Looking Forward

While life is short and time moves fast; graduation is coming and new part of life is about to begin. However, why focus on that. What I am looking forward to is new video games. Technology is advancing and the market for gamers is growing. This year 2008 I believe is a keystone for gamers.

This year Halo 3 was released in November concluding the Halo saga and ending on a note of infinite possibilities. The game so my disappointment flopped out a short while later with the release of Call of Duty four. In comparison Halo should have been the victor, because in Cod 4 you can shoot people in the chest and they don’t die which is real life. Now Halo that makes scene that they don’t die because they are in the future. The only benefit I see to playing cod4 is you can play by your self and win teamwork is not important. Where as in Halo you need good teamwork because so many variables can take effect.

Time – gaps…

Army of two- Good if you have close friends to play with. Well-written story and co-operative play. AI computers need to not be so bad.

Rainbow six Vegas is where my life takes me. It was a big improvement from the first one. The combining of online on off line rank as one was very unique and beneficial. The story was well throughout and game play realistic. It scores #1 as my favorite tactical shooter.

GTA 4 – had a good story line and long game play.  Highly recommended if you like good campaigns. The realism in having an in game cell phone and friends to call and go out with is unreal. The fact that you can get an in game DWI shows the thought that went into the game.

Future -

The new generation of games have been seen slightly in the games mentioned all display intense realism.

Battle field bad company – will be released in June 2008 and will be the realist game yet. This game will be the first game to use a new game engine called the frostbite engine. This will allow every object in the game to be physical and destroyable. The size of the maps will be huge as well as the amount of players that can play on them.

Other games of interest -

Fallout 3

Halo Wars

Gears of War 2 – lets hope they added in some storyline

Huxley – First mmofps massively multiplayer online first person shooter.

Frontlines Fuel of War

Story and Background

The Oil scarcity is the base for the story line and is described on page two in the instruction manual. I tried to find an online copy of it, but it wasn’t published any were; so let me be the first.

Wayne Andrews, AP news 2024

Oil. Practically every facet of our modern civilization depends on it. So what would happen if it ran out?

That’s exactly what happened in 2024. Well, it didn’t happen all at once, like someone turning off the faucet. No, it happened slowly. It started in the summer of 2008. That’s when the international demand for oil surpassed the ability for oil producers to pump more to keep supply ahead of demand. ‘Peak Oil’, they called it.

In hindsight, it should have been hard to miss what happened net. The price of oil jumped form $70, to over $100 per barrel. Aside from paying more for gas and heating your home, no one seemed to notice at first. It was conventional wisdom that the prices would go down again. But instead, oil prices begin an irrevocable rise that slowly began to weigh on global economies and advance energy to the forefront of national policies.

At first it was just a recession; prices went up, but earnings went down, people tightened their belts and waited for it to pass. But it didn’t. Recession slowly gave way to depression. Unemployment soared, bankruptcy increased, businesses failed. Global trade started to slow. By 2012, the economics of the developed nations were sagging under unemployment lines and failing finances. Automobiles became a luxury, as did long distance traveling, or even the sight of planes in the sky. People got by with less. Micro-economics, whether it was wind or solar power, back-yard farming, or ‘garage’ manufacturing with recycled materials, kept people alive.

In the third world depression and global climate change resulted in darker, more cataclysmic events. Huge populations of refugees, fleeing starvation, disease or environmental disaster, went on the move causing disruption, chaos and conflict. Entire nations crumbled, and bodies started to pile up. The world watched as the large kill-offs began, the lucky ones signing “thank god it’s not me”

As the second decade of the century advances, the oil depression lead to political turmoil around the world, but the Middle East, the global oil reservoir, was the worst affected. Religious, cultural and political divisions lead to cataclysmic violence and arbitrary destruction on a massive scale. The horrible climax came in 2014 when western forces used tactical nuclear weapons to defend oilfields from a revolutionary army, leading to catastrophic casualties and transforming important oilfields into radioactive dead zones. Subsequently, governments fell and anarchy arose. Mobs, death squads and religious purges reduced much of the region and the world to a pre-technological, tribal wasteland.

