Most people (especially guys) will say they have played a game or two or even own every modern console. At Dobie, most students who play video games enjoy the Xbox One or PlayStation 4.

“I play Ps3 and PC games,” said Logan Brozovic, an 8th grader gamer. “It’s easier to connect with online friends and strangers.”

Video games are pixelated (or 2D/3D) interactive games. One of the first brand of games that we still play to this day is the Japanese Nintendo. The current consoles from Nintendo are the Nintendo 3DS and Wii-U. These games are mostly for kids and not a lot of the games for the console are Adult or Young Adult rated.

This generation is not into kid games such as Animal Crossing or Tomodachi Life, but more into Mature rated first-person shooters like Halo, Black Ops, and Fallout.

“My favorites are between Black Ops and Overwatch because it’s futuristic and you can do stuff that you can’t do in real life,” said Joseph Kinkade, 7th grader.

Along with the new consoles, such as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, you now have the capability to play from your house instead of arcades, reduce the size from a large box to a small rectangle, and, the most useful thus far in video game engineering, the ability to play online and talk to friends and strangers!

“I play online because I usually die very quickly, but I like to play with other people because I usually can live longer and make them rage quit (stop playing for a little while) when I have my good moments,” chuckled Matthew Crabtree, 7th grader.

While some people just go online for fun, others go on for different reasons. “I play online a lot because it’s not much of a challenge going up against bots (computers programmed to fight you). Online people sometimes have prestige and it’s challenging to go against someone with a higher level than you,” said Joseph Kinkade, 7th grader.

But new technology can mean health challenges. Most students don’t realize it but, playing a game for a long period can cause problems such as:

• Physical fatigue
• Vision problems
• Epileptic seizures
• Obesity

Moderation is key. Most doctors suggest playing for only one hour a day, or take frequent breaks.