The Importance Of Video Games

Steven Johnson believes that today’s youth has a greater mental dexterity than those of previous generations. A reason for such, is simply video games. Thousands of children, teens, even young adults play video games for countless hours a day, and while it has been said that video games are bad for your brain, Steven Johnson has other ideas. “To understand why games might be good for the mind, begin by shedding the cliché that they are about improving hand-eye coordination and firing virtual weapons,” Johnson says, “Even a violent game like Grand Theft Auto involves networks of characters that the player must navigate and master, picking up clues and detecting patterns.” Video games, while on the surface appear to be violent, and harmful to the mind, can actually help to develop the mind. Those playing the game must think quickly, creatively, and intelligently, to unravel a clue, or pass through a difficult level. This generation may be considered the “dumbest one” by Mark Bauerlein’s standards, yet

Although that I hear from my doctor and others that too much video games playing is not good for me, I am not sure that I would totality agree to it. So, can playing one or more video games quite a bit teach me life skills? From my reading of Gerald Graff’s Essay, I feel that I can use academic skills that I have learned to skillfully play in all sorts of games. My innate knowledge of how to play video games can be considered hidden intellectualism because it allows me to use intellectual skills such as perspective, thinking critically, and creativity. My focus on this paper will be about developing several types of life skills such as strategizing, multitasking, teamwork, and patience that comes from playing video games from different genres.

Video games are beneficial for students in the classroom and home. Using video games in schools or higher institutions can help build teamwork, foster decisions, critical and strategic skills useful in schools, work and life.

Everybody in this country plays video games almost every day. It does not matter what the age is, even though they are not young and have free time they would play video games and enjoy themselves. People and society says that through video games children’s and also some adults become more aggressive and violent. Video games are contributing the act of violence all over the world and they are thinking to stop video games for their benefit. The media makes false assumptions. They are not giving details of video games and missing the benefits of the video games. According to medical daily new research indicates that certain video games actually boost the brain power and improve strategic thinking. Unfortunately, our parents and society does not approve the use of video games and it has been decried by many parents and it creates destructive garbage. It also improves the cognitive flexibility which is the mental faculty of creative and lateral thinking. According to Ericson, “Our paper shows that cognitive flexibility, a cornerstone of human intelligence, is not a static trait can be trained and improved using fun learning tools alike gaming”.(Medical Daily) This is the necessary part of our human brain and it can be achieved by video games and other fun learning activities. There are many advantages just like these from playing video games. They should also look at the benefits and not just focus on the disadvantages. It also helps from

Video games are frowned upon by parents as time-wasters, and worse, some education experts think that these games corrupt the brain. Violent video games are easily blamed by the media and some experts as the reason why some young people become violent or commit extreme anti-social behavior. But many scientists and psychologists find that video games can actually have many benefits – the main one is making kids smart. Video games may actually teach kids high-level thinking skills that they will need in the future.

Although some video games can be played alone and can promote isolation, most games have an online multiplayer. This provides gamers the ability to start conversation with others about doing what they love to do. Instead of video games promoting isolation, they actually reward players because when you talk, you can work together better as a team better than you would without talking at all. This leads to a more rewarding experience when you win; your team knows they did it together and it wasn’t by chance that they coordinated well. Videogames can also form special bonds with

Although many misconceptions arose and “one widely held view maintains playing video games is intellectually lazy, such play actually may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception, according to several studies reviewed in the article” (American Psychological Association, 2013, pg. 5). From turned-based strategy to real-time combat featured in gameplay mechanics, the composition of video games vary, as many are narratives that do deviate from violence and hone into other facets like aesthetics or emotional appeal, but heightened reaction speeds and improved accuracy are continually stressed throughout the experience of the game. The exposure to a novel and expansive world in which the players can direct their character and truly have themselves embodied in the game leads to “[their brains being] more efficient collectors of visual and auditory information, and therefore arrive at the necessary threshold of information they need to make a decision much faster than non-gamers, the researchers found” (University of Rochester, 2010, pg. 10). Despite the popular notion resurfacing of children mindlessly playing with no regards to intellectual or social value, there is merit to playing video games- a balance needed to calm the fervor of parents who placed (violent) video games under harsh

Video games can be used as instructional tools as well. They have positive elements and add value; they create a micro world of their own. The players act based on natural tendencies towards learning. Therefore, learning occurs while playing (Rosas et al., 2003).