In the developed world, things worsened. The people could live with blackouts and electricity rationing, but they weren’t ready for food riots, outbreaks of virulent diseases or the collapse of the environment. The hospitals filled up. Once unthinkable, people got used to seeing starvation and death on their own city streets-and just tried to survive. As it stretched on the depression came to be known as the ‘new dirty 30’s’ and it made the old one seem easy.

Desperate for the energy, the superpowers, the United Stated, Europe, Russia and China , found themselves in a stand-off over some of the worlds last reserves of oil; one in particular being the Caspian Basin in Central Asia. There wasn’t enough for everyone and none could get it by themselves. So they hastily allied into two superpower blocks. The Western Coalition, comprising of the US and EU and the Red Star Alliance; evolved from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization by Russia and China. Each side deployed sophisticated satellite missile defense systems that rendered long distance nuclear combat obsolete. Therefore they had to fight with conventional armies. Both sides undertook a massive build-up. Soldiers were conscripted and shipped out, vehicles based on synthetic fuel blend technology rolled of the assemble lines. The region is a tinderbox, with each side fortifying their oilfields and eyeing each other’s. Every one knows it’s a matter of time until some one fires the first shot.

The answer that we’ve found to the question ‘what would happen if it ran out’, seems to be that men fight over the last few drops.

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In case people skipped opening up instructions game developers added the story into the game through detailed cut scenes. The following video was a prerelease of the first level introduction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxFxrp5kDSo

It takes the concept from the story in the Manual and it personalizes it through narration and visual themes.

Whether the intent of the game designers was to portray a message or make there game sell I am unsure. However, there is a lot of emphasis on the importance of Oil in the world today and the issues that follow it. The idea that the global community is over using oil is real.

http://www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2005-03/drnl-epu030405.php

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/oildep.shtml

The information found on eurekalert.org and fueleconomy.gov, back the prerequisite of the games description of a recession going out of control.

The social issues described by the scarcity of oil are also a real possibility. Medicine and medical technology are primarily petroleum base. Medical cost increasing is already a bubbling issue.

http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20080305/NEWS02/92441415

The riots that were described repetitive emphasized human nature. Along with the concept that the world would fight over the last drop of oil rather than move along also symbolizes this. During the game the narrator says “This reminds me of a story my grandfather once told me. It was about children being stranded on an island. With out order, there was chaos, destruction, and death.” The story that the narrator was recalling was Lord of the flies a 1954 novel by William Golding.

The environmental effects of fossil fuels are also real. Global warming and pollution are not being emphasized enough in the world although people believe its an exaggeration. You need to look at it with out a political, economical, or self interest slant. At the base level the way we handle waste and Fossil Fuel should be considered suicide and murder. Why should we be making an excessive amount of toxic chemicals to inhale and shorten out life span? Make lands uninhabitable to compress people into cities further exponential increasing more pollution. Don’t get me wrong I’m for conservation and environmental protection, but I’m not saying throw the idea of fossil fuels out all together, but there is definitely a responsible and irresponsible use. Using gasoline to light a camp fire because its easer is an example of how society today is using this resource ignorantly.

For information on fossil fuels

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel

For environmental information

http://www.epa.gov/

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Game Play

This video provides insight to the weapon tech of the game.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/frontlines-fuel-of-war-trailer/1718171355

These videos are fan based trailers of the game

This has and intro and covers the air vehicles preview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq10jA7GL_Q

This covers the robot tech and land vehicles preview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB9fD1NPTfg&feature=related

Another place to find more information about the game is

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/854/854565p1.html

you can also find a review by Nate Ahearn

Unlike me he wasn’t too thrilled about the story base behind the game. It is true first person shooters usually aren’t played for the story. How every most of them have a very good one. Another example of a fps that has a good story is Halo. With halo one of the lead game authors Eric Nylund wanted people to understand that there was more than just violence to the game so he started a novel series to back the game. In Frontline they included the story in the game.

