1. Sam Dunham
Max Devine

2. Video Game demographics
62% of gamers are males 38 % female
Age range: 18-50+
25% are 50+
31% are under 18
44% 18 -49
The average Gamer is 33 years old
Women over 17 represent 30% of all gamers. That’s more than under
18 males
69% of US households play computer/video games

3. History of Gaming
1950 – 1960: Pinball becomes popular. Early videogames come out on
computer
1958: William A. Higinbotham invents first video game: electronic Ping Pong
1961: MIT student Steve Russell creates Spacewar
1970’s: first commercial video games become available
1972: Magnavox introduces the Odyssey, the first home vidoe game console
1976: First game to allow players to control a characters behavior comes out
called Adventure
1977: Atari release first system with plug in cartridges
1980’s: Atari spikes, then falls into nothing as Nintendo makes its debute
1980: Pac-Man is introduces

4. History Continued
1982: Atari sells almost 8 million units. Surgeon general says games create
taste for violence
1984: Atari is sold as sales begin to decline
1985: Tetris and Super Mario Bros bust onto the scene
1989: The game boy is first introduced by Nintendo. SimCity is also released
1990’s: First person shooter games arrive and online multiplayer games begin
to show up
1991: Civilization is released
1992: Wolfenstein 3d is introduced (first FPS game)
1993: Doom is introduced (more blood and gore)
1994: Sony Playstation is released

5. Continued
1997: GTA is release (I call this the plague game)
1999: EverQuest an online multiplayer game is introduced.
2000’s: the big bang of the video games
2000: The Sims is released and becomes best selling computer game
2002: Microsoft steps in with the Xbox and revolutionizes video gaming by
make online capabilities on a console
Nov, 9, 2004: Halo 2! Creates the biggest grossing media day in history
2004: Parents of Stephen Pakeerah blame video games for the murder of
their son
2005: Chinese government begins to penalize people who play games for
more than 3 hours. APA calls to game companies to reduce violence in
games. Hillary Clinton bans the sale of Mature and Adult games to minors

6. Big break for gaming
October 2006: MacArthur Foundation announces grant of 50 million dollars
over 5 years to research how people learn from video games and other digital
media. The potential of education games is also researched.

7. Do games make kids violent?
14 year old Stefan Pakeerah is murdered by a friend in a fashion similar to a
game called Manhunt
Games likes this are the problem that openly advocate violence without
consequence.
American Psychological Association advocate for lessened violence in
games.
A study showed that violent games in youth do cause aggressive
behavior, but doesn’t lead to killings
However, another study showed that the active participation involved in
games may influence learning more.
The youth is more susceptible to showing aggressive behavior when exposed
to violent games.

8. Do games make kids violent? Cont..
2002 Grand Theft Auto Vice City is released and instantly becomes public
enemy number 1 in the video game world due to its intensely graphic concept
and play style.
The question has been on the table since violence has emerged in games, but
courts have always been skeptical about the link between games and violence
in kids.
A study by Craig Anderson provided no evidence that there was a relationship
between violent video games and aggressive behavior. The reason for this is
the violent video games are giving kids a way to channel aggression in a non-
physical way.
Since 1992,( the release of Wolefenstein 3D) there had been a consistent drop
in Juvenile crime. This was at the same time as these violent video games
were being introduced.
If they are so bad and cause bad behavior why has the widespread use of
video games resulted in a reduction of murders per year?

9. Conclusion
We’ve gone through many statistics and stories about video games and I
thinks its safe to say that they aren’t going any where anytime soon.
I personally believe that video games do have educational value. They can
teach us things we might not know about or know very little about (Assassin’s
Creed).
Video games allows kids to improve their literacy, practice problem solving
and learn to work in teams with people they might not know.
Yes, we must draw the line somewhere as to what is educational and what is
purely gaming content, but to disregard videogames as an educational tool is a
mistake.

10. Questions?
Who in here plays any videogame at least once a month? Once a week? Once
a day?
After seeing the presentation who here also agrees that video games are more
than just entertainment?