The Art and Psychology of Gaming

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As video games become more and more realistic, their place in society rises to a new level. We've all seen or heard stories about certain people that commit heinous acts allegedly under the influence of video games. Well, this article will take a look at the veracity of such claims and also examine how the game makers themselves are becoming bona fide "arteests."

The evolution of gaming that is happening right now in front of our eyes is simply mind-blowing. Current hardware technologies make it possible for software engineers and game designers to fully express themselves without limitations. We could say that computing has arrived at the point where it is able to emulate real life.

By emulation I mean the ability to display real-life environments. Not complete imitation by any means, gaming or any sort of digital software still shouldn't be considered a replacement for the beauty of real life. At least not yet, but unfortunately or not, this shouldn't be excluded either.

Should you have any doubts regarding the ability to digitally mimic real-world environments then I suggest glancing at the attached screen shot below. Despite your perceptions, it's not a photograph; it's a screen shot from a video game called Crysis that runs on the CryENGINE2 and is in heavy development right now by CryTek.

Throughout this article I will analyze the capability of current trendy video gaming technologies, laying emphasis on comparing them to the real world. As a result, I'd like to decide whether or not video games could be considered an art form. Then I am going to discuss how this virtual world affects gamers psychologically and sociologically, especially in the case of MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing game).

All in all, this article is going to be as technical and logical as it is philosophical and artistic because of the creative predictions I will provide. Nevertheless, our main purpose is to let our mind run wild, so let's find out if it's acceptable to call gaming developers artists and see some psychological aspects of gamers.

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