I will agree with Nate Ahearn that the multiplayer is a selling point for the game. I like to work with others to solve problem and complete objectives in video games and the more people the merrier. 50 players online now, is a little to a lot of lag however it’s a good stepping stone for the future.

Focusing more on the multiplayer, I will also have to agree with Mr.Ahearn on the physical features of it. The ability to change your weapon, and character class, as well as your spawn point is pretty interesting. It combines aspects of many games that come before it such as Star Wars Battle Front and Call of Duty. It also provides a nice change when needed. I will fully admit the single game tip does get old fast and is hard to get used to.

Consumer reviews can also be found on IGN

http://rr.xbox360.ign.com/rrobj/xbox360/object/823999/

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Things to remember

Through this information I did not intend to force my public opinion on any one. I wanted to provide information about the game Frontlines fuel of war, in order for consumers to make and educated decision. I made un uninformative decision when I bought the game and luckily I found it to be “ok”. However, I want you to remember one thing; learning about something is different from experiencing it. So before you decide if the game is for you give it a try first.

election 2008

In order to stand true of the principle American democracy, people need to have choices that provide people to represent their self interest. This election of 2008 has provided people with many choices. From the Democratic Party candidates that campaigned for nomination were John Edwards. A traditional democrat, in that his demographics follow those of Americas past pattern of candidates. Along with the “new perspective” candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama ; who each represent a new era of change and minority representation. Republican candidates John McCain and Michael Huckabee represent the traditional American Values. Coinciding with these candidates they offer new paths for the United States to take, that theme their campaign. Each candidates theme provides them a base which from there, they take a stance on the important issues. When choosing a candidate prospective voting will play a key factor as voters will determine which candidate follows most closely his or her view of what America should be. These views will be determined by looking at what they say they will do and what they have done. Candidates Obama and McCain best represent an ideal candidate for prospective voting because they have la strong resume of public works and don’t change opinions on issues from a hard left or hard right.

A method used by candidates’ to share their opinions is the World Wide Web. On Barack Obama’s web Site he drives home his vision of the United States from the First Screen where you are presented with a picture of him and his family and the word change. Then as you enter the web site you see a quote of his that states “I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington… I’m asking you to believe in yours.” From this direct approach he entices voters to understand he’s devotion to change. His theme along with his position on social and political reform illustrates his character to be a family man that hopes to spread his fortune with others and to provide opportunities for others to succeed. John McCain’s website took a different approach. Like most republicans his campaign is centered on being patriotic. On his home screen he quotes “Ready to lead one day at a time.” This illustrates he’s character to be strong honorable patriate. Thus voters will view him as a candidate that has the potential to provide them a safe place to live, and better the American life style to carry on the American dream. Political themes may be broad however they paint a picture that speaks louder than words to attract voters to listen to their views on the issues.

The elections of 2008, presents three important issues that candidates from each party are focusing on. These include the environment, the economy, and Iraq. On these Issues the democrats are more liberal and Republicans are more conservative. On the issue of the environment both Obama and McCain agreed that America needs to be less dependent on foreign resources and conserve the environment. However, Obama presented his information with facts and plans to help preserve the environment such as using a cap and trade system where McCain was more concerned with the economic issues factoring resources by describing how they were inextricably linked. McCain also used Theodore Roosevelt’s conservationist efforts as an example to feed voters information that will lead to perspective voting. On the Issue of the war in Iraq these candidates are polar opposites. Republican candidate John McCain has the conservative view in favor of the War where Barack Obama has the liberal view and is against the war. The issue of the war in Iraq is a clear cut example of where candidates will take a hard left or right on an issue. It also shows how on some issues they can stay in the middle and on some they have to make and opinion. Economic issues are another example of this. McCain sticks to the republican ideology of trickle down economics and tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, where Obama is in favor of tax cuts for the middle class and more resources for employed people or unemployed people to better them selves. These differences of how candidates interoperate issues can be closely linked to political socialization. The way they think is developed from what they learned from there family, friends, or some one who was informative of there opinion.

