1 00:00:20,370 --> 00:00:23,550 Jane: This is, But Why: a Podcast for Curious Kids from 2 00:00:23,550 --> 00:00:27,045 Vermont Public. I'm Jane Lindholm. On this show, we take 3 00:00:27,045 --> 00:00:30,405 questions from curious kids all over the world, and we find 4 00:00:30,405 --> 00:00:34,875 answers. Today, wait, hang on just one second. 5 00:00:35,355 --> 00:00:36,045 Video Game: Good. 6 00:00:36,795 --> 00:00:37,875 Jane: Hang on, I just got it. 7 00:00:38,385 --> 00:00:39,225 Video Game: Powerful. 8 00:00:39,615 --> 00:00:41,145 Jane: Yes! 9 00:00:41,685 --> 00:00:42,825 Video Game: Unbelievable. 10 00:00:42,855 --> 00:00:46,710 Jane: Sorry, I got distracted. I finally beat the level on my 11 00:00:46,710 --> 00:00:50,580 phone game. I've been really struggling to get past it. 12 00:00:50,580 --> 00:00:54,930 Appears sometimes I get a little distracted by video games, and a 13 00:00:54,930 --> 00:00:58,560 lot of you might get distracted too. And many of you certainly 14 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,920 enjoy video games and have been sending us a lot of questions 15 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:02,550 about them. 16 00:01:02,540 --> 00:01:06,050 Sophie: Hello, my name is Sophie. I am six years old. I 17 00:01:06,050 --> 00:01:11,300 live in Wyoming, and my question is, How are video games made? 18 00:01:11,300 --> 00:01:17,120 Because I really want to make one, so I want to know how 19 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:18,170 they're made. 20 00:01:18,170 --> 00:01:22,700 Jackson: My name is Jackson, and I live in Forney, Texas. I am 21 00:01:22,700 --> 00:01:26,645 eight years old, and my question is, Why do people play video 22 00:01:26,645 --> 00:01:27,155 games? 23 00:01:27,155 --> 00:01:30,245 Cecelia: My name's Cecilia, I'm nine years old. I live in 24 00:01:30,245 --> 00:01:33,665 Liberty, Missouri, and my question is, Who invented video 25 00:01:33,665 --> 00:01:34,205 games? 26 00:01:34,819 --> 00:01:37,159 Jane: We're going to tackle all those questions and more today, 27 00:01:37,489 --> 00:01:40,189 and we're going to look at video games more broadly as well. 28 00:01:40,790 --> 00:01:43,990 Patrick: These days, video games can reflect whatever interest 29 00:01:44,050 --> 00:01:48,550 you have, whatever passions you have, and allows you to explore 30 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,780 a little bit of yourself. And the people that make these video 31 00:01:52,900 --> 00:01:55,930 games, they want to make something that they enjoy too. 32 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,170 Jane: That's Patrick Klepek, a writer and editor for Crossplay, 33 00:02:00,260 --> 00:02:04,520 that's a newsletter focused on parenting and video games, and 34 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,810 yes, he does get to play a lot of video games for his job, but 35 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,390 maybe not as often as you might think. 36 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:14,970 Patrick: I wish my job was sitting down to play video games 37 00:02:15,180 --> 00:02:18,990 every day. In reality, it is playing video games late at 38 00:02:19,050 --> 00:02:22,040 night when my kids are asleep, or when I get a chance to play 39 00:02:22,190 --> 00:02:26,450 with them, it's a lot of talking to people who are much smarter 40 00:02:26,540 --> 00:02:30,260 than me about, like, you know, why do video games scare us? 41 00:02:30,380 --> 00:02:35,480 Like, why are why do kids love to play scary video games? Like, 42 00:02:35,570 --> 00:02:39,080 what is interesting about that? And then I come to you and 43 00:02:39,110 --> 00:02:42,310 explain, this is what the smart people said. How can I explain 44 00:02:42,310 --> 00:02:43,840 it in a way that you can understand too? 45 00:02:44,530 --> 00:02:46,870 Jane: With Patrick's help, today we're going to start out on 46 00:02:47,020 --> 00:02:48,190 level one. 47 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,470 Emerson: My name's Emerson. I am seven years old. I'm from 48 00:02:52,470 --> 00:02:57,630 Wichita, Kansas, and I want to know, how are video games made? 49 00:02:57,630 --> 00:03:01,500 Emily: Hi, my name's Emily. I'm eight years old, and I live in 50 00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:05,910 Kaiser, Oregon. How are video games made? 51 00:03:05,910 --> 00:03:09,540 George: My name is George, and I'm from Sunnyvale, California. 52 00:03:09,540 --> 00:03:10,980 How are video games made? 53 00:03:11,745 --> 00:03:17,325 Kai: My name is Kai, and I'm five and a half years old, and I 54 00:03:17,325 --> 00:03:21,225 live in Fitchburg. How are video games made? 55 00:03:22,340 --> 00:03:27,920 Seamus: Hi, my name is Seamus, and I come from Live Oak, 56 00:03:28,010 --> 00:03:33,410 California, and I'm seven years old. How do we make video games? 