Some Benefits of Gaming

Videogames are a positive influence not only on society but on physiology too. I’m going to start with the physiology. There have been a few scientists that had done research on how videogames affect “visuomotor skills.” They showed that videogames resist distraction better, more sensitive to the information in peripheral vision, and ability to take in information and analyze it quicker. They said that action games are good training material because you don’t focus on just one object; you have to focus on multiple things happening at the same time.

Videogames for society are a positive because they are pieces of art. There are games awards for graphics, story, game play, and other categories. They are becoming more like film. Most of the people that you see on the credits for a game are those that you would see in film; cast, producer, music supervisor, art director, casting director, et cetera. Many games are basically interactive movies that might take in upwards of 20 hours to complete.

Also videogames can help people learn. They can enhance problem solving, like Tetris. People can pick up and play at any level of skill, but it takes time to master. There have been many books that have been written on the subject of videogames and learning. One such book, written by James Paul Lee, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, talks of how we need to tap into videogames to help teach our children. He says, “We don't often think about video games as relevant to education reform, but maybe we should. Game designers don't often think of themselves as learning theorists. Maybe they should. Kids often say it doesn't feel like learning when they're gaming - they're much too focused on playing. If kids were to say that about a science lesson, our country's education problems would be solved.” In a nut shell we need to utilize videogames not only for entertainment, but for education too.

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What Video Games Have to Teach Us....