For the following tutorial we were required to look at online communities that in some way relate to occupational therapy, I chose to look at online games as play is the main occupation for children and it is something that many others choice to participate is as a leisure activity or when they have free time. Or my personal favorite procrastination technique when i'm supposed to be studying.
The three sites which I will explore in more depth are
- www.nick.com/games
Rummikub is a site where individuals come together to play a game against each other. The only game which can be played in rummikub which is a rummy game involving coloured d numbered bricks. Most often you will play against people from other countries who you do not know. It is suitable for a range or age groups from about 8 years upwards. The intention of this site is well met, as it is to allow people to enjoy playing rummikub against other internet users in a safe environment.
MIndjolt games is another gaming site, however it differs from rummikub in that it offers a wide range of games, and these games are mostly one player and played against yourself where you gain a high score, and can then compare that to the high score to that of others. Other games on mindjolt games will be played again the computer.
Nick.com is the website for the children’s television channel nickelodeon. This site like mindjolt games, offers a huge range of different games. The majority of these games however are aimed at a younger audience and involve the characters off the television programmes shown on nickelodeon. These games are also played against the computer or against yourself. Here you are able to join the nick club and leave comments on the site, chat with other members, vote for a variety of things and receive newsletters with the latest updates on the nickelodeon site.
People from all over the world are able to access these sites and play these games, the intention for all of the above sites is to offer games which the consumers will enjoy, and they also provide games which are not restricted to a certain age group due to violence or bad language.
The way in which you contribute is playing the games, and this is the same over all sites, however, in rummikub you are playing with other people and are able to chat with them at the same time, sometimes see a photo of them and see their previous statistics of how they have gone in other games. Mindjolt is the least interactive site, in that there is less for individuals to contribute aside to playing games and sharing scores. For each game they have a list of all the high scores, both for the week, and since the game opened, if you get a high score you name will be on this list. As mentioned earlier people are able to comment on the nick website, and enter draws and vote. However a lot of the interaction is based around the entire website rather than just the games present on the website. When on any of the above mentioned websites, you will be interacting, but not necessarily with other people.
People visit the site to have a fun time, and play games, people contribute to all of these sites as a leisure activity, and it is the fun they get out of it that keeps them returning to the site. No personal information is shared through either mindjolt or nick, unless individual’s choice to share it, only minimal information is shared on rummikub as you need a profile to play. You can see the profile of others that you play against.
Being able to play these games, gives individuals the opportunity to compete directly or indirectly against people they wouldn’t be able to in their geographic community. They are able to complete at a higher level, and against more people. In the case of rummikub players can find more people who are at the same level as them and playing can provide a sense of company. For the Nick site, it allows children to play games, and fill in time, when they don’t have company of means of playing other childhood games. As there is a variety of games all in the one site individuals have a lesser need to purchase new games frequently to keep children occupied. Online games are virtually priceless other than the cost of the internet, and they are easy to play when tired or sick.
Although there are positives of online games, there are also some negative factors that should be mentioned. Not everybody has access to the internet, and therefore some people do not have access to these games. Some software is required for the mindjolt games. When playing these games, individuals are constantly sitting down, not using much energy, and often eating at the same time, other more traditional games required players to be physically active. Online games could be considered a factor of the rising obesity rate. For many people, these games can be addictive, and they will spend a lot time in front of the computer, whereas other games not on the computer require people to use more social skills. Traditional communities would often have the individuals running around playing games where you have to interact in a different way to online games, this can teach children skills like sharing and social skills. Online gaming communities also had an age limitation, as young children cannot work a computer and therefore will be excluded from this community, this could also be the case for some elderly, not wanting to use computers.
Ethical issues have been addressed by nick, it is very important for them especially, to look at ethical issues, as their targeted population in young children. They have set up a page for the parents and outlined the steps they have taken to ensure their site is safe, and do not allow kids to be indentified when chatting with others. Other sites allow your real name to be noted, however no contact details, or locations can be seen.
Nice and clear format, these gaming websites look really interesting!
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