Video Games Affect the Brain, Essay Example

Introduction

Video games have long since been a great source of entertainment and it has brought joy to millions of people around the world, there are people in the world today who have gave their professional lives to be able to not just play a video game but to be able to play it for hours on end like they used to when they were children. It is worth noting that people are still playing video games today, from children in their early teens to adults in their early to mid even late 50s. Being a video gaming expert, a day didn’t go by that I wasn’t in front of my PS2 and I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that spending $300-$450 on a PS4 is a waste of money; fluffed up myths do not a game system make.

Video games are many things, a waste of time to some who can’t see the forest beyond the trees so to speak i.e. the bigger picture of their purpose. To others, video games are a great teaching tool that have made many a man, woman and child, focused, wise and improved their analytical skills. Video games have also given those who play them a comfort they’ve never known, it can be argued that video games have become a light in the darkness to some who spend their time thinking outside the box.

Video games teach a variety of things from a social, psychological, mental and emotional perspective where they prepare people for things that they would not otherwise be able to handle; playing a video game for years can teach people things that schools no longer can.

Opposing Side

There are some that have argued that video games don’t teach a person anything except how to throw their lives away playing games that don’t really benefit a person in any way. Gentile explained, “video games can be a great source of entertainment as long as you’re into them, but overall people are just surrendering and throwing their lives away playing video games that are not feeding the hungry or getting them off the street” (Gentile). Video games are seen as useless wastes of time that doesn’t benefit anyone, it can also be argued that the only thing that video games have actually managed to teach people is how to be violent and bring out the violent tendencies of the people that play them.

The opposition also believes that the only thing that video games actually manage to breed was a generation of video game playing potheads, incorrigible degenerates and unprofessional, immature big kids who don’t want to grow up. Jackson reported, “people who spend their life playing video games are 7x more likely to commit violent crimes or throw their educational as well as professional future away in favor of video games, people who play video games are proof that they have no life whatsoever” (Jackson).

It’s a known fact that video games are nothing more than complicated headaches on disks that should be locked away in a vault beyond the fetters of time so the children of this generation can grow up in a world where video games aren’t running their lives, life is all about personal problem solving and video games can’t teach a person that.

Incidentally, people who have been playing video games for years can’t even remember what the capital of the states of the union are, that fact is reflected by the amount of people who’d rather spend their time climbing a mountain or chopping off a boss’ head or using the Lightsaber Throw on the AT-ST instead of furthering their education; video games are no good.

The Backup

Now, the opposition has stated that video games are completely worthless and doesn’t benefit anyone. But, research has shown that video games don’t just help people, they help people learn different things in different ways and they’ve shown to enable people to live longer because video games train their minds to do things that they thought they no longer could. Olson reported that, “86% of kids that start playing video games at an early age are 4x more prepared to solve problems creatively such as moving a block to climb up to the sink to brush their teeth or being able to do things such as solve a Rubik’s cube” (Olson).

People don’t realize that even though video games can be a waste of time in a way, people and children alike are wasting time learning something important. It’s an evident fact that the exhilaration of video games hasn’t just attracted the heart and mind of the young, but has given senior citizens who, are well into their 60s and 70s, increased longevity because their minds aren’t atrophying; it has given senior citizens a practical new lease on life. Sohn explained, “children and senior citizens have one common denominator, they both have short attention spans which requires something extraordinarily challenging in order to challenge their minds; video games are that something” (Sohn). 37% of senior citizens who play video games for at least 6 months to a year are likely to play video games just for the joy factor alone, 1 in 5 seniors who have had some interaction with a video game are likely to make it a point to play it with their grandchildren and in some cases, great-grandchildren.

15% of children between the ages of 6 to 11 who play video games get inspired to grow up, and make great money as video game developers who’ll make children-friendly video games. There are a lot more people playing video games now than twenty or thirty years ago, playing video games open doors to not just other worlds, but worlds in a person’s mind.

Personal Stake

Playing video games as long as I have has taught me a bevy of things, I’ve never believed that I was wasting my life with each video game that I’ve played. Video games have immensely helped my ability to memorize certain aspects of that game that I knew I’d never forget, an example of this is finding the unique ability granting items in Mega Man 2-8 and Mega Man X-X8. Today, I can still find every single X-buster armor part in Mega Man X as well as where the alternate versions of the robot masters are in Mega Man 6 and I can remember exactly where all of the hidden items are in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence.

Overtime, video games have not just increased my memorization, but it has allowed me to be able to think critically. It’s one thing to get stuck at a place in the game, but how would a person critically think about how to get out of an elevator shaft or a crowded room of people. Sometimes, it takes critical thinking in order to solve seemingly difficult problems and as long as I’ve been playing, video games have helped me solve problems in not just my waking life but in the video game world as well. Another example, on the second visit to Kashyyyk in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, there’s a fork in the road a little past the middle part of the level. I was able to find the right way to go by identifying different parts of the landscape and using a little bit of creativity to keep from getting lost.

Children as well as adults need the challenge and creativity not to mention the problem solving prowess that video games provide because since everyone doesn’t learn the same way, learning these skills by playing video games ensures that those abilities are always fresh in the mind. Plus, video games teach patience. If a person can spend 12 hours level grinding in Dragon Quest 8 which requires a lot of patience, they’ll be able to do things like babysit other people’s children which also requires patience.

Conclusion

Video games have been responsible for many things and at once not responsible for some things as well such as outward video game violence, aggressive behavior and psychological trauma. What video games have been positively responsible for is creative problem-solving, longevity, improved memory and patience; video games have given people these things and more. It can be argued that the opposition doesn’t like video games because they can’t see the bigger picture of what they are doing and the good they have done, seniors are living longer and are able to bond with their grandchildren not to mention live long enough to do so

It is a known fact that schools only teach children what they think they will need to know to survive, video games teach them the rest. Ironically, those who play video games have shown increased intellectual strength as well as excellent problem-solving skills, for something that supposedly wastes time, it has taught people to think outside the box which is a useful skill to have; it’s also what breeds millionaires. Is it wrong to love video games because of the wealth of things that they could teach people and their children, is it even fair to call video games a waste of time if they keep grandma and grandpa around another twenty years; I challenge the opposition as well as others who think video games are bad and an ultimate waste, to study one game for a game system that’s already in the household. Buy and play the game for 2 hours, it is only when a person tries something new do they realize the awesome benefits of the very thing they called ‘evil’.

If this issue is ignored or continues to be ignored, there’ll be generations of children growing up in a world never knowing the true value of video games and the wealth of knowledge they’re destined to discover. Video games have given me 26 wonderful years and still do today, they are what I would call my ‘first love and first teacher’.

Works Cited

Gentile, Douglas. “Video Games Affect the Brain—for Better and Worse.” The Dana

Foundation. 22 July 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2015. <http://dana.org/Cerebrum/2009/Video_Games_Affect_the_Brain—for_Better_and_Worse/>.

Jackson, Ryan. “Playing Video Games: The Ultimate Waste of Time.” The Former Fat Kid. 16 July 2015. Web. 13 Nov. 2015. <http://theformerfatkid.net/playing-video-games-the-ultimate-waste-of-time/>.

Olson, Cheryl. “8 Reasons Video Games Can Improve Your Child.” Parents. 2015. Web. 13 Nov. 2015. <http://www.parents.com/kids/development/benefits-of-video-games/#page=1>.

Sohn, Emily. “What Video Games Can Teach Us.” Student Science. 19 Jan. 2004. Web. 13 Nov. 2015. <https://student.societyforscience.org/article/what-video-games-can-teach-us>.