Advantages Of Gaming

[MatthewGoodman]

Gaming has been a favorite hobby for a long time. Many people only see he negatives of gaming and don't realize all the good it can do. Most of what I am going to talk about have been backed up with science, but before I go on, I would like to debunk one of the absolute biggest misconception of gaming. Violent video games makes you violent.

While there has been experiments that "proves" this with valid results, the way they went about it was all wrong. They only tested short term effects. They had a person play a violent video game, then stopped and tested for violence and aggression and to no surprise, those were up. However another experiment tested the long term effects. They got a group of people who already play violent video games regularly and a group that didn't, then showed them a set of pictures that would merit some emotional response, and both the gamers and non gamers had mostly the same response proving that violent video game don't make you violent over a long period of time. Now, with that out of the way, let's continue on.

1) Spatial Awareness

Many games (puzzle games in particular) help people grow in spatial awareness. Spatial awareness is crucial in gaming to help you know where to take cover if you need to or to be sure you don't walk off a cliff or ledge. This can carry over to help a person in the real world to be more aware of their surroundings.

2) Navigation

Having to navigate huge maps like the one in Skyrim (above) can be difficult. but after a while, you start to get the hang of it. Along with large maps like the one in Skyrim comes a lot of location markers. You need to memorize what places are near a certain area on the map if you want to find it. I bet you can't guess what real world skill this helps with.Yup, map reading. While you won't be able to fast travel on a real world map, being able to learn to read a map is very useful.

3) Problem Solving

Games, especially ones in The Legend of Zelda franchise, are often know to have various puzzles one must solve to get from location to location. These puzzles often push the player to look for the not so obvious solution. In the real world, this can lead to gamers being able to figure things out that others can't because they looked at the situation with a more abstract point of view.

4) Educational

While yes many games take a fictional approach to things, some games actually have real world inspirations that you can learn from. Just take about any Assassin's Creed game. These game take place in big points in history, from the American Revolution to the time of swashbuckling and pirates, to the time of old Jerusalem, to the time of Pharaohs and pyramids. If you can't learn at least one thing from these games, then you must already be a scholar on history and historical cultures.

5) Reducing Risk Of Alzheimer's

Recent studies have found a link that playing playing video games (Specifically Super Mario 64) can help decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer's. The study showed that third-dimensional platformers can help growths in parts of the brain, specifically grey matter in the hippocampus, a vital neurological tissue the promotes memory building, and the loss of which is associated with many psychiatric diseases, such as Alzheimer's.

These are just a handful of the things I could find on the positive things video games can bring and I am sure there is a lot more out there. I hope this helps persuade people that video games aren't all bad. Did I miss anything that you think should've been included? Please let me know. Thanks for reading.

[meowcow]

For a child, many games have advantages if they are constructive in nature. RPGs may develop problem solving skills as people try to perfect their game outcome, but your other "benefits" don't actually exist.

Millennials that play a lot of games aren't good at real-life navigation. They rely on smartphone GPS nowadays, and have a hard time getting around without it. Most games are also not educational. The information conveyed in video games rarely have any real-life use, and the use of short-hand communication makes adult gamers have the grammar skills of a 5 year old.

Video games also don't reduce Alzheimer's. What actually influences Alzheimers is letting your brain veg for a long time. Any form of constant brain stimulation, thinking or problem solving will slow Alzheimer's, including doing Sudoku or crossword puzzles.

The bad side of gaming is addiction. Addiction to highly violent games (which triggers irrational and violent behavior irl). Video games also don't get you anywhere in life. There's enough 20-30 year olds, and even some 40 year olds who play games all day after work (or all day for the jobless), and then complain that they can't get anywhere in life.

Everything in moderation I guess.

[tangerinefan1050]

I find your response to be a good one. I, too, have the impression that many games which have been made until now can be very beneficial for children, but really not nearly as much for adults. Even the skills of spatial reasoning and puzzle solving are presented under a very "toyish" approach in pretty much every game. Not to mention the cases where the game is really bad designed so that it involves downright ridiculous guessing to figure out the adequate course of action. Even the canonical skills typically challenged by games such as spatial reasoning and puzzle solving may be better obtained and trained elsewhere, and games will just provide a way to "have fun" with those skills. Otherwise I personally don't find it easy to abstract those skills solely from games and directly apply them in the real world.

[tangerinefan1050]

Yes, I did sort of more or less repeat myself in my previous post, sorry. I wasn't paying attention.

[MatthewGoodman]

I am aware that millennials use their phones to navigate, but a lot of that still involves map reading, especially when navigation something like a school campus where GPS isn't an option.

There has been countless studies that has confirmed time over time video games can help stimulate and grow parts of your brain, including parts that the loss of causes Alzhiemer's areas such as the hippocampus, which helps regulate emotion and memory.

As I stated in the Take, playing violent video games can increase violence and aggression, but these effects last a short time (1-2 hours max) before normalizing again. Violent video games contribute nothing to violence over extended periods of time. And yes, I do agree that video games are addictive, but they have no where near the addictive levels of drugs or alcohol. For the people who constantly plays video games day and night then complain about it. It isn't the video game's fault the people don't apply themselves. Those people are just lazy.

