By Alex Baran,
Project Weight Loss Staff Writer
November 18, 2009 In 2008 the game “Left 4 Dead” was a huge success, so now Valve, the video game development company, releases “Left 4 Dead 2,” the story being based on a zombie apocalyptic pandemic. What’s new on this game and how does it influence kids’ life? 
L4D2 has new features like strategic changes, better scoring and a few others, but I’ll let you discover them. Besides the player of the game, survivors are Nick, Ellis, Rochelle, and Coach. In this game, the characters are aware of the scenario and situations they are facing.
What else you need to know about PC games is that children are being influenced by them. According to a new study children’s eating habits are connected to PC games, which are promoted on many beverage and food websites, according to The Times of India.
Sandra L. Calvert and Tiffany A. Pempek, both Ph.D., conducted a study involving 30 African-American children from 9-10 years old. The first group played a game based on Pac-Man, being rewarded for having their computer character choosing healthy foods and beverages. The second group was rewarded for consumption of candy bars, sodas, bags of potato chips, and cookies.
The kids reported liking both healthy and unhealthy versions of the game, playing them for an average of 9 min. and 32 sec. The difference is that kids who played the healthy version before choosing a snack were more likely than those playing the other version to choose healthy foods instead of junk food.
Other studies concluded that the Internet changes the way kids learn, play, work, and interact with each other. For people between 2 and 22 years old, technology is something normal and they’re not afraid to use it. Industry critics argue that game violence could desensitize kids to tragically impact of real violence. Still, there are no connections between PC games and tragic incidents. Moreover, kids are no longer the main force behind the purchase of PC and video games. According to an IDSA survey, 9 out of 10 games are bought by adults.
Children should know there is a big difference between PC games and real life, as well the difference between healthy and unhealthy habits.
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