For decades now video games have been taking over the world with Pong, Pac-Man, and then games as recent as Resident Evil: Village. Video games have become very popular amongst our adolescents and parents all over the globe have been debating whether they are good. Some places even went as far as banning violent games like Grand Theft Auto V. What people fail to see is research proves that video games actually can help people whether that be helping with their disabilities or chronic illness. This research done to explain 7 Ways Video Games Improve One's Everyday Life will explain this all.
Recently I started playing the Fire Emblem franchise which is a strategy game that requires you to make real-time battle decisions against other players. That being said, these types of games make one’s brain sharper to strategic events in the real world. There is also a game called Stardew Valley that requires you to take care of a farm and you need to plant on a certain day and keep track of how many days of the season are left so you know if you can grow that said plant.
You probably heard your doctor (or your mother) say to not look at your tiny phone screen all day because of eye stress. Well, when it comes to playing video games however it is a different story. Research has shown that video games alter pathways in the brain and make people better at distinguishing different shades of greys. The benefit of seeing different greys is you can see better in the dark. All this helps people like me being less fortunate with my vision and also people who have trouble seeing in the dark.
Are you having an angry or stress-filled day? I know I have had my fair share of these days. Video games will help relieve this stress whether it be farming in a simple game like Stardew Valley or stealing cars in Grand Theft Auto 5. When I was in high school I had days where I had loads of assignments or I was in a hard class like Geometry or Physics. I just turned on a video game when I was finally done with my assignments and all my stress disappeared.
Going out every night with your friends and taking shots of moonshine is not being that nice to your wallet (and no I am not talking from personal experience). Playing video games may not be completely cheap ($60 per game + $400 console) but it is definitely cheaper than the previous topic mentioned. Buying a new console like the PS5 or building a gaming PC with all the new state-of-the-art parts will be able to play every new game for 6-10 years. In my opinion, this is definitely a good investment.
The first-person shooter genre is arguably one of the most popular in video games with award-winning games like Call of Duty and Halo. Not only are these games fun but they are also good for one’s cognitive health. Tests have shown that people who played these types of games develop better visual processing and also “Preliminary research has also demonstrated that these cognitive advantages manifest in measurable changes in neural processing and efficiency”. Also similar to my previous point of strategy games enhancing problem-solving tests were done “Among a sample of almost 500 12-year-old students, video game playing was positively associated with creativity”.
There is no debate that people with disabilities sometimes feel alienated and need an escape. Video games are an escape for some of those people. Luckily for them, video games can actually help. In 2013 Italian researchers “separated children age 7 to 13 into two groups, one of which played an action game called “Rayman Raving Rabids” while the other played a lower tempo game. When the reading skills of the children were tested afterwards, those who played the action game were capable of reading faster and more accurately. The authors of the study hypothesized that the action games helps kids increase their attention spans, a skill considered crucial to reading”.
Virtual reality is a newer type of gaming that has gained popularity recently and studies show it can help more than regular gaming ever could. Research shows that hospitals or even households using VR can help their patients tremendously. A “study [in 2010] found that when people undergoing chemotherapy or other serious treatments were immersed in a virtual gaming world, they reported significantly less stress and fear. In addition, those being treated for burn wounds found a decline in their pain ratings by rates of 30 to 50 percent”. People who suffer from anxiety and do not like the idea of something like medical marijuana can play video games instead.
People always say video games are ruining their kid's lives because they want to find the easiest thing to blame that was not in their generation. The research above is so important because if there is something really easy that will help someone through pain or disabilities whether that be mental or physical we should look into it instead of blaming them and regulating them. Video games have saved countless lives whether that be virtual reality helping a chronic patient or just an angry 12-year-old wanting to find an escape because he is being bullied in school. Hopefully, someday more people appreciate video games and they do not just see them as bad.
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