[MatthewGoodman]

@tangerinefan1050 Spatial reasoning is a useful skill in day to life. Just take an architect. They need to be able to "see" an object from all sorts of angles without actually having the object. While yes, there are several games that are terribly designed, but there are far more games out there that are well designed. I agree, you shouldn't be relying solely on video games for skills such as puzzle solving and spatial reasoning, that's why you need other more things to stimulate them and this goes for everything, not just video games. For example if you solely rely on textbooks for information, you would never learn to look at things with your own point of view and challenge things.

[tangerinefan1050]

@MatthewGoodman Thanks for sharing your thoughts. But honestly, mate, in day to day life we face many different kinds of problems. More often than not they are of social nature, that is, they exist because we need to interact with other people. Such problems are very, VERY relevant in today's world. In my opinion, the games that currently exist are not good in developing the skills necessary to succeed in social scenarios, and can even be detrimental. Literature, for example, is a form of entertainment which can be much more beneficial for that, in my view.

The bottom line is, I think video games don't have much to offer for adult life. I'm being very honest here. In my opinion, for adults, video games are ideal only as an occasional hobby. They definitely aren't worth the amount of time many people seem to invest on them. Reality is much, much bigger than the subset presented in the toyish approach of most games. That's what I think. :/

[Red-Blaze]

Thanks for the share, I really do like it
Its one of the things I also try to move along when I hear others talk badly on the effect of video games, but these one was done better then any of my talks XD

[JudgmentDay]

About time I see another mytake on gaming. There's a huge variety of video games out there, although the violent video games generate publicity and controversy, there are many other games out there that aren't violent, gory, containing vulgarity and adult content. And if they did, they were meant for the older audiences anyway.

[MatthewGoodman]

One of my favorite video games is actually one that discourages violence (Undertale). I think part of the reason I like it so much is the fact you can go through the whole game peacefully (not to mention it's witty humor and great music). You even are rewarded for not killing anything and punished for killing everything. It is a nice break from the more mainstream violent video games, which I do thoroughly enjoy as well.

[JudgmentDay]

Interesting, they need to gives games like that credit and publicity.

[MatthewGoodman]

But the public doesn't care about that kind of stuff. We have grown to a society that only focuses on the negative aspects of life. Just turn on the news for once. That's why it is so difficult to persuade people that video games aren't all bad, because we as a society never focuses on the good things gaming can bring, only the bad.

[RolandCuthbert]

Enjoy your video gaming while you can;

www.cbsnews.com/.../

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RKZn2Sf7bo

[MatthewGoodman]

As I stated, there has been studies that show that violet video games don't cause violence. As Samuel Zeif put it, most gamers don't feel provoked or driven to replicate the violence seen in video games or movies. I say most, because, unfortunately, there are some extremist who do feel driven to do these violent action, but that holds true for literally any medium. Most of the talks about the violence in video games are either to divert blame elsewhere, or to gain approval.

The truth of the matter is, there is no way Trump (or anyone) can ban violent video game, without it violating the first amendment. The worst they can do is create a stricter rating system. And not to mention the amount of backlash they'd get if they do ban video games or violent movies.

[10dsw]

I think gaming makes people more creative. Every single one of my friends (we're all in grad school, like doctoral level) gamed for years and part of being a successful grad student (or maybe medical student) is to construct creative approaches to problems.

This*3 for anyone in grad school for something like comp sci/engineering.

All though what I said doesn't apply to the fat kid who smokes weed all the time and plays 24/7

[Logorithim]

Those are useful cognitive skills and the health benefit is excellent. Good job of pointing this out.

[LittleSally]

Yup! Agree. Very useful even if some people may not see that...

[Ryan_H_97]

It can also increase your social skills too. Like when your playing games that require team work and communication such as the new sea of thieves game, rainbow six siege , battle field and others.

[clampfan101]

Awesome take! I think Zelda is not only the coolest, but overall most helpful.

Another thing I think it can help with is teamwork!
Four Swords is a Zelda game requiring teamwork.

[clampfan101]

Also stealth games can help with patience. Video games can be helpful for a lot of things!

[Guanfei]

I remember in my youth, before video games became a mass media with the playstation release, video games were considered as a nerd activity, promoting violence and making kids into mass murderer and autists.

[Max_winner1]

I use to play quake 2 and quake 3 mods. And those games really improved my hand eye coordination.

[TallGuy96]

You forgot relieving stress and changing mood 180 degrees and maybe just maybe increasing self esteem

[Unknownooo]

Wow! This is actually very informative. We should always look at the bright side of the things.

[Anonymous]

Very interesting Take indeed, I agree in most cases, some games are really fantastic.

[Anonymous]

doesn't change the fact that if you are old enough to vote, and still play games, you are a fucking loser

[Anonymous]

also it keep people occupied when they have free time on their hands but have nothing else to do. Especially in the cold months of winter

[Anonymous]

problem solving for sure

(hits reset button) :) lol

[ShesAmerican]

i love video games so much

[John_Doesnt]

The only game I play is the sex game, and Skyrim.

[es20490446e]

The main advantage isn't listed.

[Revolver_]

What is the main advantage?

[es20490446e]

@Revolver_ They make you dream that something extraordinary could be possible.

[Revolver_]

Ah, I see

[BOUNTYGUY9]

what is some one on the game

[Mediterranean35]

Damn this Skyrim ! The best game ever.