Electronic Exaggerations and Virtual Worries: Mapping Research of Computer Games Relevant to the Understanding of Children's Game Play

Abstract

There can be no doubt that computer games are artefacts with an increasing importance for our culture. Game design is one of the prime movers for the development of information technology and is leading the way for other sectors. Computer games have brought us cultural activities that were technically impossible before. We now have the possibility to manipulate and interact with people from all over the world in a virtual game space constituted of realistic photographic images. These new activities have created some uneasiness among educators, researchers, designers and parents who have raised a variety of arguments about the effects of computer games on childhood. Many have strong beliefs that the use of computer games can contribute to different aspects of children's development. On the other hand, there is an even stronger anxiety that computer games have negative social and cognitive effects on children. Even though this means that there is a clear need for research on the issue of computer games as a part of contemporary childhood, academic study in this area has been divided, with fragments of knowledge scattered over a wide field of different discourses and traditions. In this article, the authors seek to summarise and discuss some of the studies and theoretical arguments about children and computer games. In order to do this, they outline and sketch some of the different empirical findings and research traditions that they find relevant for the understanding of computer games as a part of childhood. The purpose of this is to contribute with an overview that can be utilised as a resource for educators, parents, designers and others who deal with matters concerning children and computer games.