personlly, since i have never really been fascinated by the video games, I did not enjoy Johnson as much as i enjoyed Minow’s reading.
Johnson’s main argument is that video games do not do any sort of harm to the children; they rather help and nurture the children’s mind. Johnson argued that video games are produced in a way that the game player can not only be entertained but also learn to use his brain more. The modern programs and games are structured in such a way that they make the audience or the players’ think and calculate which can help them to be more smarter. Johnson establishes the connection between the entertainment, fun part of the video games with the brain science to make his claim more strong. “”If you create a system where rewards are both clearly defined and achieved by exploring an environment, you’ll find human brains drawn to those systems, even if they’re made up of virtual characters and simulated sidewalks. It’s not the subject matter of these games that attracts – if that were the case, you’d never see twenty-somethings following absurd rescue-the-princess storylines like the best selling Zelda series on the Nintendo platform. It’s the reward system that draws those players in, and keeps their famously short attention spans locked on the screen. No other form of entertainment offers that cocktail of reward and exploration”. (Johnson, 2005). Video games’ maker make the video games in such a manner that they excite the neuro transmitters of the player, giving him more excitement and making him more sharp. Overall, Johnson claims that video games are produced to entertain the children as well as utilise their brain capacity which makes them more smarter and technical. Even though Johnson makes a very strong claim and provides scientific evidences, I am still going to disagree with him because he does not consider the negatives aspects of the video games. In my opinion, video games will do no harm only if it is used in a proper manner depending on the time used as well as the content of the video games. Video Games that constitute of explicit and violent materials can play with the NT of the player’s brain and can alter his way of perceiving other things. Also if the game player is playing the game too much, that can not only harm his brain transmitters but will also make him socially less valuable as he gets addicted to the games…