57 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,430 Patrick: It starts with the story that you tell on a 58 00:03:36,430 --> 00:03:40,060 playground, or with your friends, or to yourself, like it 59 00:03:40,060 --> 00:03:43,600 is just an idea that somebody has. What happens after that, 60 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,960 though, is it's great to have ideas like I want a character to 61 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,440 go on a quest. Well, what are they going to do on that quest? 62 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,080 Here are different things they could do. Who are the characters 63 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,050 that they're going to meet? What are the actions they're going to 64 00:03:56,050 --> 00:03:59,665 take? What dangers are they going to encounter? And then you 65 00:03:59,665 --> 00:04:02,395 may have the idea for that story, but then all of a sudden 66 00:04:02,395 --> 00:04:05,335 you need friends to help you build out everything that's 67 00:04:05,335 --> 00:04:07,885 going to happen on that story, and maybe you're the one that's 68 00:04:07,885 --> 00:04:11,125 really great at coming up with the really snappy line of 69 00:04:11,125 --> 00:04:14,695 dialog, or the cool quest that they're going to go on, or how 70 00:04:14,695 --> 00:04:17,575 the hero is going to save the day, but then you might need 71 00:04:17,575 --> 00:04:20,785 your friends who can like make that appear on screen, who can 72 00:04:20,875 --> 00:04:23,920 draw up those characters, because we all have unique 73 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,950 talents and interests, and the cool thing about video games is 74 00:04:26,950 --> 00:04:30,730 that it takes advantage of all the fancy new technology, but 75 00:04:30,730 --> 00:04:33,940 also the same creative interests that we get to explore on a 76 00:04:33,940 --> 00:04:36,850 daily basis, and then puts it into the cool thing that we call 77 00:04:36,850 --> 00:04:39,760 a video game. It's sort of like when you're at school and you 78 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,670 get assigned into a group, and everyone has a different 79 00:04:42,670 --> 00:04:46,645 assignment on the project. Maybe you're a great artist, maybe you 80 00:04:46,645 --> 00:04:50,545 have great ideas, maybe you like writing words, maybe there's 81 00:04:50,545 --> 00:04:52,495 somebody who's really good at math, they understand how 82 00:04:52,495 --> 00:04:56,005 numbers work, and so when you see a character like Mario jump 83 00:04:56,005 --> 00:05:00,325 across the screen, someone came up with, why does he jump that 84 00:05:00,325 --> 00:05:03,535 high? Why does he run that fast? And someone programs a bunch of 85 00:05:03,535 --> 00:05:07,390 numbers into a computer that then, for you, become the game 86 00:05:07,390 --> 00:05:10,720 where you hold the A button down, and I can get Mario to 87 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:15,010 jump a little bit, or a lot, or walk slow, or run fast, and 88 00:05:15,010 --> 00:05:17,980 those people all come together with different skills and 89 00:05:17,980 --> 00:05:21,820 different talents, largely built on computers to make the games 90 00:05:21,820 --> 00:05:25,480 that you get to play at home, it takes a lot of time. It takes a 91 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,080 lot of talent, but it is the kind of thing that you can get 92 00:05:29,425 --> 00:05:33,745 these days. The tools are now readily available, so that even 93 00:05:33,745 --> 00:05:39,325 as young as 6,7,8,,9, there are ways where you can learn how to 94 00:05:39,325 --> 00:05:42,535 build simple video games. If you ever wanted to perhaps turn that 95 00:05:42,535 --> 00:05:44,035 into a career yourself. 96 00:05:44,035 --> 00:05:47,065 Jane: You know, when I was a kid, there were video games, and 97 00:05:47,065 --> 00:05:50,515 more complicated video games that you could play at home were 98 00:05:50,515 --> 00:05:54,010 just getting started, but they didn't feel like movies. But we 99 00:05:54,010 --> 00:05:56,650 had a series of books that I used to like to read, called 100 00:05:56,650 --> 00:06:00,760 Choose Your Own Adventure Books, and you could make the choice as 101 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,480 the reader, what you wanted the character to do next, and then 102 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:06,520 it would tell you to go to a certain page, and you'd go to 103 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,700 that page, and then the character would do the thing 104 00:06:09,700 --> 00:06:12,640 that you said they should do, and if you read the book again, 105 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:14,560 you might make different choices, and different things 106 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,565 would happen to the characters, and there weren't as many video 107 00:06:18,565 --> 00:06:21,895 games like that when I was a kid, and now it really is often 108 00:06:21,895 --> 00:06:24,565 these video games are choose your own adventures, so you, as 109 00:06:24,565 --> 00:06:28,045 the storyteller, have to have a lot of different possibilities 110 00:06:28,045 --> 00:06:32,005 for what might happen, depending on what the player decides is 111 00:06:32,005 --> 00:06:34,135 going to happen next for their character. 