I agree that many of you may have heard about the above topic a lot, and not forgetting that we are all gamers, I support games with the bottom of my heart. I’m not going to talk about the researchers or the “Hi-Tech” stuff going around in the world (Though I may take some examples later on in the article), rather I’m going to talk about my personal experience.
Why do people consider gaming a waste of time? (Not including students who play COD or CS on LAN)
Every-time a new movie hits the theatres, I hear people speaking of going to the movie and when they ask me, I say I’d rather stay at my room. They think I’m weird or something, but I justify myself by saying that, I do not want to be a part of something which I cannot control. A movie goes on and on for 2 hours and I don’t feel justified. On top of that I pay 150 bucks for one movie, so it’s not worth that much for me.
I personally feel that, if I play a game, I am in the pilot seat and can do whatever I want, it has some sort of story and also feels satisfying after 2 hours of play. People just consider it a waste of time because they can’t sit for 10-12 hours to finish a game and it’s all personal opinion.
Now here is the parent’s perspective:
Dad- Playing games again?
Me- Yes Dad.
Dad- Why are you stuck at the stupid screen for so long playing the crappy game? Go do something constructive.
Me- ……:(
OR
Mom- All day you sit on the idiot box and do nothing but play games. Shut it down and study!!!
Me- …..:(
Above is the general trend of conversations of kids playing games these days. I personally feel that gaming is not as stupid as it may seem. Parents blame the games for the aggressive nature of their children without even trying to assess the situation. On the contrary, I believe that playing games makes us better overall in life.
Whenever I play games I want full immersion and no disturbance. The first game I played was GTA Vice City which was an awesome game. I used to play hours and hours until someone scolded me or I started having a headache (Even then sometimes I used to carry on). Later on I got my hands on games like NFS, FarCry etc. But it was’nt until 2 years ago that I realized that games had become a very important part of my life. A day without gaming of any sort was almost impossible. The main reason for that was, the fact that, most of the games take us to a fantasy world where we are someone who can either wreak havoc or can travel peacefully watching the sunset. Games were also great stressbusters and were the main outflow of my frustration. Whenever I had a bad day in school, I used to come home, open up a GTA, put on some cheats of weapons and health and then did what every man would do. Many have said “Games make people violent” and then there came some random person who said some of the greatest words that my ears could have heard,
“Games do not make people violent, lag does”.
There are many misconceptions related to gaming such as:
- They are a huge waste of time
- They have no constructive value
- They have no educational value
- They isolate people from social life
- They are for kids
The above misconceptions have been proved wrong by researchers and as for the last 2 points, the gaming industry has become so large and mainstream that everyone who owns a mobile is practically a gamer. All phones have some kind and hence the gamers are not restricted to the nerds sitting in storage rooms of houses. Saying that games are for kids can be pretty wrong in today’s scenario because there are professional gamers whose ages lie between 30-40 and let’s not forget that the people who make games are adults themselves.
Researches have proved that people who play games are better at observation of small details, have a better overall decision, are much faster than a normal person at decision making and are as accurate and much more.
According to
apa.com (http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/video-game.aspx)
While one widely held view maintains that 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. This is particularly true for shooter video games, which are often violent, the authors found. A 2013 meta-analysis found that playing shooter video games improved a player’s capacity to think about objects in three dimensions just as well as academic courses designed to enhance these same skills, according to the study.
“This has critical implications for education and career development, as previous research has established the power of spatial skills for achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” Granic says.
This enhanced thinking was not found when playing other types of video games, such as puzzles or role-playing games.
Playing video games may also help children develop problem-solving skills, the authors said. The more adolescents reported playing strategic video games, such as role-playing games, the more they improved in problem solving and school grades the following year, according to a long-term study published in 2013. 
As you read the above, games do not necessarily distort life in the way they are misconceived to. And gaming today not only makes you smart but may also become your profession, as a live streamer, an E-sports celebrity, game reviewer or even a Game Developer (You do not necessarily have to be a programmer, be a quest designer or something).
How do games impact your life, be it in a good or a bad way? Let us know in the comments below.