Matthew Hague: Computer games aren't just for children

Matthew Hague, Chairman of Bury Conservative Future and a student of Computing at Huddersfield University,  defends computer games from some of the criticisms made about their effects.

With the recent release of Dr Tanya Byron's report on the effects of computer and internet use on children it seemed timely to consider some common arguments.

Computer and video games are not all made for children. The first computer game was made between 1952 and 1961, depending on who you ask, so the first gamers are now approaching middle age. Since then we have had over fifty years of development in this area, from such retro gems as Pong and Breakout to modern works of art like Deus Ex and Bioshock.

Younger gamers learnt their hobby at the feet of Half-Life and Civilisation. This generation grew up in the 90’s on poor graphics but excellent gameplay. Developers are still making their games for this audience, people from 14-99 play World of Warcraft, recently dubbed the most middle-class nation on earth with seven million inhabitants all of whom have access to a computer.  The explosion of the Nintendo Wii has drawn casual gamers in, and Nintendo are famous for their family friendly games.  True games will always appeal to young boys and men (and in the future more girls and women)