Expert Article

Video Games: Bane or Boon?

Four years have passed since the mortal races banded together and stood united against the might of the Burning Legion. Though Azeroth was saved, the tenuous pact between the Horde and the Alliance has all but evaporated. The drums of war thunder once again in the World of Warcraft, as mortals from the noble Alliance and mighty Horde gather once again…

World of Warcraft is the culmination of 15 years of hard work from the tech wizzes at Blizzard Entertainment. A game, so immersive, that has even led to several cases of death.

Gone are the days when video games were simplistic two-dimensional games created by a handful of enthusiasts. Today, software companies are churning out three-dimensional games that are more realistic than ever.

The debate about whether video games are good or bad for children continues to rage. Video games get blamed for any manner of social ills from addiction to murder. While other types of addictions, like drug addiction, have led to the destruction of lives in many cases, could addiction to video games lead one down the same path—or even worse, to commit murder? 

Bane:

To understand how this negative stigma has been wrongly placed on video games, I’m going to address two of the most common concerns about the negative impacts:

·         Why are video games so addictive?

·         Do video games breed violent individuals?

Boon:

Following that, I’m going to show some of the surprising benefits that video games offer. These benefits are broken down into:

·         Physical Benefits

o   Losing weight

o   Increasing agility

·         Medical Benefits

o   Improving eyesight

o   Pain “killer”

Why are video games so addictive?

According to a book by Johnson and his team, video games are addictive because the human brain is wired to respond strongly to situations that combine both the promise of reward and the exploration of new environments. As video games are designed to give small victories in regular doses, each “dose” stimulates neurotransmitters in the brain which releases dopamine.

Drug addiction ≠ Gaming addiction

To make it clear, video games stimulate the neurotransmitters, while drugs alter the supply of neurotransmitters.

Gamers eventually outgrow video games, and research has shown that the average age of gamers is 29 years old. Ultimately, as video games do not alter the supply of neurotransmitters—eventually—people will stop playing it because these rewards become less fanciful. (Johnson)

Do video games breed violent individuals?

“Your parents know best.” How many of you have heard that familiar phrase before getting banned from doing something? Out of good intentions, many parents have banned their kids from playing violent video games. I don’t blame them as this is a controversial topic. But the question still stands: Do video games breed violent individuals?

Test: Aggression and Violent games correlation

In a research conducted by Ferguson and his team, test subjects were divided into three groups and tested for aggression:

·         3 Groups:

o   1^st group: Played violent video games

o   2^nd group: Played nonviolent video games

o   3^rd group: Chose between the two games

The results: Family violence determines aggression levels

The results revealed that family violence exposure, particularly exposure to verbal and physical abuse, remained a predictor of trait aggression as well as violent crime acts. More interesting is that even long term exposure to violent video games did not seem to have an impact on whether an individual becomes more violent. (Ferguson et al.)

Ultimately, people do not want to harm others for no reason. After all, how many times have you acted out a violent scene from a video game or even a movie? Not too many times I bet!

Why?

Before anyone decides to carry out a violent deed, there is some level of common sense that intercedes. The fact that there are many individuals who enjoy violent video games, and do not go out to commit violent acts is a testament to this.

Physical Benefits

Not all video games require players to sit in front of computer screens. In fact, some video games have proven to combat youth obesity!

Good news: Many of these games are readily available at home. If you feel awkward about exercising in public, try out one of these games! When used in the right way, video games do have many health benefits!

Losing weight

How often do you hear kids getting excited about exercise? Not too often I bet! While exercise is essential, encouraging kids to exercise can be an arduous task for just about anyone. Fortunately, video games offer a quick fix.

When the video game Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) was implemented in the physical education classes of a middle school in West Virginia, students were more willing to participate.  Since then, about two hundred schools in the United States have embraced video games in the classroom as well as the gymnasium.

Good news: The success of video games like DDR is not just limited to kids. A young woman lost ninety-five pounds with no exercise program other than DDR. (O’hanlon)

Increasing Agility

The success of DDR drew considerable media attention and these newfound games were quickly labeled ExerGames: a combination of exercise and video gaming. Soon after, studies were launched, and similar games were found to increase agility and reflex.

How?

These games typically interrupt the sprint mechanic with an orthogonal activity—this parallels performing aerobic exercises. Agility is inevitably boosted as players are typically rewarded for nimbleness and speed.

Good news: Games like these are often available on multiplayer platforms, so invite your friends over for game night and stay healthy together! (Bogost)

Medical Benefits:

How about using video games to provide alternative methods when conventional healing methods fail?

Improving eyesight

Ever heard of amblyopia or “lazy eye”? It is a condition that causes visual disorders and poor depth perception. Detecting it is usually a difficult task because the vision in the stronger eye is perfectly fine.  Standard treatment involves patching the stronger eye while the child is less than eight years old; however, treatment is unsuccessful in 25% of cases and no treatment is available for older patients.

What about adults and failed cases?

Fortunately, action video games with a split screen display, coupled with a brain stimulation technique, enable treatment of amblyopia. This treatment is targeted at children and adults to improve binocular resolution and sensitivity without the undesirable side effects such as diplopia. (Bavelier)

Pain “killer”

The medical world has advanced beyond many expectations. Today, adults have painkillers for just about anything.

What about kids who are too young for such narcotics?

Believe it or not, when an eight-year old boy burnt over thirty percent of his body and could not receive narcotics because of his young age, video games were used for pain relief in his treatment. He was reportedly so engrossed in playing that the nurses could occasionally lift his arms, stretch his skin, and clean him without him knowing. While distractions do not minimize the side effects that patients suffer, the pain can be more tolerable when patients are absorbed in the video game. (Streisand)

Conclusion: Everything in moderation

Although video games have the potential to cause adverse effects like addiction and violence, these drawbacks have control measures to avoid such catastrophes.  The focus on a few exceptionally violent games has led many to overlook the potential benefits of video games.   Ultimately, most of the drawbacks are usually only seen in extreme cases, and preliminary research has already shown great benefits that should not be overlooked. As with anything in life, perform in moderation and reap the benefits.

Happy gaming!

Works Cited

Johnson, Steven. “The Addictive Qualities of Video Games Are Not a Problem.” Video Games. Ed. Laurie Willis. Michigan: Greenhaven, 2007. 56-69. Print.

Ferguson, Christopher J., et al. "Violent Video Games and Aggression: Casual Relationship or Byproduct of Family Violence and Intrinsic Violence Motivation?." International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology. 35.3 (2008): 311-332. Web. 2 July. 2015.

Bavelier, Daphne. "Video Game Treatment For Lazy Eye." University of Rochester. (2010): 1-3. Web. 2 July. 2015.

Streisand, Betsy. “Video Games Can Provide Health Benefits.” Video Games. Ed. Haugen, David M. Michigan: Greenhaven, 2008. 25-30. Print.

O’Hanlon, Charlen. “Some Video Game Playing Can Have a Positive Effect on Children’s Health.” Video Games. Ed. Haugen, David M. Michigan: Greenhaven, 2008. 17-24. Print.

Bogost, Ian. Persuasive Games, The Expressive Power Of Videogames. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2007.