With out knowledge how are voters expected to make informative decisions. On the news they don’t provide you with what voters should know just the muckraking behind the scenes. Fox news published an article that provided a statement from John McCain not criticizing Obama for his patriotism and CNN about Hillary Clinton accusing Obama about false information about her position on health care. This type of new coverage is not useful to the people who view them when there end goal is to get ratings and get endorsement. People need to be informed of information similar to what was found on the candidates web sites. Not all Americans have access to the computer or internet access and relay on tradition methods of media for informative information. I believe the media inhibited my ability to learn the truth about the candidates because it provided selective information to persuade my opinion.

Best Childhood Thing

My first video game console that I owned was a Sega Genesis. In 1987 Sega announced the release date for the Sega Genesis to be January 9th 1989. The system featured a 16-bit central processing unit and featured single-instruction 32-bit arithmetic. The Sega Genesis was far superior to the current 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. Today the Genesis game is seeing a revival in PC-based SGCC. Programmers have designed emulators that run the Sega’s ROM’s on your computer. The standard Mega Drive controller features three main buttons and a “start” button usually used for pausing mid-game. The controller itself had a distinctive rounded shape. Sega later released a six-button version, which was slightly smaller and featured, as well as three more face buttons, a “mode” button to allow the controller to work with certain older games, which it would otherwise be incompatible with. An infrared wireless version of the six-button controller was also released. The Sega Genesis has a dedicated VDP (Video Display Processor) for playfield and sprite control. This is an improved version of the Sega Master System VDP, derived from the Texas Instruments TMS9918.
This allowed for the adjustment of the resolution and sprite.

The Genesis is not only a great example of the leaps technology makes, it also has really good games. Sonic the Hedgehog was and still is one of the greatest games ever invented. It did its job rivaling Nintendo’s Italian plumber Mario. If it had a save feature it most likely be played more often. With numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books Sonic has become one of the world’s best-known video game characters, with his series having sold over 45 million copies. Sonic originated when Sega wanted a game capable of selling over one million copies and a character to replace Alex Kidd as the company’s mascot. Several character designs were submitted by its AM8 research & development department, including an armadillo who was later developed into Mighty the Armadillo, a dog, an over-sized Theodore Roosevelt in pajamas which would later be the basis of Doctor Eggman’s design, and a rabbit intended to use its extendible ears to collect objects; these aspects were later incorporated into Ristar. Eventually, Naoto Ōshima’s spiky cerulean hedgehog, initially codenamed “Mr Needlemouse”,was chosen as the new mascot. Sonic’s sapphire pigmentation was chosen to match Sega’s cobalt blue logo. A group of fifteen started working on Sonic the Hedgehog, and renamed themselves Sonic Team.

First Person Shooter is there a difference

 This week I went out and did something I said I would never do. I went out and bought Call of Duty 4. I didn’t want to buy it because I knew it would take time away from my halo playing. It has, however it also has reminded me that there is a difference in games no matter if they have the same genera. It has also replenished my need for playing halo, and possible my lack of effort the past few weeks.
Halo may be factitious however it benefits many. It improves your life skills as well as your learning. In concurrence with Lupine another Bolger on Helium, Halo provides you with team building, and communications skills. You learn to work with people of various languages and cultures. You even develop ways to communicate ideas with out spoken word and bridge language gaps. As noted by Lupine the critical thinking involved in Halo is immense. Your brain develops and grows as you play and you learn what’s good to do and what bad to do.  In cases you evolve and learn to improvise also another good lesson to learn when life throws you curve balls. More over I contribute my success in life to halo to playing halo and even when the community hits zero it will never die in my heart.
Call of Duty also has various benefits. Unlike Halo it is pretty realistic. The animations of the people look as if you are staring a person in the eye. Along with the cool sites you find many challenges when playing. You need to use your hearing to detect other players moving around you and eyes need to be able to detect quick changes of motion, which uses hand eye coordination. Understanding strategies and formulating plans is the key to success. Like in Halo Team work is also key, if you have a team that operates individually instead of one working as a whole its not like you can drop four opponents at once like you can in halo. Call of Duty games also have many cultural aspects tide to the game along with historical content. Call of Duty’s one through three were based of world war one and two, and now Call Duty four was influenced by the Gulf war and the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Both First Person Shooter have much to offer and yet are vastly different. Call of Duty fours real time game play makes Halo seem like its lagging. Call of Duty four has a frame rate of over 60 frames a second where Halo’s is close to 30. Also in Halo you have more leeway with kills its much easer to be attacked and retaliate and win compared to Call of Duty four. In call of Duty four players quickly learn to have precession aim, and hide.  Along with ambushing players to maximize the damage placed on them. In Halo once you teach you motion detector and the maps you can become a one-man tank. Another key factor is the button layout each game has different layouts, however you have the option to change them. The key of being good at a First Person Shooter is to learn how to be effective and win.