112 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:37,390 Patrick: Absolutely, and I think one of the big differences is, 113 00:06:37,390 --> 00:06:41,140 you know, when you and I were growing up, video games were 114 00:06:41,140 --> 00:06:43,990 still figuring out what they are. Can they tell stories? 115 00:06:43,990 --> 00:06:48,040 Video games didn't tell stories really when they got started. It 116 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,550 was, you're a spaceship, there are asteroids. Have you thought 117 00:06:51,550 --> 00:06:55,780 about blowing them up? You're Mario, there's a princess. Think 118 00:06:55,780 --> 00:06:59,545 about going and rescuing her. It isn't something that necessarily 119 00:06:59,545 --> 00:07:02,755 stirs emotion, but these days video games tell very 120 00:07:02,755 --> 00:07:06,295 complicated stories that allow us to experience and engage with 121 00:07:06,295 --> 00:07:10,375 all of the emotional spectrum. We can be happy, we can be sad, 122 00:07:10,375 --> 00:07:14,305 we can make choices to be good, we can make choices to be bad. 123 00:07:14,305 --> 00:07:18,445 Video game stories now allow us to explore the entire sort of 124 00:07:18,445 --> 00:07:22,240 human condition of like how we feel on a daily basis, the 125 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:26,560 stories we experience in movies and games are not that 126 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,160 dissimilar, like the feelings we can have in a book are something 127 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,430 we can explore in a video game, and the neat part about a video 128 00:07:33,430 --> 00:07:37,240 game is you get to be the participant, you get to choose 129 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,620 what that character does, you can for a moment go, hey, I'm a 130 00:07:41,620 --> 00:07:44,215 good person in real life, but like, I wonder what happens. 131 00:07:44,215 --> 00:07:48,085 What are the consequences if I'm a bad person in this video game? 132 00:07:48,085 --> 00:07:52,375 And it becomes a safe place to explore different ways that 133 00:07:52,375 --> 00:07:55,945 we're feeling. How might other people react to our actions in a 134 00:07:55,945 --> 00:07:59,725 way that doesn't necessarily impact our friends and family if 135 00:07:59,725 --> 00:08:02,425 we choose to act badly in front of them. 136 00:08:04,165 --> 00:08:06,385 Rafi: My name is Rafi. I'm eight years old and I live in Chicago 137 00:08:07,135 --> 00:08:08,005 Illinois. Why do games have levels? 138 00:08:08,060 --> 00:08:13,700 Patrick: Video games had levels because video games started out 139 00:08:13,700 --> 00:08:17,060 in the arcade. Video games used to be something that you had to 140 00:08:17,060 --> 00:08:22,130 go to a store that we called the arcade. There are arcades these 141 00:08:22,130 --> 00:08:26,030 days, but you couldn't play video games at home, and in the 142 00:08:26,030 --> 00:08:30,080 arcade you had to put in money, like quarters or dollars, in 143 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:34,295 order to play them, and they wanted you to lose the video 144 00:08:34,295 --> 00:08:39,485 game because they wanted you to give them more money, and so if 145 00:08:39,485 --> 00:08:42,575 you finished level one, but die at level two. You have to start 146 00:08:42,575 --> 00:08:46,685 back at level one, and that sort of basic idea of, hey, these 147 00:08:46,685 --> 00:08:50,855 video games need money in order to play, which allows the people 148 00:08:50,855 --> 00:08:54,995 who run the arcade to make money by buying the expensive arcade 149 00:08:54,995 --> 00:08:58,580 machines. The people who make the video games know that the 150 00:08:58,580 --> 00:09:01,850 person who buys the arcade machines can make money by 151 00:09:01,850 --> 00:09:06,140 having you play the video game, and so there is sort of a sort 152 00:09:06,140 --> 00:09:08,930 of economic money structure of like why video games have 153 00:09:08,930 --> 00:09:12,740 levels, and then also just like chapters in a book, it allows a 154 00:09:12,740 --> 00:09:17,480 video game to tell a story broken up into pieces. If you 155 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,095 play a Mario game, the first level might be in a desert area, 156 00:09:21,095 --> 00:09:25,415 the second level might be in a water area, and so it allows the 157 00:09:25,415 --> 00:09:28,295 people who make these games, like, hey, this is going to be 158 00:09:28,295 --> 00:09:31,295 the level that does this, this is going to be the level that 159 00:09:31,295 --> 00:09:34,445 does that, allows you to break that up into different teams 160 00:09:34,445 --> 00:09:38,045 that focus on that, allows the games to change course and 161 00:09:38,045 --> 00:09:41,600 change direction and try new things, and if you really like, 162 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,150 hey, I like this desert level, I'll just stay in the desert 163 00:09:44,150 --> 00:09:46,520 level, and I'm looking for