Gamming & Guns

            The average American household has at least one gaming console, if not more, and with the popularity of these gaming consoles a wide variety of video games are made for them. One such type is the classic “shoot em’ up” which are usually set in a time o9f war or great distress. These games have become rather realistic. They have inadvertently become a virtual training session, and gamers will be able to not only tell the difference between certain weapons, but would also know how to reload them and what sort of reactions they could expect if they were to fire the weapon.

            Games are being trained in the basic knowledge of weapons with the graphics of the games nowadays being so life-like, the details of the weapons are precise enough so that the gamer can, in real life, tell the difference between real gun and a toy gun just by looking at it. The realism in the graphics also trains the gamer in the proper way to hold and fire the weapon. In games such as Call of Duty there is always a team of soldiers and the gamer controls the soldiers and fires the weapon as if he, the gamer himself, is actually holding and firing the weapon.

            Not only do these games train the gamer the knowledge of knowing the difference in weapons and knowing the proper way to hold them and fire them, they also train them to know how to unload and reload the weapon properly, as well as what to expect in terms of recoil when firing the weapon. These games show the gamer exactly how to reload a clip/magazine from a weapon. This is precisely because the creators were so detail-oriented in creating these games that they made sure that the process was correct. These games show the gamer how the weapon is fired; the round is expelled out of the chamber after the trigger has been pulled and they see how each weapon recoils after its fired. The gamers may not be trained physically to deal with the recoil; however they are trained to know which weapon would have a stronger recoil and which weapon would have a weaker recoil.

            Overall, todays video games have had a huge impact on society and have become a virtual training tool for gamers, giving them the skills and know-how to handle a wide range of weaponry from their own homes. Though it might not have been the creators intent to make their games a virtual training tool, that is essentially the result.