Heaven N' Hell

Internet- a way people get connected world-wide. Video games- for people to play and relax. 

Combination of internet and video games equals to online games where people link together and play.

Which group of people is very fond of playing online games? And the answer is…

The youngsters!!!

According to Fox (2005), the users aged 18-30 years brought up tremendously potential for information technology industry such as online gaming to flow (Zuhal Hussein, Nasbiah Abdul Wahid, Norizan Saad, 2009: 6). Online gaming market in Malaysia has grown constantly said Zuhal Hussein, Nabiah abdul Wahid and Norizan Saad (2009: 6). It is a fact the youngster in Malaysia are more likely to play indoor than going outdoor activities with allocated most of their time playing on the computer, exploring the web based activities or playing interactive video games (Euromonitor,2008).

From what I can see among most of my friends, the most common online games they play come from the Facebook application, such as Mafia Wars, Restaurant City and FarmVille.

No doubt, these games actually brought a lot of joy and entertain us, but there is a growing unease that something is happening without full cognizance of the consequences of its use.

“FarmVille” Interruption Cited in Baby’s Murder

A 22-year-old mother from Jacksonville, Florida, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shaking her 3-month-old son to death after his crying interrupted her FarmVille game.

The mother, Alexandra V. Tobias, was arrested in January and declared her plea on Wednesday before Circuit Judge Adrian G. Soud,The Florida Times-Union reports.

She told investigators that she shook the baby, smoked a cigarette “to compose herself,” and proceeded to shake him again. The baby may have hit his head during one of the two shakings, she said.

FarmVille, named one of the “worst inventions” in recent decades by Time magazine, has more than 60 million members, most of whom access the game through Facebook. Some players have found it so addicting that they’ve lost their jobs and racked up debts north of $1,000.

Needless to say, it is Ms. Tobias — and not the game itself — that is responsible for the death of her 3-month-old son. This is not the first time that a virtual game has led to murder; in 2009, 28-year-old Joseph Johnson of Chicago was charged with first-degree murder after allegedly shooting his companion in the head while playing an Xbox game.

(Source: http://mashable.com ,28/10/2010)

Internet and video games both counted as technologies where frequently used these days. With these technologies, we could find positive comment from it, saying it is fun, it helps us on our studies and also release stress especially youngster who undergoes lot of pressure. On the other hand, there is lot of article or cases saying youth die because of online game, even worst, some involves infant that is innocent. There was another case where I read in myMetro that one incident happened in Taiwan, husband and wife in the early age of 20, starved their baby daughter to death just because of over obsesses in online game. (http://www.hmetro.com.my, 26/02/2011)

Could you imagine people committing crime because of these technologies?

While aware of the complexities this conceals, Slevin (2000: 46) suggested that the perspectives on the impact of the internet on society tend towards two poles of optimism and pessimism. So does the impact of online games, some saying online gaming is good but some say it’s bad cause it caused a lot of social issues.

What say you then? Is online game a heaven or is it a hell to you? 

To me, it is both, heaven and hell.