William Shakespeare

In school you are required to read many boring things. However even the boring things may have a effect on you. The writings of William Shakespeare have lived on through the centuries, however it was not for the actual quality of his works but for the realism that Shakespeare used when writing them. The works of William Shakespeare’s can be compared to the works of Picasso and Leonardo DiVinchi. Like paintings Shakespeare’s works include human characteristics and emotions of comedy, tragedy, sadness, anger, and hatred which create a realistic feel to the story that captures the readers attention. “A Midnight Summers Dream” was one of Shakespeare’s works that has remained popular because of its realistic writing and interaction between the characters.

In a “A Midnight Summers Dream” the realistic feel started from the first scene of the first act when Shakespeare create a conflict between a young women and her two lovers which she only returns the love to one of them, then increase the drama by having her father become involved and take sides with one of her lovers. Since the times of Shakespeare parents have had the idea that they can control there children which is demonstrated between the young women Hermia and her father Egeus. Also the problem between Hermia and her lovers Demetrius and Lysander provides a real life example. In a high school setting you can see this with couples, moreover there is always a guy or a girl that is in has feelings for one of the people that are in the relationship.

Greed is one of the most frowned upon human characteristics but every human is capable of it and has possessed some form of it. This human characteristic is the second realistic idea that is introduced into the story in act two. This is shown through the King and Queen of the fairy realm that coexists with the human realm. The fairy king Oberon wants to have an Indian boy as a servant, however his wife Queen Tatiana also wants the Indian boy as a servant because she promised his mother, which was a close friend of hers as well as her servant that she would look after her son. Oberon knows how important this Indian boy is to his wife but he is not willing to give him up because of greed. He devises a plan in this act to make his wife fall in love with a beast so when she is distracted he will ask her permission to have the Indian boy. Moreover greed one of the most interesting of the human characteristics because is causes more problems and leads to disasters which add to its realistic effect and further entrances the readers attention, for humans have a natural tendency to be interested in other people’s business.

In act three scene two Shakespeare reflects two more realistic ideas of humans being flawed and the judgment of others. When Oberon came up with the idea to make his wife fall in love with a beast he also forged an idea to set the lovers conflicts at ease. He was going to make Demetrius fall in love with Hermia’s friend Helena who loved him so Lysander and Hermia could be in love with one another. While attempting to do this he made Lysander fall in love with Helena which reflected the fact that humans have flaws and make mistakes shown through the actions of the fairies. During this dramatic scene Helena judges Lysander as a mean person who is trying to make a mockery of her unaware of the spell he is under. Thus this event is reflecting how humans view and judge others creating a link to realism and how people act in society.

In Act four William Shakespeare continues his strong reflection of realism and Human life in “A Midnight Summers Dream.” The verism reflected in this act is happiness and comedy. Scene one reflects all the happiness in human life and is presented through the wedding of the young lovers with Lysander marring Hermia and Demetrius marring Helena as at the Dukes Wedding. The wedding of the three couples symbolizes that there is equal joy to life as there is for the bad. The comedy in this play is demonstrated from either a direct form of abuse to a character or through how the characters view one another. An example of this is the play that the craftsmen preformed after the wedding ceremony. During this play the actors created or ran into some problems which created laughter and amused the audience. This can be scene in human behavior when people laugh at the pain or failure of others. Both of theses realistic ideas remain prevalent in modern writing and society.