something different today. Well, 164 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,610 I'll go to the water level, and so it allows games to be broken 165 00:09:49,610 --> 00:09:53,960 up into chapters like a book or acts in a play, and it also 166 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,740 allows the people who make the games to break it up into 167 00:09:57,740 --> 00:10:01,790 different chunks that allow them to work on it in different sets 168 00:10:01,790 --> 00:10:03,380 of teams as they build it. 169 00:10:03,530 --> 00:10:06,905 Jane: So while video game levels started in part as a way for 170 00:10:06,905 --> 00:10:10,865 companies to make money in an arcade type setting, they also 171 00:10:10,865 --> 00:10:16,295 acted like a sandbox for developers to test new ideas. 172 00:10:16,295 --> 00:10:19,745 Whoever invented the video game must be really cashing in on all 173 00:10:19,745 --> 00:10:20,375 of this. 174 00:10:20,390 --> 00:10:23,540 Felix: Hi, my name is Felix. I'm nine years old, and I'm from 175 00:10:23,630 --> 00:10:26,900 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. And my question is, Who invented 176 00:10:26,900 --> 00:10:27,950 video games? 177 00:10:27,950 --> 00:10:31,490 Cowen: My name is Cohen. I am nine years old. I live in 178 00:10:31,490 --> 00:10:36,530 Minnesota. And my question is, who invented the first video 179 00:10:36,530 --> 00:10:38,750 game? 180 00:10:38,660 --> 00:10:41,750 Harrison: Hello, and my name is Harrison, and I'm six years old, 181 00:10:41,750 --> 00:10:45,980 and I'd like to know who invented video games, and who 182 00:10:45,980 --> 00:10:52,070 got the idea, and how, when, and why did they do it. 183 00:10:52,070 --> 00:10:55,400 Floyd: My name is Floyd, and I'm seven years old, and I'm from 184 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:00,440 San Jose, California. I want to know how video games got 185 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:00,980 invented. 186 00:11:01,535 --> 00:11:06,305 Patrick: There is not one single person who invented video games. 187 00:11:06,305 --> 00:11:09,545 In fact, there is not even really agreement on what the 188 00:11:09,545 --> 00:11:12,545 first video game was. 189 00:11:12,545 --> 00:11:14,165 Jane: Oh, that's Auggie's question. 190 00:11:14,165 --> 00:11:20,015 Auggie: I'm from Lake Oswego, Oregon. I'm seven and a half 191 00:11:20,015 --> 00:11:28,820 years old in my question is, what was the oldest video game? 192 00:11:28,820 --> 00:11:30,830 Patrick: Video games were, you know, tied to some of the 193 00:11:30,830 --> 00:11:33,200 earliest computer technology, and so then it becomes a 194 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:38,090 question of what, what is a video game? When did we define 195 00:11:38,090 --> 00:11:43,400 that this is a video game, there are examples of a video game 196 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:48,815 called Tennis for Two, which was used as a demonstration of, if 197 00:11:48,815 --> 00:11:51,515 you can think of table tennis with like two little paddles, 198 00:11:51,515 --> 00:11:53,645 like ping pong, that was showing off an early computer 199 00:11:53,645 --> 00:11:57,365 technology. Well, nobody could buy that, that was a public 200 00:11:57,365 --> 00:11:59,945 demonstration, you had to go somewhere to watch someone show 201 00:11:59,945 --> 00:12:03,785 you, look what this computer can do. The tennis for two is in 202 00:12:03,785 --> 00:12:08,975 1958 which goes to show how long video games have been around. 203 00:12:08,975 --> 00:12:12,800 And tennis for two, you know, becomes this early demonstration 204 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,290 of computer technology, but you couldn't buy it, you couldn't 205 00:12:15,290 --> 00:12:17,810 take it home. There was no arcade to go to. It was 206 00:12:17,810 --> 00:12:20,930 something you could see demonstrated in public. It 207 00:12:20,930 --> 00:12:26,180 wasn't until we get games like Pong, which is just another form 208 00:12:26,180 --> 00:12:30,650 of table tennis. Lots of early video games were grasping at 209 00:12:30,650 --> 00:12:34,715 what can we display on these computers that is simple, but 210 00:12:34,715 --> 00:12:37,745 that people will also understand, and the idea of two 211 00:12:37,745 --> 00:12:41,975 lines hitting a ball back and forth became one of the earliest 212 00:12:41,975 --> 00:12:45,785 and most common examples of what a video game could be, and then 213 00:12:45,785 --> 00:12:48,365 all video games kind of come forth from that, which is, well, 214 00:12:48,365 --> 00:12:52,535 if we could do that, what else could we put on the screen. 215 00:12:52,659 --> 00:12:56,199 Henry: Hi, I'm Henry, I'm eight years old, I live in 216 00:12:56,289 --> 00:13:00,989 Tenterfield, Australia, and my question is, Why do people 217 00:13:01,139 --> 00:13:04,739 create game controls, and why are they expensive? 