In the mid- to late 1970s, "video game" meant either a Pong unit related to a television or a bulky arcade monstrosity. There still are arcades, but with plasma displays and 60-inch Lcd panels in many homes, you can have state of the art arcade gaming in your own living room, surround sound and all.
Today, it's all about the "consoles" - meaning the new Nintendo Wii, the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft. They are all fairly small, have distinguished Cpus, advanced graphics subsystems and the full range of Cd and Dvd compatibilities for music, audio, video and compressed multimedia files. Hackers have even found a way to setup computer operating systems on some of these devices, and use them variously as gaming machines, word processors and even Web browsers.
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Holy grail of virtual reality
Of course, video arcades are still around, too, and the latest models have "feedback mechanisms" installed so that, for instance, in a race-car game the "driver" feels engine vibration, hears the tuned exhaust note and gets a nice, throaty squeal by stepping on the brakes. Enclosed game structures promise better and more realistic activity all the time as the holy grail of "virtual reality" draws closer all the time straight through the march of technology.
Computer gaming has matured, too, although entry-level computers are not up to the challenge. Gamers either "super-size" their own computers or buy from master Pc builders, because the software makes great demands on the Cpu, the graphics processor and the display. Video game manufacturers have the shop covered, though, as their titles are regularly released to all the major platforms and computing environments.
The "in" and "out" issue
One trend in video games that disturbs for parents of teenagers is the rise of crime-centered story lines, where the bad guys are, well, the good guys. Titles like "Grand Theft Auto" have caused great controversy, as they show shootings, sexual assaults and 100-mph car chases with no legal, social or moral context to the tale. However, adults can rule for themselves what is thorough and pick from thousands upon thousands of game titles - and rule for their minor children, too. When parents are concerned and complex in their children's lives, video games gift no special problem.
One special qoute that these multiplayer games, and social networking sites, do gift is related to security. At the social sites, and in some of the "networked" games, participants view each other with webcams and can hear each other, too, as long as players have microphones related to their Pcs. All of Apple's laptops and iMacs, as well as most Pc laptops, come with webcams and microphones installed.
It would not be difficult for advanced computer users - "hackers" and "über-geeks" - to trick, cajole or manipulate the less advanced users into configuring their own systems as spycams. That is, a felonious nerd could use an unsuspecting person's always-on computer-with-webcam to peer into the latter's room, and pick up an audio signal, too. This is not a particularly difficult thing to do, especially to someone who is trusting and insufficiently security-oriented.
In fact, there is low- and no-cost software available for download that will turn your webcam-connected computer into a home surveillance and video protection system. You can log on from anywhere in the world and take a gander nearby your house to see if the lights are on or your college-student child is throwing a party while you're out of town. There is nothing to stop a motivated hacker from using a game community or social networking site as a hunting ground for unsecured webcams and setting up the same capability, unbeknownst to you.
Vigilance is key
The only way to protect against this sort of intrusion is to result unavoidable simple and specific protection steps of your own. If you have an always-on computer with a webcam, disable the camera until those times that you as a matter of fact want to use it. Turn off the microphone, too. In fact, it may be easier naturally to inquire why it is your computer always has to be on. The fact is, it is better for your computer and its components if you do turn it off, at least if it is not being used for a concentrate of hours or more.
There are also ways to allow and disallow assorted kinds of "network traffic" and transportation links. Although this takes a bit more expertise, there is abundance of help available on the Internet, and any experienced computer- and/or video-security professional should be able to suggest you on this matter. There are many downsides to the video game boom, and pointless violence in the story lines is not even the most dangerous.
The threat to your privacy is quite real here, and your protection holes could be exploited by people a lot more menacing than "El Destructo" from the war games community your teenager belongs to. either it's a telemarketing firm or a terrorist group trying to snoop on you straight through your webcam, you still have the right (last time we checked) to bar all these kinds of "black ops" nutjobs from your home. If there's any video surveillance to be done nearby your house, make sure you are the one doing it.
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