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Games blamed for National Parks' decline

University of Illinois research touts "Nintendo vs. Nature" hypothesis, which fingers the "sedentary lifestyle" promoted by gaming for shrinking park attendance.

Games have long been blamed by social conservatives and certain psychologists for encouraging slothful and/or violent behavior in America's youth. Now, a new study has surfaced that blames games for another societal ill--the decline of America's National Park Service.

A report this week on National Public Radio highlighted a controversial study performed by Oliver Pergams, an assistant professor in biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Titled "Nintendo vs. Nature" Pergams' study was recently featured in the Journal of Environmental Management. It asserts that the emergence of video games, the Internet, and other forms of indoor media has a direct correlation with the per capita fall of attendance at US national parks.

"So, we think it likely that these kinds of increases in sedentary lifestyles and recreation not only affect how much time people have to go to national parks, but how much they want to go to national parks," Pergams told NPR.

Pergams' research was spurred by a per capita decline of attendance at national parks. In 1987, each US citizen took an average of 1.2 trips per person per year to a national park. By 2003, though, that number had fallen to 0.9 trips per person per year. The NPR piece did not mention the fact that, according to the 2000 US Census, the US population increased by over 32 million during the 1990s. It should also be noted the majority of that population growth was in crowded urban areas, many of which are not close to a national park.

Though NPR was quick to seize on the study's antigames angle, Pergams told the site ScienceDaily.com that his research is far from infallible. "This is no smoking gun," he said. "We're showing statistically that the rise in use of these various types of media...is so highly correlated with the decline in national park visits that there is likely to be some association." The NPR report also only briefly touched on another factor that Pergams said is contributing to the decline in the per capita average of national park visitors--rising gas prices.

262 Comments

  • freakykidd

    Posted Jul 31, 2006 2:29 pm GMT

    God... I dont blame the guy who did the study, I blame the people who saw 'Video Games' in the study and decided to blame them alone. B*****ds.

  • XxKnightHawkxX

    Posted Jul 29, 2006 12:48 pm GMT

    Maybe us gamers should do research on why these people are researching us when they could be going to national parks instead of wasting their time.

  • Acobb8787

    Posted Jul 28, 2006 2:36 pm GMT

    I think the comment regarding the increase in population in urban areas is a key factor, and it is disappointing that NPR didn't mention that as a possible reason.

    Solution: If they started growing high-def TV's in the national parks....

    Solution 2: Make a "Go to a National Park" video game!!! Drive Master Chief to a local National Park in a Gran Turismo Nissan Skyline where, as one might expect, Dr. Robotnik has plans to decrease attendance at national parks by getting kids hooked on video games. Kill Dr. Robotnik and save the day!

    Take THAT NPR!

  • sdcazares1980

    Posted Jul 28, 2006 11:44 am GMT

    Has the author of the study ever consider that people just don't have the money or the time to go to National Parks? I mean, c'mon now, does the author seriously expect anyone to make trips to National Parks a regular, daily event?

  • willripyouanew1

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 5:51 pm GMT

    There's nothing like sitting back and watch your fatass grow, AWWWW YEAHHH !!

  • Nawras

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 10:55 pm GMT

    Um....

  • i_love_my_ds

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 3:57 pm GMT

    maybe some people just dont care about parks....

  • CyberSkull

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 3:33 pm GMT

    Here is a factor not considered: The park's marketing budget. Seriously, they gotta advertise more.

  • TckeyTheGlove

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 2:04 pm GMT

    (God, blame everything on games. It will be cancer next.)
    I don't think anyone wants to go to national parks, let alone just gamers. All that's there are trees and animals, all of which can be seen in games.

  • DarkSaber2k

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 10:15 am GMT

    ROFL Kingsnake! Very well put.

  • Kingsnake976

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 9:35 am GMT

    "Top Video-game manufacturers tremble in fear as master plan for making American children fat, lazy and pale is uncovered by NPR and a crack team of UI researchers....
    In a related story, Ronald McDonald has apparently fled the country.....

    More on these and other stories tonight at 10...."

  • usyagi_2004

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 9:02 am GMT

    Are games becoming a reson for anything. Global warming and war and Walmart's world domination must be caused by video games because they are killing the parks. Come on.

  • Bahamut50

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 6:52 am GMT

    DwxThrasher, the fact is, instead of saying rise in technology does this, THEY SAID RISE IN VIDEOGAMES DOES THIS. so dont make statements you dont think through

  • shasam712

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 2:40 am GMT

    Well, whatever people say this guy is right. Video Games are probably causing a decline in people who want to go to a national park. Fair enough, its probably true. The real thing that we should be saying is "this is a bad thing why???"

    Video games are more fun, for a majority of people I would guess, than going to a national park. I know which one I would rather do. We are moving into a different age. Before you would have to entertain yourself, by going out and doing whatever it is you do on those kinds of trips. Now you can stay at home and all the information and entertainment you ever could want will come to you. Naturally, certain people are not going to like what is happening, but it is happening non-the-less.

