"Incoming!” “Take cover!” “Flank!"
are just some of the words that could be heard while playing war games such as
Call of Duty or Medal of Honor. When
someone thinks of video games they tend to think of war games. The media has put a lot of negative feedback
toward video games. Opponents who are
against gaming state such things as video games cause people to become violent,
that they become anti-social and that gaming is overall a waste of time. The negativities toward interactive
entertainment are not all bad. In fact,
there are a lot of perks in playing video games. Video games do not make people violent or
anti-social and it helps improve valuable real life skills such as hand-eye
coordination, memory, decision making, and judgment.
The
biggest question that is being asked by non-gamers is: Do violent video game
make people more violent? There are many
people out there that would argue that, yes; violent video games do make people
violent. Ever since the invention of video
games, there have been parents who argue that video games are too violent and
that their children are becoming aggressive because of the computerized
entertainment. The gaming industry
complied with the parents and formed the Entertainment Software Rating Board
(ESRB) which gives video games the simple letter-rating that can be seen on all
of the video game case covers. The ratings are there to inform parents as well
as gamers which age group a particular game is toward. The letter “E” is for everyone from any age
group. The letter “T” is for teens from
thirteen to seventeen. The letter “M” is
for mature from eighteen or older. Then
you have the rare rating of “AO” which stands for adults only, which is
basically a sex game. To this day, some
parents neglect the ESRB rating, allowing their children to play such games as
Call of Duty which is rated M. Often
when there is a shooting at a school some people will instantly blame video games,
believing that by playing a violent video game such as Halo or Resident Evil,
that the player themselves become violent.
A psychologist from New York
by the name of Dr. John Ryder would argue that video games do not make people
violent. “‘Usually violence begets violence, not watching it on TV or play-acting
in a video game. There is no reason to assume that doing that will make someone
more violent. That is just ridiculous.’” says Dr. Ryder (Kotecha). Psychologists like Dr. Ryder point out that
violent behavior can often develop with children who are raised in an
aggressive surrounding. Let’s say that a
child is growing up in a family where the father is abusive to the mother or
both parents disrespect their child. Theoretically
speaking, the child would most likely become aggressive because of viewing his
or her father being abusive or by being abused themselves. So it’s safe to say that video games do not
make people more violent.
The
next biggest issue that non-gamers argue about is that video games cause people
who play them to be antisocial. With
today’s technology, that statement is most likely the opposite. With the ability to play games online with
other gamers with such thing as Xbox Live or PlayStation Network they are
socializing. There is a class of games
known as massive multiplayer online (MMO) such as EVE Online, World of
Warcraft, and Star Wars The Old Republic where gamers often times have to
perform “active teamwork and high-level project management” (Steinburg) to be
able to do well in some in-game missions. Even before games became capable of
being played on the worldwide web, gamers often times met during game
releases. While standing in long lines
to get their hands on the next big thing in gaming, gamers often times communicate
about topics such as gaming, comics, and life.
Today’s technology allows gamers to become more social than ever.
How
does gaming improve hand-eye coordination?
Researchers at the University
of Rochester in New
York have conducted studies that suggest that video games
actually “boost visual skills” (Roach). Gamers
are focused on their surroundings as they drive a vehicle through a war torn
residential street or walking through a lush forest full of adventure. "‘It
is certainly good training for people in situations where they need to detect
things in their visual environment at any time in any location, like ground
troops going through uncharted territory,’" (Roach) said brain and
cognitive sciences Professor Daphne Bavelier.
Through the research at the University
of Rochester in New
York, researchers discovered that avid gamers have
increased attention abilities. Also
researchers from Eastern Virginia
Medical School
in Norfolk have actually designed
some video games that help children with attention deficit disorders, which help
instruct them to control their brainwave patterns. Tests have been conducted between gamers and
non-gamers as well. The first test had a
small circular object on a screen that would flash for 1/160 of a second.
Gamers noticed the split second object more than the non-gamers. The second test showed one to twelve small
objects on a screen simultaneously and the participants had to type how many
objects they had seen. Gamers tend to be
correct on the number of seen objects compared to non-gamers. The final test would flash black letters on a
screen quickly and one letter would be white.
Gamers would pick out the white letter and be able to identify what
letter it was more often than non-gamers. Why is this important? Because gamers have a good eye for detail,
these skills could be beneficial in the workforce. Lets say that an avid gamer
is fully employed as a police officer.
The skills he has developed from video games could very well enhance his
observational skill while on the job. He
could notice a slight mound within a criminal’s jacket without much effort, or
even identify a weapon concealed within the criminal’s clothing.
Memory
is an important human ability. How do video games help improve memory? Some games require a gamer to memorize
certain sequences or sounds to be able to complete a certain mission. Video
games such as Alpha Protocol and Splinter Cell require gamers to remember
passwords to get past highly secured doorways.
Sometimes a gamer has to memorize a certain password throughout the
whole game, and other times only having to remember it for a few minutes. This helps gamers memorize better in real
life as well. With this enhanced memory,
gamers can remember phone number more effectively or important dates of the
year.
Can
games really improve decision making and judgment? There are some games out there that have an emphasis
on the skills of decision making and judgment such as The Walking Dead and Mass
Effect. While playing these games there
are times in-game where the player has a short period of time to decide from
several choices and each decision has a huge impact to the game’s storyline.
For example, in Mass Effect, you have a huge decision to sacrifice one of your
team members in order to successfully complete a certain mission. Each team
member is highly skilled in a certain trade which makes them important in-game,
but the gamer still has to make that emotional decision to sacrifice a team
member. The Walking Dead does an
impressive job of testing a gamers judgment.
The gamer has to decide to either save a child or an elderly person from
certain death within a very short period of time. A video games fast-paced atmosphere helps
gamers with their real life decision making. Let’s say that there is a
maintenance professional, who is an avid gamer, encounters a boiler with no
water in the gage glass. A boiler with
no water is no good. In fact any
maintenance professional will know that by adding water to a boiler with no
water will cause an explosion. This
gaming maintenance professional will be able to make the smart decision to
immediately shut down the boiler without any hesitation.
In
all, video games are not a waste of time.
In fact, gaming helps enhance a person’s hand-eye coordination, memory,
decision making, and judgment. Also
releasing some built up stress or anger from the busy workweek. Video games do
not make people more violent or anti-social. So go to your local game store and
give video games a try.
