:
- Chess teaches us to be cruel to animals and women, to disrespect and despise subordinates. Russian version of chess even accepts cannibalism - you can "eat" an officer there.
- "Cowboys and Indians" is obviously about racism and intolerance.
- "Cops and robbers" acquaints children with misuse of authority and hatred of police.
- Hopscotch - don't ask me what's wrong with this game, but a lot of girls play it and then grow up heartless and bad tempered
Of course, I am not serious. But still you have to admit, there is something violent in human nature itself, something that makes the cruel computer games so appealing and interesting to that number of people. And trying to avoid these games doesn't solve the problems inside. On the other hand, isn't it better to allow kids to let off steam in the game rather than on the street?
Well, I think my opinion about computer games is clear enough already - I consider them as something strictly positive. This opinion is based on my own experience: there were three of us, three friends who met each other at the age of six and who are still together. We'd started to play games around the same age, when first Spectrums, Segas and Nintendos finally began to appear here and had been playing all our childhood and teenagehood. And this mania of games came to an end quite predictably: gradually all the games lost their attractiveness and were replaced by everyday problems, work and relationships.
And what was the result? One of us became a scientist, mathematician, who is already well-known in some mathematical circles despite his young age. Another one is a director of a firm, good leader and a very decent man. And at last, me, a mere guy who, however, is quite peaceful and happy. Looking at this, I can't see any negative effects of our gamers past, no matter how cruel were games we played. And, on the contrary, I can easily imagine what would have happened to us if we had spent our time other way those days, the way that many of our ex-schoolmates chose.