“A Midnight Summers Dream” remained popular because of its realistic writing and interaction between the characters. The realistic reflection of the human characteristics and emotions of conflict, greed, flaws, mockery, comedy and happiness were some of the most notable reflections of realism in this work of Shakespeare. Each time this book is read a new realistic reflection of life reveals itself never faltering the effect the play has on a reader.

Analysis of Government Policies

 

Issue: Constitutionality of NCLB

 

Facts: This case exams the constitutionality of the No Child Left behind Act. The question to be answered is; does the federal government have the power to propose this act? Also this case will examine if the NBLC violated states rights reserved to them by the 10^th amendment.

 

Law: In the Constitution the Federal government and State government are not granted any powers to control education. However, under the tenth amendment all powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved for the states the federal government should not be able to interfere with state regulations or they would be violating there rights. The Federal government however has the power of the Elastic Clause where it may intervene in any situation in order to with hold the Constitution power. The NCLB act is a reform act where the federal government placed standards on Education such as annual testing, more qualified teachers, and increasing difficulty of academic programs.

 

Opinion: I believe that the NCLB is neither constitutional nor unconstitutional. It does interfere with reserved powers, but it does not alter who has the authority to govern. The states as in the tenth amendment still have the power to control education because they make the primary decisions. The Federal government is just setting broad guidelines for the states to follow to unite the country on an intellectual level. The framers that founded the constitution intended for the federal government to interfere with states rights when needed, that is why they created the elastic clause. The NCLB can technically be declared as an act to enforce the constitution because it supports the line “promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” in the constitutional. Moreover the Federal Government is influencing an increase in education to stimulate the United States economy to grow, by providing more people and opportunity to receive skilled jobs and prosper.

Issue: Constitutionality of War Powers Resolution

Facts: Congress pass’s the war powers act to limit to power of the president.

Law: Congress has the constitutional power to declare war. President is constitutionally commander and chief and in charge of the arm forces. The War Powers Resolution was an act passes by congress to limit the president form sending troops off to war, for a long period of time with out congress’s approval.

Opinion: The War Powers Resolution is and additive to the framers original intermixture of power. Congress had the power to declare war and the president to command them. However the us military presence in Vietnam was an example of where these powers were stretched. Nixon sent the troops to war before receiving a declaration of war from congress. The congress saw his actions as abusing the vagueness of the constitution and sought to slightly change the situation to insure the president would not become to powerful. The War Powers Resolution was an act to maintain the balance and the integrity of the intermixture of powers between the branches, set up the framers of the constitution. The true intent of the act should provide a reason of why the War Powers Resolution is constitutional.

Video Games good or bad

Many people can argue video games are bad because they give you violent thoughts or good because they provide you with a way to express yourself. The reason an opinion can be formed either way is because there is no right answer. It has been proven that video games improve one’s ability to create and apply multiple strategies, and help develop critical analyzing techniques. However, it has also been proven that the additional time gamers spend playing video games can be used for more productive and constructive tasks. Never the less the psychological toll video games place on a person also needs to be taken into account.

Can video gamers be held responsible for logging in forty hours a week into the televisions playing Xbox, or Sitting for twelve hours strait playing World of Warcraft; which addictions can even over come male nature? The answer is yet again indecisive. Along with the issue of weather video games are good or bad the effects on people are also indecisive. The generations from the early 90’s and on will be the test subjects in a large public research project. With the rapid development in technology video gaming has become a popular hobby. The increase in use of video games over the previous decade has sparked an interest in studying the psychological effects of gaming.

