The issue of video gaming being good or bad has been a topic of interest since the inception of the first video game in the early 20th century. Debates would often concentrate on the violence and chaos induced by video gaming, including the detrimental effects it has on its gamers in all age groups and a few would concentrate on its benefits. Nowadays, it is common to hear about crimes committed by gamers, especially from the teenage age group, in an attempt to recreate the scenes from the games they play. Experts and parents alike, including responsible gamers, agree that there are several risks involving video games.
People often play video games for a variety of reasons, from entertainment, recreation to just to gain some insight on certain genres. Nowadays, people have second thoughts over video gaming, especially parents and experts, as gamers tend to exhibit aggressive and questionable behavior due to the games they play. However, studies have shown that video gaming can actually aid gamers in their physical, mental, social, and emotional capacities that sometimes is hard to learn with other methods; no matter what their genre of preference may be. In a physical aspects, studies have shown that video gaming can actually promote basic skills such as hand-to-eye coordination, motor skills, and the capacity to do things with both hands or ambidextrous.
Another physical benefit of video games is that it could aid gamers who have chronic illnesses and physical pain, providing them with a distraction to remove their minds to their illnesses. The University of Utah released their observations supporting this benefit as their study showed that children who are diagnosed with autism and Parkinson’s disease could improve their confidence and resilience through video gaming. The research observed that video games can stimulate the child’s neuronal mechanism to bring forth positive emotions that would enable the child to face their illnesses without worries. Physical pain can also be remedied by video games as noted by the experts in the University of Washington since video games can serve as a distraction to improve recovery and one’s outlook.
In a mental aspect, video gaming sharpens the mind of the gamer in terms on how they get information and knowledge, as well as develop analytic and psychological skills that is necessary in real life. Experts have observed that children, who have been exposed to video games, tend to show more experience and proficiency with computers and its applications than those who did not play video games. Video gaming enabled these children, according to the study, to be familiar on how to associate computer functions and parts with those of video game functions, easily developing a method to understand how to work on programs and applications on another system. Experts had agreed that with this improved literacy with computers, video gamers do not need further instructions on how to use known computer applications.
Video games also serve as a perfect alternative for gamers to experience or learn certain skills that can be dangerous to experience in real life. Simulation games, for example, are used by many schools and institutions to guide their students or employees with their roles such as engineering, surgery, machine construction, and even computer programming. In most cases, simulation games also helps players to understand simple concepts such as math and science to explain theories, enabling their imaginations to run while in understanding theories they see on simulated games.
Finally, video gaming is good because it improves one’s emotional capacity and aid in one’s emotional recovery. Studies have observed, such as the one done by East Carolina University that video games tend to relax specific gamers. In the ECU study, gamers were requested to play three specific games each day for one week. The results confirmed that participants who played games had felt less stressed and became emotionally stable as they concentrated more on the video games than thinking about their problems. As the study continued, the participants who played games were more than relaxed as compared to those who did not play games. Experts believe that some people consider video games as their medicine to cope up with their emotional stresses, ending up playing in wee hours in the morning and recovering from their emotional aches the next day.
