Global Issue + Infographic!
Global Issue: Succumbing to the Tetris Effect and Other Forms of Video Game Addiction?
What is tetris effect? Tetris effect is a term for a form of video game addiction, first defined as “after-images of the game [tetris] for up to days afterwards” and also “a tendency to identify everything in the world as being made of four squares and attempt to determine 'where it fits in'.” This is when someone spends sufficient time on a video game and the images pop up in thoughts and dreams. Tetris is known as a pioneer of casual games, and a pioneer for causing the tetris effect. In fact, in the advertisements for Nintendo tetris, the concept of “cool” and “in power” was based on seeing tetrominoes whenever you see anything in your surroundings. They were right, because that's the effect tetris has on a lot of the people who play it.
There is no doubt that there are good things about games that cause the tetris effect or the tetris effect itself; and there is also no doubt that other forms of video game addiction might create some benefits, but many problems arise because of video game addiction. There are cases of deaths caused by this, including exhaustion or murder... The invention and rise in popularity of video games are not ancient history. “Video games” is a recent term. Crimes related to video game addiction started to be a lot more widely committed less than a decade ago. It's definitely still a big problem now. In 2009, a three-month old kid in Korea died of malnutrition after his parents became too busy raising a virtual kid in an online game. In 2010, a mother was sentenced for shaking her baby to death because the baby's crying interrupted her when she was playing Farmville. Also in 2010, a teenager killed his mother while she was sleeping because she took away his PlayStation.
There are many bad things about video games, how they harm your eyes and lead to various forms of addiction. Most of the time this is bad, but due to the huge imprint it leaves on people, it helps people suffer from less PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). This is how video game addiction helps. Also, these extreme cases don't happen everywhere. Many people nowadays go online a lot, but there are many limitations to a lot of things that stop people from committing the extreme crimes mentioned above. Also, in countries like South Korea, China, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States, prevention and correction methods are issued. These nations have government operated clinics to treat people who suffer from overuse of online or video games. There are also organizations who post on message boards, chat or skype meetings, and other methods they use to heal and support the people they're there to help. There is global awareness of this very current issue, and hopefully it will improve the conditions.
---Tina Wu, grade 9 :)
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| This image shows a person, tetris effect, and an ongoing game of tetris. It shows that even when a person is sleeping, tetris effect can still take over the brain, making the person have an ongoing tetris game in their minds during sleep. This is what it means to be addicted, and tetris effect doesn't just happen with tetris players, but also players of other video games. |
Newspaper (Op-Ed):
Video Games Might Not Be Good For You, But That's Only One Side of the Story
There are many reasons that video games like tetris are harmful to us. After long periods of time spent on video/online games, our eyesight will be damaged, and we might be addicted to them. Addiction has been and still is a serious problem, and many crimes such as murder have been committed because of that during the recent years. Still, I believe that there is a point in the development of tetris, the pioneer of casual games and the game that the term tetris effect was named after.
Tetris effect is a term that means when you spend a sufficient amount of time playing a video game, you will see images from that video game in your dreams, thoughts, and mental images. This first occurred in tetris players, because video games just started becoming popular at the time. Tetris effect causes many negative but also positive effects on people. It makes people addicted and basically insane, while also provoking mind development, or help support people with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
The main benefit of the game tetris in this world is the entertainment that it brings to people. A lot of people play tetris to relax themselves or to feel happier. The happiness of people is what humanity has been striving to achieve, and tetris, making people forget about everything else and concentrate on playing it, has brought happiness to a lot of people. Also, playing tetris leads to more efficient brain activity, increasing cerebral cortex thickness. This is why tetris is said to be able to improve critical thinking, reasoning, language and processing skills. In other words, your logic and intelligence will improve by playing tetris. Tetris is also a good tool to reduce flashbacks, and scientists have been trying to see if it will help with people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Last but not least, tetris, like all other interests such as playing instruments, academics, athletics, or anything that requires attention and concentration, will increase one's patience. When someone treats tetris seriously, they will have goals, to improve at tetris or to reach a certain rank or send a certain number of lines at tetris battle; they will have patience, to keep playing and playing, or to connect it to other interests, practicing and practicing; they will have ambition, the heart to improve and the heart to win; and they will dedicate their time into thinking about tetris, creating a hardworking attitude that people create when they really want to be better at something. This is definitely a great way to teach someone the correct attitude.
You might say that spending too much time on tetris is not good for you, but spending too much time on anything is bad. Studying is not a bad thing to do, but spending too much time studying is not good. Eating fruits is not a bad thing to do, but eating too much is not good. Socializing is not bad for you, but spending too much time socializing is not good. Playing tetris is not bad for you, but spending too much time on it might cause post-addiction troubles. This is when things are about balance, not about itself. This is when things are “harmful” because they are potentially harmful. This is when the world is not absolute, but relative. Is tetris bad for you if you don't spend so much time on it that it causes you to not be able to do anything else?
I believe that things are created for a reason. Nowadays, entertainment is emphasized greatly. The only reason that it's emphasized greatly is because it's good for you. Maybe not physically, but mentally. Everyone needs a break from work or from school, and these forms of entertainment, such as television programs, movies, and video games, help you relax and stop thinking about stressful things; they help you escape for a while so you don't get too overwhelmed. In the beginning of the school year, one of our 19th century humanities class assignments was to present about the fundamental question: “What does it mean to be human?” A lot of people said that the purpose of living is to have fun. We live to survive, and to fulfill our desires to be happy. Tetris is made to do that, to help you relax, have something fun to focus on, and to increase the efficiency that your brain works at while enjoying a fun game.
If you still think tetris is harmful, think about it. Tetris can potentially make people smarter and think faster, potentially improve logic, potentially help people with PTSD, potentially help us relax, potentially cause bad eyesight, and potentially cause addiction. These are the potential effects of tetris, what might happen to tetris players, but they're not what will happen to tetris players. I hope it's not hard to realize that it's not the game of tetris that's harmful, it's how much time someone spends on it and the way that they think about it that leads to the harmful things.
---Tina Wu, grade 9
Link to Documentary!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlmLeoiVhnA
Enjoy~~ :)
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