Shawn
This paper is a lightly edited version of the Wikipedia page on gaming and for me constitutes plagiarism. This effort combined with your lateness and absence makes me wonder how I can give you a passing grade

Plagiarized web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game
Grade for final paper
D
- pbeder pbeder





Does gaming and internet gaming influence today's society?

Does gaming influence today’s society? Over the course of time people have always played some types of games, even if it was a simple card game or a table top game to a digital device to play games. Do the violence, sex and nudity influence any part of society? Is gaming a horrible addiction like a drug or just a hobby?

Criticism Related to Psychology and Children's Social Development and Counter-arguments
Over two hundred studies have been made to examine the effects of violence in the entertainment media which focus on video games.
Some studies show a correlation between children playing violent video games and suffering psychological effects. Many Critics argue that these studies are wrong. That they only search for links that prove there hypothesis and not disprove it. Some psychologists and parent groups have criticized video games because it keeps them inside all day playing with a machine and not outside and exercising to develop good social skills, therefore they are most likely to become depressed this way. Many reply that video games enhance a person socially. Many video games are multiplayer now so two or more people can get together and have fun competing or co-operating on the same screen. If the child is antisocial or isolated, but perhaps it is the fault of the parents' lack of attention making sure there child has enough opportunities socially to interact with other children. Also with online gaming it is not difficult for children to find other to play with, even if the experiences remain anonymous.

Controversy in Video Games
Like other forms of media, video games have been the subject of frequent controversy and censorship, due to graphic violence, sexual themes and the use of drugs alcohol or tobacco, and profanity in some games. Historically controversy and criticism is not unique to video games. The same situation has been applied to Comic book, films, dancing and to some extent music and book. As long ago as the nineteenth century the same accusations were made about "penny dreadfuls" . Moreover, it appears to be a question of age. Since these art forms have been around longer, the backlash against them occurred farther in the past, beyond the remembrance of today's youth. In both cases, the attempts at censorship in the United States were struck down as a violation of First Amendment rights, and they have gone on to become fully integrated in society.
Doom, a First Person Shooter (fps), was a computer game created in 1993 id Software. It was recognized for is use 3D graphics and networked multiplayer gaming in the PC version. It also had the support to create custom expansions. This game created a huge controversy in the gaming industry. Doom still remains known for its high use of violence, gore and satanic imagery. Doom has been criticized numerous times by religious organizations for its diabolic settings and was dubbed a "mass murder simulator" by critic and Killology Research Group, founder David Grossman. Doom has also made fears that using virtual reality technology could be used to simulate realistic killing.
On March 6 2005, the television show "60 minutes" took on a case of an eighteen year old murder, Devin Moore. Plaintiffs of the case argued that "Grand Theft Auto III" and "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" had inspired him to kill three officers that came to arrest him for stealing a car. This episode of "60 minutes" was criticized by the gaming community.


Benefits
The most visible benefits of video games are the artistic and entertainment contributions. As a form of multimedia, modern video games contain a synthesis of 3D art, CG effects, artificial intelligence, sound effects, music, story telling and most importantly, interactivity. In "Everything Bad Is Good for You" by Steven Johnson, he argues that video games are far more demanding the regular games like monopoly. To fully experience the game, a play must understand the objectives as well as how to complete them. They must understand the controls and learn how the interface works, including menus and HUD’s. Beyond skills which most gamers take for granted the gamer can then understand a highly complex system with many variables. This requires analytical abilities and adaptability. To even further his point, Johnson says the strategy guide for "Grand Theft Auto III" is over 53,000 words long. He believes that the process of learning boundaries, goals and controls of a given game are often highly demanding. Most games require a great deal of patience and focus from the player, and, contrary to the others perception that video games provide instant gratification, games often delay it, possibly more then movies and some books. Some research suggests that video games may often increase the player's attention capacities.
Even simple games offer benefits to the player. Games such as Pac-man or Tetris are well designed games, easy to learn but hard to master, much like chess, checkers, or poker. Simple games now a days may pit the player against an intelligent AI or maybe even another human player online, depending on the game, where players can develop and test their techniques.
A more obvious benefit is in the form of education. For example a RTS (Real Time Strategy) set during the Civil War, may feature the use of armies engaging in historical battles, and out smarting opponents such as Robert E. Lee.

Profitable Industry
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) is a genre of online role-playing games (RPGs) where a large group of people interact with one another in a virtual world. Like in RPGs the players take the role of a fictional character and take control of the character's actions. Something is always going on in the world event while the player is away from them game. Worldwide profits for MMORPGs exceeded half a billion dollars in 2005.
The player's character is always growing, and because of this growth this allows the character to equip new armor and weapons which all cost some kind of in game currency. While some players play the game for fun others have made the game their own in-home business. Most players would "farm" their own currency by selling other items until they have saved up enough. Others use there real life money to buy digital currency and gear, this is more commonly known in the video game community as RMT (Real Money Trade). People play the game save up the game currency and sell it to other players. Some people have even made more then $200,000 just by playing a MMORPG.
On of the main issues from this "business" is who owns what? When players log into the game they electronically sign a contract, and selling and/or buying game currency goes against this contract. But, are these digital items recognizable by U.S courts? And if so, who does it belong it? The player or the company who initially made it?
Players who didn't have time to level up a character and make them stronger would just buy an entire high-level characters from other players over eBay. Player A would send player B real U.S. dollars, and would have his avatar deliver the promised goods to player A's avatar within the game. In the case of an avatar sale, player B would send his user name and password, turning over his entire account. Like any eBay transaction, the deal hinged to an alarming degree on trust, and fraud was rampant.




Helpful Links and Citations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_dreadful
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_controversy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_Bad_Is_Good_For_You
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_(video_game)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mmorpg
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SINFOTECHH-0-753&artno=0000244622&key=MMO&type=ART&shfilter=U&sound=no (User: ithstechh Pass: 11101)