218 00:13:05,220 --> 00:13:08,700 Patrick: Video games have always been expensive. Video games have 219 00:13:09,270 --> 00:13:13,830 video games exist because they originally were examples of new 220 00:13:13,980 --> 00:13:17,640 computer technology, and so video games have always been at 221 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:21,470 the forefront of demonstrating, wow, look at this new piece of 222 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,950 technology. Look, how amazing the graphics are. Look, how 223 00:13:25,190 --> 00:13:30,200 realistic it looks. Video games started out not with reflecting 224 00:13:30,890 --> 00:13:33,950 a version of real life, like a lot of video games do these 225 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,010 days, but like tiny little abstractions, like little 226 00:13:37,070 --> 00:13:39,170 pixels, in which you have to squint, and like, I guess that 227 00:13:39,260 --> 00:13:43,480 looks like an asteroid, I guess that looks like a person, and I 228 00:13:43,570 --> 00:13:46,630 think you'll notice, like, if you go to a museum and have old 229 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,290 computers, computers used to fill a warehouse, they used to 230 00:13:50,380 --> 00:13:54,010 fill a building, they used to fill a room, and over time, 231 00:13:54,670 --> 00:13:57,610 like, let's say you had, if you have a watch, a computer watch 232 00:13:57,730 --> 00:13:59,650 on your wrist that, like, lets you call your mom and dad, 233 00:13:59,980 --> 00:14:04,200 that's a tiny little computer. Computers have gotten smaller 234 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,530 and smaller, and more and more powerful. And what people 235 00:14:07,620 --> 00:14:12,510 discovered was, oh, the giant arcade machines - we can shrink 236 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,470 those down, and we can put that in people's homes, where they 237 00:14:16,500 --> 00:14:20,070 don't have to go to the arcade, they don't have to use an arcade 238 00:14:20,130 --> 00:14:23,660 machine. The arcade machine can just be at home. It can be on my 239 00:14:23,870 --> 00:14:28,460 Nintendo machine, it can be on my Apple TV, and so rather than 240 00:14:28,670 --> 00:14:31,430 having to go to a movie theater to watch a movie, instead of 241 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,750 having to go to an arcade to play a video game, suddenly you 242 00:14:35,810 --> 00:14:38,810 could play a version of that arcade machine of that video 243 00:14:38,900 --> 00:14:41,800 game at the arcade, and then maybe a year later you could 244 00:14:41,860 --> 00:14:44,830 play it at home, just like you might watch a movie at the movie 245 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:47,800 theater, and then, oops, it's on streaming, or my parents can 246 00:14:47,890 --> 00:14:51,430 rent it at home a couple of months later, and that's that's 247 00:14:51,430 --> 00:14:55,360 how video games eventually came in to everybody's homes. As for 248 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,420 why they're expensive, it's because phones are expensive, 249 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,370 tablets are expensive. These use really fancy pieces of 250 00:15:02,460 --> 00:15:06,900 technology, and as a result, they end up costing quite a bit 251 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:07,260 of money. 252 00:15:07,900 --> 00:15:10,870 Jane: Coming up, what do we do when we just want to keep 253 00:15:10,870 --> 00:15:14,800 playing and playing and playing and never stop? 254 00:15:14,870 --> 00:15:18,380 This is But Why. I'm Jane Lindholm. Today we're talking 255 00:15:18,380 --> 00:15:21,680 about video games with Patrick Klepek, who writes about video 256 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,160 games and kids and parenting. We've been talking about the 257 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:30,470 games themselves, but what about how we feel about video games? 258 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:35,520 Araya: Hello, my name is Araya, and I live in Oakville, Ontario. 259 00:15:35,910 --> 00:15:40,050 I am nine years old, and my question is, why do I like 260 00:15:40,050 --> 00:15:41,730 playing video games so much? 261 00:15:42,249 --> 00:15:47,079 Zane: My name is Zane. I'm from Green Hill, Kansas. My age is 262 00:15:47,469 --> 00:15:51,969 eight. And my question is, why are video games fun? 263 00:15:52,390 --> 00:15:56,170 Patrick: Video games are fun in the same way that is fun to play 264 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:01,830 baseball or basketball, or what do you enjoy doing the thing 265 00:16:01,890 --> 00:16:05,310 about video games today. Video games, you know, when we're 266 00:16:05,370 --> 00:16:08,460 talking about tennis for two, or like ancient video games, there 267 00:16:08,550 --> 00:16:10,590 weren't a lot of options. There weren't a lot of different 268 00:16:10,620 --> 00:16:14,700 styles of video games. Lots of video games start out as trying 269 00:16:14,730 --> 00:16:18,450 to capture something in the real world, you know, like it's fun 270 00:16:18,540 --> 00:16:22,640 to kick a ball, it's fun to like swing my leg and like watch that 271 00:16:22,700 --> 00:16:27,200 ball