Are Video Games Beneficial?

Video games have gotten a bad reputation for physically and mentally harming the players since they have come onto the entertainment scene. Video games have gained popularity since the release of the Nintendo 64, X-Box, and Play Station 1. These three game systems changed the complexion of the way that companies made their video game consoles. These three systems developed into the Nintendo Wii, a unique console that combined movement with most of the games, X-Box 360, and Play Station 2 as well as the Play station 3. Along with the progression of different consoles in the early 2000’s, PC gaming also progressed, and is what I now game on. Many parents have many issues with their kids playing video games for too long, thinking that video games have a negative impact on their kids, but that isn’t completely true. Playing video games can benefit the players in many ways.

Recent studies have found that video games provide a great benefit to the brain. A test conducted by scientists led by Simone Kuhn asked adults to play the video game, “Super Mario 64” over a period of two months for 30 minutes a day. They tested the brains of the volunteers before and after the two months using an MRI and found that the people who played to video game had an increase in grey matter in the brain compared to the group of adults who didn’t play the video game. Grey matter helps the brain and nerves in the brain in which the way the cells are situated. The study showed that those who played the game for the two months had an increase in the parts of the brain that provide functions such as spatial navigation, memory formation, strategic planning and fine motor skills of the hands. One of the most interesting parts of the studies was that the more desire the participants had to play the game, the more they were positively affected. Simone Kuhn, the leader of the study, along with her colleagues, concluded that video games could be therapeutically useful for patients with mental disorders in which the regions of the brain that was affected by playing video games.

As well as many benefits playing video games offers to the brain, there are also other benefits that playing video games offers. Playing video games can boost one’s ability in problem solving and offers many educational benefits in doing so. Games like Minecraft and Civilization teaches players how to use objects to explore the environment, or virtual interactions that makes one think and strategize how to take control of the virtual world. Strategy games like these help the players decision making abilities and problem solving. A study led by Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester showed that people who played action-based video games, shooter games in particular, were 58% better at perceiving fine differences in contrast. Bavelier said, “When people play action games, they’re changing the brain’s pathway responsible for visual processing.” Another study showed that surgeons who played the Nintendo Wii became better surgeons because their hand-eye coordination and precise muscle movement became better, which are essential parts of being a surgeon. On top of this, there are many games that encourage physical fitness. Games like just dance on the Wii and X-box Kinect offer fun ways to be active and fit. There are other games offered on the Wii, like Wii Fit, that offer a full gym experience without going physically to the gym. Games like this have reported positive outcomes in the prevention of Alzheimer’s, autism, and obesity.

Just like most things, too much of it can be a bad thing. Dutch researches investigated problems reported to Nintendo, finding that many people complain about an increase in discomforts with the neck, hand, wrist, or forearm. Many of these problems were caused by playing video games for hours on end without taking a break to stretch out or do something else. Bright flashing lights or flickering lights in different video games have caused people with epilepsy to develop a new kind of epilepsy called photosensitive epilepsy caused by this, increasing their risk of seizures.

With sitting down for a very long time, it can increase one’s risk for blood clots in the legs and obesity. Research has shown that a lifestyle that involve lots of gaming contribute to poor diets and obesity. This research excludes games under the exergaming category, which is providing a fun game along with adequate exercise.

Video games are very addictive, causing them to take up lots of time in a person’s day, making video games take priority over other important tasks, like homework for a student, causing them to get lower grades in school. Along with this, playing video games causes kids to stay inside and play, rather than go outside to receive sunlight, vitamin D, and physical activity. Sitting around inside playing video games can cause changes in physical appearance, causing weight gain, paler skin tone, and loss of sleep.

Despite all this and what your parents tell you, video games are actually not bad for you, as long as you play them more in moderation, and not days on end. There are many benefits that video games do offer to the player, such as develop the brain, offers a new fun way to be active, and offer many other proven benefits. The benefits that playing video games offers far out way the negative impacts that video games have, seeing that the negative impacts of video games all come from spending majority of the player’s time playing video games. Video games help the brain development of the mentally handicap and prevent horrible brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, making video games worth playing for everyone.

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