As most of my readers know, I am an avid Legend of Zelda fan. Needless to say, this holiday season featured an inordinate amount of time playing Twilight Princess on the Wii. I would prefer that games NOT keep track of how many hours you have played….
Our whole family has enjoyed the game, and my daughters are waiting for an opportunity to use Midna’s line–Classic! I must confess that I even found the virtual fishing activity in Twilight Princess really addictive, along with the snowboard with the Yeti feature.
How can we explain the unique attraction for videogames, whose revenue has surpassed even Hollywood? University of Rochester motivational psychologist Richard M. Ryan accounts for the attraction of gaming by claiming, “We think there’s a deeper theory than the fun of playing.” Games, according to Ryan’s research, provide players with “autonomy, competence, and relatedness.”
Personally, I’m very happy to see psychologists looking at some of the positive outcomes of gaming, rather than stressing about violence all the time. Granted, videogames should not be one’s only activity, but I would much prefer to see my children playing videogames than watching some mindless rubbish on TV.
Oh, that “TV rubbish” definitely does NOT include the Rose Bowl. Wow!