go forward, okay. But it's night time, I don't have a ball, 272 00:16:27,470 --> 00:16:31,340 like it. What if we just did that in a video game? And a 273 00:16:31,430 --> 00:16:35,060 video game doesn't, it doesn't need to be daytime out. I can 274 00:16:35,210 --> 00:16:38,780 invent people to be here. Why are we here? Actually, that ball 275 00:16:38,870 --> 00:16:42,940 can be a fireball, and all of a sudden, video games allow you to 276 00:16:43,270 --> 00:16:46,570 express yourself and to let an imagination run wild. You are 277 00:16:46,630 --> 00:16:52,120 not constrained by well, recess is only half an hour, it can be 278 00:16:52,210 --> 00:16:54,940 as long as you want, or at least as long as your parents will let 279 00:16:55,060 --> 00:16:56,500 you continue playing the video game. 280 00:16:56,750 --> 00:16:59,630 Abe: My name is Abe. I live in Charlottesville, Virginia. And 281 00:16:59,630 --> 00:17:02,000 my question is, why are video games addictive? 282 00:17:02,570 --> 00:17:07,970 Casey: Hi, my name is Casey, and I'm four years old, and I live 283 00:17:08,300 --> 00:17:14,420 in New Wilmington, North Carolina. My question is, why 284 00:17:14,510 --> 00:17:18,860 does games turn your brain to mush? 285 00:17:20,180 --> 00:17:23,435 Isaac: I'm Isaac. I'm seven years old. I'm from Lakewood, 286 00:17:23,435 --> 00:17:28,685 Colorado. My question is, why are video games addictive? 287 00:17:28,685 --> 00:17:33,185 Adrian: My name is Adrian. I am 10 years old, and I live in 288 00:17:33,185 --> 00:17:37,295 Happy Valley, Oregon. My question is, why are video games 289 00:17:37,295 --> 00:17:39,155 so addictive? 290 00:17:39,155 --> 00:17:46,790 Taj: Hi, my name is Taj. I live in Utah. My age is seven. My 291 00:17:46,790 --> 00:17:51,140 question is why are video games addicted? 292 00:17:51,650 --> 00:17:52,340 Adult: Addictive. 293 00:17:52,490 --> 00:17:53,540 Taj: Addictive. 294 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,320 Patrick: Well, it turns out like anything else, it is best 295 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,320 experienced in what one might call moderation. If you, for 296 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:06,890 example, love soda, and someone told you you can drink soda all 297 00:18:06,890 --> 00:18:12,020 day. I think at some point your stomach might feel upset. And 298 00:18:12,020 --> 00:18:15,530 video games work in the same way, they're fun, they're 299 00:18:15,530 --> 00:18:19,775 interesting, they make us feel things, but just like the 300 00:18:19,775 --> 00:18:23,825 endless supply of soda, at some point you have to do something 301 00:18:23,825 --> 00:18:27,845 else, and video games are just like anything else in your life 302 00:18:27,845 --> 00:18:32,645 that makes you happy. Eventually, you have to find 303 00:18:32,645 --> 00:18:36,275 variety in your life to do other things, to be around other 304 00:18:36,275 --> 00:18:39,935 people, and video games eventually hit that point as 305 00:18:39,935 --> 00:18:44,360 well. When you play a game like Fortnite, it's exhilarating and 306 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:48,410 exciting. You can achieve victory. It's competition. Other 307 00:18:48,410 --> 00:18:52,370 video games allow you to explore stories and emotions. Other 308 00:18:52,370 --> 00:18:56,270 video games, sometimes called cozy games, are really just 309 00:18:56,270 --> 00:18:59,510 about building things, like I want to stack blocks, Minecraft, 310 00:18:59,510 --> 00:19:02,615 in which, like, I just want to build a world. It's not the 311 00:19:02,615 --> 00:19:05,945 video games turn our brains too mush. It's more that we need to 312 00:19:05,945 --> 00:19:09,395 experience them like everything in life in moderation. We're 313 00:19:09,395 --> 00:19:12,125 like a little bit of a video game here, a little bit of 314 00:19:12,125 --> 00:19:15,455 watching a movie here, a little bit of reading a book there. 315 00:19:15,455 --> 00:19:18,665 Video games are really no different than anything else we 316 00:19:18,665 --> 00:19:22,745 enjoy in life. It's mostly that we can only do it for so long 317 00:19:22,745 --> 00:19:26,060 before our body, our brains desire something else. Our 318 00:19:26,060 --> 00:19:31,040 brains want to be stimulated, and as many video games as there 319 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:33,830 are, as many different types of video games as they are, as many 320 00:19:33,830 --> 00:19:37,490 different worlds you can go to in a video game, a healthy, 321 00:19:37,490 --> 00:19:40,640 balanced life is one in which video games are a part of it, 322 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:44,090 and it's up to us, our parents, the other people in our life to 323 00:19:44,090 --> 00:19:47,930 help us understand, like, hey, I know we're having a good time, 324 00:19:47,990 --> 00:19:50,435 but I think we need to balance that out with other things. 