    The way I see it is that this is a win win situation. The national parks will stay nice and clean and tidy thanks to no one being there who doesn't want to be there, and we gamers can stay at home a play games. Its not clear from the article whether this researcher has marked this as a problem with society or not, I am guessing that he is merely making an observation.

  • dexter111344

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 8:49 pm GMT

    "More people eat McDonalds because of the increase of white rappers, such as mc chris and Eminem," says University of Illinois researcher.

    The closest park to me would be in South Carolina... that is pretty far away.

  • akito345

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 5:31 pm GMT

    ppl blaming everything on games again its the new scape goat of the yr right next to tv, and the internet

  • popsadent

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 2:44 pm GMT

    Next topic

    "Cars blamed for less use of horses." says Illinois reps

  • JLCrogue

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 2:05 pm GMT

    They're just jealous that videogames are a lot more fun than nature!!

  • t-roland

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 1:47 pm GMT

    Oh but c'mon! Not again...

  • ocdog45

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 1:32 pm GMT

    Wrong! Actually if a kid goes to a park. its not because he wanted to go untill games came around. its because there parents either asked them to go or made them go and either way they'd proabably be going.

  • VolcanoMan001

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 1:23 pm GMT

    Man... when will everyone stop hatin' on video games!? If it isn't hollywood, it is lawyers, lawmakers, congressman and now... parks and wildlife? Sheesh.

    I am convinced now that I am going to write my thesis paper on how everyone has had it all wrong, videogames do not cause crime, they lower it because it keeps kids busy rather than idle!

  • rasds

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 1:18 pm GMT

    That's plain stupid everyone knows that this is not the situation, that professor wants to find a excuse because the park isn't visited, give me a break man

  • thedarklordrand

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 1:00 pm GMT

    Wow and I thought I had too much time on my hands

  • GCN49

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 12:49 pm GMT

    "it's the game's fault"... yet another reason why I don't listen to NPR... so they take a legitimate study that says that media, games, gas prices, television, and the internet all are playing apart in a small decline in National Park visits... ok, that sounds reasonable... but what isn't at all reasonable is the fact that NPR only talks about half of the things that play a part in this decline... games being what they focus on the most... and it also doesn't help that the study is called "Nintendo vs. Nature"... sounds like the study's proprietors have something against gaming... I also highly doubt they have Nintendo's permission to use their copyrighted and trademarked name in their study's title...

  • mc2k4

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 12:30 pm GMT

    Situation #1: Poop in a national park, thus destroying several plants, and maybe even some wildlife animals (perhaps some small ones).

    Situation #2 (get it, #2?): Poop in your own bathroom, in your own house, while playing your PSP or DS, thus saving wildlife!

    The national park services should be happy with this one. I'll write the letter.

  • Cunder

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:58 am GMT

    They wanna pull a gun to everyones head and force them to go to a National Park? =| maybe ppl just don't wanna have to go over and over and over? Personally I haven't been to one but it's not the fact games are behind it all. It's the fact that it's to long. Nor do I have the kids of my own to show them places like that. Go back to studing and stop complaining about games making everyone lazy. They say Tv would turn ppl in to zombies back when tv was introduce to our world. But i don't think he mattered much later on did it. =|

  • YepImHigh

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:53 am GMT

    I think national parks are boring, theyre like fireworks.............theyre just overly hyped

    thats why i dont go to them

    and the gas prices are crazy insane now and the closest nation park is like in canada

  • Atomic_Mutant

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:53 am GMT

    A viral campaign should be adopted involving either Final Fantasy XIII, Halo 3, or GTA4 that extends its invasive marketing reach in distributing invaluable clues to the details about these ultra-hyped games in all our beautiful, virgin natural frontiers. That would not only serve to pique interest and exposure to the national park services, but also exploit the rabid fanboyism that permeates the gaming scene to present us a such a rare sight of Jeff Gerstmann snooping around a sequoia stump...

    Videogames are a waste of time. Visiting a park is not as worse a waste. People tend to enjoy wasting their time if they can help it. It's a law of our nature...

  • Kfoss

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:42 am GMT

    riiiiggghhhhtt..no it wouldnt haVE ANY THING TO DO WITH HIGH GAS PRICES!, ALMOST ZILCH ON THE VACATION METER!, AND THE FACT THAT MOST PEOPLE HERE IN STATES...LIVE FAR AWAY FROM...national parks...TOOO!!
    no its not that...
    and also "We're showing statistically that the rise in use of these various types of media...is so highly correlated with the decline in national park visits that there is likely to be some association."

    i dont get this how can you have a high corolation with a likely to be some association!?!?!?!?!? that dosent make sense!
    so yeaaa this guy really dosent know what hes talking about dose he?!?.... hes just grabbing raw data and making some general conclusion!!
    nice...
    i think we need a study on botched video game studies that proves that such studies have a high corolation for giving gamers ulcers and are likely related to being botched.

  • xdude85

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:37 am GMT

    Seriously, who cares, I mean just 'cause no one is going to a park doesn't mean video games are to blame.

  • darthkyle121

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:34 am GMT

    wait...the attendance to national parks used to be higher, zomg!

