On the Topic of Video Games
Throughout my entire life I had been playing video games. When I was a mere four year-old I remember being with my father as he purchased his Playstation 1 with a copy of Grand Theft Auto. I remember my sister bringing home a Bratz videogame in which the player had to get their hair done and shop for clothes and then perform dance moves for music videos and what not. Then around age six or seven my sister brought home the diamond gem that would forever solidify my reputation as a gamer: Crash Bandicoot. Too this very day I still have nostalgic episodes where I remember playing as the orange dog creature thing on a journey to beat the infamous Cortex. I can go on for days about this stuff but that's not what I am here to do, I am here to discuss the various benefits and drawbacks that come from video games and how they affect everyday life.
Video Games have a direct correlation to our prefrontal cortex (the area in our brain that distinguishes us from animals) video games bring exercise to this part of our brain by putting the user in situations where memory formation and strategic planning is necessary. Not to mention it is also beneficial to those who have issues with motor skills (specifically in the hands.) By exercising the mind brain decay is greatly depressed resulting in a slowing of the natural aging process. A study conducted by American Pain Society shows that playing RPG games and or virtual reality videogames can help greatly with anxiety, depression and strategic thinking. Now like most things you will only see effects in practice and patience. Find what games you like, practice and most importantly have fun. In a book I once read “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch he talks about his experience playing football and goes over the common term “head fake” this term is referring to a player's action using their head to fake their defender to going to a side in which they are not actually going, faking with the use of their head. Now there is a head fake in almost everything, including video games. You’ll never see a Call Of Duty game say “this game will improve your third dimensional object observation” and so on.
Now let's talk about one of the best video games ever created: Minecraft. While I don’t play much of this game a lot of children, adolescents and even adults play this and I am totally down with it. Mine Craft is the ultimate tool for 21st century creativity allowing players to build anything their heart desires, from recreating architectural masterpieces to building something that just expresses the child creativity through abstract design. The game begins with very vague directions which forces kids to explore and develop ways to get through the game in a breezy manner. This promotes cognitive thinking skills. Kids often refer to Youtube to research on ways to improve their experience by watching tutorials on how to build and farm and mine. This results in a building community of Minecraft players where all users can have a niche, giving the user self-confidence and reduced anxiety. You can also play multiplayer with friends a collaborate ideas on what to build and how to go about getting the buildings done, providing a strategic planning concept to the game. In the end Minecraft is merely so successful and beneficial because of its flexible play style and engaging community.
Whether you play or don’t we can all agree that video games have helped numerous children, teens and adults whether is be through motor skills, critical thinking or social interaction. They have been a great benefit through my life and many others (hopefully yours too) but, if not I strongly encourage you to find one that works for you because I guarantee there is one for all of us.
Thank you for reading (: