Benefits of Playing Video Games Essay

Just like in sports, video games can help the brain and can help an individual think outside the box. In the same manner, practicing sports and playing video games can both be a fantastic way that help you relax and relief you stress in a sophisticated way. For example, you can always place your frustration after a long day on playing your favorite video game or going for a run with your friends. In contrast, playing sport has a huge factor in long term injuries. Unlike just playing video games inside your comfortable room is far more convenient and safer than playing sports and take the risk of getting injured. Therefore, it is healthier.

They also enhance abilities such as driving at night in addition to hand eye coordination ability. Obvious benefits are creativity, faster decision making skills and sensitivity to details. Faster reflexes are the cause of first person shooting games while puzzle games help with memory, concentration and pattern recognition. Gamers playing real playing shooting games have been proven to make choices six times a second which is four times faster than most people and also, Hotz mentions that gamers that play games more frequently can can may attention to two more things at a time than normal people. On the contrary, violent games tend to make people feel more comfortable about violence and aggressiveness thus increasing aggressive behavior. Also, playing too much can socially isolate a player as well as keep then in their own little world where the fantasy is more important than reality. Health disorders can occur as well such as bad posture, obesity or even video induces seizures.

In the past years, critics have concluded stating that because of video games being released, homicide rates have dropped seventy-seven percent amongst juveniles and less than seven in ten million students have a chance of being killed at school (Sternheimer 214). In “Do Video Games Kill?” the author states, “the 2005 review found evidence that playing video games improves spatial skills and reaction times, but not that the games increase aggression” (Sternheimer 217). Many different video games have positive effects such as problem-solving skills, following directions, multitasking, quick thinking, and more. Video games increase problem-solving skills by placing obstacles in the game for the player to overcome. Virtual gaming can also teach the players how to follow directions to progress throughout the game. Players learn to multitask by taking on different objectives at the same time. According to the studies conducted by Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester found that players become more attuned to their surroundings due to the effects of gaming (Hughes “Benefits of Playing Video Games”). By the player becoming attuned to their surroundings, it allows the player to safely release their competitive urges. The American Psychological Association stated that an estimated of 70 percent of gamers play with friends worldwide (APA). While playing with others a player can enhance their communication skills by giving the players common ground to talk about how to complete certain objectives throughout the game. With video games helping with an individual’s cognitive state it can also help individuals who are recovering from physical harm such as a stroke. A stroke is when the brain loses blood flow,

Video games are “a waste of time” they don 't actually improve anything, they are just entertainment. However there is drastic evidence to show that couldn’t be further from the truth. They actually have a huge mental benefit that can enhance memory, better hand to eye coordination and enhanced reflexes along with other things aswell. Showing that they are indeed not just a time killer and waster but are hugely benefiting the minds of the people that play them. The first point I would like to bring up is enhanced memory, a study suggests that young children can benefit from the memory aspects of video games. Several children had multiple sessions of several video games with increases challenge and it had been noted that they did show signs of progress in the difficulty but more importantly an increase in a strong memory showing that the two indeed have a connection. Secondly hand to eye coordination, another study was conducted and yet again the gamer who repeatedly played games was faster, sharper and overall better than the non-gamer. The other main point is reflexes which sort of ties in with the other points but deserves another mention, research indicates that fast-paced gameplay along the lines of Call of Duty and other various games, does in fact increase reflexes.

On average, 90% of school aged individuals and 70% of head of households with a median age of 33, play video games. General wisdom says that playing video games leads to poor eyesight and greater attention deficits with higher rates of distractibility. Bavelier (2012) states that research does not support general wisdom and even refutes it strongly under certain conditions. Bavelier’s research has shown that people who play action games such as Call of Duty, actually have better eyesight in at least 2 conditions and are also able to switch attention much more swiftly and with fewer deficits than

The article gave an array of effects video games have on the brain. There are different behaviors that can be associated with game players. It can range from improving cognitive skills to enhancing disorders. It can also be enrichment in school and with students. This is just an overview of the information

