Can Video Games Be Used to Raise Awareness of Real-World Issues?

To What Extent Can Video Games Be Used to Raise Players’ Awareness of Real-World Issues?
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To What Extent Can Video Games Be Used to Raise Players’ Awareness of Real-World Issues?
The real world is quite far from the world depicted in video games. The video game world is highly fictitious, and the characters are normally in the control of the players (Robson & Meskin, 2016). Therefore, video games fail to take into account the various limitations and deficiencies we have as humans. In the video game world, anything is possible. However, as technology advances, video game developers have been able to come up with better games. Today, video game characters are easily relatable, and some of the things that a human would not do are also incorporated in the characters (To et al., 2018). If video games continue to advance in this direction, then they can also be used to create awareness about real-world issues.
At the advent of video games, players played by themselves (Carras et al., 2017). The technology at that time did not allow for the multi-player feature. However, today, almost every game has a multi-player feature. Therefore, currently, video games are not just a past time; they are also a tool for socializing (Dalisay et al., 2015). To an extent, socializing in video games can be used to create awareness about inequality. Whether people today notice it or not, every child is often trying to get access to a device with an internet connection so that they can download a game and join other players in multi-player. However, accessibility to gaming devices differs with demographics (Porter, 2014).
For instance, a seven-year-old boy in the United States (U.S.) may have quick access to a gaming device because his parents bought it for him or because his friend has one. However, a boy of the same age from the Philippines may not have the same access. He might not even have a friend who owns a gaming console. Still, this does stop such a young boy from looking for extra change, which he can use to visit the local cyber and pay for a few minutes of game time. In these few minutes, he will get to interact with several players from all over the world. Most of whom are privileged. If at a point during his gaming session the internet breaks, then he cannot continue with the game. He might have been a part of a team, which means that the team is likely to lose because it is one player short. When the internet comes back on, such a young boy will probably face scrutiny from his fellow teammates. However, if he explains his internet issue, then the other players might understand. Those who are sympathetic will even realize how fortunate they are to have uninterrupted internet connectivity. In their minds, this will appear as a real-world issue, and it will stick with them for the rest of their lives.
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