EOTO Research Project

     The history of video games is a long and complicated one. There is not one direct inventor of video games but rather, multiple as the origin of video games can be traced back as early as the 1950s and 1960s. During that timeframe, computer scientists began designing simple games on minicomputers, which would later translate to the first video game, SpaceWar! in 1962. Created by MIT student hobbyists, this was the first video game to use a video display. After Pong was created in 1970, many video game companies wanted to capitalize on its fame, causing the industry to go through several boom or bust cycles due to lack of innovation.

    Around the 1980s, video games were going through a really tough time. The 1983 video game crash hit the United States really hard from too many games to cheap knockoffs. This prompted Japan to take charge of the video game industry, as the crash did not seem to hit them as hard, if at all. In 1985, Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System, reviving the video game industry and brimming it full of life for many years to come. Nintendo's original ideas bundled with its very easy to understand game mechanics allowed for people of all ages to enjoy video games once again

Since then, video games have changed the world, becoming a dominant branch of the entertainment industry, being present in many families homes, and a common hobby among children and adults alike. Video games have brought forth a positive impact on the world by helping strengthen problem solving and social skills in children. This can be explained by video games constant engagement with players and how they utilize puzzles, strategy, and problem solving to encourage critical thinking skills. With the recent introduction of online multiplayer gaming, communication has evolved in video games with people now able to communicate across very long distances with friends and online opponents alike.

However, it has gotten quite the negative impact in recent years. Contrast to its improvement of social skills in children, video games also teach children to be antisocial if they are not playing and interacting with other people. Video games have also brought on unhealthy habits such as obesity and carpal tunnel, two very important diseases that are heavily linked to obsessive play of video games. Gaming is also very addicting, as it is officially labeled as "internet gaming disorder" (IGD) and can suffer dire consequences such as loss of appetite, loss of sleep, and even losing relationships and interests in other activities.

    Despite the negative criticism towards video games, video games have changed the world for the better, and in some cases, for the worst. They help communication while also hindering it. They evolved the world while also setting back. It is a very give or take subject that as humans, we are still figuring out. Gaming has evolved into a very popular branch of the entertainment industry and thanks to its communication benefits, will stay around for many years to come.

Privacy, Online and Off

     When it comes to digital privacy, it becomes very hard to determine how safe I feel online. There are good sides to this like two factor authentication, to ensure your information to an account is safe. But that also means giving this company your information... so am I really that safe online? It very much affects me because now that my information is out there, there is so much that people can do with it. They could change your name, address, birthdate, the possibilities are endless as long as you keep giving them information.

    Because the safety of online privacy is unclear, I think the government should strictly outline what information companies are allowed to ask for. Asking for some information is ok, but I think that companies and organizations are getting way too personal, especially online. There is not a clear reason as to why the government allows this, and even does this in multiple instances. Having all this information hoarded for other people to use as they wish is very dangerous, and the government should regulate this to make it so that innocent people aren't worrying for their lives

Now this sounds all sort of scary...

    And yeah. It really is scary, knowing that your personal information is not safe and can be used against you at any time. However, there are protective measures we can take to defend us against this invasion of privacy. One of the easiest things you can do is be aware of the kind of information companies want to steal from you. Are they asking too much from you? (the answer is usually yes). If they ask for your information, claiming they are using your it to curate "a better experience", that's their secret code of "say goodbye to your rights buddy". Companies just use that information to share it with other companies in the form of advertising. In other words, you really are not safe if you allow that kind of information sharing to happen. So it is very important that you take important steps such as these to ensure not only that your data is safe, but that you are safe too.