Interactive Games Rule at 'PlayStation U.'
What is a gamer? Most think a gamer is a young, anti-social male with a penchant for Dungeons & Dragons, Star Trek conventions, and maliciously blasting computerized bad guys into the next dimension. That stereotype is far from the truth.
A recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that computer, video, and online games are woven into the fabric of everyday life for college students. And games are more a part of college students' social lives than previously suspected.
Of the 1,162 students surveyed on 27 campuses across the country, all respondents said that they have played computer or online games at one time or another. And 65 percent admitted to being regular or occasional game players.
"In some ways electronic games are to this generation what cops 'n' robbers was to an earlier one - everyone plays them, everyone knows them. They are almost an automatic part of what teenagers and college students do for fun and leisure," said Steve Jones, professor of communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago and senior researcher at Pew Internet.
The new report shows that college students integrate gaming into their daily lives, playing games between classes, while visiting with friends, or as a brief distraction from writing papers or doing other work. Gaming also forms part of a larger multitasking setting in which college students play games, listen to music, and interact with others.
Jones says that one of the study's most striking findings was that students say game playing enhances their social lives. Students cited gaming as a way to spend more time with friends. One out of every five gaming students felt that gaming helped them make new friends as well as improved existing friendships. And 65 percent of students said gaming has little to no influence in taking away time they might spend with friends and family.
"In some ways the line between playing an online game and socializing is likely to become blurred -- the game may well be a form of socializing," Jones said.
T.L. Taylor, assistant professor of communication at North Carolina State University, agrees with Jones that a need for socializing or community is a large reason for gaming online. After all, when a player can log on to a game and be one of 40,000 or so people playing at any particular time, there's a great chance for socializing, making new acquaintances, or renewing old ones.
"Massive multiplayer online games debunk the stereotype of the isolated gamer," Taylor said. "People now have relationships with extended communities in virtual worlds."
The large number of college-aged women who say they play video games also surprised researchers. In fact, women are more likely than men to be regular players of online games- approximately 60 percent of women compared to 40 percent men. About the same number of men and women reported playing video games.
"We saw that game playing is frequently a way for women to beat back boredom," said Jones. "Generally, men actively sought out game playing, while women did it because they felt there was nothing else to do."
The online games most commonly played by both male and female college students are non-gender specific fare like billiards, solitaire, crossword puzzles, poker and other arcade and card games. One of the reasons these games are most common is that they are not intended to be a lengthy distraction from studying.
On the downside of game play, though, is that nearly half of the students agreed that gaming keeps them from studying "some" or "a lot." In addition, about one in 10 admitted that his or her main motivation for playing games was to avoid studying. And much to an educator's chagrin, one-third of the students admitted to playing games during class time.
Students' commitment to gaming comes as little surprise considering their long history of interaction with video and computer games. By high school, 77 percent of respondents had played computer games, and just over two-thirds of them had been playing video games since elementary school.
"Today's college students have grown up with these technologies," said Jones. "To them, the Internet and e-mail are as commonplace as telephones and television - and equally as indispensable."
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