As a child, I was never allowed to own video games. My parents didn’t mind if I played 
them at friends houses, but I was not allowed to own any systems, devices, or portable games. They even limited my possession of computer games.
Although we never discussed it directly, because I stopped caring, I think it is safe to assume that their reasoning behind their decision was because video games can consume children, and even adults. The games become so real, and addict people to the point that they start to intertwine their real lives and their gamer lives.
On the other hand, games have been created for pure learning sake. On a website called www.WolfQuest.org, a game has been created to demonstrate the ecology and life adaptations to students. Although their is still a risk of students becoming addicted to such a game, the intentions of the game are for education, so their existence is somewhat more accepted.
Someone who believes in the playing of video for preparation of the future is Ian Bogost of the Georgia Institute of Technology. In his publication The Rhetoric of Video Games, he discusses his belief in the capabilities of video games to teach us about life through the situations they present to gamers. To demonstrate this, he explains how his son learned about saving money and delegating money in order to pay off necessities by playing a game called Animal Crossing. Even though it does not use the exact scenarios that occur in actual life, it simulates what adulthood is like.
This seems practical– this application of using a game to teach children at an early age
Grand Theft Auto shows explicit violence.
about the future to come. However, it is not practical when children play games like War Zone, Grand Theft Auto, and Halo all day, which induce violence.
In addition, although video games can be educational, they also keep those who play them indoors, usually sitting glued to a screen. This depletes their social life, and active life, leading to health problems like obesity and personality disorders.
Bogost states that “video games have the power to make arguments, to persuade, to express ideas,” and while this is true, it is not necessarily good in all circumstances. For games such as Animal Crossing, it seems harmless, but for games that deal with war and violence this could and has proposed danger.
Overall, video games have developed to be very intriguing aspects of media, and have served some great purposes through their educational nature. Yet, at the same time, some games do exist that can cause damage.