With the technological boom that penetrated not only Nepal but also all over the world, interest as well as marketing in video gaming has risen drastically. Though we don’t have gaming conferences as well as competitions involving huge prize money, there is an ever increasing rate of video-game lovers here in Nepal, especially among the youth.
The video gaming culture in Nepal started with the Sega 16-bit console and the Nintendo game-boys as well as PC based games like Doom and Dave. Nevertheless, with technology ever improving, the bad-boys from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo were soon to follow. The Play-station and Xbox franchise along with Nintendo’s Wii consoles gave video-gaming a new realty. Along with improvements in these fronts, PC gaming was also progressing at a steady rate.
“For us, gaming has always been a recreational activity to pursue during leisure time as well as to kill excess time; unfortunately it also happens to be a wee-bit addictive,” says Sachet Gurung, 19, a student who still recalls playing on his game-boy and Sega console when he was pretty young.
“My parents don’t take gaming in a good light, and were against me buying a Sony PSP, and I also accept that gaming wastes a lot of important time sometimes,” admits Gurung who prefers gaming consoles and handhelds rather than PCs.
Video-gaming addiction has become a major head-ache for parents in many countries, however in Nepal that has been kept in check by the Nepal Electricity Authority, say most avid locals addicted to video games.
In many countries like Korea, Japan and the US, cases of video game addiction has resulted in anorexia, obesity, psychological altering that has led to various deaths and murders. However no such case has been found in Nepal.
Psychological studies have indicated that constant exposure to violent or similar environment created by video-games can affect a person’s psyche leading to behavioral changes. Psychologist Rena Shrestha expresses, “aggressive behavior is inevitable if a person is constantly subjected to violent settings produced by video games.”
She is of the opinion that video games affect a person in accordance with the genre of the game. “Some types of video games can be educational and productive for a child, some types of games are used to improve hand-eye co-ordination for disabled people, which is being used for a good cause at present times,” Shrestha conveys.
First- person and third- person shooter game series, like Call of Duty and Halo as well as fighting games like Mortal-Kombat and Tekken, are very violent and warlike, with studies indicating that these types of games affect children the most. However, these are also the highest-selling, thus demonstrating that violence sells. The above mentioned games also come with a high age limit, but buyers as well as sellers don’t care about it here in Nepal.
Sulav K.C 18, also a student, points out saying “though gaming is not altogether innocent; it can be kept under control if you have a healthy life-style”.
“It’s not like; we play video-games 24 hours a day, and think about killing people or violence. Yes there are some who are hard-core gamers, however they can be found few and far-between in the context of Nepal,” reiterates K.C., who plays PC-based games like Defense of the Ancients(DOTA) and Counte-strike (C.S.) on a LAN network, as well as through online gaming portals like GArena.
Along with the psychological effects, video-gaming can also have a physical impact on an individual. Staring at a screen with a crooked or an awkward position for an elongated time certainly isn’t healthy, least of all to the spine.
In a country that doesn’t give much consideration to physical posture, Dr Basant Pant, senior neurosurgeon at Norvic Hospital, points out that playing in such difficult postures will effect a person in both, short and the long run. “The human skeleton is not actually fully evolved to stand on two legs and walk, so if there is pressure on the spine from crouching or something similar, the spine will be pushed against the nerves leading to pain in the spine,” he describes.
“If one continues to play with an uneven posture, putting constant pressure on the cervical area for some time, the pain that will start from the spine will also affect the legs”, Dr Pant depicts.
It is understandable for parents to worry about their children since gaming can be a direct cause for loss of study time as well as physical excersice. This can to an extent be controlled with good parenting.
In an urbanized city like Kathmandu, there are few places where children can indulge in physical activity; hence parents are compelled to buy alternative ways of recreation for their children that is altogether not healthy.
Physically a child will become lethargic if he concentrates on a virtual world during all his free time. But if this is the only recreational activity for a child, he will strive for it all the more. Similarly a child will play football all the time, if that were to be the only recreational activity present before him.
Sujata Chettri, mother of two, opines that though children try to play video-games at every chance, they must be checked upon constantly to not overplay and harm themselves. She says “Yes, it is a way of recreation for children in this modern urbanized world, but at the same time children get addicted to it fast which can have drastic influence that are not altogether positive”. Chettri further adds, “Maybe if I had got to play those games at that age, I would be addicted as well”.
Though many people believe that rise in interest of gaming is due to decrease in prices of gaming software and components; conversely it happens to be the exact opposite. If you want a good gaming console along with original games or a good gaming PC, you have to spend a hefty amount, easily crossing the 35 thousand mark. Add to that a good-quality high-definition screen, and the price tag aims towards the sky.
Amidst all these arguments, the video gaming population is steadily rising in Nepal, as Bijay Kansakar, owner of People Plaza based Game Station says “We’ve been operating here for almost two years now and the number of people coming here have been growing. Though there are regulars that frequent the gaming haunt, they only come once or twice a week” he explains laying to rest, the idea of gaming-addiction in Nepal. Well, at least for now.
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