325 00:19:50,435 --> 00:19:52,865 Jane: And Patrick, in some cases, I mean, you mentioned 326 00:19:52,865 --> 00:19:55,445 that a lot of video game developers develop a game 327 00:19:55,445 --> 00:19:57,935 because they have a story they want to tell, or they find this 328 00:19:57,935 --> 00:20:01,595 immersive world that's so cool. And they want other people to be 329 00:20:01,595 --> 00:20:04,925 able to experience it, but there are also really big companies 330 00:20:04,925 --> 00:20:08,435 behind these games, and, and they know how our brains work, 331 00:20:08,435 --> 00:20:11,690 and they know how to make games that make you want to play more, 332 00:20:11,690 --> 00:20:15,740 because that's good for them, and so we, we have to think a 333 00:20:15,740 --> 00:20:19,370 little bit sometimes too, that these game developers are often 334 00:20:19,370 --> 00:20:22,460 putting things into the games to make us want to keep playing, 335 00:20:22,460 --> 00:20:26,480 and not stop, and so we have to be aware of that, because we're 336 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,840 not going to want to stop, and they don't want us to stop, but 337 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,590 they know the psychology, they know how to make people want to 338 00:20:33,590 --> 00:20:37,955 keep playing, so there there are times where it's not just a fun 339 00:20:37,955 --> 00:20:40,625 thing that people want you to be able to share, but there there 340 00:20:40,625 --> 00:20:42,785 are businesses that are trying to get you to play more. 341 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,140 Patrick: Yes, video games don't exist unless there is someone to 342 00:20:46,140 --> 00:20:50,880 make money off of the video game that you are playing. And a lot 343 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,850 these days, the video games don't actually cost you 344 00:20:53,850 --> 00:20:57,900 anything, you know. Roblox does not cost anything to download, 345 00:20:57,900 --> 00:21:01,470 but if you play a Roblox game, I'm sure you've encountered, if 346 00:21:01,470 --> 00:21:05,145 you've been given permission to play Roblox, immediately you 347 00:21:05,145 --> 00:21:07,845 will see a pop-up that says, "Hey, would you like a 348 00:21:07,845 --> 00:21:12,045 checkpoint for 100 Robux about $1? Like, "Hey, would you like 349 00:21:12,045 --> 00:21:15,795 this cool costume for a couple of dollars? And so that is how, 350 00:21:15,795 --> 00:21:19,425 even though the game itself doesn't cost any money, there 351 00:21:19,425 --> 00:21:23,895 is, the people who make these games the one who entice you? 352 00:21:23,895 --> 00:21:28,500 The phrase often used is FOMO, fear of missing out, which is 353 00:21:28,500 --> 00:21:31,470 like you see another player, maybe it's a friend, maybe it's 354 00:21:31,470 --> 00:21:35,910 a stranger, ah, they've got that cool like blue shirt on, like I 355 00:21:35,910 --> 00:21:39,450 want that cool blue shirt. Well, you can just walk around the 356 00:21:39,450 --> 00:21:43,530 corner and if your parents say yes or you have the Robux in 357 00:21:43,530 --> 00:21:47,550 your account, well, you can buy that blue shirt too. And so you 358 00:21:47,550 --> 00:21:50,880 have to remember when you play these things, sometimes people 359 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,435 make a video game and they just release it into the world 360 00:21:54,435 --> 00:21:56,565 because it's something they wanted to make and express 361 00:21:56,565 --> 00:22:01,335 themselves. More often than not, it is a combination of someone 362 00:22:01,335 --> 00:22:04,155 wanting to express themselves and other people wanting to make 363 00:22:04,155 --> 00:22:07,275 money, and there's a tension between those two things, you 364 00:22:07,275 --> 00:22:09,255 know. In the same way that you have to buy a ticket when you go 365 00:22:09,255 --> 00:22:12,255 to the movie theater, that movie can't exist unless someone can 366 00:22:12,255 --> 00:22:16,050 make money on it. And so it then it becomes important for 367 00:22:16,050 --> 00:22:19,800 ourselves to understand why these things exist. Why are they 368 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:22,860 asking money from me, and also the people in our lives, like 369 00:22:22,860 --> 00:22:27,030 our parents, to help us, like, understand, like, "Hey, I think 370 00:22:27,030 --> 00:22:29,400 you've had enough. I don't think we need to spend the money on 371 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,280 this, and that is just like in real life, it's learning to 372 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:36,150 understand how we spend our time, how we spend our money, 373 00:22:36,150 --> 00:22:39,795 and how sometimes these games, much like in real life, might be 374 00:22:39,825 --> 00:22:43,275 asking more of us than we actually have access to, and we 375 00:22:43,275 --> 00:22:46,425 have to learn our own limits, and what do we really want 376 00:22:46,515 --> 00:22:49,155 versus what does this thing think we want. 377 00:22:49,690 --> 00:22:52,210 Jane: Patrick, if kids want to get involved in video game 378 00:22:52,300 --> 00:22:54,880 development, do you have any advice for them? 379 00:22:55,479 --> 00:22:59,589 Patrick: Yes, first think about what are you