The advancement in technology has been greatly influencing all spheres of nowadays life. Global digital entertainment industry has been rapidly developing and, naturally, has a huge impact on people’s life. PlayStation, as a piece of technology owned by gamers of different age throughout the world, has undoubtedly become an integral aspects of children, teenagers and adults’ life. Its impact on human relationships, stress levels, race/class/gender inequalities and global economics cannot be overrated. To what extent has PlayStation affected people’s relationships is a question of a particular interest and is bound to be researched further.
Interactivity has been recently named as one of the main motivations for digital play (Blumberg & Fisch, 2013, p.2). The same source suggests that digital games provide a great context for recreational and academic time. Surely, interactivity implies cooperation with other gamers, especially in multi-players games. However, whether PlayStation brings people together or pushes them apart greatly depends on whether the person prefers playing alone or with friends or family members. Taking, for example, a situation in which a gamer tries to distance himself from his everyday routine and avoid interacting with the people he is surrounded with by escaping into a digital, virtual reality. It might not only significantly undermine his relationships with family and friends, but also make him unwilling to seek more opportunities to interact with other people and immerse into community.
Another negative aspect of virtual reality taking over the usual setting of life is the development of misunderstanding between this person and his parents, who might disapprove of their child’s excessive use of digital technology.
Generation gap triggered by the drastic difference between the environment in which the older generation and their children grow up can lead to conflicts and lack of understanding and interaction between parents and their children. Parental support and participation in their children lives, as well as interest in children’s daily activities and hobbies are vital part for proper cognitive development of a person during all stages of development. In this case, when digital games and PlayStation in particular create a gap between the players and the people who surround them, it is important to understand that digital games can also bridge this gap. Gaming is related to other domestic media practices (Wolf, 2012, p.31). While media consumption has become an inseparable part of our mundane routine, it is natural that in order to stay on the same page and have common topics to discuss and common interest to share both parents and children have to participate in each other’s lives and make efforts to understand the motivation and interest each side shows in a certain type of activity. Family values are extremely important in the Arab world, which is why the necessity of bridging the gap between family members is of a big priority.
Another aspect regarding PlayStation and its ability to eliminate the misunderstanding between generations or, in some cases, between the gamer and his friends is the fact that common participation in digital games creates mutual informational field. In other words, PlayStation can become another important communicational system, as specific images, graphs, symbols, diagrams, artifacts and other visual symbols are important in creation different types of “visual literacy” (Gee, 2003, p.13). Thus, being united into the same field of information and “visual literacy” can bring the people closer and not provoke the gap between people. The Arab society is believed to be united under Muslim religion. However, it is apparent that the globalization has not passed unnoticed and influenced the Arabic population desire to make the ties with the outside world stronger, which is where common informational field comes in handy.
The same concept is applied to the gamers and enthusiasts’ sharing information, experience and opinions in game-related forums and blog sites (Wolf, 2012, p.32). The circulation of information interesting and captivating for all participants stretches throughout the continents, and, regardless nations, ethnicity, age, religious beliefs and sexual orientation, brings people together and shortens the physical distance by helping people share the same virtual reality and interests. Thus, game industry and its popular tool as PlayStation brings people together and shows a great example of how discrimination and miscommunication can be diminished by different people taking part in the same activity and receiving valuable experience.
In addition to people using digital technology in order to distance from mundane life, gamers can also use PlayStation to reduce their stress levels. Although numerous researches regarding violence in video games have been carried out by psychologists, it has been proved that even violent games can carry benefits and contribute to effective learning in general (Blumberg & Fisch, 2013, p.3). Taking into consideration the fact that Arabs have some of the highest level of stress of any nation in the world, the question whether PlayStation can increase or lessen the amount of stress in their everyday becomes of a great research value. Naturally, since the direct link between being exposed to violence during game session and committing violence in real life is yet to be proved, video games reducing stress levels have received many evidence from common users. Therefore, it can be another benefit of game consoles, which, if understood and properly interpreted by other individuals, can assist gamers in getting closer with those not involved in gaming as frequently as them.
Digital games do not always appear to be simulators of real-life situation, but are also modes of economic decision making and a set of cultural values (Wolf, 2012, p.189). It is in this context that the games’ impact on global politics and economics can be discussed and evaluated. Arcades and strategies, which often come as forms of video games, develop planning skills and critical thinking, which are valuable once it comes to budget planning and time management. With the Arabic world having been rapidly developing in terms of economy, it is important for its population to obtain valuable budget planning and strategic skills, particularly useful in running business. Also, in terms of politics, once a video game simulation is based on real-life events, either contemporary or historical, it automatically turns into a material suitable for effective education, enhancing one’s imagination and logical thinking in terms of connecting real-life events to virtual dimension and distinguishing between the two. Thus, such contribution of PlayStation products to the individual development and their influence on education process signifies shifts in society’s perception and perspectives, which, in their turn, are bound to influence sociopolitical environment in the society.
References:
Blumberg, F., & Fisch, S. (2013). Digital games. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Gee, J. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wolf, M. (2012). Before the crash. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