In today’s society, the concerns for the effects of video games have acquired quite a terrible reputation. Worried parents around the world assume video games make their children do poorly in school, and create violent, desensitized, antisocial children. The increase in violent games, usually get the blame for aggressive behavior, shootings and violence in schools and young individuals. Most beliefs about video games effect on the brain and emotions are very common misconceptions. I strongly believe that video games are an essential tool to learning and gaining much-needed skills. When people look at the studies that have been done on video games and the brain, it will be apparent that some myths about video games have been blown out of proportion. It has come to my attention that there are studies that prove the negative effects of video games may only last the duration of game play. Kids can improve in general knowledge with educational video games like Leap Frog. Video games can train specific areas of the brain as well as increase brain flexibility and memory. Gaming actually has more beneficial effects than negative effects. Video games are excellent educational implement used in elementary schools. It is extremely helpful in brain development and helping kids with trouble reading improve. Memory retention can be improved and increased with the use of strategic, thinking games. Video games, as funny as it might sound, even promote

The exponentially evolving video game technology has impacted the lives of the most recent generations. Play is an effective way for young children to acquire knowledge on their own. With games becoming more and more mobile and easy to access, it is safe to say that most, if not all, have learned a thing or two from playing video games.

Since the Early 70’s video games have been giving a bad name. Parents state that video games rot the minds of children and are influencing them do be violent. These accusations are far from the truth. In my research I found that there are many positive effects of gaming. Some of these effects are increased skills, creativity, general knowledge, and also help those in need. Parents can also take proper precautions and look into a game before buying it to see if it meets the criteria discussed in this paper.

Games are an essential part of all cultures throughout the world and are one of the oldest form of human interaction. It has been around human being since 3000 BC by the discovery of the oldest board games in Turkey and since then, games has been developing rapidly (Attia 2014). Nowadays, most people love to do it as a nice way to spend their leisure time because it makes them feel relaxed, enjoyed, or even make money by doing it. There are many types of games such as board games, card games, roleplaying games, and electronic gaming; but all games have a common thing; they teach us various aspects of life. However, many, especially parents, regard games as a bad thing to do, but others think that they could benefit from doing it. Same

Video games are surrounded by controversy on how they affect the health of those who play them. Some say that video games do nothing but rot the player’s brain. Others say that video games can do the opposite and sharpen some of the player’s senses. Video games can have many positive effects on the human brain and body. Video games can Improve coordination, improve problem-solving skills, enhances memory, improve attention and concentration, are a great source of learning, improve the brain’s speed, enhances multitasking skills, and improves social skills.

Video games are goal-driven experiences, which are fundamental to learning. Fast pace games allows the players to think not only think critically but also quickly. Which in return makes them better decision makers. As demonstrated in an article, ‘Action Video Games Help Decision-Making’, “Action video games are fast-paced, and there are peripheral images and events popping up, and disappearing," says study researcher C. Shawn Green, PhD, a postdoctoral associate at the Kersten Computational VisionLab… These video games are teaching people to become better at taking sensory data in and translating it into correct decisions.” This quote demonstrates the benefit of playing videos. With game play that has repeated action, it strengths brain cell connections underlying memory and learning. The study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Vikranth Bejjanki and colleagues shows the improvement of decisions made by games. “Their newly

Aside from the cognitive aspects, video games are also the tool of social interactions. Friendships can sometimes be developed through playing video games and ultimately keeping them away from drug usage and violent activities. Most of the video games today have either multiplayer or online capabilities or even both. For example, I made friends with several Japanese and lots of Americans from playing "Call of Duty 4" online. The game focuses on eliminating the other team hence teamwork has a major role in succeeding the game. With a headset (a combination of a headphone and a microphone), my team members and I discuss and plan a strategy effectively and sometimes talk about our backgrounds. Personally, meeting lots of people online develop my English ability (since English is not my first