Virtual is the New Reality?

Let me begin by saying that I am NOT a gamer. I can count the number of games I've played on one hand, and the times I've played them on two. I an sometimes catch allusions to popular games, but even Mario Cart is beyond me. I don't know the difference between a Nintendo and a PlayStation.

So with that, imagine my bewilderment upon walking into the 1:30 segment of the video game conference, purely for extra credit (Dr. Coyne's was the one I genuinely wanted to see, and I was unfortunately working during that presentation).

I learned a lot of things during this hour.

First, the contrast between the gamers and the scholars in the room was almost comical.

Second, there are people that celebrate New Years virtually on a video game in Times Square, instead of in person at Times Square (or wherever else they may be).

Hyundai was the first to have an interactive advertisement in which people could play a video game on a massive screen in Times Square and the winner for the week won a car.

There were three boys sitting behind me that never stopped playing video games on their phones the whole time we were there (case in point?)

'Damsel in distress' themes are another way of unintentionally awarding women 'object' status.

And finally, our world is far too blended between the virtual and reality. If people spend a substantial amount of their lives in a virtual world, could it be considered real? What happens when they are presented with a moral dilemma? And to win the game they have to choose...wrong? What does that do to people?

I am content to keep my life centered on my own, physical world, but even those of us who don't play in the virtual ones cannot deny that they leave their mark on our lives.