Addiction is a powerful descriptor to describe an abusive habit. Scientists however have yet to classify video game addictions as a real mental disorder. However many of them acknowledge it’s existence and have proven it through scientific research. Recent studies have allowed scientist to hypothesize three examples of how video games are addicting two physically and one mental.
Playing video games stimulate your mind as would watching television or reading a book, however the interaction with the game causes your body to over produce two natural chemicals. One chemical is adrenaline, which will give you a sudden rush and an emotional high. The more a person focuses on playing a game the bigger the adrenaline rush they will receive. This will cause a push to keep playing the game to continue stimulating the high. Along side this when you play video games you also change your neurotransmitters. Your dopamine level will increase and give you a feeling of pleasure which high levels mimic that of drug addicts. The feeling of pleasure and high will cause you to fall into a cycle of wanting more and lead you into a addiction. The other form of addiction affects people mentally. Just as people respond to competition in a sport they will respond they same way with a video game. People feel the desire to win and gain points. This is most commonly found in massively multiplayer online role playing games. People feel it necessary to level up there characters, and make them stronger so they can continue to progress in the game repeating the cycle no matter of how boring or repetitive it is.

Can violent video games be blamed for an increase in crime over the past decade? Not completely, however they may have played a part. In studies done by Irwin and Gross children often tend to display more aggressive behavior after playing a violent video game. In another study by Calvert and Tan College students who play violent video games reported having more aggressive thoughts than their peers that did not ply violent video games. Many people argue that Violent video games are just like going to see an R rated movie; where the American Psychological Association will argue they are more harmful to induce violent behavior because they are interactive. These new studies are leaving parents with the tough decision whether or not they should allow their Children to play these games. Parents are forced to consider that these studies are accurate, however if they do not allow their children to play they are faced with the dilemma of not giving them the same opportunities they had. The majority of parents are beginning to realize that they are responsible for their child’s actions and need to be active parents and teach their children right from wrong.

As a gamer I can accurately agree with these studies. Playing games on line such as Halo 3 will provide you with the rush and leave you wanting more kills because more kills lead to more points, and you get into a cycle between physical and mental addiction. The theory that Halo also playing a role in violent thoughts is also true. Every once in a while when I’m playing halo and my adrenalin is kicking in I get the urge to just melee something with the butt of a rifle, however I don’t. I know the difference from reality and fantasy because my parents took the time to teach me right from wrong. The psychological effects of video games are no more than that of eating a candy bar or going to see a movie. It is always over played that they are corrupting the developing youth; with correct guidance and self-control there is nothing wrong with taking 30 minutes of your day to sit back and relax in front your television and play some video games.

Are MMORPGS Worse Than Drugs?

Images by google images

Are massively multi player online role playing games addicting. The answer is yes. Studies have found that you can relate the symptoms of a mmorpg addict to that of a Drug addict. There are 24 common signs of a drug addict provided by addictionca.com.

Drug addiction signs:

Increase or decrease in appetite; changes in eating habits, unexplained weight loss or gain.

Smell of substance on breath, body or clothes.

Extreme hyperactivity; excessive talkativeness.

Needle marks or bruises on lower arm, legs or bottom of feet.

Change in overall attitude / personality with no other identifiable cause.

Changes in friends: new hang-outs, avoidance of old crowd, new friends are drug users.

Change in activities; loss of interest in things that were important before.

Drop in school or work performance; skips or is late to school or work.

Changes in habits at home; loss of interest in family and family activities.

Difficulty in paying attention; forgetfulness.

Lack of motivation, energy, self-esteem, discipline. Bored, “I don’t care” attitude.

Defensiveness, temper tantrums, resentful behavior (everything’s a hassle).

Unexplained moodiness, irritability, or nervousness.

Violent temper or bizarre behavior.

Unexplained silliness or giddiness.

Paranoia — suspiciousness.

Excessive need for privacy; keeps door locked or closed, won’t let people in.

Secretive or suspicious behavior.

Car accidents, fender benders, household accidents.

Chronic dishonesty; trouble with police.

Unexplained need for money; can’t explain where money goes; stealing.

Unusual effort to cover arms, legs.

Change in personal grooming habits.

Possession of drug paraphernalia.

 

Most of the 24 common signs are easily linked to MMORPG addicts. A MMORPG game that is commonly know for developing addicts is World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft addictions are so bad that they were the deciding factor for psychologist recognize video games as an addiction. I have been tempted many times to play world of warcraft but i have an addicitive personality and know i would become an addict. I was able to use the excuse that it cost money in order to stop my self from falling to the addiction. However my friend bob introduced me to a game that is like a free WOW (world of warcraft) knock off. I stared playing the game on Friday, two days ago and I am already addict proven by the 20 hours I’ve logged playing the game.

