So, from playing Lemmings on the Amiga 500 to being able to guide a Kart around a course using sensor technology to sense your actiopns against 11 other people from anywhere around the World in real time is quite a large jump, considering it was only 15 years that this has happened!
However, for me, the biggest change in video gaming, (particularly on Personal Computer's) is the way that people can purchase games. No longer do you have to go off to HMV with your £40 to by a massive cartridge. No longer do you even have to go to your local supermarket with a tenner for the most recent game on CD-ROM, now all you need is an internet connection, bank card and Steam. You buy the game, download it, and play it. Even better, you can go onto ANY computer, log in with your personal details, download the game, as you own it by buying it, and play it there. You don't need to put in a CD everytime you play, or wait for it to be delivered or take it with you. Everything is on Steam.
Steam is a fantastic program, produced by Game Developers Valve, with the initial idea to sell Half Life 2 and any mods (Counter Strike: Source etc) to gamers. However, with the huge success of this, with that over 75% of buys of the game being over Steam, other Game Developers are jumping on the Steam bandwagon. Games likes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Brian Lara International Cricket 2007, Fallout 3 all sold in the Games Market, are now being sold on Steam.
The consequence of this for children, mean that if they know "Daddy's password," they can go and play any game, shooters, zombies, horrors, without needing a cd that can be hidden etc, and children have their ways of finding out passwords.
This means that for a gamer, playing any game is made much easier, however, care has to be made to ensure that it is not as easy for children to play some games. I think that as more and more technology advances are made in video gaming, some ideas towards protection for children has to be considered as an important factor.
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i think vidio games are an interesting debate and think you should read my blog to see my ideas! not all games and concoles are bad, we can adapt them to our needs and make them a tool for learning!
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