Video games are any games played on a personal computer, run by a console or an arcade machine where players interact with objects shown on screen as a form of entertainment.
With evolving technological advancements, video games are part of our daily lives as a way of passing time and unwinding.
There is a growing variety of video game genres and sub-genres including sandbox, real-time strategy (RTS), Shooters, a multiplayer online battle arena, Role-playing, simulation and sports, puzzlers and party games, Action-adventure, Survival and horror, solitaire as well as a platformer.
Developers are constantly pushing the boundaries of gameplay leading to the increase of new games and styles in the gaming market giving you a range of video games to choose from.
Even as you play your favorite game on your desktop and think of the next one on your to-do list, you need to understand the benefits and shortcomings of the videogames as discussed below:
Enhances better eyesight
Video games improve basic visual processes increasing a player’s ability to distinguish elusive differences in shades of gray. If you are visually impaired, video games may help improve your eyesight and increase your ability to visually detect the direction of movement.
Improve executive functioning.
Video games can reverse the mental decline that occurs when people age, increase mental flexibility as well as improve multitasking. They also act as brain boosters and are a fast track to a sharper mind
Pain relievers
Virtual reality games like SnowWorld grab a player’s attention leaving them with lea attention to process incoming pain as conscious attention is required for one to experience pain.
According to the University Of Washington Department Of Rehabilitation Medicine, patients who play snowWorld while being changed dressings report a 40-50 percent reduction in pain.
Eases anxiety and depression
Video games have been said to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression scientifically. if you are having a social anxiety disorder, video games will help you learn how to initiate relationships and learn social hacks.
Apart from these, video games can help improve your daily skills like hand -eyes coordination, longer attention spans, improve rapid decision-making abilities, and working memory. Games such as Solitaire and Spider Solitaire have been known to ease anxiety.
Let us now look at the shortcomings of video games.
May make people violent
Playing violent video games causes more aggression, bullying, and fighting among children. A 2014 peer-reviewed study in the journal of the American Medical Association showed that children who play M-rated games are more likely to get into physical fights, be hostile, argue with teachers, bully and cyberbully their peers as well as show aggression to their peers through the school year.
Nevertheless, games like shoot-em-up have led to an increase in aggressive behavior among people.
Decreases player’s concentration level
According to the psychology of Popular Media Culture, an individual’s ability to remain focused and the time taken to play video games varied. Video games may also worsen the impetuosity of individuals who already incline.
Video Games are addictive
In the United States, South Korea, and the Netherlands, treatment programs battling video game addiction have emerged.
This is due to the addictive nature of video games, take an example of solitaire where most addicts were playing to relieve stress from difficult times in their lives and they needed to relax as a way of relaxation or relieving stress. Winning the game after playing for the first time made them feel better thereby forgetting their problems. It then becomes a habit and an escape plan whenever they feel low and want to unwind and rest.
Nintendo thumb
You are likely to suffer from a Nintendo thumb if you spend more hours of repeated movement with your hands and can damage tendons and nerves in the thumbs.
May cause obesity
If you spend many hours playing video games, you are increasing your chances of becoming overweight.
May increase depression and anxiety
Young children who play video games for more than two hours a day are likely to have symptoms of depression than those who play for fewer hours. Therefore, as much as virtual play reduces anxiety and depression levels, it may also lead to these mental health problems.
In conclusion, parents should join their children when playing to monitor the content they consume, for we have seen the benefits and the effects they may have on them as well as adults.
