ABSTRACT
Popular debates about computer games rage as the media literacy of young people increases apace. Adults fail to grasp the allure of the gaming environment, dismissing it as frivolous or, invariably, dangerous; indeed, cyber space has considerable potential for fomenting new moral panics centred on this novel aspect of young people’s leisure lives. However, computer games are central to the lives of many young people. Online gaming-the ability to play against other gamers across the Internet-has only added to the form’s potency. Well established in the computer games platform, net-play is now a major feature of every next-generation gaming console. A U.K. survey highlighted that 82 per cent of nine-to nineteen-year-olds have at least one games console, and that 70 per cent play computer games online. The survey also acknowledged that most young people spend nearly as much time playing video/computer games as they do with homework (Livingstone and Bober 2005: 10).