good at, what do 380 00:22:59,679 --> 00:23:01,979 you like, what are you interested in? Because, like, 381 00:23:02,099 --> 00:23:06,209 anything else, you can become good at something if you spend 382 00:23:06,209 --> 00:23:10,919 the time and the effort, and maybe I really want to learn how 383 00:23:11,159 --> 00:23:15,149 to help the character, like, walk on the screen, like, I want 384 00:23:15,209 --> 00:23:18,479 to, like, be the person that, like, makes the guts of the 385 00:23:18,539 --> 00:23:23,869 video game work. There are so many tools these days that make 386 00:23:23,989 --> 00:23:28,549 it so they can turn what's called a video game programming 387 00:23:28,609 --> 00:23:31,429 language. It's all the ones and zeros behind the scenes that 388 00:23:31,579 --> 00:23:35,659 make a video game function. You can just like write sentences 389 00:23:35,869 --> 00:23:38,599 like this is what I want to happen, and you can drag and 390 00:23:38,629 --> 00:23:42,759 drop these sentences, and then the program does the work to 391 00:23:42,969 --> 00:23:47,019 make that appear on screen, so that you can start from one one 392 00:23:47,469 --> 00:23:50,079 part of this, which is like I have an idea, and then the 393 00:23:50,229 --> 00:23:53,559 program is going to let you figure out, hey, you take this 394 00:23:53,679 --> 00:23:57,009 idea, you write it into words, and then it appears on screen, 395 00:23:57,429 --> 00:24:00,039 and if you're still interested, well, hey, hey, hey, come behind 396 00:24:00,129 --> 00:24:03,269 the scenes, like these are what these words are doing, and you 397 00:24:03,329 --> 00:24:08,669 can go layer by layer by layer to understand how video games 398 00:24:08,849 --> 00:24:09,209 are made. 399 00:24:09,330 --> 00:24:11,760 Jane: Patrick says these days there are a lot of free things 400 00:24:11,910 --> 00:24:14,550 you can do to start exploring how video games are made. 401 00:24:14,780 --> 00:24:17,750 Patrick: You can start as easy as going on YouTube and looking 402 00:24:17,750 --> 00:24:20,570 up video game tutorials. Oftentimes, in those tutorial 403 00:24:20,570 --> 00:24:25,220 videos, they will link in the description. Here, here's how 404 00:24:25,220 --> 00:24:27,470 these video games are made. Here's where you can get these 405 00:24:27,470 --> 00:24:30,860 tools, and these are things you can get on your tablets, on your 406 00:24:30,860 --> 00:24:34,610 computers. They will run on very simple computers. You don't need 407 00:24:34,610 --> 00:24:38,705 a flashy, high-end gaming PC with all the colored lights and 408 00:24:38,705 --> 00:24:41,585 big fans. These are things you can do on your phone, on your 409 00:24:41,585 --> 00:24:44,795 tablet, on your computer, that you get at school. You can start 410 00:24:44,795 --> 00:24:48,425 learning how to make video games, and if you don't have 411 00:24:48,425 --> 00:24:52,415 access to any of that, one simple trick that a lot of video 412 00:24:52,415 --> 00:24:56,495 game developers do is they look at a video game and then try and 413 00:24:56,495 --> 00:25:00,005 break it down on pen and paper. You just get a piece of paper 414 00:25:00,050 --> 00:25:03,950 out, and you think about what is happening in the video game. If 415 00:25:03,950 --> 00:25:07,580 I had to explain to someone how this game works, how would I 416 00:25:07,580 --> 00:25:10,460 write that down? And just breaking it down sentence by 417 00:25:10,460 --> 00:25:14,480 sentence will help you better understand what the video game 418 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,200 is, what it's doing, how you're interacting with it, and that's 419 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,660 how a video game starts. 420 00:25:20,639 --> 00:25:24,359 Jane: A little understanding can go a long way in how we play and 421 00:25:24,422 --> 00:25:27,638 think about our favorite games, and maybe Patrick's 422 00:25:27,701 --> 00:25:31,611 encouragement will help set you on a path to start making your 423 00:25:31,674 --> 00:25:35,521 own games. Thanks to Patrick Klepek for sharing his expertise 424 00:25:35,584 --> 00:25:39,115 with us this episode. If you want to read what he writes 425 00:25:39,178 --> 00:25:43,088 about video games, you and your adults can check out Crossplay 426 00:25:43,151 --> 00:25:47,187 online at Crossplay.news. That's it for this episode. As always, 427 00:25:47,250 --> 00:25:50,971 if you have a question about anything, have an adult record 428 00:25:51,034 --> 00:25:54,817 you asking it on a smartphone. You can use an app like Voice 429 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:57,718 Memos, then have your adult email the file to 430 00:25:57,781 --> 00:26:01,565 questions@ButWhyKids.org. But Why is produced by Sarah Baik, 431 00:26:01,628 --> 00:26:05,411 Melody Bodette, and me, Jane Lindholm, at Vermont Public and 432 00:26:05,474 --> 00:26:09,132 distributed by PRX. Our video producer and today's episode 433 00:26:09,195 --> 00:26:12,726 producer is Joey Palumbo, and our theme music is by Luke 434 00:26:12,789 --> 00:26:16,699 Reynolds. 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