UNIT 3: ENTERTAINMENT
My name‿ is Max. I have played games│ since‿ I was six,│ and‿ I now teach‿ at‿ a school│ where half‿ of my students play more than‿ I do. My opinion‿ of the industry has changed‿ a great deal‿ in twentytwen-dy years.
Technically,│ what has been‿ achieved‿ is remarkable:│ the immersion‿ in‿ a modern game‿ is closer to cinema than to the arcade machines‿ I grew up with. However,│ the design has become more manipulative. Microtransactions‿ are not‿ an‿ accident;│ they are‿ addictive by design,│ an(d) they are‿ aimed‿ at‿ exactly the age group least‿ able to resis(t) them. A game that costs nothing‿ and‿ earns millions from teenagers‿ is not free,│ it‿ is funded by impulse.
I still believe games‿ are worth defending. Strategy games teach planning,│ multiplayer games build‿ a community around‿ a shared skill,│ an(d) the best‿ of them‿ are genuinely artistic. What‿ I would‿ ask‿ of the industry is not to stop making money│ but to stop pretending that‿ a repetitive rewar(d) loop‿ is‿ a hobby. Moderation‿ is the answer,│ as‿ it usually is,│ an(d) parents need to understan(d) the mechanism,│ not jus(t) the graphics.