This how a topical World of Warcraft addict lives

Many gammers like myself are in search of how to break our addictions without being denied the chance to express our selves the way we know how. Luke Smith a World of Warcraft guild member openly admits his controlled addiction in a online article that can me found at

http://kotaku.com/gaming/world-of-warcraft/feature-how-to-survive-an-mmo-addiction-143165.php

In his article he brings up this point
“As stupidly obvious as it sounds, surviving an addiction to an MMO involves not ruining the rest of your life before you get over the game”.

After living through a Halo 2 addiction, I know how true Luke Smiths words are. In the ninth grade when Halo 2 came out I spent all my free time playing online. The only thing I received from it was the nickname Halo kid and everyone in my school knows I can beat them in Halo. If you asked me thats nothing compared to what I lost. My girlfriend at the time broke up with me because I would always be to busy playing Halo 2 when she called to have a serious conversation. All of our conversations would involve her talking and I would grunt and say things like yes, ok, why, or when in response. She also didn’t appreciate only seeing me an hour out of the whole week after I was persuaded to leave my house. Also two of my best friend that i went to middle school with stopped talking to be because all I would talk about was Halo. The friends that I still had I barely talked to out side of school. It wasn’t till after i spent two years alone playing my Halo 2 that i realized what happened to my life. I then managed to pick up some of the pieces of my life and stay clean for a year. However I am slowly slipping back into the same situation.

My advice to other gamers like my self is to listing to Luke Smith and try to get help before it ruins your life like it did mine. If only I was warned early I know I would not be the same situation today. Taking Luke Smiths words to heart I am going to allow my parents to ground me before my life falls apart again and ask them to enforce a time limit on my game playing because video games are worse than drugs!

El Nueva Semana

Over the past week I’ve been pulling some late nights working on my halo 3 rank. I’m a commander and kicking some A**, I mean some butt. I have a 36 in lone wolves, 32 in double team, 27 in team slayer, and my team tactical and objective I don’t pay attention to because no one I play with will play the game types. It’s hard to find time to play Lone Wolves when you play games with a close circle of friends. Most of the time, I play at peek hours and every one wants to play with kangaroo because chicks dig kangaroos. I can’t wait until I have a weekend with little home work so I can play halo for 72 hours strait it would be the coolest thing ever.

My intense need to play halo 3 is going to good use. There are two people who I’ve been playing with that are looking for a clan to join and they seem interested in the Omnicidal Clan. If they except we will have more options and teams to build. When you play games on a team or with a group it is best to balance players by there weapon strengths and weakness, as well as they strategies that they play. I have also joined a Canadian Major League Gaming Team with Abyss Shadow who is ranked 630 in the world and Pistolwip who is ranked 500 in the world. Right now Abyss Shadow and I practice every for 2 hours in the evening. Pistolwip has recently discovered the pleasures of the opposite sex so he doesn’t come around to much any more.

I am a good player but I am very inconsistent. I keep changing the speed of how fast I turn when I apply pressure to the thumb sticks of the controller. If I set the speed to low some one will attack me from a high location or in a blind spot, and I can’t turn fast enough to defend my self. I also have a problem when I set the speed to high. I over compensate there movements and I lead my shots to far. I had the same problem with Halo 2 because I kept getting new controllers. I would break the current one or wear the thumb stick out so it was loose. Currently I keep wearing my thumb sticks down on my Xbox 360 controllers from excessive use. I bought two new controllers last month and they are already worn out.

Next week is going to be horrible. I have two test one in math and one in ap us government and politics. I am also going to Chicago for four days. That means I will have no time to play halo 3. I predict that I will go through withdraws and be set to an institution. I just hope they don’t but me through rehab because then I will never be able to play halo. I am also not looking forward to making up all the school work that I missed when I was in Chicago.

Master chief interview from google images