Video: Are we Witnessing the Dematerialization of Toys?
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 03. 5.08
The computer gaming industry is rivaling and surpassing the movie and music industries, and gaming is now definitely mainstream. There's even a growing market for semi-educative and educative games (see the free game Phun, a 2D physics sandbox, in the video above -- developed by Emil Ernerfeldt, available here).
What is the impact on the environment of all this gaming? We think most people would agree that it depends on the opportunity cost: If someone is playing a game, using a few hundred watts of electricity, instead of driving around town and shopping for unnecessary things, then the net result can be positive. If gaming replaces very low-impact activities, it can be negative, especially when people stop going outside and connecting with nature (from biophilia to biophobia).
We're curious to know what you think about gaming in relation with the environment. What have you observed around you? Good, bad? Please leave your thoughts in the comments. Via ::reddit
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That video is very cool.
I know that my friends are probably getting more hours of entertainment out of their PS3s and Wiis than they would out of pretty much any other toy. That's good ROI, I guess.
That is wicked cool. It's rare when I see a toy, virtual though it may be, that makes me feel like a kid again and actually enjoy play. I think the music helped.
ugh... i just spent 2 hours playing with it and i cant stop...
especially when people stop going outside and connecting with nature
Heh.
Have you ever noticed that environmentalists very rarely grew up in forestry towns, and that vegetarians and animal rights activists very rarely grew up on farms?
If anything, this lack of a connection with nature *breeds* environmental awareness. At the very least in an "aww, it's cute and fuzzy, I want to save them all!" kind of way.
I'll admit, I grew up in a farm town, had horses down the walk from my place and neighboring a blueberry orchard, but it was years later (Working in a cubicle farm) that I decided to get into photography. Doing wildlife photography is what led me back to really paying attention to the world again.
Ernie,
It could also probably be argued that people who don't live in rural areas are less likely to depend on jobs that are directly in environmentally destructive fields, so that they have less of a self-interest in rationalizing things.
But each person has its reasons...
As with any toy, one will want to limit a child's use of it.
Playing with Legos for 10 hours a day is not necessarily healthy for a child even though it might stimulate creativity.
Virtual toys have an advantage over physical ones and if used with good sense will be better for the world.
Hi
I'd like to place a little heard view point about video games. Put simply addiction to a game can have very negative consequences for developing adults. I calculated the amount of time I have spent over the years right from the snes to the N64 to PC games and frankly the amount of time is horrifying. Although not as horrible as realizing that all that time could have spent, in other far more productive pursuits. For example clubs, socieities, or just doing somethign which involved socialising with people. I'm not some nut who thinks that the games industry should be banned, but I think you can have to much of it e.g. WoW (or Warcrack as some are now calling it)