Computer gaming has been growing exponentially since the late 80s. What used to be a hobby of nerdy teenage boys is now a popular pastime of all ages and genders. Apart from computer gaming a whole new range of gaming options are available such as smartphone video gaming, handheld console gaming, and online gambling.
All these games have an effect on our culture, the economy, and society as a whole of the effects being positive while others being negative. In this piece, we are discussing these effects with Jacek Michałski who is an iGaming expert from Poland.
Social Impacts
When you walked around the streets of Poland or anywhere else in Europe in the 80s and 90s, you could see lots of young people hanging out. Nowadays you don’t see this that much. The majority of teenagers and young people opt for spending time indoors instead of hanging out with their friends on the streets and much of the time spent indoors is spent playing video games.
Experts say that our kids have never been safer—the number of teenage pregnancies has dropped significantly, teenagers start drinking alcohol years later and smoking is on the decline as well. However, there are negative impacts of gaming as well. People are less social, they can’t communicate as well, there is more obesity associated with the sedentary lifestyle, and finding partners has never been more difficult.
Even though computer games can be played with other remote players, the contact between these players is only virtual and cannot replace real human interactions. While casino gaming used to be a social pastime, nowadays, it is mainly done online. On casino review sites players can find online casinos that offer gry hazardowe za darmo in Poland and they can spend time on these sites for hours on end.
The term “hikikomori” is becoming well-known in Europe and North America. Hikikomoris are young adults or adolescents who spend all their time in their rooms playing computer games. They never leave their home and have no social interactions with anyone outside of their homes. 10-20 years ago, this phenomenon was only known in Japan but unfortunately, by now it has reached the West.
Cultural Impacts
What is gaming culture? We often hear this question from non-gamers who generally don’t see games as part of the culture. However, gaming is very much part of popular culture. In fact, there is more revenue generated by gaming than the movie business and North American sports combined.
According to Bloomberg columnist, Tyler Cowen, gaming has a culture-weakening effect. People certainly don’t talk about new bestseller books as much as a new computer game and neither do books generate as much revenue – not by a long shot.
The best computer games including casino games often feature great music and visual effects, just like other cultural objects. If you are interested in the technicalities behind casino games, read this article about finding IT resources for the casino enterprise. Gaming is something active whereas looking at art is passive. A gamer participates in the game; it is all about focus and performance and it can lead to satisfaction.
Regulatory Impacts
Regulating the gaming market is a very difficult task and governments are struggling with it. There is clearly a lot of money in gaming, but it is very difficult for governments to monetize on the revenues it generates. The regulation of gambling is even more complicated.
Online casinos can be registered in many offshore jurisdictions and governments are struggling with their regulations. Some countries, such as the UK, give out gambling licenses for a fee, whereas Poland doesn’t allow foreign operators to offer their services to Polish players.
Without regulation, there can be no taxes or fees charged so governments are missing out on a lot of potential income. The same goes for computer games played over the internet or smartphone games that include microtransactions.
Conclusion
Gaming has a huge impact on our society in many ways. It has changed the ways we interact with people; it has a culture-weakening effect and governments struggle to regulate the gaming market. However, gaming is not all that bad. It teaches us how to concentrate and it keeps our children in a safe environment.
