Free «Change in behavior by Players of The Legend of Zelda» Essay Sample

Introduction

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a video game, with most scenes expressing a fanatical combat. The game is played through Wii Motion Plus thereby enabling the controller to easily model the moves to be made by the player in front of TV screens. It is for this among other reasons, that the game has drawn criticism from various quarters. This criticism is to an extent varied. The critics argue that the game gets to psychologically influence the mind of the player and thus influencing a change in their behavior. The fact that the player makes the moves for a game character is a threat to the independent thinking of such players, as their mind must be fully engaged to the game

Problem statement

From the introduction and to what is latter elaborated in the literature review, there appears to be three major problems that highly affects the behavior of the players of this game. First, the gamers make control of the game character by their own actions. The control of the magical sword is by the moves made by these gamers. The problem here is that these gamers slowly learn how to engage in fighting indirectly through what the game requires of their role during play.  Second, the game is highly psychologically to its players who in most cases see themselves as heroes who must defeat their enemies. Since, most players are teenagers, they are at some point tempted to try what they do during gaming in real life. This may be catastrophic to their relations with other people as they highly result to becoming violent and intolerance towards them. Third, there is the addiction problem. The social life of most players is affected as they are most of the times thinking of the game. Again, the fact that the Skyward Sword does not require of the remote controller to directly face the screen allows most gamers to lose concentration as they play the game.

Purpose

The main purpose of the study is to try, explore and establish how The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword game makes influences in the way of thinking among the teenage group and how such influences have caused a noticeable change of the behavior in the group. Moreover, the study will help make recommendations to countering the threats that are posed by the game. In a very precise manner, the study will narrow down to place more focus and emphasize on the following three principal objectives. These principal objectives include; determining how the violent character as expressed in the game influences the mind and behavior of an individual gamer as well as all gamers in general. Again, the study will help to understand the psychological effects of the game towards the gamers. These psychological effects may cause behavioral change in the lives of the gamers in the long run. Finally, there is the addiction problem to the game. Game addiction is a major problem to players of most game. In this study there are attempts to see to what level the gamers get addicted.

Hypothesis

In relation to the three problems, the study will make three major hypotheses that will act as a guide to data analysis to the information that is collected.  Firstly, it is to be hypothesized that the perception in relation to behavioral change on intolerance among adolescents will be related to the perception that most of them and especially boys play Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and settle their real world differences with an attitude of the experience of the game.  Those teenage gamers who play the Skyward Sword see the characters enjoy the fighting. Again, there is the change in the thinking of these youngsters who play the game. Considering that majority of the gamers are minors, it would be possible that we are creating a world of robots in human bodies. That is people who express no or little emotions on real violent scenes. 

Finally, the game is highly addictive to the gamers and they spend most of the time in front of TV screens. This is believed to cut their social life with the outside world and thus lender them socially inactive. Such poor connection with the outside world and constant exposure to violent scenes make their mind get engaged in a violent attitude with no tolerance at all. 

Literature review

Even as the literature review begins, it is important to note that the research that has been done earlier have not wholly fallen on the exclusive domain. Behavioral change occurs at all ages in life and can be driven by anything that an individual considers too close to them that they can’t act without it. In its wide study, it has focused on that. However, in the recent decades, when technology grew so fast, prompting computer games and video games, studies have been conducted to investigate and analyze their influence on the changes in human behavior.  Complaints have been made by parents and some groups of the society on the implications of the game to the young generation.

In understanding the meaning of behavioral change, being provoked by Skyward Sword, familiarization with the following concepts is important. Behavioral change seems to be the chief term in the whole proposal. Generally, behavioral change is the transformation in the character of an individual from how they used to act before. Other two terms that are highlighted for many times are ‘aggression’ and ‘addiction’. Both of them properly explain the change in behavior and moral decay that result later. Clearly, the intolerance by the adolescent to each other, caused by a small offence committed against them, shows how much they have sunk in to the violence that they see in the game. Again, the game is addictive to those who play it that they spend most of their time playing video games.

To get to fairly understand influences made by Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and the extent to which these influences appear there will be review of articles on newspapers regarding complains made by the public. Again, reviews will be made to previous studies and help make verification of them to be scientifically collect. The study will help answer questions that went unanswered in the previous researches as well.  Finally, to seeing our hypotheses proved to be collect or otherwise will be a big priority. In a very unique manner, the study will help evaluate the aggression behavior of the gamers. From other works such as General Aggression Model (GAM), there are proves of a useful framework to describe the provoker and bystander effect.  Craig Anderson, acting for GAM, explains that an aggressive behavior largely base itself on activation as well as application of ideas, cultivated through hostility or structural knowledge in memory. Finally, the thought that one can acquire money through killing people on the streets could easily attach more importance of personal interest to those of other members of the society. 

Methods

The research method to be used while carrying out the research is quantitative. This will largely help in measuring variables as well as verifying those early theories and hypothesis, questioning their reliability. The data collected will be used to create a new theory or hypothesis in case it differs from those of the past. During the study, the information will be collected from the respondents through both oral interviews and questionnaires.

Again, the research team intends to use a cluster sampling method. This is because the target population is big and distributed all over the United States. The country will be divided in five regions, comprising of ten states each. Those selected will as well be divided into counties, from each of which those to conduct the research will have to be selected.

During the research, there is one independent variable which is a computer, while the dependent variables include: age, gender, religion and location. The research will only involve those adolescents who have access to a computer and also access to Skyward Sword. The respondents will be reached through emails, mails sent to them, or via an oral interview. The target population is about 20,000,000 children who will be represented by a sample of about ten thousand children, selected representatively. In that scenario the ratio of representation is expected to be 1:5000, a ratio that the research team considers to serve the intended examination and collection of relevant information for analysis.

Conclusion

From the research, there is an expected confirmation that the hypotheses made should be true. Again, the research is expected to help confirm the results, obtained from the previous studies or researches that had been done before. If the research qualifies the hypothesis, it is expected to help draw conclusions that will be meant to guide and advice the gamers, guardians as well as the society on how well to deal with the game. Some of the recommendations that are intended to be drawn from the research include: that young children should not be allowed to engage in playing these games; in the event that they do, time limit should be given to avoid them getting addicted to the game; game makers will also be advised to remove such coding which allow do not advocate for proper social behavior.

In regard to the gamers, the confirmation of the hypothesis will have an effect on the majority of them. Having scientifically confirmed this, most people will be compelled to put the restriction to their children to save them from the dangers, already confirmed by the research. The gamers as well will re-evaluate themselves and the counselor’s advice is to be formulated on how to deal with the control the game seems to be taking over them.

In regard to the makers of the video games, this provides a better avenue for them in general to make productions of video games that will not have far-reaching effects on the general society. Video games that have a negative impact on the personality of the individuals should be avoided. If the video makers continue with such productions, the society is likely to avoid buying them which will result in the loss on the part of the video game makers. To avoid that, the makers would be forced to produce games that are accepted by the public. 

In conclusion, the media in general will be highly affected. The media fraternity will use the information to understand what the society wants. They will as well use the findings to evaluate themselves as well as their programs. Moreover, they are to make a concrete analysis of how their viewers or listeners make a judgment of them. Media will tend to avoid more violent programs or those that are anti-social. That is in their quest to make themselves more competitive among the population.