Computer games, also known as a PC game have become very popular among many young people, children and teenagers causing the gaming industry to become a very competitive industry and a multi million dollar industry. Computer games have progressed from being the simple graphics and game play, to a wide variety of more visually advanced titles. It is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine. The high popularity of computer games can be attributed to the graphics, the quality of sound, the interactivity and the educational benefits of playing games, making them quite irresistible among the younger generation.
Computer games can also be played on a variety of handheld devices such as consoles and mobile phones that allow children to play these games in different situations and even while traveling. Some of the most popular gaming consoles with high specification graphics, are the Sony PlayStation or Nintendo’s GameCube. Computer games have a variety of advantages and have proved to be beneficial to children to a great extent as it been found that playing these games could improve children’s logical thinking ability, decision making and problem solving skills. Educational computer games help children to progress in their communication abilities, alertness, focus, mathematics, spelling, reading and so on. . Computer games akso have the ability to stimulate and encourage the development of social and cognitive skills.
However, computer games come with some disadvantages as well. Due to the constant usage of these games among the younger generation, children get obsessed with these games and constantly complain of eye strains, wrist, neck and back pains, etc. They also develop photosensitive epilepsy, headaches, hallucinations, nerve and muscle damages etc. and also cause obesity in the long run.
The design and production of computer and video games involves one or more game developers, often in conjunction with other specialists like game artists. Presently, most of the computer games are designed to run on the Microsoft Windows operating system. They are then either published independently or through a third party publisher and then be distributed on physical media such as DVDs and CDs, as Internet-downloadable shareware, or through online delivery services. Some of the computer games content can be modified with relative ease, unlike console games which are generally difficult to modify as they are often protected by legal and physical barriers against tampering. Increasing broadband Internet adoption due to its cost-effectiveness and typically higher bandwidth has made multiplayer gaming affordable allowing large numbers of players to play together.