  • capthunt

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:32 am GMT

    Wow now they are blaming games for declining national park visits. This is so pathetic. GG idiots on ur worhtless and wasted research.

  • Sw0rDMaN

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:26 am GMT

    Wow i dont see a point between Nintendo and national Parks..
    Maybe they see a decline of people going there because National Parks are boring thats it

  • Sociologist

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:19 am GMT

    First rule of statistics and any quantitative analysis:

    CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION.

    For all we know, there could be many confounding relationships at play here which weaken the strength of the relationship between park attendence and video game use. Don't fall for headline grabbing garbage such as this, and read more in depth. ;-). Respected institution or not, this study seems like a waste of time and I would like to see his Regression results, because something isn't right here, IMHO.

  • InfectX

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:18 am GMT

    hippies

  • saf_jut

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 11:11 am GMT

    maybe poeple are so f*k*n busy they dont have time 2 goto national parks !!!!!

  • godoftheds

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:42 am GMT

    o boohoo go cry somewhere else ;_;... ALBINOS HAVE RIGHTS TOO!

  • Deranged_Minds

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:32 am GMT

    Why does this matter? It's not like you have to pay to get into a freakin' park, so it's no effect on any business. Why are people wasting their time with this kind of garbage? I'm sure there's some real problems out there that people could put there minds on, but no; people feel the need to make video games seem worse, and worse. Whose idea was it to do this research anyways? Were there people sitting in a room going, "Hey, you know how games are somehow a major issue in the government right now? Yeah, let's find another way to make them seem bad. Even though we'll have absolutely no evidence, we'll feed it to the media anyways. It'll be cool, trust me, all the cool kids are doing it now."

  • marcus1968

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:28 am GMT

    In Quebec, Canada, the Parks are doing a booming business. I worked at a Park for 5 summers and attendance increased each year...

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:21 am GMT

    i dont see who wants to go to national parks anyways

  • hemakm3

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:20 am GMT

    Most people visit a national park on vacation---People havent stopped vacations just to stay home and play Nintendo. They're just going less to national parks.

  • smbius

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:16 am GMT

    Jonajacket...not alot of these gamers have girlfriends....hehe. I also forgot to mention the factor of weather. Most places in northern california (where there are plenty of nice parks) are over 100 degrees in heat.

  • jonajacket

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:14 am GMT

    I haven't read the whole thread but my bit is for people who said things like this;

    'if you ask me, gaming is more sociable than a big field with an entrance fee anyway. i play games with people all aroung the world, i also play a lot with my girlfriend and my family. at national parks people just go. "......hmmm, this IS pretty....(wheres my ds)"

    If that's what you think of the wonderful world around you, then seriously pal, get out more and take that poor girlfriend with you. Gaming is my main hobby, but a hobby is something you do in your spare time. Yet it's still important to do something special whether it's climbing to the top of a mountain, taking in a view from the highest point of the Great Wall of China or experiencing the peaceful silence of a forest.

    If youve had none of these experiences go and find them - you've always got a DS for bedtime or the loo while you are there!

  • smbius

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:14 am GMT

    Pergams is simply try to get attention to his studies. He knows how much talk this will create. There are alot of factors involved much to what people are saying (i.e. gas, busy parents, etc.). Remember that most kids go to parks because of family availability...but because cost of living is going up (especially in california)...WE HAVE TO WORK!!! I know I do. I'd love to go to the parks but my mortgage is like 5K a month.

  • WolfSkill5544

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:02 am GMT

    The main problem right now, is gas prices, it's too expensive to go to the national parks.

  • Tromboner13

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 9:59 am GMT

    All of this stereotyping of gamers is sickening. I'm both a gamer and an active member of society (wow, what a shock!). I think I'm going to write an article about how ALL politicians are morons and ALL politicians are pompous jerks. What a joke.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 9:54 am GMT

    All I know is if you don't book your campsite in Ontario at least 2 months in advance you won't get one.

  • jayme22

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 9:42 am GMT

    well im sorry to say this but i truly beleive that the goverments are to blame for this one. Rising crime rates in youths is not down to Video games.i am 21 and i dont know about you guys but my grandparents as yours are most probbaly well behaved (punishment in schools by form of cane and disipline by parents) my parents that are both over 50 now well behaved and abide by the law ( punishment in schools by form of cane and disipline by parents) me (Detention in schools for being bad and if parents hit me they can get sent to court) can you guys see where im trying to go with this LACK OF DISIPLINE is to blame for todays youths

  • SharinganEye

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 9:33 am GMT

    "We can a see a strong, direct correlation between the rise in global temperatures indicating global warming, and the declining number of pirates since several centuries ago. Thus, it is valid to suggest that the decline of pirates is in fact a likely cause of global warming."

    Yay! I just made a "strong, direct correlation!" It's valid, it's valid!

    Oh, here's a roll of the eyes in case anybody missed the sarcastic nature of this post. *rolls eyes*

  • GKBeetle

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 8:31 am GMT

    They need to install some cool video game machines that are only available to play at the National Parks. That will get the attendance up.

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