Ever since the long awaited birth of the digital age, digital masterminds and game developers have gifted everyone with video games to keep them occupied and entertained for hours on end. Not just that, but also, studies and research had found that playing video games have long-term effects on one’s psychological behavior.
With latest advancements and technological developments, video games have been becoming more and more realistic. Such video games inturn fuel the need for gamers to continue to buy ever better hardware to play said games. Most of the gamers have mastered the art of how to build their own PC and thus, with their transgressed new rigs, the PC Master Race was born.
Having said that, the ever growing body of research through the years suggests that playing video games is actually beneficial after all and below mentioned are few of the reasons.
- Improves coordination
It has been noticed that when an adult or child is playing a video game, he or she is not only staring at the computer inactively. The process of gaming involves activities and actions on the screen provide with a lot of mental stimulation. So as far as this goes, for one to play, he or she will need to coordinate their visual, audial and physical movement.
- Improves problem-solving skills
All of the games and video games involve certain rules. These rules provoke the player to think carefully before making any move to ensure that they stay within the required rules of that particular game and also that the player needs to make quick decisions that would then determine whether or not he or she will advance to the next level.
- Enhances memory
It has been studied that playing one’s favorite video game may require both visual and audial memory. The player is most certainly required to read or listen to the instructions which might only be provided at the beginning of the game, thus the need to remember them throughout the entire game. One has to be able to master the keys on their keyboard so as that helps you easily move your characters in the game. This sort of a discipline helps improve your memory, whether short- term or long-term.
- Improves attention and concentration
Intense video games and especially action games, have proven to be able to capture the player’s attention for the entire period of the game. This ability has been brought about by the player’s need to achieve certain objectives within the game, and be able to progress to the next level.
There have been recent studies that have been completed by several noted research and scientific organizations have proven that playing video games could help improve the quality of life for the disabled and mentally ill.
A research study about video games, conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Charité University Medicine St. Hedwig-Krankenhaus in Berlin, Germany, found that playing video increases grey matter (the size of your brain) and helps refine learned and hardwired skills.
Another underrated advantage is that playing video games can improve your eyesight. A study conducted by the University of Rochester had proved video games improve vision by making gamers more responsive to different shades of color. A similar study funded by the National Eye Institute and the Office of Naval Research, found that players of action games mostly like first-person shooters, had better perception of color contrast.
Along with the above mentioned benefits, video games have been proven to improve fine-motor skills in preschoolers, and a study published in the medical journal PLOS One found that surgeons who played video games, more specifically, the wii game Nintendo Wii, somehow became better surgeons by playing this game. These games drastically improved their hand-eye coordination and precise muscle movement both essential skills for their practice.
Well to state the least, if you are a parent who has been limiting your child’s computer play because of the claims you have read of harmful effects, the research summarized here on video gaming might give you pause. The majority of the described research suggests that the claims about negative effects of video gaming are largely myths and that there are real scientifically proven positive effects. These kinds of developed and adapted mental skills that video games help to develop may be increasingly important in today’s world.
– Vedika Mansukhe