Action video games, which are categorized by fighting, shooting, or platform-style games, have come to dominate the gaming industry in the 21st century. Both parents and politicians alike have accused action games for causing antisocial, violent and even addictive behavior in gamers. This fear over video games fueled early research efforts to prove that violent video games were as damaging as claims would suggest. Many studies claim to show an overall negative psychological effect on the player, citing examples such as increased aggression and long-term harm to mental stability. However, recently, both gamers and game developers have defended action games with claims that they make the player “smarter”. This has sparked the

for 3 hours a week, while the other set played none. The set who played the

Daphne Bavelier and Shawn Green stated how video games have beneficial factors to them. They focused their attention on the 'action ' genre by saying that, " Indeed, playing this type of game results in a wide range of behavioral benefits, including enhancements in low-level vision, visual attention, speed of processing and statistical inference, among others" (Bavelier, Green, 2011). Action games deliver high intensity, faced paced decision making and processing; and with this exposure, players begin to harness their skills to judge situations quickly and act upon them. Each game differs from one another even in the same genre, and the ability for a gamer to not only hone in on fast processing and decision skills to support a pleasurable outcome, but it also affects their motor skills. Which is what brought Doug Han to say that, "Depending on the type of

These games show that the use of games targeted at health can be beneficial, but the effects of recreational video games can also be beneficial for health. Steve Dorman of the Journal of School Health suggests that the potential negative consequences of video games are cardiovascular implications, stating that, “American children are more overweight, slower, and weaker than their counterparts in other developed nations” (*). And states that, “Video games and television viewing may contribute to a sedentary lifestyle by displacing involvement in sport and other physical activity” (*). To determine the effects of playing video games on health, a laboratory assessed the heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen consumption of Ms. Pac-Man players over a 30- minute duration and compared them to the measurements of a standing, inactive position. Dorman states that they found the energy cost of

“Video games are a waste of time for people with nothing else to do. Real brains don't do that” -Ray Bradbury. People who are opposed to video games believe they are mindless. However, recent studies prove that playing video games can have many positive benefits for the brain. In a recent study lead by Simone Kuhn and conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Charité University Medicine St. Hedwig-Krankenhaus, has found evidence that video games can expand grey matter. Grey matter is part of the brain in charge of the transportation of information from sensory and motor skills. Sensory skills are those such as vision, memory, hearing, touch, smell, taste, vestibular (for balance and head position in space), and proprioception (information from the muscles and joints). Motor skills relate to muscles and movement and include crawling, walking, running, handwriting, and speaking. Another argument many people have with video games is that it can negatively affect the eyes by causing straining and nearsightedness. But Daphne Bavelier, a professor of brain and cognitive science at University of Rochester discovered that practiced gamers become 58 percent better at distinguishing the fine differences in shades of grey. And finally, the last argument that people have against video game, is that it does not have any physical benefits. However, a study at Deakin University in Australia, health researchers found that preschoolers who play interactive video

Playing video games is among one of the favorite pastimes of many people around the world. Some play games to kill time with simple tasks found most commonly on the phone, while others play them to challenge their mind in the form of complex puzzles or to practice management skills, some play them to experience a sense of adventure that they just can’t find anywhere else, and many use them as a way to communicate or have fun with friends both near and far. Whatever the reason someone may have for playing video games, they may not think that games can have an effect on their brains. Some would say that playing video games can lead to negative effects such as harming the player’s cognitive skills or causing them to become much more violent than normal. Others would argue that playing video games quickens the minds of their players, leading to higher mental performance or an increased attention to detail. Thanks to this hotly debated controversy many studies have been conducted over the past years in order to settle the debate once and for all. So what effect can playing video games have on the cognitive skills of their players, and are these effects positive, negative, or somewhere in the middle?

One positive effect of video games is that it can increase a child’s fine motor ability. It can also improve their hand-eye coordination. Children who are playing these games have to move the controls while simultaneously pressing an array of buttons. This is a great activity for

There is research that prove that cognitive ability can be increased through video games. In a study in an article in IFL Science by Daphne Bavelier et al., she researched how action gamers fared against normal people and gamers who play more “mellow” video games in a pattern differentiation task. Through the study, she found that action gamers did better than the rest in the pattern differentiation task. Another thing she had them do was do a perceptual learning task. The results show that there was no difference between the groups at the start, but over time, the action gamers had the upper hand. Bavelier theorized that it was because the gamers could make better “templates” or models of the world and can predict things

In recent years, video games have played an important role in the field of education and in treating psychological patients. Video games are a form of self-indulgence, which often provide unique and engaging environments that train players to think fast and resourcefully. With the right design and mechanics, they can facilitate learning and cognitive thinking in diverse levels .Computer games can be used in children with mental health issues, psychological disorders and in chronic disorders like diabetes, asthma or cancer. At the same time video games also have negative effects which may decrease the IQ levels of children and may become aggressive because of the violent games. Thus the video games have both positive and negative effects.