THIS IS AMERICA - Not Just Child's Play: The World of Video

THIS IS AMERICA - Not Just Child's Play: The World of Video and Computer Games
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Monday, December 05, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week our subject is video and computer games in the United States.

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VOICE ONE:

Millions of Americans play video and computer games. The reasons are no mystery. The games can provide fun, action and, in some cases, education.

Players can lead their favorite sports team to victory. They can imagine they are secret agents like James Bond. They can form a nation and lead it through thousands of years of war and peace. They can develop their skills at card games like poker¹.

Game players may improve their reaction time and thinking skills. They may improve their ability to direct their thoughts, or learn word and number skills.

VOICE TWO:

Some experts worry about the possible harm to children who play video games that contain a lot of sex and violence. Yet some young people now study electronic games in college. In Los Angeles, for example, the University of Southern California has classes in game design. Other students there can learn about games as part of modern culture.

 
Boy playing video game
Industry officials say the United States had more than seven thousand million dollars in sales of video and computer games last year. It was an increase of four percent from the year before.

VOICE ONE:

Electronic games will be a popular gift during the winter holidays this month.

One recent night, some people lined up at stores at midnight. They waited to buy the new Xbox Three-Sixty game system by Microsoft. The Xbox Three-Sixty can play digital video discs and music. It can even handle conference calls.

Some players have returned the new system because of technical problems. But Microsoft said the rate of return was below the three to five percent that is normal with electronic products.

Sony leads the industry in worldwide sales of game systems. Microsoft is second, followed by Nintendo.

But Microsoft is the first to release its next-generation game system. Sony announced in May that it was preparing to launch its PlayStation Three in the spring of two thousand six. Next year is also when Nintendo plans to release its new system, called Revolution.

VOICE TWO:

Children are not the only ones who play electronic games. The Entertainment Software Association says almost one-fifth of Americans over the age of fifty played video games last year.

In fact, it says the average player is thirty years old. The players who buy the most games are an average age of thirty-seven.

The group also reports that forty-three percent of players are women.

VOICE ONE:

Some people play games on a personal computer. They use the keyboard to play. Or they connect a guiding device called a joystick.

Other people play on a video game system called a console which they connect to their television. Still others like to play games on small, handheld devices. Or they go to arcades² to play on free-standing game machines.

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VOICE TWO:

The world of video games combines special effects, music, language and images. The best games have clear, colorful graphics³. The images move at high speed with a depth similar to real life. Some have first-person perspective. This means you experience the action as though living it yourself.

Some people play games online. They might compete over the Internet against players on the other side of the world.

Some people play electronic games for money. More than seven hundred international gamers recently took part in the final competition of the World Cyber Games in Singapore. They played for a share of the four hundred thirty-five thousand dollars in prize money.

VOICE ONE:

Many players like games based on sports. The Madden series, for example, is very popular. These are named for television football commentator⁴ John Madden, a former coach.

And players have been known to spend hours playing games developed from spy films like the James Bond movies.

People who like frightening movies may also like a game series called "Resident Evil." Players say the games make them feel like they are living inside their own horror film. In fact, two films have already been based on the series. "Resident Evil" became popular with a storyline about a company that makes a virus. Victims infected with the virus turn into the undead and eat other people.

VOICE TWO:

Many gamers are buying the newly released "Peter Jackson's King Kong." In this game, the huge gorilla⁵ terrorizes humans just as he will in the new "King Kong" movie directed by Peter Jackson. It opens nationwide on December fourteenth.

A popular shooting-game series called "Doom⁶" led to an action film that opened in November. The movie "Doom" stars Dwayne Johnson, the professional wrestler⁷ and actor known as "The Rock."

But the video game that sold best in two thousand four was "Grand Theft Auto⁸: San Andreas." It was strongly criticized, however, because of hidden sexual images. Stores temporarily removed the game from sale. Now only adults can buy the version that still has those images, but not many stores are selling it.

 
Grand Theft Auto video game
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VOICE ONE:

The National Institute on Media and the Family is a private research group. Several years ago, it found that almost eighty percent of American children played video games. Research last year found that girls played video games an average of about five hours weekly. Boys played an average of thirteen hours.

Another group, Children Now, says almost half of video games contain serious violence. And it says about half the violence shown in the games would injure or kill people in real life.

VOICE TWO:

Many doctors, educators and policy makers⁹ express concern about the effects of violent games. They point to studies that show that playing games with repeated violence is often linked to increases in aggressive thoughts, feelings and actions.

Where are the parents? The Entertainment Software Association says parents are present ninety-two percent of the time when games are bought or rented.

Even so, the group just announced that the Sony PlayStation Three will include parental¹⁰ controls. These controls let parents limit the kinds of games their children can play. The PlayStation Portable system released earlier this year already has that technology.

So does the new Xbox Three-Sixty from Microsoft. And Nintendo recently announced that its new system will also include parental controls.

The technology is based on ratings by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. This group has rated games for families since nineteen ninety-four. The industry says eighty-three percent of all games sold last year were rated "E" for Everyone or "T" for Teen.

But some critics argue that self-rating by the industry is far from satisfactory.

VOICE ONE:

Some states want to stop sales of violent games to people seventeen and younger. On November ninth, a federal judge in Detroit blocked an attempt by the state of Michigan, at least temporarily. The judge acted on a request by the Entertainment Software Association.

Opponents of sales restrictions¹¹ say the measures violate free speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

All this action and debate shows how important electronic games have become.

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VOICE TWO:

Some games developed from traditional board games like backgammon or chess. Others grew from word games or from card games like solitaire and bridge. In eighteen eighty-nine, a playing-card company opened in Japan. The company led to Nintendo.

In nineteen fifty-eight, a scientist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York State developed a game he called "Tennis for Two." William Higinbotham played it on a scientific device called an oscilloscope. The scientist did not see that such a game could become widely popular. But others did.

By the early nineteen seventies, people were playing a video game called "Pong." Two people would sit at a game machine and control a paddle to hit an electronic ball back and forth¹². Soon millions of people were playing "Pong." Many other games followed.

VOICE ONE:

Today, as computers keep improving, people keep designing new games. And the public keeps buying them. As games become more and more realistic, we can only imagine what the future will look like in this electronic world.

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver¹³. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Internet users can read and listen to our programs at www.tingroom.com. Please join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

2 arcades   

n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物

参考例句：

• Clothes are on sale in several shopping arcades these days. 近日一些服装店的服装正在大减价。 来自轻松英语会话---联想4000词(下)
• The Plaza Mayor, with its galleries and arcades, is particularly impressive. 市长大厦以其别具风格的走廊和拱廊给人留下十分深刻的印象。 来自互联网

3 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

4 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

5 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

6 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

7 wrestler   

n.摔角选手，扭

参考例句：

• The wrestler tripped up his opponent.那个摔跤运动员把对手绊倒在地。
• The stronger wrestler won the first throw.较壮的那个摔跤手第一跤就赢了。

8 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

9 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

11 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

12 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

13 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。